"It may be cloudy in my right eye, but the sun is shining very brightly in my left eye. And just think how the sun has shined. Right up to the door of this great Hall, the shrine for the greatest game in the world, and the greatest players in the world, baseball." - Kirby Puckett
... because Bert Blyleven is a 2011 MLB Hall of Fame inductee!!
Yes, the Master of the Hot Foot (GREAT instructional video starring Bert himself) was finally elected to MLB's HOF today, receiving 79.7% of the vote. He will be inducted along with Roberto Alomar.
Who wants to bet the new bronze statute at Target Field of an unknown player will be Bert Blyleven? The three current players with bronze statutes at Target Field are the Twins' Hall of Famers--Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, and Kirby Puckett.
In honor of Bert's accomplishments, I provide the following videos for your enjoyment.
Lest we forget Bert's distinguished broadcasting career:
All pictures in this post can be SUPER enlarged by clicking on them!
Last weekend the Twins celebrated their 50th Season with a slew of celebrations: Pictures with Twins Alumni near gate 34 before the game; announcing the 50 Greatest Twins on the field; Greg Gagne’s induction into the Twins Hall of Fame; Thome tying and passing McGwire on the all-time homerun list; awesome throwback uniforms all three days; and, of course, the Twins Legends game. It was basically the greatest weekend of my life.
I was lucky enough to go to the games Friday and Sunday. For Friday, I was able to score some pretty sweet seats close behind the plate.
The 50 Greatest Twins were announced on the field before the game. The whole thing was really cool—there was a little video for each player, with different narrators talking about the player for each one. For example:
Corey Koskie (Narrated by Justin Morneau)
My favorite one was when Theresa Mauer read the bio for Joe Mauer. I think I cried.
Jeff Reardon (and if you look real close in the lower left corner, you can see Eddie Guardado turned around waving at my Mom!)
Brad Radke waves to fans.
The last Twin to be announced--Harmon Killbrew--takes the field.
Harmon waves to fans as Thome is shown cheering on the jumbotron.
The PA guy announced that Harmon Killebew was going to catch the first pitch. I'm not sure if that was a surprise on him, because he looked around a little confused for a second. Luckily, Gardy ran out and did the dirty work for the Killer.
The game was nice. Some crazy guy named Fox pitched, and the defense was able to squeak out the win.
In the 8th inning, former Twins all-star Christian Guzman pinch ran for Josh Hamilton.
I heard shouts of “GUZZZ” come out from the crowd, but nothing too crazy. I had been excited to see him myself, so I yelled pretty loud.
Before the game on Sunday, Twins alumni played the Twins’ first ever Legends Game at Target Field. There were Twins everywhere!
The guys warmed up and took batting practice on the field for about an hour before the game. They were all having a blast. I'm willing to bet Herbk had already put a few back in the clubhouse.
Not everyone took batting practice--but I swear every time I turned around Corey Koskie was in or just coming out of the cage. He seemed very exciting to be playing ball on a field in front of a crowd again.
It was really fun just to watch all the guys socializing on the field and in the dugout.
Ron Washington, donning a Twins uniform, gets secret information from Jon Rauch and Matt Capps.
The Killer
Radke rubbing Eddie Guardado's head in the dugout.
Radke smiling after rubbing Eddie's head in the dugout.
TK and Cristian Guzman catching up.
Valencia looking pretty gitty.
Jim Perry checking over the lineup.
Before the game, all the alumni were announced.
Greg Gagne--the newest member of the Twins Fall of Fame.
Mudcat couldn't get out when they called his name, but Jim Perry came to help a minute later.
When the Twins took the field, an old version of "We're Going to Win Twins!" accompanied them. You can hear some parts in the video below.
The game itself was absolutely hilarious. Guys were falling all over the place, giving mid-inning interviews, hugging, laughing, and trying to play.
How incredibly happy does Gagne look just to catch a ball?
Koskie back at Third.
Bert on the mound!
Bert tries to bean Dazzle!
Bert laughing at Gladden (and looking like he's been eating lots of birthday cake, too).
Dazzle then hits one out to right center field--and AL NEWMAN makes a great play!
Ron Washington up to bat.
Bert tries to bean Ron Washington; gets warned by Home Plate Umpire Don Shelby.
Ron Washington gets a hit (and yes--Eddie Guardado is playing 2nd base!)
Tom and Ron share a tender moment.
GET IT HRBIE!!
Hrbek gave this explanation in an on-field interview: "I'm used to that bouncy turf!"
Al Newman batting.
Eddie Guardado batting!
JIM PERRY BATTING! (He even got on base!)
Eddie later substituted himself back into the game to pitch (apparently going for the Cesar Tovar!)
The Minnies beat the Pauls 5 to 1, or something like that. No one really cared. In fact, I'm not even sure if everyone stayed on the same team for the entire game.
Afterward, the players all came out for a group photo.
Jim Perry helps Mudcat off the field after the game.
An absolutely awesome day. If only Kirby could have been there too...
