Twins Blog: Opening Day Feelings

Matt Kummer, WCCO-TV Executive Producer

Pro-baseball players are paid to use their skills at a high level, and to bury their emotions to get the job done.

It was incredible to see Joe Nathan to walk through the bullpen doors at Target Field yesterday, with his song "Stand Up and Shout" playing, and 40,000 fans screaming his name.

Nathan's journey back to the mound has been well documented. He missed all of last season after having surgery on his right elbow. This was the first time the Twins' closer has played a game at Target Field.

Nathan even deposited some of the dirt from the Metrodome pitching mound on the Target Field mound before the game.

It was one game, but it certainly felt like a beginning. A beginning of a comeback, not just for the Nathan, but also the Twins, who have struggled to hit the ball so far this year.

Emotions were running high after the Twins finally solved A's starter Brett Anderson in the 8th inning, knocking in two runs to take a 2-1 lead into the 9th.

The sellout crowd was on its feet, and you could just feel that energy helping Nathan dispatch the A's lineup in the 9th for his first Target Field save. Let's hope it's just the first of many more to come.