Twins 3, Indians 7
1. People travel far and wide to go to a Twins game. Between a quick license plate count and conversations with fellow attendees, I discovered fans came from all over, including Nebraska, North Dakota and Iowa just to see the Twins. Talk about a regional team!
2. Fan area. There is great fan area located in front of the main ticket window that had booths, a concert stage, face painting (which is apparently is very big here) concessions and a picnic table area for fans to congregate before the start of the game. It becomes the perfect place to stretch out your legs after driving from North Dakota.
3. The Indians make everyday feel like Spring Training. While the Indians stretched before the game players walked over to waiting fans to autograph balls and programs. And we’re not talking the long relievers, but players like Grady Sizemore and Jhonny Peralta.
4. Michael Cuddyer gets the Pat Burrell Fan Appreciation Award. For those not familiar with Pat Burrell’s tenure in Philadelphia it can be best described as love/hate. They would cheer for Pat when hit a homerun but would be just as quick to yell some words of encouragement his way (read: curse him out) when he’d let a ball drop in front of him in left. Well for Twins fans, Michael Cuddyer has earned this distinction. He has struggled mightily this year and while I heard pleas for Cuddy to just get a freaking single, I also heard a lot of Cuddy you’re a bum when he’d fly out. Love/Hate
5. Throwing the ball back is one of the dumbest traditions sweeping baseball. I believe originally it was a Cubs tradition (although feel free to correct me on that) for fans to throw back a homerun ball hit by the opposing team. This trend has spread across the league like wildfire and I for one would like to see it stopped. First of all, how awesome is that you’ve actually placed yourself in the optimal position to catch a towering homerun hit by a major league player? And now you’re going to chance your karma for ever catching another one by throwing it back? You know the kid sitting three rows in front of you that has been pleading all game for a ball to come his/her way, why don’t you toss the ball over to him/her? Seriously, I am sure there are tons of people in your section that would be more than willing to take that disgusting ball off your hands.
6. Everybody wants to be circled by Bert.
7. Of course when they finally get themselves on the jumbotron they have no idea. The way the dome is set up, it mimics your average football stadium with jumbotrons on either side of the stadium placed high above the final row behind what would be the end zone. Because of their awkward locations, many fans would fail to watch them during a stoppage of play. This made for some inattentive fans gracing the jumbotron. Too bad, they never knew their mugs were being flashed to everyone, including Bert.
8. Foul territory bullpens are awesome. This was the first place I had ever been to where the bullpens were in foul territory and I have got to say it’s very cool. The players warm up literally a few rows in front of you. This created one awesome moment, when Scott Baker (starting pitcher for the Twins in Game 1) was tossing warm-up pitches to Joe Mauer while Justin Morneau stood with a bat in his hand to give Baker a feel for where a batter would stand. Fans gathered to take photos of the moment, which is not possible in the standard bullpen set-up. The closeness also translated into a couple of souvenirs in game 2 when the Indians reliever Chris Perez started tossing balls to the some lucky fans in the stands.
9. Fans still miss Torii Hunter and Doug Mientkiewicz. I saw a bunch of people wearing Hunter gear but you could really tell their true feelings when a ball would drop in center and fans would grumble, “Hunter could have gotten to that.” More surprising was the number of Mientkiewicz jerseys and t-shirts. I didn’t know anyone missed him besides maybe Alex Rodriguez.
10. Kid wearing the Casilla shirt is probably regretting that decision. In other Twins clothing news, I spotted a kid sitting in my section with an Alexi Casilla jersey. I can understand not wanting to go with the Joe Mauer/Justin Morneau/Joe Nathan route. You want to be different, prove what a huge Twins fan you are by going for the obscure, but when the guy your wearing a jersey for is batting around the Mendoza line, maybe you start to regret being such a trailblazer and wish you had gone with the Mauer tee or at least Jason Kubel. He did hit a long homerun in game 1.
Bonus: It’s takes a long time to leave. While I kind of made fun of the fans that exited during the fifth inning of the first game, they did have a point. It takes an eternity to get out of the Stadium. The lower concourse is the only way to escape the dome after the game and is easily backed up with fans trying to get to the restrooms or standing in the middle of the concourse waiting for family and friends or trying to get a soda for the road. This then backs up the aisles which are attempting to get to the concourse so they can use the restroom or stand in the middle of the concourse to wait for their family and friends or try to buy a soda for the road. So you end up just standing, waiting for things to thin out. The best idea is to either wait in your seat until the aisles start moving or if you are more inclined, try to sneak out in the later parts of the ninth.
1. People travel far and wide to go to a Twins game. Between a quick license plate count and conversations with fellow attendees, I discovered fans came from all over, including Nebraska, North Dakota and Iowa just to see the Twins. Talk about a regional team!
2. Fan area. There is great fan area located in front of the main ticket window that had booths, a concert stage, face painting (which is apparently is very big here) concessions and a picnic table area for fans to congregate before the start of the game. It becomes the perfect place to stretch out your legs after driving from North Dakota.
3. The Indians make everyday feel like Spring Training. While the Indians stretched before the game players walked over to waiting fans to autograph balls and programs. And we’re not talking the long relievers, but players like Grady Sizemore and Jhonny Peralta.
4. Michael Cuddyer gets the Pat Burrell Fan Appreciation Award. For those not familiar with Pat Burrell’s tenure in Philadelphia it can be best described as love/hate. They would cheer for Pat when hit a homerun but would be just as quick to yell some words of encouragement his way (read: curse him out) when he’d let a ball drop in front of him in left. Well for Twins fans, Michael Cuddyer has earned this distinction. He has struggled mightily this year and while I heard pleas for Cuddy to just get a freaking single, I also heard a lot of Cuddy you’re a bum when he’d fly out. Love/Hate
5. Throwing the ball back is one of the dumbest traditions sweeping baseball. I believe originally it was a Cubs tradition (although feel free to correct me on that) for fans to throw back a homerun ball hit by the opposing team. This trend has spread across the league like wildfire and I for one would like to see it stopped. First of all, how awesome is that you’ve actually placed yourself in the optimal position to catch a towering homerun hit by a major league player? And now you’re going to chance your karma for ever catching another one by throwing it back? You know the kid sitting three rows in front of you that has been pleading all game for a ball to come his/her way, why don’t you toss the ball over to him/her? Seriously, I am sure there are tons of people in your section that would be more than willing to take that disgusting ball off your hands.
6. Everybody wants to be circled by Bert.
7. Of course when they finally get themselves on the jumbotron they have no idea. The way the dome is set up, it mimics your average football stadium with jumbotrons on either side of the stadium placed high above the final row behind what would be the end zone. Because of their awkward locations, many fans would fail to watch them during a stoppage of play. This made for some inattentive fans gracing the jumbotron. Too bad, they never knew their mugs were being flashed to everyone, including Bert.
8. Foul territory bullpens are awesome. This was the first place I had ever been to where the bullpens were in foul territory and I have got to say it’s very cool. The players warm up literally a few rows in front of you. This created one awesome moment, when Scott Baker (starting pitcher for the Twins in Game 1) was tossing warm-up pitches to Joe Mauer while Justin Morneau stood with a bat in his hand to give Baker a feel for where a batter would stand. Fans gathered to take photos of the moment, which is not possible in the standard bullpen set-up. The closeness also translated into a couple of souvenirs in game 2 when the Indians reliever Chris Perez started tossing balls to the some lucky fans in the stands.
9. Fans still miss Torii Hunter and Doug Mientkiewicz. I saw a bunch of people wearing Hunter gear but you could really tell their true feelings when a ball would drop in center and fans would grumble, “Hunter could have gotten to that.” More surprising was the number of Mientkiewicz jerseys and t-shirts. I didn’t know anyone missed him besides maybe Alex Rodriguez.
10. Kid wearing the Casilla shirt is probably regretting that decision. In other Twins clothing news, I spotted a kid sitting in my section with an Alexi Casilla jersey. I can understand not wanting to go with the Joe Mauer/Justin Morneau/Joe Nathan route. You want to be different, prove what a huge Twins fan you are by going for the obscure, but when the guy your wearing a jersey for is batting around the Mendoza line, maybe you start to regret being such a trailblazer and wish you had gone with the Mauer tee or at least Jason Kubel. He did hit a long homerun in game 1.
Bonus: It’s takes a long time to leave. While I kind of made fun of the fans that exited during the fifth inning of the first game, they did have a point. It takes an eternity to get out of the Stadium. The lower concourse is the only way to escape the dome after the game and is easily backed up with fans trying to get to the restrooms or standing in the middle of the concourse waiting for family and friends or trying to get a soda for the road. This then backs up the aisles which are attempting to get to the concourse so they can use the restroom or stand in the middle of the concourse to wait for their family and friends or try to buy a soda for the road. So you end up just standing, waiting for things to thin out. The best idea is to either wait in your seat until the aisles start moving or if you are more inclined, try to sneak out in the later parts of the ninth.
(Photos: PIMC)
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