Thursday, September 18

MINNEAPOLIS -- It’s more than 2,700 miles from Cabimas, Venezuela, where Pablo López was born, to Minneapolis, where he now makes his baseball home. And in some ways, that may undersell how far López is from his original home.

But as López often says, Minnesota has welcomed him with open arms. And so he makes a point to return the favor. It’s López’s warm embrace of the Twin Cities that is at the heart of his selection as the Twins’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award for a second straight year.

The Roberto Clemente Award is arguably baseball’s single most prestigious award, given annually to “the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” It requires both baseball excellence and community commitment, and López consistently displays both.

• VOTE NOW: 2025 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One

“When you hear the name, you think of both sides, the baseball side and the non-baseball side,” López said, “which is exactly what makes the award. The award is the embodiment of both on-field and off the field. So instantly, hearing that name, you think of the highest class, the highest level, both of performance and of making sure that you don't forget where you come from, making sure that you remember that we are blessed with this platform and that we can go ahead and take advantage of it in a selfless way.”

López has certainly done that. He makes a point to be available for Twins community events whenever he can, most recently with an event where he purchased and helped distribute back-to-school kits for teachers. He has used the “Pablo Day” promotion to benefit local causes as well.

And while López's philanthropy is broad-based, there are a couple of recurring themes that go back to the first place he called home. He loves supporting educational causes when he gets the chance -- he’s the son of two doctors who constantly emphasized education, and he could have gone to medical school. And he seeks connection to Minnesota’s Venezuelan community when he can, too.

So the recent back-to-school event was perfect.

“[Education is] one of my passions,” he said. “We added the element of the Venezuelans. We found a small dancing foundation, nonprofit foundation within the Twin Cities [Baila Venezuela], that within the last couple of years has seen the Venezuelan community population grow. A little. It’s still different from Venezuela, you don’t see a lot of us up here. But you’re starting to see a few more, so it was pretty cool that we found them.”

That selflessness, and support of community, exemplifies the person that López’s teammates see in the clubhouse.

“He gives a lot of himself,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “He gives a lot to this game. He’s an extremely dedicated and disciplined guy. But he also gives that to people outside this clubhouse. I think he finds it his duty to do things for other people consistently. Part of his mission, just as a person.”

Following an off-day Thursday, the Twins play their final home series of the season over the weekend against surging Cleveland. It’s a four-game series in three days, with a doubleheader on Saturday. And it’s Fan Appreciation Weekend.

For Friday night’s game and the regularly scheduled Saturday evening game (6:10 p.m. CT), the first 10,000 fans will receive a Fan Appreciation baseball cap. On Sunday, the first 5,000 kids 12 and under will receive a Kids Fan Appreciation baseball cap. For tickets, visit this link.

Monday night’s win against the Yankees put Baldelli in quite a special club. It was his 523rd managerial win, putting him in third place all time on the franchise win list. Or, put another way, he’s now ahead of everyone but the two most iconic Twins managers, Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire. Baldelli generally doesn’t put much stock in personal stats, but he acknowledged that this one has some meaning.

“[Byron Buxton] gave me a ball in the clubhouse, which is always special,” he said. “And he’s been here for every single one of those games. It does mean a lot and it does feel good, and this is a historic franchise that has had some very successful and really memorable characters who have sat in this seat.”

It’s been about four weeks since Baldelli challenged his team to run more, and the results are perhaps even more drastic than he might have hoped. In 28 games since the manager gave his team, for all practical purposes, a full-time green light, the Twins lead the Majors with 43 steals -- and they’ve only been caught five times, for a success rate of 90 percent.

They had 61 steals in the previous 124 games, meaning that on a per-game basis, they’ve roughly tripled the frequency with which they swipe bases. With four steals on Tuesday night against the Yankees, the Twins reached 100 steals for the season for the first time since 2012.

“I think we're a different team,” Baldelli said. “I think we're a different team because one, we have different players. We have a different roster that can do this at a high level. But also, I think the mentality. That's a meaningful change, and I think something that's going to benefit this club going forward.”

I’ve never been to Coachella, but I always watch with interest when they reveal their lineup. Here are five songs from acts I like on the 2026 lineup.

The XX, “On Hold”

Moby, “Porcelain”

Little Simz, “Offence”

Clipse, “Grindin’”

The Chats, “Pub Feed”

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