KC Royals and the reasons to hate the Minnesota Twins

With the KC Royals finally back home, the Minnesota Twins invade the K for a series this weekend. Let’s get our hate on.

It’s hard to work up some good animosity for the Twins, as their halcyon days and the KC Royals never really dovetailed. When the Kirby Puckett Twins were winning World Series titles in the early-1990s, the Royals were not very good—ditto for the small-market magic Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire were able to swing for the first decade of the 2000s.

Things flipped when Dayton Moore sprinkled his fairy dust on the franchise over the last few years. The KC Royals, enjoying their best run since the mid-1980s, needed a telescope to find the Twins, most of the time near the bottom of the division—the Twins have not finished within a dozen games of Kansas City since 2012.

But now, with a race for fourth-place looming (these franchises have been a tire fire for the entirety of the regular season thus far), I say it’s high time to kick the tires on this rivalry and see if there’s some spark.

Let’s hate!

Top Five Reasons to Hate the Twins

1. The Glad-Bag in Rightfield at the Old Metrodome
2. Classy fandom
3. J. Pierzynski
4. Chuck Knoblauch, who is a monster, apparently.
5. Stealing Washington’s professional baseball team, which in turn led to Washington stealing Montreal’s professional baseball team.

Opponent Most Likely to Start a Brawl?

Miguel Sano does not like being thrown behind. He will throw a punch.

History of Bad Blood with the KC Royals?

Practically nil. Maybe this weekend will be the start of something!

Do They Have Bad Humans on the Roster?

Ervin Santana was once suspended for half the season due to PED’s, but I mean… Ervin Santana is a delight. Give him a follow on Twitter; he has a genuine joy for the game. I’ll give him a free pass. And aside from that, the Twins seem to be filled with okay people.

Most Butt Player?

Once the most ballyhooed prospect in baseball, Byron Buxton just hasn’t really panned out so far; since his debut in 2015, he’s hitting .211 (including a disastrous .145 mark this season) and has yet to garner more than 300 at-bats in a single season, ostensibly because he sucks. But you know, other than that, been a real delight.

Royal Most Likely to Light Up the Twins?

In just a hair under 90 games all-time against the Twins, Salvador Perez is hitting .313 with a dozen homers and 50 RBI—his best against any opponents he’s faced at least 40 times. Last season, he tagged the Twinkies at a .355 clip, with half of his 22 hits going for extra bases, and 13 RBI.

Next: Fighting Through the Off-Day Malaise

Will This Series Be Fun?

Almost unequivocally, it won’t be any worse than that road trip just was. Hopefully.