Twins 7-game win streak being carried by... summer sausage?
Byron Buxton #25 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates with Pablo Lopez #49 after hitting a home run against the Kansas City Royals on April 30, 2023 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Last year, it was a fishing vest that the Minnesota Twins wore in the dugout and added to every time a player hit a home run.
This year, the Twins’ rallying cry for now is a package of summer sausage. No, we are not making that up. Twins’ hitting coach David Popkins brought it into the dugout during the Twins’ game against the Chicago White Sox last Thursday. He had players tap it with their bats before going to the plate, and it resulted in five straight hits and back-to-back home runs.
The sausage traveled with the team for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Twins got a sweep of the Angels, winning all three games by a combined 32-13. That includes a 16-5 outburst Saturday night after the Twins’ bats started the season slow.
"It’s a summer tangy sausage is what it is, I actually looked at the package yesterday. It’s bringing us a lot of hits and runs and stuff, so I’m all for it," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said before Sunday’s game. "It’s a substantial packaged sausage that (Ryan) Jeffers has been carrying around in his bag and throwing at people when we score runs and hit homers."
There’s only one problem: Temperatures were in the 80s in L.A. this weekend, and the sausage hasn’t seen a refrigerator. As long as the Twins keep hitting, there’s no chance it gets cut up and eaten.
"I’m slightly concerned, I’m not even an adult. I’m slightly concerned that the package is going to open up, and the thing hasn’t been refrigerated in many days," Baldelli said. "There’s no doubt that whenever that thing opens up, whoever is touching it is in deep trouble. There’s no doubt in my mind that we are carrying around something that’s very unhealthy to the human body."
Even better, Twins’ analyst Trevor Plouffe admitted on Sunday’s broadcast he had never heard of summer sausage. Cory Provus, LaTroy Hawkins talked about it like it was "Lunchables" for adults.
The Twins have won seven straight games and are back above .500 at 14-13.