This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach's Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Dear Twins fans:

My name is Matthew Leach, and as of Jan. 1, I’m going to be your new Twins beat reporter. I know I’m stepping into some big shoes, and I’m excited for the opportunity.

I’m new to the Twins, but not to covering baseball. From 2002-2011, I was MLB.com’s Cardinals beat reporter. I was a national reporter for about two years after that, but over the last 11 years I moved into editing and management. As I got farther and farther from the game on the field, I missed the daily rhythm of the game, the challenge of working a locker room, the excitement of trying to do a great game justice, and the familiar atmosphere of the press box.

So here I am, back in one of the most difficult, taxing and best jobs on the planet.

Baseball has changed drastically since 2011. Back then, a reliever who hit 95 was a flamethrower, and you could be a power pitcher with less than a strikeout per inning. Statcast didn’t exist, and the Astros were still in the National League.

At its heart, though, this is the same sport that I fell in love with in the early 1980s, the same sport many of you have loved for even longer than that. As Earl Weaver said, “We do this every day,” and that’s the best thing about covering baseball. There’s always something happening, always something to write about and talk about.

I’m a Florida native who has lived in a lot of places, but I haven’t spent a lot of time in the Twin Cities. I know it’s beautiful, I know it’s colder than where I live now (Athens, Georgia), I know it’s a great place for sports, and I know you have a top-notch ballpark. I know you have one of the greatest musical legacies in America, and it’s killing me not to drop a reference here to semi-local band The Hold Steady, but I’ll resist.

What I hope you’ll see in my coverage is passion and enthusiasm for the sport, a commitment to fairness, and respect for both you the reader and for the people I cover. I’m not an attack dog but I’m also not a lapdog. I’m going to assume that, most of the time, you know what happened in last night’s game. So I’m going to look to help you understand why it happened, how it happened and why it matters.

There are few expressions in sports I find more tiresome than “doing it the right way,” but it’s always been important to me to do this job the right way. I intend to earn your respect, and that of the players, coaches, front office and ownership by being honest, clear, responsible and fair. My job is to write things that I can stand behind without embarrassment or apology.

I also believe that this sport and this job should be fun. You watch because you care, but you also watch for enjoyment. I do the job because I get paid, sure, but also because I love it. If you don’t love coming to the park every day, you will not last as a beat reporter. We’re not covering peace talks here. It’s baseball, and I love it, and I assume that you do as well. I take the work seriously, and I respect you and the sport, but if we’re not having fun, what are we even doing here?

It's still a few days before I officially take over, and you’ll still get a bit more content from Do. But I’m thrilled to be a ball writer again, and I can’t wait to get to know the team, the region and the ballclub. Let’s build something this summer.