By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer
May 13, 2008 12:57 am
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My coming-of-age moment as a sports fan took place in 1982. I was 10 years old, and the Milwaukee Brewers were on their way to their one and only World Series appearance.
That was a team of characters, not to mention mustaches!
Robin Yount. Gorman Thomas. Pete Vukovich. Rollie Fingers. Then there were the bearded Cecil Cooper and the clean-shaven Paul Molitor and Ben Oglivie. The only other place you could find a collection of players who looked like that was on a slowpitch softball field in Chippewa Falls.
If you were a little kid in Wisconsin and didn’t become a baseball fan that summer, then you probably didn’t own a TV or a radio.
My oldest son is 9 years old, and he loves the game of baseball. Practices for MAYBA (Mankato Area Youth Baseball Association) started last week, and his team tried their hand in the batting cages on Saturday morning.
The other day, I asked him who his favorite baseball player is, and he answered, without missing a beat, “Derek Jeter.” Then I asked him who his favorite Twins player is and, just as quickly, he responded, “Carlos Gomez.”
His first answer made sense, especially considering that the Yankees seem to be on national TV almost as much as the Twins are locally. Perhaps the only likable Yankee in these parts, Jeter is the model for the plays-the-game-the-right-way crowd. He’s a winner and a champion.
My son’s second answer surprised me at first. After all, Gomez, the Twins’ key get in the Johan Santana trade, has been playing in Minnesota for less than two months. He’s 22 years old and barely has a major league resume. I expected him to proclaim Joe Mauer, a batting champion, or Justin Morneau, an MVP, as his guy.
But, thinking about it some more, the choice is perfectly logical. I just had to get back inside the head of a 9- or 10-year-old and become the boy who cheered for “Rockin’ Robin” and “Stormin’ Gorman.”
“Go-Go” Gomez does everything a 9-year-old kid loves to do on the diamond: He runs, steals and slides. He bunts and races to the bases. He gets dirty. He smiles. He laughs.
When the Twins defeated the Red Sox with a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night at the Metrodome, Gomez slid into home for the winning run amid his teammates’ celebration, even though there was no play at the plate.
That’s what my kid does.
Gomez, the first Twin since Kirby Puckett 22 years ago to hit for the cycle, appears to play with a joy and exuberance that, despite their remarkable talents, the Twins’ star players simply don’t display very often.
We can argue about Gomez’s minuses — he made an almost-costly gaffe in center field Sunday night on national TV — but you can’t argue that he’s been as fun to watch as anyone in the Twins lineup lately.
He’s a kid playing a kid’s game like a kid.
And my kid, for one, certainly appreciates that.
Shane Frederick is a Free Press staff writer. Access his college hockey blog through mankatofreepresshockey.blogspot.com/
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