The dawning of a new era of Minnesota Twins baseball begins today. It’s impossible not to recognize it.
The Twins, sporting a 5-2 mark, open Target Field today with a 3 p.m. game against the Boston Red Sox. Yours truly was at the exhibition opener, but I’ll have to settle for the TV telecast this time around.
I’m on the radio today from 1-2 p.m. on 970-AM WDAY. I’ll be hosting "Sports Talk" alongside colleague Tom Mix. As I always say, anytime Mix and I do the show, there will be a lot of Twins. And today, there’s no reason to avoid them. We hope to have another one of our co-workers Jeff Kolpack on the show. He’s at Target Field covering the game for The Forum. Check out his coverage in Tuesday’s paper.
A lot of talk about the stadium, and some talk about third-base coach Scott Ullger‘s decision to send J.J. Hardy to home plate for the tying run, which instead ended up being the final out. And it wasn’t close.
But back to the ballpark. The Star Tribune’s Michael Rand wrote a piece today that sums up my feelings on outdoor baseball and the lack of a retractable roof.
I’m sure there will be a caller or two on today’s show that think not putting a roof on the new park is a bad idea. And I understand the argument. But I do think you give up something when a park is roof ready, which is the point I tried to make on the radio last week. As Rand states, you lose something with a retractable roof. The parks are enormous, and that intimate feel is lost.
Of course, the benefit is you know there will always be a game. But after spending the last 30 years in the Metrodome – and not wanting to try to get more money out of Hennepin County taxpayers – the Twins are going with the intimate feel.
That’s what struck me about Target Field two weeks ago when I went to that exhibition game. It is small. I knew building a ballpark in that spot was going to be like when you have to stuff a Christmas tree back into it’s original box every January for storage, but wow! The park reminds me a lot of Safeco Field, but size wise it’s nothing like Safeco. It’s like Safeco built to Fenway scale.
Anyway, that’s my two cents. I know people disagree. And as someone who sat through a three-hour rain delay at U.S. Cellular Field last year to watch a White Sox-Tigers game in less than ideal conditions, I get it. Contrary opinions on this topic can’t be swayed, but I did the best I could.
If you want to take part in today’s radio show, call 293-9000 or (800) 279-9329 or e-mail talk@wday.com.
