Bob Keppel

Lore & Background

Keppel attended De Smet Jesuit High School in Creve Coeur, Missouri and while playing in the minor leagues attended the University of Notre Dame. He was selected by the New York Mets in the first round of the draft (36th overall), with the compensation pick the Mets gained from the loss of free agent John Olerud. Keppel spent parts of six seasons in the team's farm system before signing a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals. He made his major league debut on May 25, eventually starting six games for the club. He played in the Colorado Rockies' system. After starting the year 0–4, Keppel was sent to Colorado's Triple-A affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, upon clearing waivers. He played for the Florida Marlins' Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes and became a free agent at the end of the season. In December 2008, he signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins. Keppel was recalled by the Twins on June 22, 2009. On October 6, 2009, Keppel was the winning pitcher in the 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game that sent the Twins into the American League Division Series. On January 4, 2010, Keppel was released by Minnesota. On January 6, 2010, Keppel agreed to a contract with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball. Keppel signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds on January 3, 2014. He elected free agency on November 7, 2015 and has not played professionally since.

In Their Own Story

The sky over the Mississippi is the color of a bruise, that deep indigo that means the game is going into its final act. The air smells like cold beer and the faint sweetness of the hot dogs from the stand behind you. You can feel the vibration of the crowd in the soles of your shoes, a low hum that has been building since the seventh.

Then the umpire steps out. The pitcher lifts his glove. And there it is—that single, raw, almost feral bark from somewhere in the lower bowl. 'TWIN CITIES!' It hits you in the chest before your brain even registers the words. And then the stadium catches fire. The roar behind you, the roar to your left, the roar from the upper deck cascading down like water over a dam. Someone two rows back slaps the back of your head. You are laughing. You are yelling. You do not know the names of the people around you, but for the next ten seconds you are one organism, one lung, one voice.

The pitcher throws. The ball tangles in the outfield grass. And the whole bowl exhales, and Keppel's voice is already fading into the general thunder, just another thread in the tapestry of the night, already part of something bigger than one man in a Twins cap.

Reader's Guide

Robert Griffin 'Bobby' Keppel is a former professional baseball pitcher, not a fan who leads a call at Target Field.

Did You Know?

• Keppel was selected by the New York Mets in the first round of the draft (36th overall) as compensation for the loss of free agent John Olerud.
• He was the winning pitcher in the 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game for the Minnesota Twins.
• Keppel played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League.