Twins take time away from Spring Training to help hurricane victims

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Twins are at Spring Training in Fort Myers getting ready for the 2023 season, but it’s not all about baseball every day.

On Wednesday, Twins’ players and staff gave back to the community that often comes to Hammond Stadium to watch their Spring Training workouts and games. In late September of 2022, Hurricane Ian formed and its Category 5 winds caused massive devastation in the Lee County area.

The storm hit Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island among other areas the hardest. It became the third-costliest weather disaster on record, and the deadliest to hit Florida since 1935.

The Twins took time away from baseball to sort clothes and shoes for school children in Lee County.

"It’s probably the favorite thing about my job is to see the impact that the Twins and our brand and our work can have on a community. How it can help somebody’s life, we don’t think about it that way. We often define our success on wins and losses. This today is a representation of that work off the field," Twins’ President Dave St. Peter said.

THE STORY OF ROCCO BALDELLI AND HIS DOG, BOWIE

Before Rocco Baldelli became Twins’ manager, a husband and a father, he was a dog owner. Bowie has been Baldelli’s companion for 8.5 years, and is always by his side.

Wednesday at Spring Training, Fox 9 Sports Director Jim Rich caught up and Baldelli and Bowie.

"There’s really no part of our life that’s gone on in the last 8.5 years that she hasn’t been right in the middle of," Baldelli said. "There’s nothing she doesn’t do, she takes care of us more than we take care of her. I don’t know what life would be like if she wasn’t around."

Twins’ Spring Training continues this week, with the team’s first split squad games on Saturday.