Posted by Matt Snyder

MVP

With all due apologies to Justin Morneau, this one is a no-brainer. The Twins have plenty of good players and two superstars, but Joe Mauer is easily tops in this bunch. The 2009 AL MVP probably won't ever hit 28 home runs in a season again, but he's still the best offensive catcher in the game, going .327/.402/.469 last year. His career OPS-plus is 136, which is incredible for a catcher. He's a team leader, good guy and local hero. Not much to not like here.

PLAYER ORACLE : Walter Johnson to Francisco Liriano

Walter Johnson played with Firpo Marberry on the 1923 Washington Senators

Firpo Marberry played with Schoolboy Rowe on the 1933 Detroit Tigers

Schoolboy Rowe played with Curt Simmons on the 1947 Philadelphia Phillies

Curt Simmons played with Steve Carlton on the 1966 St. Louis Cardinals

Steve Carlton played with Terry Mulholland on the 1986 San Francisco Giants

Terry Mulholland played with Francisco Liriano on the 2005 Minnesota Twins


POP CULTURE

A decent amount of stuff to choose from here. You could go the Major League: Back to the Minors route, but I'm moving on with my life convinced that debacle never happened. I guess Little Big League would be an option, but I'm not a fan. How about this:

Don't Call Them Twinkies

Solid, relatively obscure songs about teams are always much preferred to forced Hollywood crap that doesn't have anything to do with the real team.