CHICAGO — With Abe Froman unavailable, I called sausage expert Elias Cairo to address Rocco Baldelli’s concerns about a potentially hazardous pre-encased meat currently residing in the Minnesota Twins clubhouse.
Nearly a week after it arrived and with the package showing visible signs of wear, tear and condensation, the sixth-year Twins manager suggested he’s worried about what happens if and when the plastic protectant surrounding a pre-cooked summer sausage, which the Twins have spent the past week touching and throwing in celebration of an offensive awakening, eventually rips open.
During an interview on Sunday morning, Baldelli stated his belief that such an occurrence would be bad for whichever of his players or coaches were holding the package. Despite opening a three-game series on the South Side on Monday night, we couldn’t get a hold of Froman, the “Sausage King of Chicago.” But Cairo, a charcutier who operates four restaurants in Oregon as well as Olympia Provisions and a 58,000-square-foot warehouse loaded with cured meats, downplayed Baldelli’s concerns about sausage safety.
“I’d eat it,” Cairo said with a laugh. “In theory, charcuterie, the whole thing is to prolong the shelf life of a product, and the summer sausage is the ultimate product. It’s all science-based. … For something to reach shelf stability, it means it cannot go bad. It would just lose its quality and oxidize. It would start tasting a little off, but it’s to a point where no pathogens should grow in there.”
The sausage is secured #MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/vZl7LqP8qN
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 30, 2024
Five days into the sausage saga, Baldelli is envisioning hazmat suits and a potential EPA Superfund site.
The Twins originally brought the Cloverdale Original Tangy Summer Sausage into their dugout in the middle of last Thursday’s game at a time when they couldn’t muster much offense against struggling Chicago White Sox starter Michael Soroka.
With the sausage in tow, the Twins’ bats suddenly woke up.
The Twins belted five home runs in a span of 16 batters and went on to win their fourth straight game, which prompted hitting coach David Popkins to give the sausage to catcher Ryan Jeffers, who volunteered to transport the encased meat across the country to Anaheim, Calif.
A Twins offense that was dormant for the first 20 games of the season continued to explode, producing 32 runs in a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels. During the series, cameras caught players touching the sausage for luck before at-bats and including it in home run celebrations, particularly following Carlos Santana’s round-tripper early in Saturday’s blowout victory.
Ever the superstitious sport, Twins players continue to keep the sausage around, despite it not being refrigerated. And therein lies Baldelli’s concern that his clubhouse could become ground zero for an infectious disease.
“I could just look at it and feel it and know it’s disgusting and that you could definitely get sick if that thing opened up,” Baldelli said. “It’s in the package, but it’s not vacuum-sealed. … It’s in Pop’s locker right now. If that thing just opened up, I might just throw up. That’s how gross it is.”
Yes… we apparently have a HR Sausage now.
No… we don’t know why. pic.twitter.com/KTFEzSsLsW
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 28, 2024
Baldelli relayed his concerns during a pregame interview Sunday, suggesting whatever player or coach was near the package when it opened was in “deep trouble.” He’d reviewed the package sometime Saturday and begun to worry.
Two days later, and after the sausage made its way back across the country in a Ziploc bag inside Jeffers’ shoe, the package was in worse shape. The team already has plans to eventually replace the sausage once its winning streak ends. (There’s talk of perhaps a Sheboygan two-foot sausage.)
The problem is the Twins are hitting for the…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .