"Twins Bloggers: Get to Know 'Em" presents: Nick Nelson

Merry Christmas to everyone out in Twins Territory! I'm hopping a plane from Yankee Land out to Twins Territory tonight so that I can celebrate the holidays back with all my people ... does anyone have any good Monday Night Football plans I can latch onto because my normal Vikings plans are still New York-based. Let me know ... I'm open to watching anywhere!

(I'll be on a plane tonight, but make sure to check out Jack Steal's weekly Twins Talk podcast tonight at 9PM CST, 10PM EST. I'll be joining him again to co-host next Wednesday night, but listen in for me while I'm on the plane!)

On to normal business:

As a special Christmas treat (and partially because I was inexcusably lazy last week), I'm bringing you two Get To Know 'Em segments this week! Today, I'm bringing you the second installment, and another member of the fabulous Twins Centric group, one of the more landmark bloggers in Twins Territory that I'm sure you already know: Nick Nelson. I started reading his blog back when he was still blogging cohorts with Nick Mosvick, and since then Mr. Nelson has taken the blog to new heights. Not only is he now connected to ESPN and Rotoworld, but his is one of the most consistently updated and informative blogs, even in the doldrums of the offseason when the Twins stink of inactivity. Without further ado:

Personal-

NAME: Nick Nelson

WEBSITE: Nick's Twins Blog (www.nickstwinsblog.com)

BIRTHDAY: October 29

HOMETOWN: Born in Stillwater, MN. Currently residing in St. Louis Park, MN.

WHAT KEEPS YOU EMPLOYED OTHER THAN BLOGGING: I work part-time at a hospital and part-time at a marketing firm. I also work for Rotoworld during the baseball season.

FAVORITE COLOR: Green.

FAVORITE FOOD: Buffalo chicken sandwich

FAVORITE MOVIE: Shawshank Redemption

FAVORITE BOOK: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC: Hip-hop

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH OTHER THAN BASEBALL: Football

FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY: Baseball/Softball

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE VIKINGS/TIMBERWOLVES/WILD: I'm a fan of all three. Definitely follow the Vikings most closely of the three.

General Baseball-

WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SO GREAT TO YOU: I love the pacing of the game, the strategy, the vast array of statistical measurements, the amazing breadth of coverage via blogs and newspapers, the feeling of watching a game unfold under the sun. It's just a great story.

IF YOU HAD TO FOLLOW ANOTHER TEAM, WHICH AND WHY: Probably the Mariners. I love the way they're being run under their new front office, and USS Mariner is one of my favorite baseball blogs.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT A BALLPARK OTHER THAN THE DOME: I've been to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City a few times and I've loved it every time. Definitely the best stadium I've visited thus far.

OPINION ON INTERLEAGUE PLAY: Like it.

OPINION ON THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE: I'd like to see the AL West and AL East teams a few more times per season, but it's tough to deny the logic behind the unbalanced schedule.

FAVORITE NON-TWINS PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY: Jackie Robinson

DID YOU EVER PLAY BASEBALL/SOFTBALL, WHAT POSITION: I played ball from tee-ball through high school. Generally was an infielder: second, third and short. I play softball now and usually play left field.

Twins Generic-

WHEN DID YOU BECOME A TWINS FAN AND WHY: Tough to pinpoint a particular time. As a kid I would frequently attend games at the Dome and my love for the team sort of sprouted naturally. It doesn't hurt that the team has consistently been pretty good as I've come into adulthood.

BEST EXPERIENCE AT THE DOME: Game No. 163 this year, without a doubt. Fitting that it was also my final baseball experience at the Dome.

EVER BEEN TO TWINS FEST, HOW WAS IT: I went a couple times. It was OK; not necessarily my cup of tea.

EVER BEEN TO SPRING TRAINING, HOW WAS IT: I've been to spring training twice and had an absolute blast. Would love to go again next year.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CIRCLED BY BERT: Not to my knowledge.

HAVE YOU EVER CAUGHT A FOUL BALL OR HOME RUN BALL AT THE DOME: One time when I was a kid I tracked down a foul ball that fell into an empty section (one of many -- it was the '90s), but I gave it to my friend because we were there for his birthday party.

Twins Player Specific-

FAVORITE TWINS PLAYER IN HISTORY: Kirby Puckett

FAVORITE CURRENT TWINS PLAYER: Joe Mauer

FAVORITE OBSCURE TWINS PLAYER: Pedro Munoz

ARE THERE (WERE THERE) ANY TWINS PLAYERS YOU DISLIKE: Not really. Not a big fan of Delmon.

FAVORITE EXPERIENCE MEETING A PLAYER: I've never really met and talked with a player.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO WATCH A GAME WITH: Cuddyer, I suppose? He seems pretty good-natured and could keep me entertained with magic tricks between innings.

CURRENT PLAYER YOU'D MOST LIKE TO GO TO A BAR WITH: Mauer. I'd love to see that guy with a few drinks in him.

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO BE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH: Span. I hear he's a hoot.

YOU'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Neshek.

YOU THINK SHOULD BE A MOVIE STAR: Crede. He'd be perfect for "Mr. Glass" if they choose to re-make the movie Unbreakable.

YOU'D ASK FOR HELP ON A SCIENCE LAB: Slowey. Dude is smart.

YOU'D LIKE TO START A BUSINESS WITH: Mauer -- something tells me that pretty soon he's going to have some pretty decent coin to invest.

EXPECTATIONS OF TARGET FIELD: Should be a beautiful ballpark. Can't wait.

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE TEAM NEXT YEAR: That depends on what happens over the next few months; there's a whole lot of offseason remaining. Given the direction that the Tigers and White Sox seem to be headed in, though (shedding payroll), I'd say the Twins figure to have a pretty good shot at repeating as division champs.

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Much thanks to Nick for taking the time to help out with this offseason series! If you haven't checked out his blog yet (and why the heck haven't you!!!!), do so from now on. He's one of my first inspirations to start so you wouldn't be reading this if it weren't for him!

The holiday season is iffy for people going into work -- and since I imagine next weekend will be pretty sparse of people sitting around looking for something to read during the workday, I'm going to do another Wednesday Get to Know 'Em post instead of on Friday. Make sure to stop by next week when we profile one of the more recent additions to the Twins blogosphere, Eric from Undomed (oh what a joy it will be to find ourselves undomed and under the sun next year! Great title of a blog!).