This story was excerpted from Do-Hyoung Park¡¯s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MINNEAPOLIS -- It seems that we¡¯ve gone from the Twins' clubhouse¡¯s cured meat story arc to the game show adaptation story arc.
What exactly does that mean?
Well, on this homestand, a mysterious structure covered in an off-white cloth materialized in the empty locker between Royce Lewis and Pablo López -- and it turns out that contraption is a ¡°Wheel of Fortune¡± for the team.
It¡¯s not a tribute to Pat Sajak, who just retired as the longtime host of the game show. It¡¯s instead the Twins¡¯ newest clubhouse victory and bonding celebration, courtesy of L¨®pez.
¡°How do you know that?¡± said a surprised L¨®pez when asked about it. ¡°Ah, well.¡±
How it works is that after each victory, the Twins determine a Position Player of the Game and a Pitcher of the Game. For the first victory, a 5-0 win over the Rockies on Monday, team leaders L¨®pez and Carlos Correa made the selections: Christian Vázquez on the position player side and Chris Paddack on the pitching side.
And then¡
¡°Those two players go into a rock-paper-scissors match to find the ultimate Player of the Game, who gets to spin the wheel and win a prize,¡± L¨®pez said.
Paddack beat V¨¢zquez that day and got to spin the wheel. He became the proud owner of an eye massager.
What exactly is an eye massager? Paddack had no idea, either.
¡°That's what I said,¡± Paddack said. ¡°But I went home that night and tried it, and it was unbelievable. It's on your temples and it has, like, music you can play. Like, meditation and relaxation. It was, like, a little bit of vibration. I thought the same thing, but the guys swore by it.¡±
Then, following the Twins¡¯ wild 17-9 victory over the Rockies in Wednesday¡¯s series finale, Paddack and V¨¢zquez got to choose their successors. They selected L¨®pez, who allowed two runs on five hits in five innings, and Correa -- whom V¨¢zquez referred to as ¡°Ichiro¡± following the first five-hit game of Correa¡¯s career, all of which were singles.
L¨®pez won the battle of rock-paper-scissors, which gave him the chance to spin the wheel.
¡°He's put together some really cool prizes,¡± Paddack said. ¡°There's some fun ones in there, too, that we probably shouldn't say.¡±
And that¡¯s the story of how L¨®pez walked out the door on Wednesday as the owner of a new portable bonfire.
Being in the clubhouse every day, I can attest to how this group of Twins players genuinely seems to enjoy each other¡¯s company and the camaraderie that they all share. They¡¯re just trying to have some fun and bond even further over the course of a long 162-game season.
¡°I think it just brings us together a little bit, closer as a group,¡± Paddack said. ¡°Before the media [enters the clubhouse], no coaches, just the boys hanging out.¡±
So, if you ever catch a Twins player leaving the ballpark after a victory with a seemingly random item in tow, this could be why.