Awesome that they have a countdown to the new park! Great call.

Isn't that only until 2009 though? (Unfortunately), I think they have to add another 162 games for next season...THEN it'll be 2010, right?

He was out shagging flies after the game because it was their first opportunity to practice in night conditions with the roof. Gladden said last week that you should expect to see a majority of the newbies (Monroe, Young, Gomez, Everett, Harris, Lamb, and Tolbert) out there after games this first week.

Great work as always Rick! I happened to be sitting in section 115, Row 22, and I was on an aisle seat too. Those seats in the corner are nice, but when the fans/vendors are standing/kneeling in the aisle blocking your view, it's very irritating and frustrating! I realize a lot of fans may have been running late due to the weather, but I think fans (not all fans, but a few)need some etiquette on attending games! (A great topic for future discussion relating to ballparks and ballgames: BALLPARK ETIQUETTE!!) Is it that hard to wait every three outs or every half-inning to get up or come back to your seat? Don't get up in the middle of an inning or at-bat for gods sake! I know it can be difficult for the ushers to hold back the crowd an entire half-inning as the aisles are very narrow and the sections are very large compared to what the new ballpark will offer. A majority of those problems should be resolved come 2010 in the new ballpark with increased concessions, increased restrooms, OPEN concourses, wider aisles, short rows, and thus smaller sized sections.

I totally agree with the lack of hot dog vendor! I noticed several vendors selling cookies and milk for the first time, which is a nice addition for a family with children.

On another side note, was anyone else at opening day who was annoyed by those people in bright green neon shirts taking pictures of fans? Its definitely a nice idea and something new, but its very annoying when those people are bouncing from row to row and section to section seeking to take pictures of the fans.

I love the countdown to the new ballpark!! That will be fun to watch and follow over the next couple of years!

As for advertising, I noticed how the outfield walls had less advertising on them this year than in previous years (in particular, along the left field wall).

I liked seeing a mostly clean blue leftfield wall last night. The ads in the dome always look kinda tacky and overdone. Best Buy tacked all over the dugout is a bit much. The new venue provides the opportunity for creative placement and use of ads for corporate partners. I like seeing some hometown marker, like a newspaper or media outlet prominently displayed or incorporated into the scoreboard. Baltimore Sun and camden yards comes to mind or the Arizona Republic in phoenix park. (I don't even know if they're still part of those park's scoreboards, but I remember them when they opened.)

since the flagpole from the met will be in the new park, what kind of an icon memorializing the dome will be in the new park? how about the old LD amber light-board?

coming to 'the cities' from my northern minnesota hometown in the 80s was a treat and i remember the novelty of the scoreboard. my dad said 'wow! look at how BIG that scoreboard is! it's a technological MARVEL!' i recall thinking 'yeah, but it's frickin' ugly...' he'd respond, 'yeah, but look how BIG it is?!'

for many, that butt-ugly light board is nostalgic and would be a nice relic to save from the dome.

I saw my first ever Cargill commercial during the Twins game, although I might have seen one before but just never realized it. Think we should read anything into that?

has this ever been talked about? i would have to assume it has. how is minnesota going to have an open air stadium especially in april when you still have snow on the ground? is the plan to have no games there until may?

brad - are you really that dense or just trying to flame? please don't ask such stupid questions. get educated on this whole subject/debate and the twin cities climate in april before spewing the first words that pop into your head.

first, rarely is there significant snow actually on the ground in april in minneapolis (yesterday was a big anomoly when you look at historical data). second, have you noticed how quickly the snow is melting today from all surfaces with the sun's angle being so high? that combined with the heating function there are putting into the new field surface and they could easily play a game today with no problems of snow on the playing surface.

peace out buddy.....keep shooting for the stars......

there's no such thing as a dumb question, brad; just dumb people who answer dumb questions with dumb answers.

don't get discouraged, brad. betaband is back on his meds.

Countdown of home games? Guess the Twins have no playoff plans for the next two years! :D

yeahklye - you got me! how did you know? they raised the price of my prescription again so i am off the meds for a couple weeks.

seriously, though i don't think your buddy brad really needs a baby sitter (unless that is your role here). all i told him to do was a little research (which rick has made easily available for all at the top of the page) before spouting off.

and yes, there are certainly "dumb" questions. and plenty of "dumb" people too. let's not be so passive aggressive and try to sugar coat everything. it just waters the debate down too much.

party on....

Do we have to save something from the dome. I know that its usually done from an old stadium to the new but in this case do we need to bother. Hey maybe we could save the subway hit it here sign I dont think anybody has hit a ball into the hole yet one person came close. Or maybe you could save the seat where the longest homerun in the dome was hit ahh wait I dont think the new ballpark is big enough for that. You know Maybe the ball park only needs the old met flagpole since I dont think much from the dome is interesting enough to put in the new one.

well being as how i hate the twins and hope they lose all the time, i thought i would ask about the ballpark and snow. oh yeah, im not from minny mouse either. thank goodness. thats why i ask. oye, twins fans are anal.

I think it would be neat to somehow incorporate the old glass from behind homeplate where Bob Casey sat for many, many years. Make a makeshift "rat hole" or whatever you want to call that small area behind homeplate where Bob called games for many years. You could also put the glass into one of the restaurants or something and use as part of a booth or two in one of the restaurants/clubs. Just an idea...but we did look at Bob behind homeplate for many years sitting back in that small area behind the glass behind homeplate. The Twins could also make a makeshift PA Announcer booth and let fans/kids talk into one of the old microphones to get the feel for what its like to be a PA announcer.

brad - thanks for being a giant douche bag. stay classy buddy, stay classy.

hope you are having a good time over in wisky d!ck....

this is why yeahklye doesn't need to worry about sticking up for flamers like youself when i give them a hard time. you obviously proved my point that there are dumb questions and even more dumb people.

Best Buy Headquarters are not in Bloomington, it's in Richfield.

click here for the pride of the Twins media department...midwest creativity at its finest.