My Baseball Origin Story: Josh Wright

A niche within a niche: a British Twins fan.

In short, it was me thinking up date ideas with my now-wife. I am an all-round British sports nerd, but American sports had stayed on the fringes for me. I loved watching basketball and hockey at their respective Olympics, and, despite being a rugby fan, quickly realised that American Football was not for me. So, when we had a few days in the Twin Cities in April 2017, I asked to go to a Twins vs White Sox game at Target Field.

In true Midwest fashion, it started with a rain delay! However, they put the Wild up on the big screen and the atmosphere had sucked me in by then. I’m not someone who’s actually been to that many live sporting events for how much of my life it consumes, but Target Field really is one of the better stadia I’ve been to. Everything’s clean, accessibility is right up there with most you’ll see in the UK, and concessions are (pardon the pun) not in the same ballpark as Wembley for mark-ups.

So there I am, hyper-focused and doing my best to piece together rules through narrowing down what related to cricket and rounders, respectively. The game itself was a slow affair, a 2-1 loss pitched by great Immaculate Grid answer Adalberto Mejía. But that didn’t matter; I got hooked. The big reason? Falling in love with a handsome German right-fielder.

Max Kepler holds a unique place in our household. For a while he was simply referred to as the ‘Beautiful German Cherub’. That night, he scored the only run of the game, had one of the Twins’ meagre six hits, and, most importantly, made a gorgeous catch in the top of the seventh to deny Kevan Smith.

[Editor’s note: In 2019, Ben Carter had the privilege of interviewing Max for Bat Flips & Nerds and confirms that he is a lovely fella.]

As soon as I got home, I tried finding highlights wherever I could, and by the middle of the summer I was subscribed to MLB TV. It was a strange year, 2017. The team that had been placed before me were never meant to achieve anything, and yet that year secured a Wild Card (Yankees fans, we do not talk about this). That World Series is still some of the best baseball I’ve watched before we all found out how Astroball became such a success.

Within the year, I had found Baseball Tonight’s podcast, and, crucially, Gleeman and the Geek. That’s when I knew the sport had got its hooks in. Many things have kept me there; The World Baseball Classic, fascination with the Negro Leagues, delving into Moneyball and 42, the Savannah Bananas simply existing. But it all leads back to that rainy April evening. I’ve only been back to Target Field a couple of times, via a nice stop at CHS Field, but that place has my heart.

It’s a little strange now, with Kepler’s departure there is only one member of that entire 2017 roster still there (Byron Buxton), and many decisions by ownership and front office alike have left me scratching my head. But even at times where my own team is underperforming, I think ‘How can you not just love baseball?’ I don’t think there’ll be a day where that question can be answered.

Article by guest contributor Josh Wright. Want to write for Bat Flips & Nerds? Get in touch