May 05, 2010

Target Field First Impressions

I went last night for the first time. My first impressions:

- In short, it's great. In the upper-echelon of the 2000-and-later ballparks, along with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and San Francisco, and way ahead of Cincinnati, CitiField, Washington and St. Louis. They did just about every little thing right; when the biggest complaint you have about the team is that the statue of Kirby Puckett doesn't really look like him, they've done a pretty good job.

- I know opinions are divided on the limestone facade, but I love it. To be great a ballpark has to have one unique thing that identifies it (the bridge in Pittsburgh, the cove in San Fran), and the Minnesota Limestone is it for Target Field.

- Concourses? Awesome. Wide, and high, and you can see into the field from just about anywhere. Food? Even better. And how can you not love Hrbek's bar? How could there possibly not be one?

- I also love how much attention the Twins paid to their team history, with jerseys and memorabilia and retired numbers everywhere. My favorite part was a picture, probably from 1984 or '95, of five players sitting on the bench together- Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti and Roy Smalley. They looked like little kids.

- Of course, the best thing about Target Field is the team in it. They truly look for real, and I saw them beat the Tigers 10-4 Monday night. Scott Baker had his first good outing in awhile and the offense was a juggernaut was once again, even without Joe Mauer in the lineup. But Wilson Ramos had his second straight torrid game in a row.

Wouldn't it be something if Ramos turned out to be the second-best catcher in baseball? Then again, if he could play third base, and do it well, all of the Twins' problems would be solved.

- All in all, I loved it. Can't wait to come back in August.

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 5, 2010 02:25 AM
Comments

After it's all said and done, we're not hearing about the Pohlads being cheap anymore. Now I'm no apologist like Selig, but where the Twins were 10 years ago, they've come a long way. And we're lucky to have such wealthy owners that were able to afford to do what they've done - both on field and on the Field.

Posted by: Jeff S at May 11, 2010 02:13 PM
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