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Fun With Former Twins

April 1, 2009 12:00 AM

COMMENT

There are so many details to building a ballpark that it's easy to miss when something small (but significant) like this happens:

The Twins announced today that another retired player will be immortalized at their new home, Target Field, come April of 2010. A new staircase leading from Target Plaza to the nearby skyway will be officially designated as "Gate 8" in honor of former first baseman Ron Coomer.

Concept drawing of Coomer gate (click to enlarge)

This is in keeping with the naming of all gates at the new ballpark with the retired uniform numbers of former Twins greats. The other gates are "Gate 3" for Harmon Killebrew, "Gate 6" for Tony Oliva, "Gate 14" for Kent Hrbek, and "Gate 34" for Kirby Puckett.

Coomer, an All-Star in 1999 and career .274 hitter, played for the Twins from 1995 to 2000, hitting a total of 77 home runs. He finished his career with single seasons with the Cubs, Yankees and Dodgers (who have not yet announced plans to honor him). He currently works from time to time as an analyst on Twins broadcasts.

In making the announcement, Twins president Dave St. Peter noted Coomer's popularity with the fans, and dedicated service to the team. "Coom Dawg has always been a great ambassador for us," St. Peter said, "and he played a heckuva first base. We felt that naming a staircase after him was the least we could do."

In addition to a sculpture of his number (which will not be retired at least until Nick Punto is done with it), Coomer's likeness will be etched into the limestone facing of the staircase. That process will be done on-site because the decision to enshrine Coomer came after the stone had already arrived at the ballpark.

The Twins may not be done honoring other retired players. Close-up examination confirms that all concession stand exhaust fans contain the etched likeness of Juan Berenguer.

Hard to believe, eh? Happy April!

Comments

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I want a "Tommy Herr Tavern"!

A great empty space next to HERC called "Prospect Park" with monuments to Twins legends:

Scott Stahoviak
Chip Hale
Pat Mears
Rich Becker
Adam Johnson
Terry Tiffee
Mark Davidson
Mike Lincoln
Benj Sampson
Chad Allen
Drew Butera
Dustan Mohr
Jose Mijares
Garrett Jones
Boof Bonser

...We're gonna need a bigger lot.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 02:26 AM by CJ 1

i will bow to the terry tiffee statue...

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 07:36 AM by annoying customer 2

i thought i heard that gate would be named "buck 90" for tim laudner...

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 07:48 AM by yeahklye 3

Who are all the great "8"'s from the past. Gary Gaetti wasn't bad either. Was he #8?

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 07:49 AM by Locker 4

April 1. I get it. However, this isn't even remotely plausible!

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 08:21 AM by cojack 5

DSP is coming to Target to talk about TF this Friday. I guess some Twins alumni will be signing autographs too. Just another perk of working for TGT.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 08:31 AM by Steeks 6

How about an Al Newmann statue along the third base line. Scottie might like the company out there.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 08:34 AM by Jeff 7

Rick - nice work although I must say the HD vs Blu-Ray cabling snafu from last year (or was it two years ago) seemed a little more plausible.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 08:56 AM by IowaWigman 8

Twins have a new update. Click my name for the link.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 09:18 AM by Jeff 9

Senor Smoke exhaust fans would be legendary. haha

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 09:26 AM by Lafferty 10

steeks,
don't forget that wally the beer man will be there too...

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 09:32 AM by annoying customer 11

Steeks,

Tell him to move webcam #2 please.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 11:13 AM by kevin in az 12

I really hope we don't mess up like the yankees(click name)

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 12:41 PM by Eric in TX 13

Well, thankfully we won't have a restaurant in center that will block views like NYS.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 12:52 PM by Lafferty 14

Luckily that restaurant in centerfield was scrapped for a our ballpark. It was my first concern when the original renderings were published a couple years back.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:11 PM by kevin in az 15

No April Fools Joke. I'm hearing the new stadium is NOT going to be ready for Opening Day next year and will be delayed until June 2010 due to bad winter/spring weather. Someone wanna check into that.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:18 PM by Mr 16

No reason to not be happy with the SI picks!

Click for link to SI Preseason Predictions

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:24 PM by Andrew 17

I would be really supprised if the ballpark is late. HOK and Mortsen are all-stars in the biz, they will have this place ready and rockin next April

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:26 PM by Eric 18

Link to NYS and Citi Field energy consumption. Power enough to energize 9,000 homes?? Isn't it sad that as a society we need ballparks with 900 flat panel monitors inside. What a waste, I mean seriously at what point is enough, enough? Maybe I'm oldschool (I'm 25) but I think sometimes less is more... At TF, I hope it isn't so over-the-top. I don't mind missing a second or two of the game while taking a wiz or buying a hotdog, especially considering you can see the field from the concourse.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:29 PM by Brian 19

Anonymous comments are barely worth the bits it takes to store them. An April 2010 opening is solidly secure at this point.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:32 PM by Rick 20

Here is an off-topic video about poetry, however, it was filmed at the Met. I wish Target Field has the paths around homeplate like the Met did...Oh well, can't have everything.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:33 PM by kevin in az 21

where did you hear that, "Mr"? every press release says they're on schedule. I'm calling shenanigans on what you "heard". ridiculous

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:34 PM by some guy 22

Can anyone clarify the changes that have started on 7th Ave (1st base side)? DSP talked about a drop off lane but nothing more. What kind of streetscaping will happen there? Maybe a shot of the new model from the Target HQ clan could help.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:35 PM by Eric 23

OK...call me ridiculous....just wait...you'll see.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:38 PM by Mr 24

how about you give us some additional information rather than hiding behind a fake name and an empty e-mail address?

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:43 PM by annoying customer 25

They are a little behind with the stadia installation. Both NY parks had all of their stadia installed at this time last year, and Citi was already putting in the arm rests for the seats. It sounds like the Twins are aware of this, so they increased the overtime for the stadia workers. It also appears that the interior work will come down to the wire.

Seriously though Mr, do you have a link or source? It's not nice to mess with us ballpark nerds.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:57 PM by Lafferty 26

The penalties that would be put on the contractor will be huge if the ballpark isn't completed on time. With a high profile project like TF, Mortensen will make sure the park is ready. They don't want that kind of press.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 1:57 PM by Eric 27

Hey MR, is this the piece you were referring to on the ballpark delay? You sir, are an imbecile!

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 2:04 PM by mplsgreg 28

god i hated that song....thanks greg!

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 2:12 PM by kevin in az 29

The reason both new york parks had all the stadia installed at this point is because they were built differently. We started on the outside and worked in where as they started inside and worked out. at this time last year NYS and Citi still had significant outside work to do and they had just finished the stadia install. NYS had not even started any of the outfield work. We're not behind, the process is just different.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 2:31 PM by Eric in TX 30

Awesome trolling, Mr! Do you know the architect or the contractor? I do.

HOK told me that construction is on pace and will probably be a lot less tight than the last minute construction NYS has been this year.

Chill out, homies. The party starts April 2010.

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 2:50 PM by OG Jeff 31

Don't mess with the Ballpark Ninja...

Target Employees: Please post a full detailed report from St. Peters gig on Friday at the HQs....

Posted on April 1, 2009 at 3:02 PM by Max 32

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"You talk about the magic, the aura, but what really makes a stadium is the fans. Concrete doesn't talk back to you. Chairs don't talk back to you. It's the people who are there, day in, day out, that makes the place magic."

– Bernie Williams

Explore the Site

Here are 50 images chosen randomly from the 3004 found on this site. Click the image to be taken to the original post. A new list is created every 10 minutes.

Reasonable (if not overly generous) leg room

The green is a composite of the topmost seating areas in the new ballpark. The gray is a scale diagram of the Metrodome.

No admittance -- yet! Note that you can see the seating bolts which are in place already.

Puckett atrium menu part 1

A Hrbek tribute wall marks the end of the Carew side of the club

The parking bay structure is now clearly visible

We bumped into Jerry Bell (at right)!

The Ballpark Authority at work (Source: RP)

Viewed from another angle, you can see that the bullpens now sit beneath the upper deck outfield seating.

Concrete molds are being removed!

This is the outside portion of the Metropolitan Club.

Banners on the parking ramp are a great touch. They help manage scale and turn a lemon into lemonade. On my way there today I passed the WCCO building and remembered how the Twins schedule used to be painted in giant form on the side of that building (which is no longer visible). Wouldn't that be a great thing to resurrect on the side of that ramp? A giant Twins schedule. I always thought that was cool.

The sign reads, "Mortenson Radio Channels".

That's some scary-ass scaffolding, if you ask me.

Here's one big problem with a retractable roof: completely terrible seating in left. These scant few seats would have been tucked under the track. No sunshine, no open concourse, it was a terribly kludgy idea. With some hindsight, it's very clear that adding a retractable roof on this small site would have required compromises which would have just been too extensive to tolerate. Without it, the design was free to grow into something much more memorable.