Posted March 29, 2010    

•Herb Carneal

•Brett Favre

•Tony Dungy

•Cory Joseph

•Jacques Lemaire

The Place to Be: 1 Twins Way 

In a response to civic pride, a sportswriter thrust out his chest on Saturday as he approached the entrance to the Twins’ new palace in downtown Minneapolis.  Target Field is a winner that will have Minnesotans feeling good about their ballpark and themselves for years to come. 

The new stadium debuted with a college ball game on Saturday when Louisiana Tech and the Gophers abandoned the Metrodome for one day in their Friday, Saturday and Sunday weekend series.  An “open house” crowd of over 37,000 meandered in and out to see the stadium and watch outdoor baseball in the place the Twins will play two exhibition games this Friday and Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals.  

The game was a sideshow to the $545 million facility.  Yes, many fans watched baseball being played on real grass and under gray skies during a day when temps rose to 50 degrees, but they mostly came to gawk at the state-of-the-art 39,504 seat ballpark and enjoy its amenities. 

This was a test run for fans and the Twins who deliberately limited attendance so as not to overwhelm the operation.  Before, during and after the game fans came to see the new stadium, and most no doubt said the playground at 1 Twins Way in the historic Warehouse District exceeded their expectations.  

The sportswriter with the puffed out chest had avoided traffic by entering downtown from 35W where traffic flowed as on a normal Saturday.  He parked on the street, more than eight blocks from Target Field, but the price was right and the traffic escape route flawless.  

Approaching the stadium near Gate 29 is an opportunity to both appreciate the ballpark’s exterior beauty (Minnesota limestone) and reflect for a moment on local baseball history.  The Minnesota Ballpark History Monument along the 7^th Street side of Target Plaza pays tribute to old baseball stadiums here including Athletic Park, located where Butler Square is today and was home to the Minneapolis Millers in the late 1890’s. 

The sightlines at Target Field will remind fans somewhat of Met Stadium, home to the Millers from 1956 to 1960 and the Twins from 1961 to 1981.  The new ballpark is intimate and built for baseball like the Met but with many more prime viewing seats.  Target Field’s lower bowl ranks with baseball’s best stadiums for proximity to the field.  

The ballpark offers amenities that will have fans trying to decide whether to spend time in enclosed areas or outside viewing the game from their seats.  Food and drink options are everywhere you turn.  With a nod to Minnesota traditions like Lunds & Byerly’s Wildrice Soup, J.D. Hoyt’s Pork Chop on-a-Stick and Murray’s Steak Sandwiches, no one will go home hungry although wallets will be lighter.  Even a tuna sandwich is $9, while draft beer costs $7 and bottled water $4.  

The seats are wide enough to fit most of us even those who have supersized a few too many meals.  The seats are comfortable, too, and combined with fresh air, a visitor on Saturday rediscovered the relaxation and charm of watching baseball outside.  

When not eating, drinking or watching baseball, fans can stop in the team’s merchandise shops.  There they may buy items like custom fit Twins caps for $35 or Twins shirts for $26.   

The concourses are wide and aesthetically designed and decorated it almost feels like you’re in a department store instead of a ballpark.  Among the decor touches are images and text of Twins heroes like Harmon Killebrew.  Imaginative stadium features are everywhere including the fire pit to warm fans (located on the Budweiser Roof Deck) and the wood floor (Town Ball Tavern) that the Minneapolis Lakers once played on at the Minneapolis Armory.  The press box is named after legendary broadcaster Herb Carneal.   

 

Twins Sports Inc. president Jerry Bell told Sports Headliners the drainage system for the field is so efficient that a ballgame could have been played the night following the afternoon tornado that rocked south Minneapolis last summer.

Target Field Built with Efficiency 

While it has historical roots, this place is a 21st century facility, built with a "green thumb."  A Twins fact sheet references the organization’s commitment to “operational efficiency, environmental stewardship and social responsibility.” 

Target Field is a mass transit oriented destination, more so than most major league stadiums.  The park was built emphasizing the use of local extracted, salvaged and manufactured materials.  The stadium features water saving fixtures that will save 4.2 million gallons of potable water per year, according to the Twins organization. 

There is also a rainwater recycling system to capture, conserve and reuse rainwater.  Excess food from stadium operations will be donated to local charitable organizations.   

Target Field designers benefitted from seeing the best and worst of a major league baseball stadium boom that began almost 20 years ago.  The result is a ballpark that will be extraordinary in many ways, even able to battle inhospitable weather.  

Twins Sports Inc. president Jerry Bell told Sports Headliners the drainage system for the field is so efficient that a ballgame could have been played the night following an afternoon tornado that rocked south Minneapolis last summer.  That storm delivered about three inches of rain yet Bell said the Twins wouldn’t have cancelled a game that night.  

Asked how many more inches the drainage system could accommodate, Bell said, “I don’t want to find out.” 

What baseball fans did learn on Saturday was they have a heck of a ballpark.  Not even the awful sound of college baseball’s aluminum bats dented that opinion on the historic day of March 27, 2010.

 

Worth Noting  

The Gophers lost Saturday’s game to Louisiana Tech 9-1.  Minnesota lost the three game weekend series winning only on Friday and the Gophers are 8-16 on the season.  They begin Big Ten Conference play at Purdue on Friday.   

USA Today Sports Weekly's March 24-30 issue selected an NFL best 53-man roster for the 2000’s and the list includes former Vikings Randy Moss and Matt Birk, plus four players with the team: Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Kevin Williams and Steve Hutchinson.     

Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton is friends with Tony Dungy and doesn’t expect him to coach again.  Dalton said Dungy is making speeches to various audiences, including prisoners, and is working on a series of books.  The former Super Bowl winning coach is expected back with NBC as an NFL analyst.  

Dalton likes the skills of Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards and said he’s not someone the franchise wants to see sign with another team, particularly if defensive tackle Pat Williams retires.  Edwards is a restricted free agent.

Dalton expects the Vikings to draft for “value” rather than a specific need when they pick at No. 30 in next month’s NFL draft.   

There’s plenty of anticipation about the announcement next month regarding the NFL's complete schedule.  When all the details are known, a circle it date could be Thursday, September 9 with a schedule opening game in New Orleans between the Vikings and Saints.  It’s already known that the Super Bowl champion Saints will be home on that date.  

The Gophers played five of the teams who made the NCAA Sweet 16--Butler, Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State and Xavier.  The Gophers, who lost their NCAA opening game to Xavier, defeated Butler last November in a nonconference game.  In Big Ten games the Gophers had 1-2 records against Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State.  

It will be a surprise if highly rated Las Vegas prep guard Cory Joseph chooses the Gophers instead of Texas.   

The Minnesota State High School League ruled Roosevelt High School ineligible for the 1961 boys state tournament because two players had participated in DeMolay basketball the previous summer.  Those two individuals went on to successful careers after high school and college.  Warren Scamp became a dentist, John Totushek a three-star Admiral.   

Former Minneapolis city council president Denny Schulstad said via email three graduates of Roosevelt’s 1962 class achieved high rank in the military.  In addition to Totushek, Schulstad became an Air Force general and David Rataczak an Army National Guard general.  “The odds of that happening in any high school graduating class are about the same as Edgerton winning the state championship,” Schulstad wrote, making a comparison to the Flying Dutchmen’s surprising basketball title in 1960. 

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association Clinic last weekend, in partnership with the Gophers, hosted Air Force coach Troy Calhoun as the featured speaker.  Gophers coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners he hopes one year to bring Texas coach Mack Brown to the clinic. 

The Gophers opening game at Middle Tennessee State on Thursday, September 2 will be televised on ESPNU. 

Speculation continues that baseball labor expert Donald Fehr will be the next boss of the NHL Players Association.   

Jacques Lemaire, long known as one of hockey’s smartest coaches, has found new appreciation for his work in New Jersey where his Devils have the third most points  in the Eastern Conference, 93.  New Jersey’s final record will rival his best work in nine seasons with the Wild.  

Timberwolves star Kevin Love will make the “Let’s Play Hockey!” call before the Wild’s game tonight against Los Angeles at Xcel Energy Center. 

Former Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez, traded to Milwaukee during the off-season, is hitting .310 in spring training for the Brewers.  His other spring training averages have been .283 and .267.

 

Adrian Peterson

Dean Dalton

Kevin Love