Twins games usually come with a roster change that offers a reminder of our big-league team's association with the St. Paul Saints that is now in its third summer.
"The Twins have the best Triple-A situation in the majors,'' Marv Goldklang said. "When both teams are home, they can call over to St. Paul at 5 o'clock and have a replacement there before the first pitch.''
Not much of an exaggeration there for Goldklang, the name partner of the Goldklang Group that owned the Saints from their inception in 1993 until reaching a sale agreement this March with Diamond Baseball Holdings.
The Saints are home this week vs. Louisville and are hosting a celebration before Saturday's evening game at CHS Field, not in honor of the convenient affiliation with the Twins, but rather the remarkable 28-year run in the weird world of independent pro baseball.
Four owners of those Saints — Goldklang, Bill Murray (yes, that one), Van Schley and Mike Veeck — have been invited to take a bow. The most meaningful of those should belong to Veeck, since he was the main promoter of those casts of castoffs that would somehow pack the house at motley Midway Stadium.
Saturday's true highlight will be when Darryl Strawberry arrives on the field for a ceremony to retire the No. 17 that he wore for 29 games in 1996 for the Saints.
Strawberry has been at CHS Field (opened in 2015) previously as a celebrity for an independent league all-star game, which is fortunate since seeing this Saints facility compared to what they played in at Midway could be a shock to a 61-year-old's system.
"That clubhouse at Midway was something,'' said Strawberry, laughing in a phone conversation this week. "We always had that good food spread — Wonder bread and peanut butter laid out on the table.''