Ballparks - 15 - Target Field, Minneapolis, MN

9/20/2019

What with travel stories and the protracted screeds of late, I almost let another baseball season pass without adding posts to my Life List Quest. Of course, the Coronavirus pandemic did its part to reduce this season to one big asterisk in the record books…and prevent me from adding that list further. It has been strange watching Big League games played in empty stadia.

Plopped in the middle of downtown Minneapolis with a tidy 39,000 seats, Target Field opened for the 2010 season and occupies one of the major league’s smallest footprints. Progressive Minneapolis was not about to turn prime downtown real estate into acres of parking spaces. The new light rail line runs from the southern suburbs and terminates right next to the stadium. I went to the game with my sister’s family and our train was packed.

Beyond the Outfield Wall 

Target Field (20 September 2019) 

There is just enough room to walk around the stadium…where you will find pictures and signs recalling former players, managers and broadcasters. Another nice tradition for the newer ballparks continues here with statues of former stars in action.

Kirby Puckett Statue, Target Field (20 September 2019)

Unveiled in 2010, the statue depicts the exuberant and popular Twins star Kirby Puckett, represented as he rounded the bases after hitting the winning home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Puckett died suddenly at age 46.

The history of the Minnesota Twins began in Washington, D.C. and was reviewed when we posted stories on Nationals Stadium in 2018 and Robert F. Kennedy Stadium last year. They will celebrate sixty years in the state next season…if there is one.

The team is named not for the Bobbsey’s or the Bush girls or Romulus and Remus but for the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The latter city is the state capital which we will also showcase…one of these days.

The team first played in suburban Bloomington for 21 years before moving to downtown Minneapolis and the woeful Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for another 28 seasons. Two of the Humphreydome teams won the World Series in 1987 and 1991. I did a game there and will make a separate post for that addition to the Life List.

Play Area, Target Field (20 September 2019)

The modern, family-friendly ballpark offers additional entertainment opportunities. Come early and play other games before the pros take the field. Baseball tickets are no longer cheap, so you get more for your ticket…plus, you’re there longer and may buy that extra beer or three.

Target Center, Minneapolis (20 September 2019) 

Target Center, home of the NBA Timberwolves and WNBA Minnesota Lynx, is right next to Target Field. This is a company town after all. 

 

You Won’t Find This in Yankee Stadium, 

Target Field (20 September 2019)

Impressions of the modern ballpark…there are scads of food options. We are Americans and we like to eat and the concourses here are packed with diverse eating opportunities including some local favorites.

Back in my day, if you were in Section 110, you might find hot dogs two sections to the left and your beer three to the right. Now, the concourse is literally ringed with food windows, wagons and beer taps.

Also, like at Wrigley Field, where I saw many young fans there to just gather and drink, this park has areas for that…and a ticket option where $50 gets you a standing room pass good for a month.

Another impression…it is bright…well-lit…not just ample field lighting but BIG signs, BIG screens, bright score boards and other visual attractions (distractions?) for today’s visually-stimulated, screen-addicted population.

Ballpark, Amusement Park or Bar/Hangout? 

Target Field (20 September 2019)

Inside the left field foul pole is a multi-story fan magnet. The retired Twins stars’ numbers on one level, food and beer on most levels.

There was once a time when a series on American baseball stadia did NOT include descriptions of between-inning mascot races. I’m beginning to think this once-cute idea has run its course, so to speak.

Cooling Off After the Twins Mascot Race, 

Target Field (20 September 2019) 

The Milwaukee Brewers sausages and the Washington Nationals’ presidents are fun. After seeing the Atlanta Braves Home Depot tools and now the Twins array of Minnesota characters, maybe the concept has gone too far. Here we have a duck, a loon, a walleye, Babe the Blue Ox and of course, ‘Bullseye’, the Target dog…it is Target Field after all. There used to be a mosquito character but I guess that was taking Minnesota references too far for some.

High Fives After a Win, Target Field (20 September 2019) 

The date link at the top of the page will take you to the ’Baseball Reference’ site and the complete box score of the game. The Kansas City Royals were that night’s opponents and the home team won a close one, 4-3. This was a good year for the Twins, who have had some long playoff slumps in their time. Too many losing seasons have led some to call them the ‘Twinks’. Not this season, since they won their division and made the playoffs. I like it when small-market, low-budget teams beat out the big-spenders.