8. AJ Goes Yard in ALDS

I was just about to graduate from college and would be moving into my first apartment three months later. I was at my Dad’s house at the time and we watched this game together.

I honestly had not been paying close attention to the Twins going into 2001, and without the minor league info we get today on the internet, I had no clue there were budding stars in the making. So when I looked at the standings in April, I was dumbfounded. I began listening to every game on the radio and got hooked on the Twins all over again. Despite falling back late that year, I was geared up for 2002. For the entire month of April, I managed to score every single game while also doing homework. The first game of the season, with Jacque Jones leading off the year with a homer on the way to the Twins edging the Tigers in a slugfest, ensured I’d be hooked.

I was on edge this entire game until A.J. deposited a first-pitch Billy Koch fastball into the bleachers. I screamed so loudly I nearly gave the cat a heart attack. Of course, I’d be on the edge of my seat again in the bottom of the 9th with a heart-attack performance by Everyday Eddie. And while I also got excited when Denny Hocking caught the final pop fly to send the Twins to the ALCS, this call by Jon Miller is the one that still gets my blood flowing.

9. Joe Crede Walk-Off Grand Slam

What’s better than Dick Bremer announcing a grand slam? Dick Bremer announcing a walk-off grand slam. In extra innings.

Crede wasn’t much his final year in the bigs. But the Twins one the central by one game, so at least you can say he won this one.

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