Jhoan Duran’s Entrance is Worth the Price of Admission
The Minnesota Twins started out their 2024 regular season with some ugly baseball, and then they went on a 13-game winning streak that helped bring them back into the thick of it. While Jhoan Duran wasn’t available out of the gate, he has returned and Jhoan Duran’s entrance is well worth the price of admission.
If you’ve solely been watching the Minnesota Twins on television, and that has become an exercise in and of itself recently, then you have probably missed out on one of the best things going across all of Major League Baseball. Jhoan Duran’s entrance is something to behold in person, and seeing the bullpen door swing open only to usher the fireballer into Target Field is incredible.
For the past few seasons now, Jhoan Duran has been among the best relievers in baseball. His ability to chuck pitches by hitters at more than 104 mph is truly incredible. Closer entrances have become something of an ode to old-school wrestling with the superstar jogging down the carpet to the ring. While the Twins don’t roll out any sort of a runway, the theatrics for Duran may be unmatched.
Duran Brings the Fire
Last season, Twins vice president of communications and content Dustin Morse came up with an idea to give Jhoan Duran his own entrance package. It was a work in progress between both he and the closer, but they combined to find something with fire, flames, and of course a tarantula with Minnesota’s closer rocking the Durantula nickname.
Jhoan Duran's entrance is amazing
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) May 4, 2024
pic.twitter.com/w7JUXCbKpI
Best viewed when Target Field is rocking for a night game, the lights go down and fans light up their phones as the music blares throughout the stadium. If that doesn’t get the excitement up for a save situation in which the Twins are looking to close out a game, I’m not sure what will.
Closer Entrances Aren’t New
What Duran brings to the Twins isn’t revolutionary from an entrance perspective, but it may be the most exciting. Arguably the most notable instance of a closer entrance was that of New York Mets fireballer coming out to Narco complete with Timmy Trumpets in attendance and playing live for the occasion. However, that isn’t a consistent thing on a game-by-game basis, and Diaz missed all of last season while being injured during the World Baseball Classic.
Sound 'em. 🎺🎺🎺
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 1, 2022
(ft. @TimmyTrumpet) pic.twitter.com/kVXRH7u0my
Obviously Mariano Rivera was synonymous with Enter Sandman by Metallica when making the jog onto the Yankees Stadium mound, and multiple other closers have coined their go-to music over the years as well. Having an opportunity to hype up a reliever coming in out of the bullpen with eyes on grabbing a save and sending their team to victory is pretty special.
Related: Rocco Baldelli Hates Facing ‘Openers’… but Minnesota Twins Win Again Anyway
Twins Hit Different With Duran
Part of the excitement behind Jhoan Duran’s entrance is just how special the entirety of the stadium gets into it. Turning down the lights and having a strobe effect go throughout Target Field while the downtown landscape is lit up for the evening shows so well. Then there’s the fire and red tones that really lean into what Duran specifically brings to the mound.
Brock Stewart's walkout is AWESOME pic.twitter.com/Dty7n7oR7w
— Melissa Berman (@Melissa_Berman) September 27, 2023
Minnesota has replicated some of these feelings with their other late inning relievers as well. Brock Stewart gets a lightning-fueled treatment, and while his doesn’t incorporate the same level of theatrics, it’s clear that the Twins marketing department knows what they are doing in these situations.
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