Need a baseball fix on Opening Day? Catch 2009's Game 163 on the Twins' website
Target Field. Photo credit: Greg Kellogg (Greg Kellogg/FOX 9 photojournalist / FOX 9)
Minneapolis - Thursday is supposed to be Opening Day for the Minnesota Twins, and every other team around Major League Baseball.
But due to Coronavirus, baseball and every other sport in the world is on hold. The Twins were told by MLB less than two weeks ago that the remainder of Spring Training was canceled, and they had to leave their complex in Fort Myers, Fla.
That’s bad news for the organization and for fans, as the Twins were coming off their first American League Central Division title since 2010. But the good news? MLB is still celebrating what was supposed to be Opening Day.
The Twins are doing their part by broadcasting Game 163 from the 2009 season, where the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers in extra innings to win the AL Central. It’s a chance to relive one of the most memorable games in Twins’ history, one that ended on Alexi Casilla’s single to right field in the bottom of the 12th inning that scored Carlos Gomez, setting off a party in front of a sellout crowd at the Metrodome.
Fans can also interact on social media by using the #OpeningDayAtHome hashtag.
The Twins were 70-72 on Sept. 13 of that season, and trailing the Tigers by 5.5 games in the AL Central before rallying over the last three weeks to force the Game 163 tiebreaker. The Twins went onto the playoffs, and were swept by the New York Yankees.