Students at St. Mary's School in Owatonna had the chance to meet Minnesota Twins players Robbie Grossman and Jorge Polanco Thursday morning, but the biggest ovation came when TC Bear entered the gym, high-fived students and took half court shots with a basketball.

The Minnesota Twins winter caravan visit packed the Jerry Kent gym with students and staff clad in Twins' gear. Radio broadcaster Cory Provus led the program which featured player introductions, an outlook on the upcoming season and questions from the students. Grossman and Polanco spoke of their memories of being young and looking up to professional athletes. For Grossman, who is from Houston, that player was Craig Biggio. Polanco grew up in the Dominican Republic where baseball is a top sport.

The players shared stories of their favorite baseball memories and how they learned they had become major leaguers. A student asked what their reaction was to losing the wild card playoff game against the Yankees. The response was they took a month off to get away from the game and come back focused on the next season. But students also wanted to know what foods TC liked. Provus responded that he like most everything.

Students asked what their favorite sports were besides baseball. Grossman said football, which drew a loud cheer. Polanco said basketball. That led to a half-court shooting contest between the players and TC, who hit the rim with a couple of his heaves and ended with tremendous cheering from the students.

The Twins host their annual Twinsfest event Friday, January 19 through Sunday, January 21 at Target Field.

 

 

 

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