As Twins Daily’s Winter Meltdown has grown in the public consciousness, it’s also grown in the number of guests. Today, we’re thrilled to announce LaTroy Hawkins will be joining our party, where he’ll be interviewed by Aaron Gleeman and John Bonnes, participate in some activities, and stick around to meet our caretakers and their friends. (Sorry, absolutely no autographs.) Plus, we’ll reveal our second guest tomorrow!
“Hawk” spent over two decades in Major League Baseball, but the core of his career came with the Minnesota Twins. Drafted by the team in 1991, Hawkins worked his way through the organization and made his major league debut in 1995. The Twins used him in a wide range of roles: starter, long reliever, setup man, and eventually closer. That flexibility made him a regular presence on the pitching staff throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, a period when Minnesota was moving from one contending generation to another.
Hawkins’ best-known seasons came during his time in the bullpen. Hawkins was a key contributor in the 2002 and 2003 division-winning teams, frequently asked to pitch in high-leverage situations late in games. Hawkins ended up pitching in 366 Twins games over nine years, finishing his Minnesota tenure as one of the team’s all-time leaders in relief appearances and innings pitched by a reliever. He developed from a do-anything contributor to an overpowering reliever who showed up consistently and handled whatever role was assigned to him.
After leaving Minnesota, Hawkins went on to pitch for ten(!) more major league teams over the next 12 years, extending his career into his early forties and becoming one of the most widely traveled pitchers in MLB history. Still, his longest stay and most recognizable stretch came with the Twins, where he established himself as a dependable arm and team leader for an organization rediscovering its mojo.
After his playing career, he rejoined the franchise, joining the organization as a special assistant in 2016, and will be the team’s bullpen coach this upcoming year under new manager Derek Shelton.
We would love for you to get to know him better. It’s not too late to get tickets, but you can’t just buy them. We hoped to sell some for $60, but we’re limited to just 250 tickets, and we need to prioritize our Caretakers, so we can’t release them to the general public. But you can become a Caretaker for as little as $4/month, and that gets you a free ticket, AND you can bring up to three more guests for just $20 apiece.
If you are already a Caretaker, THANK YOU. But please do not delay in buying your ticket. We will likely sell out, even limiting them to Caretakers and their friends. So grab them now.
Each ticket includes:
Two complimentary craft beers
An exclusive Winter Meltdown 2026 pint glass
Automatic entry into door prize raffles
Five hours of premium Hot Stove hangouts with your people
Live on-stage interviews hosted by Aaron Gleeman & John Bonnes
Face time with special guests who mingle with the Twins Daily community
Event Details
Date: Saturday, January 24
Time: 4:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Smorgie’s, 508 N 1st Ave, Minneapolis
With the Winter Meltdown falling on the same weekend as TwinsFest, the day will be a full, perfectly sequenced celebration of baseball. Spend the afternoon at Target Field soaking in TwinsFest, then make the easy trip over to Smorgie’s to keep the energy rolling – the ideal way to transition from daytime fan fest to an evening surrounded by fellow diehards, cold drinks, and great conversation.
And join us tomorrow when we announce our final guest! He’ll be a “first” for Twins Daily’s Winter Meltdown!