This was fun. The sitting president to come out and throw the first ball? That's a great honor for your baseball team, your fans, your city, your region. That doesn't happen very often. First time in 130 years it happened here. It's something we were proud of and wanted to go without a hitch and it certainly did.

This officially turns the baseball operations to you.

I wanted someone in this vitally important job who I have selected to lead the team and baseball organization.

Absolutely. I think Minnesota is arguably, as a small market club, one of the finest organizations in baseball -- or at least a photo finish with one or two other franchises.

It's gratifying to see how many people care about this organization and bringing championship baseball here. People care, they really care, and these are competent people that are part of this organization or want to be part of it. This is a hidden treasure here.

The last 15-16 days has been so much fun dealing with the press. I'm going to hand the baseball operations ball over to you. You are in charge of handling all the communications with the press. I'm very proud of you.