Cruz gets ovation, HR in Twin Cities return 

MINNEAPOLIS -- There was no shortage of people waiting to welcome Nelson Cruz back to the Twin Cities, but it was only right that Miguel Sanó got first dibs.

Cruz, in his baby blue Rays workout shirt, had barely settled into his chair in the Zoom room in the Target Field visitors' clubhouse when Sanó popped up in the corner of the screen from the home Zoom room, beaming gleefully like a son welcoming his father home -- because, really, that's what this day was for him.

"Papa Cruz in the house!" Sanó roared, wearing a bright red T-shirt emblazoned with Cruz's likeness and jersey number.

"Hey, take it easy with us today, please!" he added. "Please take your walks!"

That, Cruz most certainly did not.

After striking out in his first plate appearance back at Target Field since his July 22 trade to Tampa Bay, Cruz launched a homer to left field off former teammate Michael Pineda in the third inning of the Rays' 10-4 win in the series opener to give his new team a 4-0 lead, drawing a standing ovation from many of the fans on hand. They had also loudly applauded as the Twins played his walk-up music prior to his first plate appearance.

"It's one of the finest moments in my career," said Cruz, who went 2-for-4 with a single and a walk. "I've been cheered before, in Texas and Baltimore, Seattle when I go there the first time, but nothing like this. ... Any time they played the walk-up song, my ex-teammates, it feels like I was on the other side. So, I just stayed focused on the game. I guess it's just part of being on a team for a long time and coming back three weeks later."

"I was hoping it’d be a few more days before he got hot and started hitting balls on the barrel like he does," Baldelli said. "Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today. You're only going to hold a guy like that down for so long. ... One of the best things they could do for their team is go and get Nelson Cruz."

Sanó and Cruz had been all but inseparable during Cruz's three seasons with the Twins, with the Dominican sluggers developing a father-son bond that helped to coax out Sanó's best season in 2019. Cruz has since started forging those relationships in his new clubhouse, which features another crop of younger Dominicans to lead by example, including Wander Franco, Francisco Mejía and Manuel Margot.

But considering Cruz's tenure in Minnesota came to an end only three weeks ago when the Twins traded the 41-year-old designated hitter to Tampa Bay for Triple-A right-handers Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman, those old relationships in Minnesota still proved vibrant, especially considering the extent to which he impacted the Twins' organization.

"It's definitely emotional," Cruz said. "You have so many good memories, not only on the field, but in the clubhouse, off the field, relationships with players and coaches and stuff. [The trade is] definitely a point in your career you never want to see coming. I understand it's part of the game also, and you have to face it."

Cruz's decorated Minnesota tenure, which saw him win the 2019 Edgar Martinez Designated Hitter of the Year Award, the 2020 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award and a pair of American League Central championships, has since given way to a recent surge by a noticeably younger Twins squad that entered Friday having won consecutive sets against the Astros and Rays, a pair of first-place teams.

Younger players have started to step up; younger leaders will soon step up. Cruz's lingering influence undoubtedly has something to do with that.

"Nellie’s influence is going to be something that I think will live on with probably all the players he’s spent time with, and probably live on for their entire careers," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I would guess that there are plenty of guys in the clubhouse that would say Nellie was among the most influential people that they’ve ever been around."

Maybe it's the ability to be metronomic in his everyday preparation; perhaps it's the care he shows -- and receives in return -- to everyone in his orbit. Listening to his Rays teammates speak about his three-week tenure in Tampa Bay so far, it's no wonder he was able to develop such lasting relationships up and down the organization in Minnesota, where fans dotted the stands still wearing his No. 23 jersey as they roared for a pregame video featuring his Twins highlights.

"Look, he's already had an impact on our team," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He spent basically three years with the Twins, so I know he's got a lot of friends over there, a lot of people that he cares about and a lot of people that care about him. I'm sure he'll be received really, really well by this crowd. How can you not? Just the presence and just the quality of the person."

"He's getting to know people on a personal level, and to see somebody with his kind of track record, with his kind of success that he's had at the Major Leagues, and how he just cares about his teammates and loves his teammates is one of the cooler things for me to see," Rays infielder Joey Wendle said.

They are, of course, also enjoying the production he's given them out of the newly fortified designated hitter spot in their lineup, which had previously been a glaring weakness. Cruz has four homers and three doubles in 16 games, though he's only slugged .422 with a .668 OPS since joining the Rays.

Even so, there's no way to truly quantify the stability Cruz brings, both in the lineup and in the clubhouse.

"I mean, he has definitely changed our whole lineup, when you have just a stable, steady piece that you can put in the two-, three- or four-hole, just somebody that you know is going to be in there every single day," Wendle said. "And then on top of that, obviously, it's the offensive production itself. That's what makes Nelson Cruz, Nelson Cruz."

And after nearly three seasons of witnessing that firsthand, Twins fans didn't have to wait too long to finally get the chance to say "thank you" firsthand on Friday.