If you've read Matt's
previous baseball-stadium rankings, then you know that the worst stadium Matt has ever been to is the
Metrodome. It wasn't even close.
The fans there were great - perhaps the best in baseball - but that was the only thing that horrific stadium had going for it. Because it was really a football stadium (the Vikings still play there), it was an unnatural place to watch a game. The
sight lines were horrible and the field itself was worse. The outfield wall was a Hefty bag. Seriously.
But this season, the Twins moved to a new ballpark,
Target Field. Matt had heard rave reviews and then Lynne - the greatest wife ever - got him tickets to a July 1 game as a birthday gift. Is she the best or what?
So, Matt headed for the Rays game, joined by college friends, Luke and Eric.
Let's start here: Target Field is very, very nice. It lived up the advanced billing. And while it's not on Matt's all-time top tier of stadiums, it's not far off, either. The park is picturesque and has a nice blend of history and modern features. And you can tell they put thought into how the park can be uniquely Minnesota-n, if that's a word.
We'll begin with parking, which was easy to get to and reasonably priced, especially since Eric paid. (If you go, try to arrange that.) The
stadium is in downtown Minneapolis and easy to access from public transportation.
Outside, there's statues of some of the Twins greats, including Kirby Puckett, Rod
Carew and Harmon Killebrew. Alas, no
Hrbek. And the members of the Twins Hall of Fame are pictured on a bridge near the stadium. These are the kind of features that Matt believes start to
separate good parks from great parks. You need to tell visitors the story of the team. (Ahem, Cubs.)
No one does it better than the Tigers, but the Twins have a nice start. The Kirby Puckett statue is particularly well done in that respect because it shows him
running the bases after hitting a home run to win Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. That image immediately evokes memories and inspires shared stories. Those stories create lifelong fans.
A little more history would have been even better. There was precious little about two World Series championship teams. Matt never understands why teams don't give fans more access to the trophies or other relics. Fans worship the players on those teams. Let's see something from it. (And while you're at it, add a Penny Smasher, Twins!
C'mon!)
We'll transition into one of Matt's few dislikes about the park - albeit one that comes with a caveat. The concourse around the park was really crowded. There wasn't much space between the seats and the concession stands so it felt hectic and distracted from enjoying the amenities. The caveat is that the stadium is still new. A lot of people arrive early and wander around, just like Matt. So, this may ease up as the novelty wears off.
As for the park: wow. The field is beautiful. The scoreboard includes the largest, crispest TV screen Matt's ever seen. And the
Twins - Paul and Minnie - from the team's old logo shake hands when
someone hits a home run. Unique and cool.
There's also plenty of little nooks that make the park pure Minnesota, which is what the best stadiums get right. The team's organist sits in the middle of a heated bar where you can eat sandwiches and chat with her. Nice. Matt got a picture with her, but it didn't turn out. Electrical engineers don't know how to work flashes, apparently.
Matt also had the
Tony Olivia Cuban sandwich and, after peeling off the pickles, enjoyed it very much. Plus, the pregame show takes place in the outfield so you can watch Ron
Coomer and Roy
Smalley break it all down. The hosts took pictures and chatted with fans who must have felt like they were part of the "Twins family."
Matt, Luke and Eric's seats - bought off
stubhub because everything is sold out - were in the next to last row, just to the third base side of home plate. The view was fantastic and unobstructed.
Overall, a wonderful place to watch Joe
Mauer play baseball. (Which is not something to take for granted.)
Oh, and the game? Well, the Twins managed to pull a full
Cubbie. Even Luke - a Cubs fan - described it as such. They went from up one with two outs, two strikes and nobody on in the ninth to losing in 10. Ah, well.
In interest of full nerd disclosure, it should be noted that Matt, Luke and Eric spent at least an hour discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the Twins' scorecards. Three grown men, sitting next to each other, scoring the same game,
critiquing the number of lines available to write in pitching changes. (Got have a
souvenir!)
It will be interesting to see how the new stadium changes the crowd. It got loud in the
Metrodome a lot and at the right times. The fans knew their baseball and didn't wait until the ninth to stand up. They knew a hit-and-run situation in the sixth could be key and got appropriately excited. As Luke pointed out, those fans had to like baseball because there was no other reason to go to the
Metrodump. Now, this new stadium is attracting an extra 12,000 people and some of them are stadium-gazers. They're at the game because it's the cool thing to do. Nothing wrong with that, but it changes the dynamic a bit. For instance: a lot of people left with the team up one run in the ninth.
In summary, this is a beautiful stadium. If you asked Matt what stadiums you
had to see, Target Field might not be first on the list. But if you were going to Minnesota, Matt would strongly suggest a trip to Target.
Last note: it's still fair to question the wisdom of building an outdoor stadium in Minneapolis, but it won't matter because the White
Sox are going to keep the Twinkies out of the playoffs anyhow. Oh yeah, we said it.
The MH stadium count remains at 14, since the goal is to see every team's park, not every stadium ever.
Here's Matt's updated ratings of the fields he's visited:First tier: Fenway Park (Boston Red
Sox),
Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers),
Petco Park (San Diego Padres) and
PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Second tier, but still close behind: Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals),
Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles)
Third tier, and still close behind: Target Field (current Minnesota Twins),
Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers),
Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)
Fourth tier, and still nice stadiums: Coors Field (Colorado Rockies),
Citi Field (
Mets) and
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Fourth tier and not-so-great stadiums:
Shea Stadium (old New York
Mets),
U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White
Sox),
Yankee Stadium (old New York
Stinkees)
Sixth and a very bad stadium: Metrodome (old Minnesota Twins).
You can read ESPN Page 2's review of all these stadiums
right here, although it's getting
a bit really dated!
More non-baseball Minnesota pictures to follow!
Last week, The Family was lucky enough to go visit some of Matt's college friends, Luke and Eric; their respective wives, Tracy and Teri; and their equally respective children, Addy (3 months) and Carson (22 months). The picture on the right is an optical illusion: Mark is much bigger than Addy. But Addy is almost as cute as Mark.
Mark loved the zoo and seeing kids his own size. He also loved pulling out as much of Luke's grass as possible, staring at it and then letting it fall on the blanket that was brought out so that he didn't pull out all the grass. Ah, well.
