A worn-out gray notebook sits in Derek Falvey's desk in a corner office at Target Field. The notebook made the trip from Cleveland, where the Twins' new chief baseball officer kept it in his desk at Progressive Field.
There are 150 pages filled with scouting reports about prospects from the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2007. It all brings back memories for Falvey, memories of how he got started in baseball, how he made his own break, and how his path to running his own baseball operations department began nine years ago.
"It means something to me," Falvey said. "I know it wasn't that long ago, but it's always important to me to look at that and say, 'Hey, that was the start. This was the growth point. Don't forget the work you put in, and put in that same level of work every day.' "
Falvey is now trying to remodel a franchise scarred by losing records in five of the past six seasons, one facing declining fan support. On Sunday, he headed to Washington, D.C., for his first winter meetings as the Twins' 33-year-old boss.
He will probably pull out the notebook one more time before he leaves. He will remember what it took to get his foot in the door and how far he's come in nine years.
Then he will set out to make the Twins a better baseball team.
