After “thawing out,” Twins reveling in the Minnesota sun

With roots in Southern California where the weather is notoriously perfect for baseball Twins first baseman Ty France in his first season in Minnesota after spending with Cincinnati admitted there is a little more spring in the step when you come to work on a June morning with sunshine low humidity and the thermometer headed for the s Whenever you get a little bit of sunshine it s nice to get out there France mentioned prior to Saturday s contest versus Toronto admitting that up-to-date road trips have offered better weather than what they experienced at home early in the season The first month was a little bit of a grind but we ran into selected warm weather too in Tampa Sacramento Seattle was nice France noted But it s nice coming home to this for sure First proposed in the late s the original plans for a ballpark to replace the Metrodome included a retractable roof similar to those in Seattle and Houston When legislators and much of the voting citizens in Minnesota soundly rejected the cost of a retractable roof facility the design of what eventually became Target Field was scaled back and outdoor baseball for better or worse depending on the whims of Minnesota weather returned in A few believe that April and May games at Target Field when the weather can be colder than anywhere else in the majors give the Twins a home field advantage On a smaller scale similar to what the Minnesota Vikings enjoyed for their first two decades playing outdoors at Met Stadium where the weather could be frigid late in the football season France declared they play in any temperature but admitted that short sleeves and sunglasses are ideal It s a more calm context for us he mentioned I don t know if it s necessarily an advantage but once we get the opportunity to thaw out after the first month it s nice I haven t played here in the summertime but I ve heard the ball starts carrying a little better and I m looking forward to that Lewis past slump After snapping out of a brutal -for- slump at the plate during the Twins three-city road trip Royce Lewis continues to do good things with his bat going for with a walk in Friday s loss to Toronto I think he has looked good at the plate I think he has looked more confident I think his swing has been synced up really good Twins manager Rocco Baldelli reported Both his timing on his swing and certainly the swing itself has looked a lot like the Royce you would see last year at times and the year before Lewis who scored a run in the Twins - loss explained he s concentrating on what he can control at the plate and leaving the rest to the hands of fate I can only control so much Once the ball leaves the bat it s on God and it s on those fielders where they re playing So I ve just got to keep doing my thing and controlling what I can control and looking for my pitch which is key I think for any hitter he stated following Friday s contest If you re looking for your pitch and you re focusing on every pitch of every at-bat which is tough to do sometimes I know you wouldn t think it like oh you should be focused Well sometimes you just lose sight of your plan You get homer happy or you swing too hard Those are the little things that I m trying to take care of right now Just breathing and having fun Whatever is working for Lewis Baldelli wants to see it continue It s been a week so we want to keep this going throughout the whole season the manager revealed Happy birthday Buck-Ninety Tim Laudner the former Twins catcher and current member of the broadcast crew celebrated his th birthday on Saturday noting that he and late Minnesota music icon Prince entered this world on the same day June Born in Iowa Laudner played high school baseball at Park Center in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and at the University of Missouri before making his major league debut with the Twins in As a catcher on Minnesota s World Series title club Laudner was beloved for his local roots and playfully teased for his light-hitting approaches He batted for the season with home runs prompting specific fans to hang a banner from the facing of the Metrodome s upper deck during the playoffs with Laudner s number declaring them members of the Buck-Ninety Fan Club in reference to his batting average In the clubhouse before Saturday s championship Laudner joked about being the second the bulk prominent Minnesotan after Prince who died in but noted that a fan once noted that for their careers Laudner had more hits than the musician Related Articles Blue Jays rally past Twins Rocco Baldelli wants Twins bullpen to remunerate surprise relievers Twins option Kody Funderburk recall right-hander Travis Adams David Festa knocked out early as Twins fall to Athletics Twins starter Pablo L pez calls injury a tough pill to swallow