Jax proud of wife Savannah's military service

MINNEAPOLIS -- Not that getting on a big league mound and staring down Aaron Judge in the batter's box isn't stressful, but Twins rookie right-hander Griffin Jax knows that his wife, Savannah, operates on another level of stress and pressure.

"I think my job is stressful," Jax said. "But hearing what she has to do, and all that stuff, I've got it easy."

As part of the Twins' extensive recognition for veterans and active service members from the five branches of the United States Armed Forces on Armed Forces Appreciation Day, more than 30 military families occupied donated seats in the suites level for Sunday's series finale against the Royals. The honorees commemorated fallen family members killed in the line of duty by displaying posters and photos of them.

Savannah Jax, a captain in the United States Air Force, already put her life on the line for her country once with a deployment to Afghanistan last year, and she'll soon leave her husband behind to begin another deployment, though Griffin Jax can't reveal when, where or why she's going, due to security considerations.

"I was [worried] last year," Jax said. "Where she's going this year, it's a better location. It's a little bit safer. The mission is a little bit different from where it was last year. Obviously, with anybody overseas, there's always some little level of worry. She'll be in some pretty rough areas throughout the time over there. I think for the most part, I'm confident that she'll stay safe. They'll do what they need to do."

"Having the extra connection with Mr. Jax in our dugout, too, we ended up talking with him about some things as well and getting his perspectives on things," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "But it's certainly an important week to acknowledge all the sacrifices that are made for all of us to be doing the things that we get to do every day, and the men and women that are out there upholding everything that this country is about."

In another life, Jax might have become an active duty service member himself if his baseball career hadn't taken off during his time at the United States Air Force Academy, from which he graduated alongside Savannah. After Griffin was selected by the Twins in the third round of the 2016 Draft, he worked his way up the organizational ladder to his 2021 big league debut and now has a spot in the starting rotation.

Savannah, on the other hand, stuck with the military path, financially supporting Jax while he was in the Minors as he followed her around due to her career. It's usually the other way around for a baseball family, with a player's wife often having to adapt to the ever-changing baseball lifestyle -- but Jax enjoys the uniqueness of their life.

"It's definitely a unique relationship," Jax said. "Seeing how she's handled the pressure and the stress, just in her everyday job, it inspires me because she really is ambitious by herself. She's taken on this role to serve and she's thrived in it, and it makes my life easier knowing that I have someone like her over there fighting for me."

The timing is tough, considering Jax is about to finish his season in less than a month and the deployment could eat into rare time away from baseball that the couple could enjoy together. As they did during Savannah's last deployment, they'll FaceTime twice a day and stay in constant contact.

Jax laughs as he admits he'll still rely on her for help on the home front while she's gone; Savannah usually takes care of the house and the bills and has been coaching him on all of the housework that will need to happen while she's away.

"We're building a backyard," Jax said. "I'm going to have to coordinate with all the contractors coming out for that. We had to just get a security system installed. So it's just small adult things that I haven't had to do, yet, being privileged to be a professional athlete. She'd been able to take care of all of that herself. I'm excited to take that off her plate and just let her focus on something completely else."

They were initially hoping that Savannah could finish up her active duty commitments to live with Jax full-time during the baseball season, but that will need to wait until after this upcoming deployment -- and all this sacrifice makes the prospect of that life all the more rewarding.

"It's not easy at the end of the day, but it makes it worth it when she comes home and we get to spend that much time together," Jax said.

Baldelli collects 200th win as manager

The Twins' bombastic 9-2 win over the Royals on Saturday night marked a milestone for Baldelli, who became the ninth manager in Twins history to collect 200 career wins as skipper. He enjoyed a clubhouse ceremony in his honor held by Major League coach Bill Evers, first-base coach Tommy Watkins and even Miguel Sanó, among others.

Baldelli refused to take too much time to think about his own achievements, instead attributing all of those wins and the two division championships since he arrived in Minneapolis before the 2019 season to a group effort among his players and coaches.

"We win as a team," Baldelli said. "I don’t think manager wins are a thing. That’s not something I count, or any of the people I know who do this job are really counting in any way, shape or form. But I will count this: It’s my first win since the birth of my daughter. That’s pretty cool and important to me, and I will have the ball that was just given to me by the guys in the clubhouse, which was very nice."