Twins Off to a Bad Playoff Start

So first I have to get my confessions out of the way.  I failed to blog on my last few season ticket home games.  I just found the games uninspiring particularly the Sept. 30th game in which we got blown away by Toronto.  The thing I remember most was a kestrel swooping down from the sky catching a moth in mid-air.   You can only see that if you're in the upper, upper decks folks.  Not in those expensive seats.    (There are videos of this kestrel's escapades on UTube.) But overall, the Twins were in sort of a post-clinch malaise and I suppose I was too.

View from Section 318, 13th row, Seat 11.

But it's playoff time.  The counter is reset to zero and off we go.   Yankees again only this time the Twins have a home field advantage.  Our seats are in section 318 behind home plate but way, way up in the nosebleed world.  Those of us with a 20-game series didn't get a lot of choice in playoff seats.

You couldn't have asked for a better evening weather-wise.  Game-wise, definitely could have wished for a better evening.  We lost to the Yankees 6-4.    But let us revisit the game a bit, shall we?

Thome gets bonked and goes down

Cuddy sends one to the seats

Frankie was our starting pitcher.  There was a lot of pre-game speculation about whether Liariano could keep it together well enough to give us a chance.  And he did for the most part.  He looked dominating right into the 5th inning.   The Twins had a 3-0 lead.  Hubby was starting to BELIEVE.   I was concentrating 150% on every pitch just as the Twins needed to do.    Mr. C.C., on the other hand, had a few cracks showing.  First he had the nerve to bean the beloved Mr. Thome.  Knock him to the ground even.   That shook C.C. up enough that he let one get away.  On the next at bat, Michael Cuddyer delivered one into the centerfield shrubbery.  Two ahead.   Next inning we put one more up due to some fancy (some might say chancy) base running by Orlando Hudson.  The O Dawg stole 3rd while the rest of us were busy watching Mauer and Teixeira slide into 1st base.  The Yankee won that one for an out.  But, one wild pitch strike later and Hudson had scored.   Three ahead.

Then Frankie faltered.  By the time he left the game, the Yankees had put up four runs.  We came back and tied it up so we were still feeling hopeful.   Then, the normally solid, Jesse Crain came in for relief.  I took this opportunity to buy some hot chocolate.  (While the weather was great, the 2nd to last row in the 3rd tier got a bit chilly when the breeze picked up.)   Note, this means I was not focused 150% on every pitch as I should have been.   Before I got back in my seat, Crain had given up a two-run homer to the Yankee's Taxman.    We had our chances after that to tie or go ahead but the big hit just didn't come.  Frustrating for the Twins and for the crowd.

Tonight is game two.  The statisticians say a team that loses the first game on the home field doesn't go on to win.  But the stats also say that the Yankees have a losing record as a wildcard entry.

So, I'll get my popcorn and peanuts ready and plop myself on the couch and keep hope alive, concentrating 150% on every pitch.

King Thome Brightens the Day For a Twins Win Over The Royals

It was a dark and dreary day. The clouds threatened rain and occasionally made good on those threats throughout the day. Then, like a ray of sunshine, all was made well.

KUUUB! After missing a few games because of a swollen wrist Kubel was back in the lineup as the right fielder. Now admittedly I am not a huge Kubel fan, but today he came up with a big two-run homer. Then, as if he missed the limelight, Thome (aka Mr. Incredible)blasted another one out to right field. It hit the flag pole or it might still be going. I think this one broke the record he set yesterday for the longest hit ball at Target Field.

Slowey started the game and managed to complete only four innings. He was back in the lineup after going on the DL. Unfortunately, he didn't look too sharp. Despite the Royals hitting Kevin pretty easily they didn't string enough together for many runs so we were still in the game when Manship came in. Manship did a great job handing the ball over to Flores who sucked. He gave the ball to Mattie who then gave the ball to Crain. Now if I didn't lose track I think we went ahead when Manship was on board in the fifth. Capps closed things in the ninth. By then we had a 5-4 lead, not enough for the Capster usually, but he pulled through today. Good thing too because those Sox won again today.

Back in our seats Wednesday for the third game of the series. Let's hope it's sweep time!

Thome and Tolbert Make Toast of Texas

It felt a little bit like football weather to me, but overall, a pretty good day for a baseball game.  Particularly a good day to WIN a baseball game.

And it was all about Jim Thome, with a little Matt Tolbert thrown in for good measure.  Together they accounted for 9 RBI's.  Yup, we clobbered the Rangers today winning 12-4.    

Scoreboard shows Thome's accomplishments for the day

But let's talk about Thome.  Hubby loves when Thome comes to bat.  Thome always points his bat to right field, then pulls on his pants leg, getting himself ready for the pitch.   On his second time to the plate, Hubby asked me, has he pointed to right field yet?  At that moment he did.  Then the next moment, the ball was sailing over the fence.  It was a beauty.  I read today in the Strib, it was the longest home run hit ball in Target Field so far.  As if that wasn't enough, he came back up later and hit a three-run homer for good measure, putting him past the steroid popping Mark Maguire in most home runs hit.

Thome points to Right Field (taken at a Yankees game)

Tolbert was no slouch either.  He came into today's game substituting for Danny Valencia.  I've become quite a Valencia fan since he came up so was very disheartened to hear he had a tight hammy.  (Don't you just love these baseball expressions...tight hammy!)  Anyhow, Tolbert was kept very busy at 3rd base fielding flawlessly.  And he had TWO base-clearing triples.   Triples, I've decided, are as exciting if not more exciting than home runs.

Pavano, always the trouper, pitched seven innings and broke his three game losing streak.   He started giving up a few too many hits late in the game, but the Twins had such a lead that Gardy stuck with him until he hit the magic 100+ pitch count.

Had my binoculars and spent some time checking out the comings and goings in the Twins dugout.  It really is amazing how many of our starters were sitting on the bench.  Lots of "day-to-day" injuries.

Players congratulate Thome after his 2nd homerun

I'll be back in my seats on Labor Day, but today the radio will have to do.  Hoping for the SWEEP because the Sox are not giving us any breaks.

Twins Squeak By the Tigers

The night started out on a good note.    Our handy weather radio reported that the storms had passed us by and we found a free parking space, albeit a bit of a walk.   But the Duensenator did not start out so well, giving up three runs in the first two innings.

To be fair, they were not earned runs, but runs are runs in the game of baseball.  He battled back, putting up a lot of goose eggs until he came out of the game in the 7th inning.    In the bottom of the 7th the Twins came back with two runs.  It looked like we were on our way to a sure tie.  Cuddy and Young were at 2nd and 1st, respectively.  Valencia hit a long ball,  Cuddy scored and Young also crossed the plate.  But gosh darn it, the dang ball hopped over the fence for a ground rule double.  Young had to come back to 3rd.    We had to wait until the bottom of the 8th to get the go ahead run.

Used a lot of pitchers after Duensing came out.  They all make me nervous, especially Capp.  He came in to close in the 9th.  Before it was over, the Tigers had a runner at 3rd with two out.  But Capp did what he was supposed to do, getting a big swinging K for the final out.  Twins win 4-3.

No camera tonight.  I'll have to improvise.  Here's a picture of the lady who sits in front of us and reads the newspaper during every game.  Drives me batty...oooh,  that's a pun, get it?

Twins Creamed by White Sox

I am so behind on my blogging these days. Apologies to my follower. I think the poor outing of Carl Pavano probably sucked the blogging enthusiasm right out of me.

The Twins took a major beating by the White Sox failing to win the series. Mr. Pavano, up till now, has been the lone consistent pitcher in our lineup. But I guess it was his turn to turn in a cringer. He gave up 15 hits, his worst outing. The Sox won 11-0. What that says is that our offense was equally bad.

Usually I am happy to stick it out the full nine innings, but not this game. We made a beeline to the exit after the 7th inning.

On a non-baseball note. It was diversity night for the pre game show. Rather hokey I think but I took a few photos from our lofty setting anyway.

Let's hope Carl and the Twins are ready to go next time up.

The Duensenator Shuts Down the A's

I'm a bit tardy with my write up from the last game I attended. All my followers are probably on pins and needles. All one of them.

Well let me not delay the news any longer. The Twins won beating the Oakland A's in a shut-out thrown by our former relief pitcher Duensing. I've now christened him The Duensenator.

The game was a pitching duel with the Twins scoring only two runs. Sometimes a pitching duel is very exciting. This one though was a little boring. I think it was because there weren't a lot of strike outs and the A's just never threatened. Fast game too. Just over two hours.

We did get a special season ticket holder treat. Bobbleheads! Kent Hrbek and Kirby Pucket. Since I had to walk almost half way around the stadium to get them, I just did the whole circuit. Kind of fun to see the game from different angles. I'd like to get some seats in the outfield and see how that looks. Maybe I'd get a foul ball.

Duensing's win put us two up on the Sox. We ended up sweeping the A's with a win the next day and the Sox lost so now we are three up.

Coming up, a home stand with Chicago. Big series. I'll be in my usual place. Go Twins!

Twins Are Flying Now-Six in a Row!

I was a little nervous about the Twins winning this one.  So much is being written about them facing all the worst teams in baseball, that I felt the jinx might be on.   But Baker and the bullpen managed to beat Seattle   and take their winning streak to six in a row.


Hubby and I went by car to the game because it looked a lot like rain.  We found a free parking space on the west side of the stadium about 45 minutes before the game.  Add that to all the money I saved shopping at Kohls on game day and I should be rich.

Our row in Section 320 was a little cramped tonight.  The gentleman to my right was a little large and my Hubby is a husky man too, so I was squeezed in between, staying pretty warm.   Since we were so early we got to see some pre-game activity.  Little did I know that it was possible to have FOUR ceremonial FIRST pitches, the last by Ken Burns, baseball documentary maker extraordinaire.    Apparently he's making the PR rounds for a new one.  

Baker took the mound, supposedly healthy, but I think he struggled quite a bit.  Still he kept the Mariners scoreless until the 6th inning so can't complain about that.     Thome got his 13th homer right after I said, "hit a homer" so he was obviously listening.  Really good ears that Thome.   The most interesting hit of the night was by Alexi Casilla.  He hit a long fly ball to right centerfield over the fence.  The fireworks went off and he began to round the bases.   Then the umps stopped him at 3rd saying the ball was still in play.  After a review of the hit, they gave him his home run.  Guess that'll teach future long ball hitters to ignore the fireworks or the scoreboard folks to hold off just a little bit before firing them up.

Morneau and Mauer Ready to Fly

Mauer Looking a Little Frightened Before Take-Off

After Baker gave up three runs in the sixth, the bullpen came in.  Crane continues to be impressive.  We also got a first look at the new closer, Capps.   He threw a lot of strikes but they weren't overpowering.  Let's hope after a bit more rest he'll be able to fan a couple more.

Didn't take my camera to the game.  Just got lazy.  But I'm not without some entertaining photos to share.  Morneau and Mauer took a different sort of flight last weekend, into the Mississippi River.  The Twins were the inspiration for a Flugtag flying machine.

Let's hope the back half is more successful than the flugtag flight!

Frankie Gets a Big 6-0 Win and Debut of the Slama Rama

Hubby and I got to enjoy Game 3 of the Cleveland Series as guests in the General Mills seats, Section 110.   We had a perfect day: hot, clear and a winning pitcher, Francisco Liriano.

Hubby Consuming Liquid

Beer Vendor

Frankie was throwing strikes and Hubby and I were downing the soda.  We each downed two souvenir cup sodas plus split a Diet Pepsi bottle sold by the one and only soft drink vendor (at least that we could spot).  There are a million beer vendors.    Can't imagine how much liquid Frankie was consuming.

Liriana and Butera Confer

It was a terrific game.  Frankie threw over 100 pitches and gave up zero runs to those spoiler Indians (aka The Tribe).   He also helped out in the fielding department.  With bases loaded, he fielded a hard hit bouncer directly at him then threw to home for the force out.  Then Butera quickly threw to first to get the double play.  Now that's TWIN'S BASEBALL!

Delmon continued his hitting dominance gathering three more RBI's.  Will be tough for Morneau to catch up when he finally gets over his big headache.   The infield line up of Punto/J.J./Orlando is feeling good to me.  Suppose it may go by the wayside when Morneau returns, but I want to go on record saying I like it.  I'd put Kube back on the DH list.

The big fun was watching Anthony Slama's, Slama Rama,  debut in the majors.  He fanned two batters and looked pretty awesome doing it.  Will look forward to his next outing.

Just Two Fans

On a statistical note..
 
The Twins home record is 30-20 or .600 winning percentage.  My record is 10-3 or .769.    Am I a lucky charm or will our records eventually look more alike?

Twins beat Sox in Exciting Ninth Inning Rally

I need to write this quickly before another disastrous outing by a Twins pitcher.

I witnessed a miraculous come from behind win over the White Sox on Sunday. Nick Blackburn was not very good but he was not horrible either. While I am not a big fan of the contact pitcher, I was hoping he'd do well. He seems appropriately humble when talking about his recent performances. After pitching five decent innings, he fell apart. The Twins fell behind. I figured by the 8th inning it was pretty much over. I amused myself watching the four-year old in front of me consume a cup of chocolate chip cookies, his second treat of the game.

But the bottom of the ninth turned out to be one exciting inning. With bases loaded, Delmon Young hit a blooper to drive in the tying run, then a wild throw toward home gave Cuddy the chance to run home for the win.

We were all hoping winning the series against the Sox and the exciting way we won the last game would add up to a great start to the second half of the season. But the very next outing with Baker pitching against Cleveland proved we've got some major problems to fix. Baker's outing was worse than Blackie's and the Twins offense was pretty sad too.

I'll be at the third Cleveland game tomorrow. let's hope we are on a good roll.

Twins Mugged by the Weather and by Tampa Bay

There wasn't a whole lot to love about yesterday's game v.s. Tampa Bay. We lost and it was not pretty.

As I was sitting in my seat up in the air looking at the advertisement for M&M's (not the boys, the candy) in the outfield, I thought, today M&M's would definitely melt in your hand. It was hot and muggy.

Blackie had on sleeves. Really? Made me sweat just to look at him. It's no wonder that he blew a throw to first base. Hands were probably all sweaty. It was the little bunt that could. Lots of runs by Tampa after that mistake. We came back with a few runs of our own, but too few too late to make a difference.



So I don't want to talk about the game. It was hot and frustrating for all in attendance. The folks playing Twins BINGO even lost. (Speaking of which, whatever happened to TWINGO?) And the kid sitting near us tried in vain to get Bert to circle him.


So here's good news. We discovered that for the price of a beer you can park free in Lee's Liquor parking lot, at least for an afternoon game. Hubby had to chug it in order to make the first pitch. Next time, we'll allow a bit more time. Thanks Lee's. Maybe if it's another hot, muggy day, I'll have one too. Maybe we'll win the next one too.

Time for the All-Star Break. Got to get my Delmon vote in!

Baker Wins One Impressively

We played the Rockies tonight. After losing three straight, I suppose Mr. Baker decided it was time to come out and pitch. And boy did he. He struck out 12 batters. The folks keeping the strikeout count out in center field ran out of spaces.

But I was a terribly worried that despite the great pitching, he might not get the win. While the Rockies pitcher didn't do much striking out, he somehow managed to hold us to two runs. My man Span had a tough night, but I noted that another fan was sitting right in front of me so that should make him feel good about Section 320. Two runs turned out to be enough. Matt Guerrier came in for short-relief and didn't do so hot. He left the game with men on base leaving it to Mijares to get the outs. Unfortunately a wild pitch and a bobble by Millionaire Joe let a run in before the inning was over. That was all they got before Rauch came in and closed them down. We won 2-1.

Speaking of Rauch. Target Field has a new video they play when Rauch comes in to pitch. It plays up the tattoos and plays tough guy music. I'd be scared.

On another side note, I couldn't help but notice that a few people were a bit distracted during the game. It was an exciting game given all the strikeouts and the closeness of the score, so not sure what the problem was. Apparently a few kids thought the video version of baseball was better than the real thing. What's the world coming to?

Liriano Outlasts Brave's Hudson as Twins win 2-1

There were two things to celebrate this morning.  One, the Twins were victorious against the Atlanta Braves last night and two, I got to the computer before my darling daughter.

Despite rain in the forecast for the entire weekend, it somehow stayed nice and dry last night.  I was particularly happy about that because my brother, sister-in-law and their friends had flown from Louisville to see the Twins play in their new ballpark.  Since they were in very nice seats (Section 4) they were destined to get wet if it rained.   We were safe in our usual Section 320 with overhang location.  But there were no raindrops anywhere.

Frankie had SOME outing.  When he gave up a run early in the game I worried that he might not have his best stuff.  But he was nasty.  He was in control.  He was filthy.  He was in control of some filthy, nasty stuff.   Kept striking those Braves out over and over.   Eleven times in total and seven straight.  The only problem?   His teammates were not hitting the ball and giving him the run support he needed.  

Finally the big guys took control.  Mauer, Morney, Cuddy loaded the bases then Kube drove in the tying run.  Only disappointment was a strikeout by Mr. Incredible, Jim Thome.  Then Delmon, who's been hotter than a Yellowstone geyser lately, drove in what became the winning run.   Section 320 roared to life that inning.

The Atlanta team fought gallantly against Liriano but while a head first dive into first base resulted in a baserunner, nothing came behind to drive a run in to score.   Strike outs and great catches by my man D-Span ruled the day.    Cuddy was also up to his old trick of missing a fly ball for a single, but then throwing the runner, who thought Cuddy would dog it,  out at second.  Not our guy!

It was a golden night so we capped it off with a photo of our group celebrating in the golden glove.

Yankees Go Home! Twins Take Game Three of Series

Me and Hubby in Section 110

Wide-angled view from Section 110, Row 1

Nick Blackburn pitches a great game.

Kubel swings for the fences.  Homerun!

Tonight, May 27,  the Twins beat the Yankees, 8-2.   And I had the opportunity to witness it firsthand from terrific seats given to me by my former employer:  Row 1, Section 110.    So my view of the game was certainly much closer than my usual Section 320 seats.

It was a perfect warm weather night, so Hubby and I biked to the game.  We end up toting a lot of stuff into the ballpark, helmets, camera, bike bags, peanuts.  But it's worth it to avoid the traffic/parking snarls.   And the Twins treated us to a perfect evening.  Blackie did a fab job.  I'm actually starting to get more comfortable with his "go ahead and hit it" style of pitching.      With my new telephoto lens I attempted to capture him in action.     Our bullpen did a nice job too.   It was great to see Mijares come in and strike some guys out.  Let's hope he continues in that vein, because we could use him.

Of course the big hero of the game was Kubel.  I must admit that when I saw him in the lineup I wondered why Gardy didn't start Young.  Delmon's been doing pretty well in my opinion.   But Gardy stuck Kubel 7th in the batting order which I think may have been a good move.  Now he may not admit it, but I think the pressure to hit big is a little more intense when you're higher in the batting order.       But lo and behold Kube came out and hit a homer... TWICE.   Lots of RBI's to go along with them.

I was determined to take a lot of photos at this game since we had such good seats.  What I quickly realized was that we have a lot of left-handed batters.  I suppose I should have already known that, but when I kept seeing everyone's back in my viewfinder, it became much more real.    Cuddy and Hardy were the only face forward batters.    If a lefty swung really hard though, he turned his profile in my camera's direction.      I took about a million pics!

Other news.  You CAN buy cotton candy at the park.  Didn't start seeing it until the last game and to celebrate our lead, I bought some pink stuff.  Ate it all.  Diet be damned.  

Twins and the Target Dog Victorious

Wide angle view from 320

Fans in 320

Wide angle view of concessions

After a less than stellar performance on the road, the Twins were probably happy to get back to Target Field.  Apparently all the offense that was lacking in Yankee Stadium and elsewhere was all pent up.  The Twins could hardly keep from scoring.  They defeated the Brewers 15-3.    It was the biggest Twins blowout I've ever seen.

The Twins scored 7 runs in the first inning.  After awhile you couldn't help but feel sorry for the Brewers pitcher, Bush.   I wanted to put him out of his misery.    That movie "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"  kept coming to mind.      A few fans in Section 320 were razzing him pretty badly.     Unfortunately for the Brewers, the next guy they put in to pitch didn't do much better.

It was a good night for improving your batting average and everyone except Millionaire Joe got a hit.  Even the newbie, Plouffe, got his first major league hit.  In fact, the first two outs of the top half of the 1st inning were grounders to Mr. Trevor.    The crowd quickly started chanting Plooooof" when he came to bat.  Must have been exciting for him.     Since there hasn't been much reason to yell "Kuuuuub" lately, this was a nice consolation.

Hubby and I tried out some new food at the stadium since we arrived in time to do a little wandering.  He tried Tony O's Cuban sandwich and I tried out the beef burrito at the Mexican joint.   Neither one of us was very impressed.  The Cuban sandwich tasted good but was a bit overpriced.  My burrito was big and filling, but not very tasty.  Certainly not worth the calories.  So now I'm going to have to starve for a day to make up for it.

We were so far ahead that Hubby and I left a little early so we missed all the hullabaloo with Go Go.  Good thing the Twins have a history with Gomez or things might have gone down a little differently.    I suppose if someone had to hit the homer and spoil the shutout, a former Twinkie was the guy to do it.

On a side note, the Target Dog finally beat the Skeeta in the Scoreboard race.  I thought that Skeeta was the Yankee of the Minnesota mascots because it never seemed to lose.   I also got to try out my new wide angle lens.  Pretty cool I think.  

Chills But No Thrills. Twins Lose to Baltimore Again

There were plenty of chills at Target Field this afternoon, but few thrills. It was a pretty boring game. Frankie just didn't have his stuff today. And after a first inning homer by Morny, not much happened at the plate either. Twins lost to Baltimore 7-3.

There was a bit of a glitch on the giant video screen today. Perhaps that was a sign of things to come.

So I had to find new ways to entertain myself. First, please note that I was well prepared for the lower temps in Section 320. Hat, gloves, coat and later in the game, a hot chocolate, is all it took to stay moderately comfortable.

So here's a big inside scoop for anyone planning a trip to the game tonight. Buy your coffee and hot chocolate at the ice cream concession. Don't stand in the long lines in front of the coffee/hot chocolate carts. Thanks to the nice lady who clued me in to that one.

On my hot chocolate break I decided to take a walk around the stadium to the Metropolitan club. Along the way I stopped in the Twins Pub. They were both very crowded. Don't know if the crowd was bigger due to the cold or if it was typical. But you do get a nice view of the field if you can make your way to the window. I also spied Oliva's Cuban Sandwich stand. Hubby says that even at $9 a sandwich he's going to give it a try sometime down the road.

At Guest Services, a nice young man directed me to the Metropolitan club. You have to take the escalator or elevator down to club level. The security seemed a bit lax. I kept flashing my ticket but no one seemed to want to look at it. Surprisingly the club didn't seem very crowded. I was pleased to see that all those lovely desserts that the Legends Club sells are also on sale in the Met Club. Granted it's a long walk from Section 320 but if you're going to eat dessert, then the exercise is helpful. I spent a little time wandering and checking the view and talking to the concierge about making reservations in the future. Don't know how good the food is, but I think one should experience all that the stadium has to offer us season ticket holders at least once.

Having now experienced a particularly cold game, I'm looking forward to that hot 90 degree day in the sun. I have my sleeveless Twins shirt ready to go.

A Rainbow of Fun at Target Field-Blackie Polishes Off Detroit

Rainbow at Target Field

The rainbow encircling Target Field is something you'd never see in the Dome.   And you don't often see a Twins pitcher finish a game.  But we saw both at the May 4 Detroit game, a winning effort by Nick Blackburn with a pretty darn good assist by J. J. Hardy.

The windy weather provided some entertainment to us folks up in Section 320 right at the start of the game.  From up there you can see the full descent of french fry boxes and paper napkins into the field.  At first I was surprised the man-made precipitation was ignored, but then I realized that it doesn't take long for all of the detritus to be wind-swept to the side of the field somewhere.

The debris didn't seem to bother Blackie who pitched a great game, though for me a little tense.  Blackie, as he puts it, is a contact hitter.  That means he gets outs by letting the opposing team hit the ball.    As a fan, I can't help get a bit nervous that the hit ball will not land in someones glove.  But on this night, most of the time, it did just that.  When he came back out in the 9th everyone cheered.  I'm sure Bert Blyleven was happy.  But then the moment I feared happened.  The hit ball did not go in a glove.  In fact it went over the fence tying the game.   The game had gotten quite intense, just like the sky overhead.

That's when Hardy went to work with some fancy game-saving fielding, catching a tough grounder, and tossing quickly to Punto to catch Detroit's go-ahead runner rounding too soon to home.  Tag.  You're out.   Then on offense he hit a triple and scored the walk-off winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch.

Other stuff.   I got to the field a little early and had a chance to meander around the park before going to my seat.  Got to peer down into the bullpen.  No one there yet of course.   And I watched Fox Sports do a little pre-game show which was kind of cool.    One thing you notice from up high is how many people seem to never sit down in a seat.  There are always crowds of folks just standing behind the seats watching the game or wandering to their next beer stand.  Perhaps it was that way at the Dome.  You couldn't see the corridors from your seat so who knows.  But, I think maybe it is just a little more entertaining at Target Field.  I still have a lot of sight-seeing left to do myself.

Cleveland Falls Again While Boomer Enjoys Legend's Club

I was lucky to be the guest of a friend to a second Twins game v.s. Cleveland this week. Frankie was channeling his old self repeating his winning ways. He pitched shut out ball through the 7th inning. And I got to see my first night game Twins Home Run courtesy of Cuddy. Still not seeing the river flowing on the Minnie and Paul sign. Perhaps my expectations of what a flowing river looks like are not in line with what the planners had in mind.

This time my view was from the "members only" Legend's Club. For a mere one-time membership fee of $1K-$2K (depending on where your seats are and not counting the price of the seats) you can duck inside an enclosed concession area complete with tables, bars, memorabilia displays and huge photos of Twins legends. And for those who aren't satisfied with soft serve ice cream (what those of us in Section 320 are used to), you can pick a freshly made dessert from the rolling dessert tray.

While I don't want to disparage those who watch baseball from this view, I did note quite a few people hanging out inside the club area nursing their drinks at tables way, way away from any viewing area. And no one inside the club chimed in on Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the stretch, except me. I think I embarrassed my hosts just a bit. My bet is that many people in this section are using corporate seats. Because if you'd paid $55 a seat yourself, wouldn't you just have to sit in it? I hadn't intended to be inside at the time, but I was searching for hot chocolate. It was a bit chilly last night.

Speaking of chilly, I clapped most the evening with gloves on. Also had on my nifty new Twins coat. Definitely came in handy not only during the game but also during our bike ride to and from the game. If you can get there via bike, I definitely recommend it.

Twins Victorious Over Cleveland as Night Falls in Stadium

Our first night game at Target Field was a winning one. Slowey definitely had his stuff. So different from the bad Karma game (see earlier post). The Star Spangled Banner was sung by a classroom of youngsters. First time I've heard the high notes sung with so much enthusiasm. It surely started the game on the right note.

As you can see from the pics, the night view from our seats is beautiful. I took several shots to capture evening sky as it got darker and darker. No home run for the Twins tonight so I didn't get to see Minnie and Paul shaking hands over the river or home run fireworks against the dark sky over the scoreboard. Hard to believe Cleveland has been on a winning streak watching them play. Walks were abundant as the scoreboard brightly attested. A wild throw to home resulted in two Twins runs. Then for a little laughter, Cleveland had three players chasing a ball in the outfield and apparently no one called it. That little incident was in the paper so if you look at the Strib you'll see for yourself.

It's become pretty clear that foul balls up to section 320 are quite unlikely, maybe even impossible. And forget about getting a t-shirt from TC's mighty rifle.

I was a little surprised that our section was filled with quite a few new faces. I'm hoping for a little consistency to build some Section 320 commraderie. Not a "do the wave" group. Just one that can share a few asides or discoveries about our new stadium. Or here's an idea. We could begin an effort to get TC to come up to our level to shoot some T-shirts. Then I'll know the section is really gellin', just like the Twinkies.

Yowser! What a Day at the Park

Thanks to the generosity of our neighbors, Hubby and I went to Target Field again today. I kept thinking, "I love this day!"

What's not to love? It's the middle of the day and I'm sitting in the sunshine in left field watching the Twins clobber Boston. My man D-Span has finally broken through and gotten two hits. My t-shirt is now creating good karma. We biked again so didn't have to deal with any traffic and we found more bike racks. I thought I lost my peanuts, but then found them under the seat at the end of the game.

The only downside, the battery on my camera was out of juice so I don't have any cool pics to share. Trust me, it looked good.

And it's only APRIL!

Game One - The Role of Karma

Twins lost to Boston. But why, you may be asking. The naive among you may be thinking, "they got more runs than us, duh." Here's the real reason we lost. Bad karma. It's always bad karma. You just have to figure out where it's coming from and fix it.

My preparation for this first game began last week. I had to buy a new Twins shirt. Mine said Nathan on it and Nathan is out for the season.Hence not a good shirt. I chose Span as my new "special guy" and bought a T-shirt with his #2 and Span written on it. It may be too early to declare the shirt as having bad karma but it is my lead bad karma candidate. It did not have a good beginning. The sales guy tried to sell me an X-Large youth. I was particularly peeved since I have been working out and dieting and think I look good enough to assume a Large youth. And I was right. The large fits. So there, Mr. Salesman. Note all the Ladies shirts have Mauer's name on them. Just because he's a multi-millionaire and single is no reason to think it's the only shirt women want to wear. Though if I were just a few years younger and prettier and single-er, I might.

Now on to the game. Wearing my lucky Twins earrings (confirmed last season) and my new suspect D-Span shirt, Hubby and I embraced our "green" selves and biked to the stadium. We're actually just cheap, but being green is so in these days I'm claiming it. After chaining our bikes to a garbage can (all the racks were taken), we headed into the field.

We walked in. It was loud. And the game hadn't even started. Cool. But I digress from my bad karma analysis.

Although we'd been to the stadium for Open House, Hubby and I were still a little confused about the location of our seats. We kept climbing and climbing and climbing. Section 320 is way up high. (See photo.) Should have brought some kleenex for the nose bleeds. I'm yellin' to the guys on the field but I'm thinking they don't hear me. "I'm wearin' your shirt D-Span. Hit the darn ball!" He walked four times. He could not possibly have heard me. Acoustics could be a problem.

At 12:45 I went in search of my first hot dog of the season. The condiment corner did not have any onions, only mustard, ketchup and relish. This is a serious potential mistake that I'm hoping gets corrected soon.

At approximately 1:10 the first ever lightning to brighten up Target Field occurred. They'll be putting that one in the newspaper, so I want to make sure you read it hear first. It's my scoop.Then it rained. (See photo of groundscrew in action.) But the advantage of the nose bleed seats is that you are covered. Ha! Those folks with the $100 seats were running for cover. Ha! again. (See Hubby smiling.)

Over three hours later, we lost. There was a lot of stuff in-between, but you can read about that stuff in the paper.

So, as I said, bad karma was to blame. But I'm giving my D-Span shirt another chance tomorrow. Lack of onions is starting to sound pretty suspicious.