Target Field First Impressions

I had the good fortune of going down to Target Field two days ago to tour the new home of the Minnesota Twins. I came away awestruck, and (I'll say it) a little misty.  What else did you expect? I'm a lifelong Twins fan plus I'm sentimental to a fault and an old-school baseball traditionalist on top of it. Additionally, I was there with my 10-year-old son as well as one of my best friends, and my brother--with whom I grew playing and watching baseball.  I attended my first big league game at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota in the early 1970s. We could hear the legendary Twins P.A. announcer Bob Casey introducing hitters as they came up to bat from our back yard as we played whiffle ball. That's how close we were to the old Met. And I will never forget how green the Met Stadium grass was as I came up through the tunnel and caught my first glimpse of it. I will never forget how wonderful it smelled, how blue the sky was, nor how the bat cracked in the afternoon air as it connected with 90 mph cowhide.  Wow! I think I was just channeling Ken Burns for a second there. Can someone hand me a tissue?

Anyway, after spending 28 years inside the Metrodome watching the antiseptic, plastic, roofed, version of America's Pastime in a football stadium, I could not wait for the new ballpark to be built.  I will be there alongside my wife with season tickets in section 124 this year...$7 beer in hand, and an old, fitted TC lid on my head to shield it from the sun's rays. I never had to worry about such things inside the Metrodome! Life will be good.

Target Field is everything you heard it would be and then some: part ballpark, part museum, quite cozy, 100 percent baseball, and very open. That's the thing that struck me the most, just how OPEN the place is. I guess something like that tends to stick out even more after so many years under an off-white Teflon sky. But I have been to many other big league ballparks as well and I can not remember one that is so open to the field. It seems you can see the game no matter where you are in the stadium and it practically pours right out onto the streets, especially in right field.  By the way, right field will be the site of many a future battle royal among gopher-ball chasing fans. You see, just beyond the right field seats lies an open plaza of sorts where fans will flock to take in the action when not in their assigned seats--especially when Justin Morneau or other big left-handed bats are at the plate.

I imagine the field itself will be perfect once they take the cover off the lawn in a few weeks. Only a small corner in left field was exposed when I was there. The seats are already great...not a bad vantage point in the house and some of them have wood backs just like the stadiums used to back in the 1950s. The limestone that makes up the exterior and laces throughout the interior gives the stadium a very "Minnesota" look and feel, as do the pine trees beyond the center field wall in front of the batter's eye.  The bars and restaurants inside the stadium, including the Legend's club and Metropolitan club are ridiculously cool, with great baseball memorabilia and tributes to Twins greats throughout.

We are fewer than 20 days away from the home opener against the Red Sox and I can't wait. I don't care if it's 30 degrees and windy. Baseball is meant to be played outside and I will be there with a smile on my face, hot or cold, rain or shine.