Twins Winter Caravan A Hit With Blue Wahoos Fans

Before his first-time visit to Pensacola during the 2019 baseball season, Alex Hassan received an advance scouting report.
It came from his supervisor. Jeremy Zoll was formerly the Minnesota Twins director of minor league operations. He had made a few earlier trips to check out the Blue Wahoos and team operations.
"Jeremy was telling me that Pensacola is unbelievable," said Hassan, recalling the conversation during last Thursday's Twins Winter Caravan Pensacola at Blue Wahoos Stadium. "He said, 'It's an amazing place. You're going to love it.' I took his word for it."
The experience proved even better.
After his flight landed at Pensacola International Airport, the luck of a rental car availability provided Hassan with a Jeep Wrangler.
The weather was warm. Sun out. Hassan put the top down and headed toward his beachfront hotel. As he approached Bob Sikes Bridge, it provided the first vista of Pensacola Beach.
"I get this beautiful view of the ocean (Gulf of Mexico). I am thinking to myself, 'Okay, this might work.' This is pretty good."
Laughter ensued from the audience as Hassan, whom the Twins promoted in November to director of player development, told his first-impression story during a luncheon with Blue Wahoos sponsors last Thursday at 5 Eleven Palafox.
Hassan, 31, who lived a dream when the Quincy, Mass. native made his major league debut in 2014 with the Boston Red Sox, was part of four Twins representatives who informed and entertained at the Twins Winter Caravan.
It was a full day of events, designed to engage with Blue Wahoos fans, sponsors and the community.
A quick recap:
--- The sponsor luncheon at 5 Eleven Palafox was the first event. Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer addressed the gathering along with Hassan and returning manager Ramon Borrego. A buffet meal was prepared by Blue Wahoos executive chief Travis Wilson.
"We are going to have good players and they are going to come here ready," said Borrego in firing up the crowd.
--- In mid-afternoon, 2019 Blue Wahoos outfielder Mark Contreras, one of just nine players in Minor League Baseball to be selected as a Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, was joined by 19-year-old rising prospect Willie Joe Garry Jr., in reading to young children at the Bodacious Bookstore and Café.
With team mascot Kazoo front and center, they entertained the kids while showing off their personalities in reading books.
--- All four Twins representatives then participated in a media interview event later in the afternoon, followed by the two hour public event at the stadium.
--- There was a yard sale in front of the Blue Wahoos dugout where hundreds of fans filled beach bags full of Blue Wahoos souvenirs. The Hancock-Whitney Bank Club was filled with season-ticket holders sampling a variety of specialty appetizers.
    Inside the Blue Wahoos clubhouse, fans were getting portraits taken by photographer Nino Menedez who set up an area in front of lockers. The public was able to tour the clubhouse, even take a couple swings in the indoor batting cage.
  The players, meanwhile, signed autographs at the Bait and Tackle Shop, then participated in the Q/A with fans in the season-ticket holder lounge. All of that was then followed by the unveiling of a new, pink, throwback jersey to be worn on Sunday, along with the team's promotional schedule.
  It was a full day of activities that reinforced the Blue Wahoos partnership with the Twins, forged last season as first-year affiliation in the Double-A Southern League.
  "We were looking for a new home," Hassan said.
   In their new home, the Twins saw advancement of seven Blue Wahoos players who made MLB debuts with the parent club in helping Minnesota win the American League Central Division title, while attaining the second-most wins (102) in franchise history.
   "In my view, the best partnerships are ones where each party is working together to achieve collective goals," Hassan said. "I felt that here (Pensacola) from day one. We are working together.
 "I want to thank all of you for all the work you do. We could not be possibly be any happier."
 During that first Pensacola visit, Hassan visited Joe Patti's Seafood, not far from the ballpark.
"I love seafood," Hassan said. "I walk in and it's like the Holy Grail of fish. I had some fresh sushi. Then I pull into the ballpark, see the facilities, the field, just such an upgrade for us. Above and beyond what we wanted for our players.
"All those things were amazing, but what really made it clear to me this was someplace special is when I got to meet people and see the operation from top down and what they have built here."