If you can't see the review below, CLICK HERE.
T A R G E T F I E L D
August 8, 2011
Boston Red Sox v. Minnesota Twins
6:10pm
Boston 8, Minnesota 6
WP: Aceves (8-1, 3.18 ERA)
LP: Perkins (3-2, 1.99 ERA)
S: Papelbon (25)
Attendance: 40,080
Time: 3:00
82 degrees, partly cloudy
Target Field is in its second season of work. I never attended a game in the Metrodome, but I’m sure I wasn’t missing out. This place is great! Outdoor baseball in this weather is hard to beat, although I’m sure it’s cold in the early or late part of the season. It boast a great location in downtown Minneapolis. Tons of restaurants immediately around the stadium. An easy walk from dozens of hotels.
The website said the gates open 1-1/2 hours prior to game time, but they opened up right at 1:40. A lot of folks were waiting to get into this sold out game. This one was a little more stressful for me because I had a standing room ticket and wanted to claim a descent spot, so I didn’t spend time roaming around before the game. There was no batting practice--the Sox got in at 5am! They did take infield.
The Atmosphere: Great! The fans were into it, despite the Twins having virtually no shot at the postseason. There was a buzz outside the stadium well before the gates opened and it continued until the end of the game. I could easily have taken in this entire series if I had the time.
The Scorecard: $1. Perfect! EMPTY BOXES!!! It’s a quad-fold card, which makes it a little thicker and actually give you more support to write on. They have the rosters printed on them with stats updated as of 4 days ago. There’s also other info and stories printed all over. It actually gets my top vote for now.
The Hot Dog: I didn’t take much time to walk around to see what all was there because of the standing room ticket. They serve Schweigert brand dogs. I’d never heard of them. On Monday you can get a regular dog for $1. I didn’t have time for that and went straight for the “Twin Big Dog”. No toppings available, but this was pretty good for a plain dog. $5.50.
The Broadcasters: Great! The older guy had a good radio voice. He called the first three and last three innings. Both broadcasters gave good details about the game itself and other things around baseball. Told you the complicated plays. Kept up with strikeout numbers. Just a lot of good random facts that don’t make any difference but are fun to know!
Entertainment: Getting put on the scoreboard video is about it. T.C. is the mascot. He’s a bear. Didn’t see that he had a twin... This I could NOT believe. Seventh inning stretch. Take me out to the ballgame. Printed on the scoreboard. “Root, root for the HOME TEAM.” ARE YOU KIDDING? The kids they had singing it even said, “Home Team”. What the heck is that? That’s a fail!
The Scorecard.
Twins Big Dog.
They do have some authentic items. I’ll call back and see if I can get a ball from this game.
Views from Around the Park:
Other words: I’ll be back. Up there with AT&T and PETCO.
Gripes: Root, root for who??? Please fix that. Only other thing is pedestrian traffic outside the stadium after the game is horrible. 40,000 people don’t fit on the sidewalks. They need to close a couple streets so people can flow out. It was packed for several blocks, and I left well after the game.
S T A T I S T I C S U P D A T E
MLB Games Seen
13 of 31
Days
38 of 86
Driving Miles
9,244 of an estimated 18,735
Estimated Gallons of Gas
486 of an estimated 1,102
Hot Dogs Eaten
12 of 30
States
17
Border Crossings
0 of 2
P R E D I C T I O N S U P D A T E
(AFTER 12 OF 30 GAMES)
Runs
117 of 249
Hits
217 of 512
Errors
18 of 36
Home Runs
27 of 65
Doubles
43 of 101
Triples
6 of 10
Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)
12 of 31
Strikeouts
184 of 415
Walks
73 of 189
(1 walk between both teams this game!)
Home Team Wins
7 of 17
(Home Team went from 7-2 to 7-5)
Complete Games
0 of 1
Shutouts
1 of 2
Saves
6 of 15
Blown Saves
1 of 7
(BOOOO! This was NOT the game to have a BS!)
Balks
1 of 2
Wild Pitches
4 of 19
(There was a passed ball but that doesn’t count)
Hit Batters
3 of 18
Walk-offs
0 of 2
Stolen Bases
13 of 40
Caught Stealing
7 of 15
Ejections
1 of 4
Smallest Crowd
18,640
The Coliseum, Oakland
July 27th, Tampa Bay v. Oakland
Largest Crowd
44,111
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
July 9th, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v. Seattle
B A L L P A R K R A N K I N G S
The Stadium
1. PETCO Park, San Diego
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Target Field, Minneapolis
4. Safeco Field, Seattle
5. Minute Maid Park, Houston
6. Chase Field, Phoenix
7. Coors Field, Denver
8. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
9. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
10. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
11. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
12. The Coliseum, Oakland
The Atmosphere
1. AT&T Park, San Francisco
2. Target Field, Minneapolis
3. PETCO Park, San Diego
4. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
5. Safeco Field, Seattle
The Crowd
1. AT&T Park, San Francisco
2. Target Field, Minneapolis
3. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
4. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
5. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
The Scorecard
1. Target Field, Minneapolis
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
4. Minute Maid Park, Houston
5. Safeco Field, Seattle
The Hot Dog
1. Coors Field, Denver
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Safeco Field, Seattle
4. Target Field, Minneapolis
5. Minute Maid Park, Houston
The Broadcasters
1. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Target Field, Minneapolis
4. The Coliseum, Oakland
5. Safeco Field, Seattle
T A R G E T F I E L D
M I N N E A P O L I S , M I N N E S O T A
H O M E O F T H E T W I N S
This was a great game! Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield was going for his 200th victory. He’s 45 and by far the oldest in the Majors. Jim Thome was sitting on 598 homers. The Twins had a significant lead early, but the Sox fought back. Ortiz jacked a 2-run shot to get them right back in the game, and it was a bomb! He really is fun to watch hit. It’s like waiting on McGwire to step up. The Sox actually managed to get the lead back while Wakefield was still in the game, so he was set for #200. Unfortunately, Aceves blew it, and actually ended up getting the victory for himself.
The Crowd: The crowd was great. Really into it. Now, would they have been the same had the Blue Jays been in town? I can’t answer that. But, they were in there seats at game time, there ‘til the bitter end, and were into it the whole time. I did not see any radios or scorecards, however.
The Stadium: Brand new. And, it’s got its own style. Not a retro-style park like many of the new ones. Doesn’t really remind me of any other ballpark. The lights behind the infield do reflect some on Kauffman. It really is a great stadium. Bleachers in left. They have some seats they claim as the “Home Run Porch” in left also, but some of those seats are way out of reach of any homerun. The scoreboard is great. They have the deal in center with the logo, state of Minnesota, and a uniformed player with an “M” on his jersey shaking hands with a player with an “STP”. The lineups are posted on scoreboards before you walk in, and they stay there!
Carew statue outside the park.
No BP today. Notice the yellow colored seats above the blue. That’s the club level. They are actually wood, or at least a veneer anyway. I could only tell that when they put that section on the scoreboard. The only other place I have seen this color put on a section of seats is Dodger Stadium--I’m not sure why they have this color here.
Scoreboard with good info. Plus, for scorekeepers, they have a place designated for the “Last Play” and another for “Inning Summary”, so if you miss a play or two, you don’t get behind! No more “WL”.
The main scoreboard.
Budweiser Roof Deck is huge. Retired numbers below it. There is a black ribbon over “3” for Killebrew, as he passed earlier this year.
Puckett.
That’s actually a parking garage to the right. Took some time to figure that out. They cover it, and you can’t tell by the picture, but it really looks kinda cool. Take note St. Louis.
Out of town scores. I like the manual boards for this. This is kind of like St. Louis’, but in a different place.
The weirdest standing room area I’ve seen. You have to stand on your tippy toes just to get this view.
My pictures really do this park no justice. You have to go.
This was the giveaway. Unfortunately, I have to haul it around for the next 1-1/2 months. It doesn’t fit into anything! It’s a big fan made of the manager’s big head.
No comments:
Post a Comment