Scan barcode
A review by iamkallia
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Minnesota Twins: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments from Minnesota Twins History by Bert Blyleven, Steve Aschburner
adventurous
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
"Baseball owes me nothing. I owe everything to baseball. My whole life as a kid, it's what I saw and what I wanted to play, and I did it every day. And when it was over, I missed it just for a little bit. Then I went home and looked in the mirror and said, 'Puck, you couldn't have done any better than you did.'"
I have spent almost the entirety of my life, minus three months were I stayed with my aunts in Hawaii, in Twins Territory. I was raised in my grandparent's living room, watching Johan Santana pitch while Joe Mauer caught, Torii Hunter leap walls, and Justin Morneau get people out before they even had a chance to touch his plate. But, I knew very little about the years before them, the men who had worn those uniforms and those numbers in the decades before they even knew what a bat and a ball were. I had heard the stories of the '87 and '91 runs from people who had been around to watch them, but I didn't really understand the magic.
This book helped put that in perspective. They helped me understand why my dad spoke of Kirby Puckett with such a reverence, why Bert Blyleven was so much more than just "Circle Me Bert" to my mom, and what made Rod Carew and Tony Oliva players that my grandparents would still talk about when we watched the Twins play.
Steve Aschburner did an amazing job of making these men seem like they could walk out of that bullpen this baseball season. Of making Twins who wore the uniform for just a very short time seem as much a fixture of the team as Harmon Killebrew. And, I hope he writes another book, an updated one, about all the people who have worn the white, red, and navy blue of the Twins since 2008. Because those are the Twins that I know. But, until that day, I'm thankful that he was able to introduce me to the Twins that I didn't.
I have spent almost the entirety of my life, minus three months were I stayed with my aunts in Hawaii, in Twins Territory. I was raised in my grandparent's living room, watching Johan Santana pitch while Joe Mauer caught, Torii Hunter leap walls, and Justin Morneau get people out before they even had a chance to touch his plate. But, I knew very little about the years before them, the men who had worn those uniforms and those numbers in the decades before they even knew what a bat and a ball were. I had heard the stories of the '87 and '91 runs from people who had been around to watch them, but I didn't really understand the magic.
This book helped put that in perspective. They helped me understand why my dad spoke of Kirby Puckett with such a reverence, why Bert Blyleven was so much more than just "Circle Me Bert" to my mom, and what made Rod Carew and Tony Oliva players that my grandparents would still talk about when we watched the Twins play.
Steve Aschburner did an amazing job of making these men seem like they could walk out of that bullpen this baseball season. Of making Twins who wore the uniform for just a very short time seem as much a fixture of the team as Harmon Killebrew. And, I hope he writes another book, an updated one, about all the people who have worn the white, red, and navy blue of the Twins since 2008. Because those are the Twins that I know. But, until that day, I'm thankful that he was able to introduce me to the Twins that I didn't.