Twins bench coach Mark Hallberg became a fan at age 6, watching Kirby Puckett from Saudi Arabia

Mark Hallberg remembers waking up real early in the morning, as a 6-year-old living in Saudi Arabia, to watch the Twins in the 1991 World Series.

Sitting halfway across the world, he was mesmerized by Kirby Puckett’s famous catch in Game 6, robbing Ron Gant of an extra-base hit against the plexiglass. Thirty-four years later, it’s a memory that remains ingrained in his mind as he thinks about putting on a Twins uniform next year.

“I probably wouldn’t be here today without the 1991 World Series,” said Hallberg, 39, who was named the Twins bench coach under new manager Derek Shelton.

Hallberg, the son of international school administrators, was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and spent several years of his childhood in Islamabad, Pakistan. But every summer, his family returned to Wisconsin to visit relatives. It was those summer trips where he fostered fandom for the Twins — his grandfather took his dad to a game in the 1965 World Series.

“Growing up a Twins fan at that time, just the attention to detail, the Twins Way, the style of play, the fundamentals, things that as a fan when you grow up you can relate to, and it sticks with you,” Hallberg said. “I’m really excited to be a part of that.”

When it became clear Hallberg had a future in baseball — after playing in adult softball leagues at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad — his family moved to Barron, Wis., a town with a population of 3,700, for his high school career. He later played at Florida State, where he was roommates with Buster Posey, the seven-time All-Star and likely Hall of Famer.

Hallberg followed in his parents’ path, teaching for six years between a high school in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and an American School in Dubai. Still, he didn’t stray far from baseball. He coached in the summers in the collegiate Cape Cod League.

“He has a really unique background,” Shelton said. “He looks at the game in a very unique way. I really feel in terms of talking to him that he’s going to be a really good complement to me.”

Shelton didn’t personally know Hallberg before this hiring process. Hallberg, Shelton said, “came highly recommended, not only from people that I had worked with in the past, but as importantly, players that had been around him.”

Hallberg spent the past six years on the Giants’ big league coaching staff. Working under two managers, Gabe Kapler and Bob Melvin, he spent time in different roles. He started as an assistant coach, and he has experience as a first base coach and a third base coach.

The Giants wanted to retain Hallberg under their new manager, Tony Vitello. But Posey, now the Giants’ president of baseball operations, told reporters at the General Managers Meetings last week that Hallberg had multiple opportunities elsewhere.

Returning close to home, after traveling so much in his life, was something that pulled him in.