Origin of Minnesota Twins Spartan Helmet Celebration Revealed

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Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins
Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

It wasn’t that long ago that a package of processed meat was being thrown around the Minnesota Twins dugout, in the name of good luck. But the infamous rally sausage has been retired for a while now, leaving the 2025 Twins without any good luck charms or home run celebration props, to start the season.

Of course, the rally sausage isn’t the only dugout prop Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton & Co. have celebrated with, in recent seasons. The MN Twins have also showcased a Prince themed jacket, hat and air guitar as well as their fishing vest from a couple of years ago, courtesy of Pablo Lopez.

This year, however, after a slow start to the regular season, the 2025 club ditched the fun local-themed props and passed on any other moldy meat options. Instead, this iteration of the Twins needed something more serious… more battle (back) oriented. Thus, the Spartan helmet was born.

What’s the deal with the 2025 Minnesota Twins Spartan helmet celebration prop?

Up until recently, however, we had yet to hear the origin story for Minnesota’s new Spartan helmet celebration tool. That was until Wednesday afternoon, when Twins.TV reporter Audra Martin revealed that the helmet prop was born from a motivational speech delivered by veteran catcher Christian Vazquez, earlier in the season.

The period where “things weren’t going too great”, that Audra refers to in her tweet is assumedly sometime before the Minnesota Twins — winners of nin-straight entering game two of today’s doubleheader in Baltimore — started on their current hot streak.

It’s only been a couple of weeks so it’s easy to remember the bad vibes surrounding this team, when they started the year 7-15. The fallout from Minnesota’s slow start were no surprise. This offseason, Carlos Correa trade rumors were bubbling underneath the surface.

Related: 45-Year-Old Former Minnesota Twins Pitcher Signs With New AL Central Team

Early in the season, Rocco Baldelli’s future job status was more than up in the air, attendance at Target Field was plummeting and we even saw Pablo Lopez trade rumors started making their rounds. Hell, even this week, Byron Buxton was named in a trade rumors piece by Buster Olney (ESPN).

New Twins Spartan helmet comes through again?

Need more evidence on the new rally helmet? In game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Orioles, the motivation behind the new celebration prop, Christian Vazquez, launched his first home run of the season, a three-run shot that gave the Twins a 4-3 lead that they’d hold for the rest of the game.

After Vazquez launched his 4th inning home run, the red accents atop the Spartan helmet came disconnected. Chris Paddack was there to save the day in game one, but the new prop fell apart again during game two, this time after a go-ahead Kody Clemens homer in the top of the 8th inning.

Credit the Spartan helmet, or the Minnesota Twins’ improved health… but whatever’s been the catalyst for this recent hot streak needs to stay, because this has been a much different team, of late. If that means a little duct tape or super glue between Wednesday and Thursday, then so be it.

Ultimately, these home run celebrations and weird baseball props reflect a team that is coming together more and more as the season goes on, something that is crucial during the grind of a 162 game MLB season. At just 22-20 they have plenty of work to do if they are going to climb back into the division.

If this stretch has proven anything though, it’s that the good team on paper heading into the season is real. Now, it’s about finding consistency and keeping it going the rest of the way.

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