At some point last October, my sister e-mailed me out of the blue asking me who my favorite Twin of all time was and who my favorite current Twin was. I facetiously wrote back “Dave Hollins and Trevor Plouffe.” (I added an addendum that the real answers were Kirby Puckett and either Mauer or Morneau.) It turns out that she was asking because she had decided to get me a Twins jersey for Christmas… and apparently I was this close to getting a Trevor Plouffe jersey because of my facetiousness.
I bring this up because tonight I attended my first Twins game of the year in Oakland and Trevor Plouffe was the hero of the game, driving in the winning run in the 10th inning. It would have been fitting if I was actually wearing a Plouffe jersey instead of Michael Cuddyer.*
Trevor freaking Plouffe.
That’s the thing about the Twins this season — half the starting line-up is on or has been on the disabled list: Mauer, Thome, Nishioka, Delmon Young, and even Plouffe himself… not to mention that Morneau still doesn’t seem quite like himself post-concussion. As a result, the Twins line-up is full of guys who are just barely Major Leaguers — Plouffe, Ben Revere, Alexi Casilla, Rene Rivera, Drew Butera (okay, I have a soft spot for Drew and he’s a legit back-up catcher, just not an everyday starter). As a result, they have the worst record in baseball — oh, the memories of the late 90s. (An A’s fan behind me at the game tonight yelled “I can’t believe we’re losing to this team — they suck!” Until that moment, I had forgotten what it was like to cheer for the butt of all baseball jokes.) But while some of these guys are probably heading back to Rochester just as soon as the disabled list gets emptied, Trevor Plouffe has proven to not suck. Maybe one day he will be my favorite Twin.
On another note, after snapping a nine game losing streak, the Twins are 2-0 since legendary slugger Harmon Killebrew passed away yesterday morning. They’re hanging his number 3 in the dugout, even at away games. I’d like to think he’s haunting their bats and helping them win. I’m going to Phoenix this weekend to visit my uncle and go see the Twins play the Diamondbacks — apparently I will be missing Killebrew’s funeral by about 12 hours on Friday. I hope they do something to honor him when I’m there on Saturday.

* She got me a Michael Cuddyer jersey because “everyone has a Mauer, Morneau, or Puckett jersey.” I can’t argue with her logic on that one. However, having a Harmon Killebrew jersey would perhaps be a bit more fitting this season.