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Twins Ace Setup Man Set for Twins Camp 2025!
The Minnesota Twins Baseball Fantasy Camp is thrilled to announce a new member to an already outstanding Pro Staff. Next January, at our 2025, camp, we will be joined by a former Twins standout. We welcome right-handed relief specialist, Matt Guerrier. Welcome to the team Matt!
Relief Pitcher and “Set-up” man – Matt Guerrier
Matt Guerrier was drafted in the 33rd round of the 1996 MLB draft by the Royals, but opted to attend college at Kent State University. In 1999 he was drafted by the White Sox in the 10th round of the MLB draft. In 2002 he was traded from Chicago to the Pirates before being selected off waivers by the Twins. He made his MLB debut vs. the Montreal Expos on June 17, 2004. He recorded his first win in 2006 vs. the Orioles. He became a mainstay in the Twins bullpen when set up man Pat Neshak went down with an injury early in the 2008 season. He made major strides in his career during the 2009 season, posting a 5-1 record, with one recorded save and a ERA of 2.36 in 79 relief appearances. He also led the American League that season in holds with 33 to his credit.
Matt signed a 3 year free agent contract with the LA Dodgers in 2011. That season he led the Dodger staff with 70 appearances, the third consecutive season where he had 70 or more appearances. That same season, he became the first pitcher in baseball history to record at least one save in 6 consecutive seasons. In July of 2013 he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. He returned to the Twins in 2014, and made his final big league appearance on July 22nd of that season.
Welcome Matt!
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Twins Camp 2024 Reunion A Big Hit!
Nearly 80 Campers From 7 States Were On Hand!
The Minnesota Twins Baseball Fantasy Camp held it’s annual reunion game inside Target field on a beautiful late afternoon-early evening on Friday, September 20th. Approximately 80 veteran and “rookie” campers preregistered-registered to enjoy one of the most beautiful venues in all of Major League baseball. Our annual reunion gathering remains one of the most popular events on the camp’s annual calendar.
A first for a Camp Reunion game at Target – we went under the lights for the first time on what can only be described as a perfect evening!
Registration was again held in the third base lounge at Target, where rookie campers were issued their uniform for the day, along with a belt, socks and fitted hat that they will bring with them to Florida next January. All participating campers also sign a waiver prior to play. Over 70 campers from as far away as Maryland, Nevada, Texas and Florida were on hand to participate in this year’s games . Again this year, the roster was divided into four teams and a doubleheader was played. In keeping with prior tradition, our “rookie” campers were moved to the top of each line-up to ensure that they got as many “at bats” as possible. According to Camp Director, Stan Dickman, the goal is to get every participant at least two trips to the plate. “We make some minor adjustments to the rules to minimize time taken between innings to ensure that the majority of the time that we have on the field is spent in game activities. Again this year we were able to meet our goal of getting each participant the targeted two at bats. Having the chance to hit at a Major League ballpark is still a huge thrill for our campers”.
We wish to also thank the veteran campers who “captained” the camper teams at this year’s event. Thanks to Eric Nelson, Dan Williams, Rick Bruce, Paul Bennett, Bruce Thome, Mark Besser, John Green and Pat Held for taking the reins in organizing our teams and ensuring that all of the participants got their share of game action.
As is typically the case, the baseball got better at the after party held this year again at the Sports Page.
Following the game action, the fun continued when many of the campers and their guests gathered at the Sports Page Grill in Bloomington, MN. Once again this year Becky and her team at the Page served as the perfect hosts. The Sports Page team provided a delicious buffet of pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, chicken drummies and onion rings being on the menu.
 
    
Thanks to everyone involved in making this year’s camp reunion event a success. Again, special thanks to the Minnesota Twins and their team for their hospitality at Target Field. We’ll meet again next, on January 4th, in beautiful Ft Myers, Florida for the 2025 edition of the Minnesota Twins Camp!
Well Done Campers!
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Gunner Beranek – Son of 2016 Twins Camper, Tom Beranek, Plays in 2024 Little League World Series!
Gunner Beranek Has the Baseball Experience of a Lifetime!
In 2016, we were thrilled to have three Miller, South Dakota natives join us at Twins Camp to share a baseball experience and make some memories. Three brothers, Tom, Tim and Joe, had grown up playing baseball on the prairies of South Dakota and had heard about the Twins Fantasy Camp and wanted to do it as a group. Tim now hails from Denver, Colorado, Tom is in Henderson, NV, and Joe continues to live in the Miller, SD area.
The 2024 Team Nevada that represented the Mountain Region that finished in third place on the U.S. side of the tournament bracket this past August in Williamsport, PA.
 
Gunner and his teammates received Big League treatment in Williamsport at the Little League World Series.
As stated earlier, Tom now resides in Henderson, NV, where the family is involved in the Little League program. Gunner played with the Paseo Verde Little League team, and it was there in July that their journey to the Little League World Series began. After winning the District 2 tournament in Henderson, the boys went on to compete for the Nevada State title. In the State Championship game vs. Reno National LL, they won by a score of 12-0, with their starting pitcher tossing a complete game, no hitter.
The Nevada squad then traveled to San Bernardino, CA, where they competed for the Mountain Regional title that would send them to Pennsylvania. In double elimination play, they lost their opening game to Team Montana (7-1), but went on to down Wyoming (24-4), Montana (6-0) and Colorado (4-0). In the Mountain Regionals Team Nevada finished with three consecutive shut outs where defense was the key to those victories. To claim the Mountain Region title they would need to defeat a solid Utah team. In that Mountain Region Championship game, Team Nevada’s pitcher again threw a no hitter. In the first inning, Gunner was responsible for all three of the outs, including an unassisted double play for the 2nd and 3rd outs, when he snagged a line drive and stepped on second base to complete the twin killing.
 
Gunner shows perfect fielding form at second base during action at the World Series!
On Saturday morning, August 10th, they boarded a corporate jet provided by ESPN, and along with teams from Hawaii and Washington state, headed to Williamsport. Team Nevada started the tournament by posting an impressive 9-1 win over the squad from the Metro Region (New York), and followed that up with a win over the West Region representatives from Hawaii, 3-2. Those games were followed by bouts with a solid Southwest Regional team from Texas (Texas 5 – Nevada 2) and the Southeast representatives from Florida (Florida 6 – Nevada 3).
This incredible odyssey ended with Team Nevada claiming a third place finish on the United State side of the bracket. The boys played 16 games during their run and in 10 of those 16, surrendered 0 or 1 run. They allowed two or more runs only five times.
The boys even had the opportunity to rub elbows with some of today’s MLB stars. Here Gunner poses with New York Yankee Ace, Gerrit Cole.
 
The Beranek family all turned out to cheer on the Nevada Squad. Left, Tom poses at the World Series. the photo on the right shows Gunner with his proud Papa and Uncles, Joe (far left) & Tim (center).
According to Tom, to say this experience was a dream come true, would be an understatement. “The boys had an incredible season and made memories that will last them a lifetime. I know it will be for me. To play against some of the best teams and players in the country was simply amazing. The fact that my brothers could join us in Pennsylvania and make still another baseball memory was very special to all of us. We’re very proud of all that Gunner and his teammates accomplished this summer.”
Gunner poses with the District Tournament trophy with his Mom Robin and Dad Tom.
Congratulations to Gunner and the entire Beranek Family!
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Twins Camp Squad Dominates 2024 Nashville
Fantasy Camp Shootout!
2024 Twins Fantasy Camp Championship Nashville Squad poses with their 2024 Shootout trophy. Members included (Front Row-Lto R): Adam Ross, Josh Popp, Scott Morris, Ryan Hess, Dave Kloster, Dave Hinnenkamp & Dustin Hinnenkamp. Back Row (L to R): Josh Stoll, Kirby Puckett Jr., Justin Seurer, Steve Kluvers, David Prybilla, Todd Holsman and Ryan Park.
Twins Camp veteran Ryan Hess assembled a truly incredible team for this year’s Music City Fantasy Camp Shootout. The Shootout is delivered by a company called 18 Stitches and this year was comprised of 12 Fantasy Camp Teams representing 8 different franchises. This was the inaugaral appearance by a Twins Fantasy camp team at the Shootout. We have now had teams compete in three different Fantasy Camp tournaments that have been held in Tampa, City of Palms, FL and now Nashville Tennessee. As a result, the Twins Camp has established itself as one that plays as good of baseball as any camp in MLB!
This year’s Shootout was held in Nashville on October 3-6, 2024. Our Twins team was the only team in the tournament to finish with an unblemished pool play record, posting a 5-0 record. The team started the tournament by downing the A’s by a 19-1 score. They then went on to drub the Red Sox 3 team in game 2, 17-3, blanked the Pirates in game 3, 7-0, downed the Braves 2 team in game 4 by a score of 15-3. Game 5 had them playing the Red Sox 1 team that they defeated in the closest game of their tournament, 3-1. That set up the Sunday, October 6th championship game that was played at First Horizon Park, home field of the Nashville Sound – the AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. To claim the title, our Twins would need to beat still another Red Sox team – the Red Sox 2.
In the Championship game the Twins struck early with 2 runs in the first and added 2 more runs in the 2nd inning. Josh Stoll was the Twins starter and went the distance. The Red Sox were only able to get a runner to third base only twice in the game and never did push a run across. From their 4-0, lead, the boys never looked back and continued to add runs in support of Stoll by winning the crown in a 12-0 rout. For the tournament the Twins demonstrated incredible balance on both defense and at the plate, scoring 78 runs and allowing only 8 over the 6 games that they played. Josh Stoll was selected as the Tournament MVP by his Twins teammates.
This year’s team brought a fan base with them to Music City. Campers Charlie Ross and Gerry Seurer made the trip to watch their sons Adam and Justin play and to cheer on the Twins Camp team. Also making the trip were Super Fans, Tracey Gohmann and Staci Melby. These girls are the face of the camp family. Schedule a Camp event and they are there!
Congratulations to this year’s Twins team. Thanks for representing the camp family in perfect style – on and off the field! Look forward to toasting you in January!
 
 
Congratulations Fellas & Thank you for Making Us Proud!
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Three Twins Campers Named As All-Stars to the 2024 Sioux Amateur Baseball League
2024 Sioux Amateur Baseball League All-Stars (left to right): Tim Salter, Darold Opp and Bob Lange.
One of the true benefits of the Fantasy Camp experience, is that it reconnects us with the game we grew up and fell in love with so many years ago. That has certainly been the case of this author.
For many campers that means participating in summer league baseball. Three of our own were members of the South Dakota Prairie Dog team that participated in the Sioux Amateur Baseball League this past summer. Their play earned them spots on one of the league’s All-Star teams this fall. Those three campers included Tim Salter, Darold Opp and Bob Lange.
Congratulations Fellas! Well Done!
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2025 Twins Camp Is Still A Sell Out !!
The Minnesota Twins Camp is at a sold out position for 2025. We are currently still at over 140 registrants. If, for any reason, your plans have changed, we would appreciate hearing from you as soon as possible. We understand that life happens and plans sometime need to change. We just want to make sure that we are ready for you when you arrive next January. We’ll be sending out final statements this month with payment due in November.
Hotel accommodations are again going to be very tight. If you know you won’t be needing to stay at the Camp Hotel, please let us know as soon as possible.
We are happy to take credit card payments, the increasing cost associated with those fees require us to add $200.00 to the base rate for anyone paying by credit card. We welcome your personal check. Thank you!
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Prayers for everyone in the path of the approaching storm Milton. Please join us in keeping the folks in Ft Myers and all of SW Florida in your thoughts and prayers.
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