We moved here when I was six and the next year my mother began taking me to the Twins games at Metropolitan Stadium. We sat in the bleachers. We most often went to the game when there was a double-header. It was thrifty. Between games, we had a barbecue beef sandwich and a frosty ice cream cup. It quickly became a tradition. My mother was a bad times and good times fan, far better than I am. But I am grateful to my mother for a strong connection to one sport (she was connected to them all) and the memories of Zoilo Versalles and Harmon Killebrew and Jim Kaat and Mud Cat Grant and Tony Oliva and Halsey Hall and sunburns and getting rained on and hoping someone else would catch the foul ball if it came our way. The crack of the bat … it’s a part of summer for me.