Twins pitching prospect Travis Adams relives his spring training moment of heroism

FORT MYERS, FLA. – No matter what Travis Adams does during his first major league spring training, nothing will match the adrenaline he felt during a day after camp last March.

Adams was playing a video game — “probably ‘Madden,’ ” he said — when he and his housemate, minor league pitcher Jaylen Nowlin, heard a loud boom in their neighborhood. When they looked outside the window in Nowlin’s room, they saw a neighbor’s house on fire.

Adams, a 25-year-old righthander, immediately rushed outside and asked whether there was anybody in the house.

“When I got into the street, there was one guy out there, and then a couple of other people came,” Adams said. “I didn’t really know if anyone lived in that house just because I hadn’t seen anyone over there the whole time we lived over there.”

There was an older man inside the house.

“Busted down the front door, and there was just so much stuff blocking it, I really wasn’t able to open it,” Adams said. “I found the door he used on the left side of the house. That’s where the fire was blocking it, that side of the house. Then I found another door on the right side in the backyard.”

Once Adams found a door that wasn’t blocked, he and three others pulled the homeowner away from the blaze. WBBH-TV in Fort Myers reported the 82-year-old man was uninjured, but a firefighter sustained first- and second-degree burns.

“There wasn’t even a second thought of going out and helping,” Adams said. “It was just kind of natural. … Guys randomly at times will bring it up. It’s kind of a fun and crazy memory to bring up and think of with the whole situation.”

The Twins added Adams to their 40-man roster in November. He had a 3.67 ERA in 19 starts at Class AA before he was promoted to Class AAA for the final month of the season.