Ron Gardenhire had some fun with his former team this week with the Tigers preparing for a five-game series against the Twins in Minnesota. Like Urban Meyer referring to That Team Up North, Gardenhire now strictly refers to the Twins as 'That Other Ballclub.'
"Well, I worked there for a long time, I have a lot of friends there. But it is 'that other ballclub,'" he told 97.1 The Ticket. "I'm the Detroit Tigers manager, and I can't be any happier."
And now the Twins are returning the favor. In a seat directly behind home plate at Target Field on Friday was a giant cutout of Gardenhire's face -- right next to Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts.
It's Gardenhire's former headshot from his days as the Twins' manager. And it's impossible to miss.
Gardenhire had a literal front-row seat to some early fireworks from the Twins in Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader when Jorge Polanco and Josh Donaldson went back-to-back off Matthew Boyd to lead off the bottom of the first.
Screenshot, MLB.com
Hopefully the Tigers will give him something to cheer about as the series continues.
Gardenhire, who managed the Twins to six division titles from 2002-14, said this week he was looking forward to returning to the Minneapolis area.
"Get to see my daughter, if she'll let me go to the house because of COVID. She works in healthcare so I still have to talk her into letting me at least come to the house. I keep telling her, 'I get tested every other day, so I'm okay.' I'm gonna fight that one and try to go home and see her little Lab and hang out at my house for a day or two," Gardenhire said.
Maybe he can bring his cutout with him.
