Yeah, I know this is about a month late, but I’ve been busy. With the store open, keeping up to date on the 20-some Twins games between then and now, and oh yeah, working for UNI, its been a little crazy. They are off tonight, after squeaking out a pretty uneventful 3-2 over the Sox this afternoon.
So anyway, back to opening day at Target Field. In a word: unbelieveable. Yeah, maybe thats a little extreme, but when you’ve grown up your whole life watching baseball on carpet with a artificial-as-heck blue background, the realness of Target Field is almost surreal. In many cases, people have missed their old parks – Old Yankee, 3 Rivers, County in Milwaukee, etc. Now I am not saying they missed them to the point they wanted the old park back, but there was some nostalgia. Not for the Dome man, that place sucked. From the pee trough, to the tiny concouse hallways, to sitting in the middle of one of those long aisles and having to pee like mad when the Twins have the bases loaded down by 2, I wont miss any of it – save the cool wind thing in the doors when you left the place.
So back to the new place, its so real its unreal. The first thing I notice is the countless statues, posters, signage, etc. they have used to pay homage to Killebrew, Carew, Puck, Oliva, and all the others who have added to Twins lore over their 50 years in town. Its great to see they have made such a point to remember all the greats over the years.
The other thing to me was the limestone fascsee green of much of the stadium. It just looks natural and at home in Minnesota. Just as cool as what is there is what isn’t – no more posters everywhere, no more Dodge ad in right field, no more sections of folded up seats. I love how they have limited the advertising and left the tackiness at the Dome.
We arrive almost 3 hours before game time, but the place is already crazy with people. Carrie and I go in and walk the entire circle of the stadium. The sun is out and its beautiful – so much for the need for that roof – at least today. We slip down to the awesome seats right down by the field. We watch some BP, take a few photos, and just soak it in. And then remember that these seats probably went for $400 a pop for today’s game, and our’s at $150 are 3 decks farther up. So we leave richie-ville and head back to the peasant area to find the rest of the common folk.
Compared to the Dome however, our seats are really pretty good. They are nicely angled to face home plate, and though they might be packed a little tight, you don’t have to walk over 1500 people to get from your spot to the aisle for any emergency pee-pee.
One thing I dont get are all the bars/restaurants in the stadium. Why would you come to a ballpark just to sit in a bar once you get there? But I digress. As I was saying, the place is incredible. There really isnt a bad seat in the place. And the only bathroom lines were actually at the men’s room – go figure.
The opening ceremonies go on forever as they unveil and unfurl everything shy of Ron Coomer’s big-ass underwear – championship banners, flags, statues, plaques, and on and on. You know its official when a 4 some of F-16’s do their flyover, and then it becomes just another day at the park.
We put up a few early runs, and Pavano does a great job of keep the Red Sox off the bases. Marco Scutaro get the first hit, but Span and the Twins score the first run. Later in the day, Kubel puts one into the Right Field seats for the first dinger at the new digs.
A little sun, Kubel goes deep, a couple cold Summits and a Twins win, can it get any better than this? Shy of a third Summit, I’m not so sure it can.
So there you have it. Opening Day at Target Field. I’ve already read where many national baseball folks are putting it in the top 5 with SafeCo, Camden, Pittsburgh, and San Diego. For my money, they’re right on.
Dan Beenken has a background in venture capital, financial services, and asset management and is now employed as a small business consultant with the University of Northern Iowa.
You'll notice tons of baseball references, as he is a huge Minnesota Twins fan.
