thank you to the tipster about refreshing the twins ticket page. I did that for over 1 1/2 hours and almost lost hope and then finally at about 1:30 am i got two tickets in sec. 113... over the last week i almost bought tickets on stub hub about ten times and im so happy to have not had to pay twice as much for upper deck tickets

Great post Rick. You mentioned Central Corridor so I want to clarify something there: The trip through Saint Paul and the area east of the U will NOT be like downtown Minneapolis. Thankfully, Saint Paul was never as stop light crazy as Minneapolis (or even close). The trip down University has stop lights every half mile. This will (funny enough) correspond with the actual rail stops. As an example, if you drive down University from the Capitol building, you'll potentially stop at Rice, Western, Dale, Victoria, Lexington, Hamline, Snelling, etc. The train will stop at these places anyway. With a little light timing, riders will likely not even notice the lights. As for Washington at the U, things will get a little different. Hopefully though, with the fact that Washington is due to become a pedestrian mall, some of that will be eliminated somewhat. All I can say is that the line is timed out, and the time is calculated. They take into consideration the time it takes to get through Minneapolis in this time schedule. I know you lived and learned the other day, but if you look at the schedule on the train, it pretty clearly marks out the time between stops downtown and, as you point out, that time grows significantly. Stops every single block. Not much getting around it. I can't say it really ever bothered me much, but then again I've ridden that train so many times that it is basically second nature to me now.

No doubt... Gotta love getting HPB tix for face value to the hottest Twins event since game 7

Jimmer-

I'm with ya....If someone would've told me yesterday afternoon that I would have the option of purchasing HPB tix for OD at face value this late in the game, I would've told them they were nuts. I heard during the game last night that a good chunk of these tickets became available because of the Red Sox turning them back in. Not sure what that number was, but it seems as though there were quite a few of them.

"Target Field is now, at least for me, a place where fathers connect with sons. Ballpark magic."

Awesome line, Rick! Great post!

Re: Verizon - we had the same service issues with AT&T on Saturday. We were trying to make voice calls or send text messages however - we could not get service. I assumed it was because so many people were connected and there was likely limited service avaialble in what was formerly an underused part of downtown. Hope all the providers fix that soon.

Agreed re: father/son/ballpark magic comment. Priceless. While maybe a bit of an overstatement I would say that personally if that is one of the outcomes of building the ballpark then every cent I have contributed via the tax was worth it. For you and for generations to come. Let's toss daughters in there too. Heck entire families.

Thanks. I am a relative newcomer to the site (came int hrough UniWatch) and am contually impressed by your postings.

Mark

Hey Mark--Nice to see you on another daily blog visit. (We met at the Uni Watch party.) I finally decided on the home opener apparel: the new road gray jersey. No number or NOB, but something that has "place" written on it much like the ballpark, too. -- Mike/Fiesta

It's being released today, but I never really heard... Is Grain Belt going to provide "Nordeast" to Target Field?

TWINS MAGIC NUMBER: 162

DSP was in KFAN the other day and said that they have a system that will make your cell phone work better in TF. He said that the problem is that some cell phone providers have not conected to the system. He said that they are working on it for OD.

I am so glad a bunch of you got OD tickets, that is awesome. I have organized a group for the last 9 years for the opener, the last 4 being 100 tickets. They cut the group sales in half for the opener so i got 50 instead. Great for me, not great for my whole group.

I wish i would of been around last night to get some extra tickets for the rest of my group that couldn't go, but i missed my chance. regardless, still glad that some true twins fans on this site could pay face value to go.

NOW, what really bothers me is that stubhub and craigslist now has many WC seats for sale... i hate the idea that people snatched up these last tickets to make a profit. Let some broke ass college kids go for face value. I hope scalper get stuck with those tickets and have to sell them for under face value after the game starts... not going to happen i know, but i can wish!

cant wait for the opener, sec 330 row 6. I will be able to almost touch the fighter jets :)

Thrillhouse, row 6 is a great row to have. Those first 6 rows or so are great. :-) My regular tickets are row 4 section 318. I've been in many lower seats of the ballpark as you wrap around toward the 3rd and 1st base sides of the field and around to the back side, and I really feel that my seats are darn high on the list. Down the road, maybe I'll move down to 218 when I have a little extra cash, but that's about as much improvement as I really even need.

thanks for the info jp, i checked them out at the open house too, they seem like decent seats.

I am also part of a season ticket group and my seats are sec 213, so i will be there most games, but i am just thrilled to be at the opener, didnt care where they were.

Hope we have a nice sunny day and see a win... damn i cant wait.

took my 4 kids to tf last saturday. i'm starting a new tradition: "kids, before you go thru the gate, you HAVE to touch the limestone...it's what gives this ballpark its magic." with wide eyes, they totally ate it up...

Yeah I saw a bunch of WC seats on stubhub too... The only charge above face I'm going to pass along to my friends is that they each get to buy me a beer at the game... Lol

nice kyle,

i have a son who is only 10 months old. Cant wait til he actually understands baseball and coming out to Target field. We brought him to one game at the Dome, and we will bring him to one game at Target Field, hopefully he will like it more than the Dome!

Jimmer,

I am in the same boat, with the 50 tickets i have for the group, i have been promised 20 beers i think... I could be in trouble

Thrillhouse... Have 2 of them go in on a Vincent burger instead, and a few more buy you other concessions.. The Vincent is excellent!

good call jimmer... i can be drink too much and eat too much! (not like i wasn't going to anyhow)

Regarding Verizon, to upload a photo i had to use wifi on my phone

T-mobile had the same issue. My brother kept pestering me for pictures from Friday's game, and they didn't get to him until long after I had left TF.

I am glad to hear this business about the cell phone system and TF. It was an issue for Sprint as well. It would occasionally be an issue in the dome as well, but only when there was a near full house. As was pointed out, I had no problem placing calls and getting online. It was only when I attempted to send pics that I ran into problems which would go hand-in-hand with the idea that someone was cutting back on capabilities due to bandwidth restrictions. It would be great if this issue is dealt with as I know we all have TONS of photos we'll be wanting to post in coming weeks and months.

As far as SRO tickets go, I hope they do wait a good chunk of time before starting to sell them, because right now I like the idea of buying the cheapest ticket(still more expensive, I know) and being able to watch the game over the big brick wall in center field. Or heck, even buying from a scalper after the 1st inning or so, when they're desperately just trying to unload tickets.

Sure beats the RF bleachers.

I sold two WC tickets for opening day on StubHub and made $260 profit. I didn't have any trouble sleeping last night. Besides, it helped cover the cost of four Home Plate Box tickets I got yesterday for the opener. Now I just need to resist selling those too.

I could possibly pay half of my overall 20 game package by selling my tickets to the 12th. I sure as heck won't do it. Years from now, what will I remember? The money? Or the memories? Not going to happen.

Don't do it Buffalo... See the game.

Eh, as Bruce Springsteen once said, I've got debts no honest man can pay. Memories are nice, but I've already taken my kids and family to two games there, in the suite level nonetheless, so money helps out more these days.

That said, with the way prices are diving on StubHub, I will probably end up keeping at least two of the four.

"I heard during the game last night that a good chunk of these tickets became available because of the Red Sox turning them back in."

I heard that as well, but think it was probably just more Dick'nBertspeak. I was watching the availability of OD tix move in and out, up and down, all over the place, and I think the theory that we were seeing unpaid for ST tickets being released might make more sense. That they put them out for general sale rather than sticking them on SH may indicate that they feel SH is overloaded and holders will get burned. Certainly a boon for lots of folks - I'm one of the people who felt lucky to get 102/30 on the original deal and could have gotten much better last night. Who knew?

Every homestand there are tickets returned by the visiting team.

Buffalo,

I can not fault you for wanting to make some money, I mean we do live in the USA and capitalism isn't quite dead, yet. To me it seems greedy to buy tickets with the intent of selling them instantly to make a profit. That is just my opinion of course, everyone is entitled to their own.

If it's greedy to make $200 with little to no effort so that I can pay the utility bill or buy some nicer clothes for my kids, call me greedy.

How many rows are there in HPB anyway?

"Every homestand there are tickets returned by the visiting team."

Indeed. Every kid on the corner knows that. In my experience, however, visiting team tickets do not become available until closer to game time and are more concentrated in one area.

Buffalo, if you're really as hard up as needing to pay the electric bill or buying your kids decent clothing, then I say go ahead and sell them. Beyond that, there is nobody on this planet that can convince me that a couple hundred bucks are worth more than good memories. When I'm an old man, I plan to be able to say that I was there for the first real game at Target Field. I can't imagine anyone will be telling the story of the time they made a couple hundred bucks without effort.

It looks like over half were wheelchair row tickets... They must hold them back until a week before in case anyone legitimately handicapped wants to attend the game. Makes sense.

I was pointing out to my wonderful wife that we could probably recoup half of our total outlay by selling our OD tix. She would have chewed me in half had she not known I was being fatuous.

WCCO also reported on the cell phone problem. I posted this on a previous posting. Click my name for the full article.

Courtesy of Bill Hudson, WCCO

Turns out, the Twins planned for the extra cell phone traffic, installing special antennas.

"Basically, it's extra antennas, extra power, kind of a boost, to help with the volume of calls," said Kevin Smith, the Twins Executive Director of Public Affairs.

He said the problem is that some cell providers haven't connected to the system yet, causing problems for fans and the Twins.

Rick, I figured as much, no biggie for me, I won't be seeing the scoreboard for my plan games either. I know the WC row is at the top in the main bowl, how many normal rows are there?

It wasn't just Verizon. All the cell networks were stretched to the breaking point over the weekend, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. This happened when TCF Bank Stadium opened too. It got better there as the season progressed. Hopefully it will be cleared up sooner rather than later.

I'm against the Twins selling standing room tickets in any significant numbers. All those extra people use the bathrooms, the concourses, entry gates, the circulation ramps, the concession stands, the places like Hrbek's, and the souvenir shops. I don't think these elements of Target Field have the capacity to absorb the extra customers. Adding a lot of extra people will overly tax the facilities by creating longer lines and congestion, lessening the overall experience for everyone. Target Field was built to handle 39,504 fans. An extra 250 fans or so is one thing, but it would be a mistake to push beyond that number.

Jimmer - I think I heard that there are 28 rows in the HPB sections...

Keep looking folks, saw field view briefly but didn't get there first unfortunately...

Plus a dozen or so CC rows?

Congratulations to everyone who got tickets for Opening Day. What a boone to be able to grab tickets from the Twins with 5-6 days til the game!! To steal a line from that big golf tournament in Augusta this weekend, it should be an experience like no other...

Gates open at Noon. Looking forward to BP and a day that has been a long time coming. Carpe diem!!

Does anyone know if the Champions Club seats are sold out for the season? And if not, do they open those up for single game purchases? There's nothing more aggravating than watching a game and seeing all those empty high buck seats right behind home plate.

actually i think genocide might be a smidge more aggravating, fred...

Rick - great post. My daughter, who grew up at the Dome, is flying back to MN for the Opener. Just yesterday, I got online and bought my three year old grandson a plane ticket so he could come with her. Like Noah, he is already a big Twins fan. It will be a special treat to be able to take him to such an important game with me.

Fred, I was told that club ticket holders are the only ones that get a chance to buy those

Fred - there are less than 20 seats not sold in the Champions Club. They are all in the top two rows. The Twins are making those available to existing Champions Club ticket holders for the first few games, with the hope that they eventually sell (they will) the rest of the season as STH packages. There are no 20 or 40 game plans available.

That's OK...I just didn't want to see happen here what happened at NYS....a bunch of high dollar EMPTY seats behind home plate...just doesn't look good, IMO.

Does anybody know if the TF souvenir shops sell temporary neck-tattoos? Cuz they should.

Ticket availability according to the Twins press release at 7:24 this morning.

• Monday, April 12 vs. Boston Red Sox at 3:10 p.m. -- 500 tickets

• Wednesday, April 14 vs. Boston Red Sox at 12:10 p.m. - 1,000 tickets • Thursday, April 15 vs. Boston Red Sox at 12:10 p.m. -- 1,100 tickets

• Friday, April 16 vs. Kansas City Royals at 7:10 p.m. -- 1,900 tickets

• Saturday, April 17 vs. Kansas City Royals at 12:10 p.m. -- 1,600 tickets

• Sunday, April 18 vs. Kansas City Royals at 1:10 p.m. -- 1,500 tickets

• Tuesday, April 20 vs. Cleveland Indians at 7:10 p.m. -- 3,000 tickets

• Wednesday, April 21 vs. Cleveland Indians at 7:10 p.m. -- 3,000 tickets

• Thursday, April 22 vs. Cleveland Indians at 12:10 p.m. -- 3,000 tickets

Fred, even if the seats are sold in the Champions Club section, people still have to sit in them.

We have WC tickets in section 220, and I think we should be able to see both the scoreboard and skyline without problems. Can anyone confirm this?

anyone know what flags will be going on the small flag poles by the scoreboard?

Jeff - I realize that...but the problem at NYS was that many of those seats were unsold. If the seats are purchased, there is a better than 50/50 chance that someone's butt will be planted on them at any given game.

This isn't New York City, but there is still a big difference between $175 and $2,500! If there are any empty seats it is probaably because the ticket holders are underneath in the Club enjoying the all inclusive five star dining and free drinks.

Evan-the flagpoles will hold the WS, AL and Division pennants, plus one TC flag to round out the flagpoles. Various dignitaries matched to those years will raise them on Opening Day.

They just put that TC flag there as a placeholder for this year's World Series flag...

Heh heh. It looks like Big Papi got a case of the old 'roid rage.

Anatomy of a phone call or text from Target Field:

Dude, I am at the new ballpark and it is amazing!

On the other end a cartoon thought bubble goes up: Oh really? Wow thanks asshole for letting me know you didn't invite me to go with you.

I admit I am guilty...

Somebody asked last night if the the Seat View tool was still available. I don't think you can access it directly from the Twin's website, but if you Google it, you can get to it still. (Click my name for link)

Yeah, and it will answer all of your "How many rows in section xxx?" questions, too.

Target Field chow gets a big thumbs up from the City Pages food critic.

Ben: Yeah I'm not sure how many tickets the other team get or where they are located. i would think they would be a grouping and probably in pretty decent seats.

TTH: the temp neck tattoo would be a great promo if he sticks as a closer.

Schweady: I want to sit in section XXX regardless of how many rows there are.

Hey badjuggler... I read that article and was mildly violated at the following line:

"I wouldn't recognize Joe Mauer if he were wrapped in a towel and slathered with chocolate sauce."

How about the "watery lager" line --- maybe there's at least one other arrogant whiner in this town?

There are plenty Ben. Plenty.

In regards to the extra OD tickets being made available yesterday, I along with many of us other diehards had all but given up hope of being at OD but I was totally stoked to score a pair of tickets for my dad and I to be there for what is sure to be a historic day for face value! It is great that true fans have been able to get in on OD and not have to think about paying the ridiculous Ebay and SH prices :) OD will be a day we will never forget! Go Twins!

Justin, are you in a wheelchair row also?

Unfortunately there will be plenty of fans this year more interested in the food than the game. But at least their cash all goes into the Twins coffers. Hutton is a tad less pretentious than some of her foodie cohorts. But just a tad.

As long as there are plenty of vendors selling that "watery lager" or "piss beer" and peanuts, I won't get out of my seat at all during the game...unless I have to use the facilities. Thankfully the gates will open 3 hours prior to first pitch so I can use that time to wonder all over the ballpark.

...anyone know which sections Wally will be working?

Just under 5 days until "technically" the first game @ TF!

I saw Wally the Beerman serving in the sections behind homeplate on the first level. I passed him in the concourse while he was moving between different sections to walk down.

I would guess that being as he is such a staple around here, that is the area he would be at all year.

Can you imagine him up in the 300 levels with those steep inclines being his age?!!

Rick,
I just got tears in my eyes reading about the picture. I can't wait to take my kids to their first game at Target Field. It will be a day I remember for the rest of my life.

Rick, you mentioned there were only 33K people at each of the exhibition games. This is actually not correct. There were 33K paying customers and another nearly 7K who were given free tickets and not counted in the attendance. Even the PA announcer was clear on that on Saturday as he clarified "This is the paying crowd." There were actually more than the supposed 39,500 max capacity on Saturday. The number came to over 39,700.

As for taxing the facilities including bathrooms, I doubt it seriously. There are already more bathrooms at TF than at the Dome and it doesn't hold as many people, nor will it even with standing room tickets. I think Target Field will be just fine.

I was happy to see that the WC row was divided off by a metal bar. the last thing people need in that row are drunk fans hovering right over their shoulders. That was a good idea.

I've been a part of TC Traders since it went live but I've still received no offers on any of my listings, so I'm going to try posting on the main board here as well. I have 2 tickets to the April 15th game against the red sox in section 111 Row 10; face value $62 I'm asking 80 a ticket or trade. If interested please make an offer on TC Traders (accessible to members or not), or e-mail me.

P.S. has anyone tried Grain Belt Nordeast yet? I'm picking up a 6-pack after work today at Surdyk's, assuming it's not sold out.

HebrewHammer,

twinsbaseball.com still has 8-packs of HPB in row 8 behind the plate for $62 each. Nice try though, try to find some suckers on Craigslist to scam.

Attendance is always tickets sold - never the actual gate count. That's just how it is done. When tickets are given away they are not counted as sold.

Are you kidding me Tom? That is an extremely reasonable price to ask for the opening series, not to mention the fact that if you're a member of TC Traders the $80 would cost less than someone would pay with all the additional taxes and fees your presented with when you buy a ticket of the Twins website. I don't know what's on the Twins website right now, but whatever it is is newly released because the game has been sold out for weeks, and my asking price is way less than a lot of people are asking for on stubhub. Last but not least since it's a season ticket holder ticket you would get Metropolitan Club access (I'm sure a lot of people don't care) which you won't get from a single game ticket from the Twins. The idea I'm somehow scamming people asking for an $18 profit on a site that charges no additional fees for members is absurd! Go screw yourself Tom. (Rant Over)

Asking people to pay you $80 each when they are readily available from the Box Office for $62 each is trying to scam.

Is it opening day yet? People sure are getting punchy up in here.(Up in here).

Can you get into the Metropolitan Club with just the tickets from a season ticket holder? When I was there for the exhibition games they told me I needed to have my season ticketholder card to get in. I've heard you could get in with just the tickets and seen some people even claim that in Ebay auctions, but I'm not sure about that.

I will say that asking for more than face on here when tickets are readily available from the Twins website is kinda tacky to say the least.

There were a great many open seats - also a great many at the rails, in the bars and "shops", in line for food, and just generally milling about. The announcement I heard on Saturday was "attendance is 32,xxx and, in addition, x,xxx tickets were given away ----- ".

To be clear, I'm talking about scalping tickets in the comment section here, not in TCTraders or on CraigsList, StubHub, Ebay or wherever.

Buffalo - I've entered Metropolitan Club on two occasions with just my season ticket (they scan the bar code on the bottom when you enter). Neither times did I need the "membership card."

I'd say if you have a ticket, you'll get in regardless if you are the actual owner of the ticket.

Yes Tom, and the Twins don't charge any extra fees or taxes too right? So when you buy a $62 ticket you only pay $62, is that right?? Plus the point of something like TC Traders or stubhub is supposed is supposed to mutually beneficial, I'm looking to make a small profit on a game I can't go to, not donate to charity. Lastly if you bothered to look at my TC Traders listing my price isn't firm and I am open to a trade. Over 75% of the listings on TC Traders are above face value, and their only for games like the Royals and Indians, none for the Red Sox series. You don't have the buy my tickets, but you have a lot of gall to try and call me a scam artist!

Buffalo, you only need the ticket to get in the Metropolitan Card. You don't need any extra ID.

You should be able to get in the club with just the ticket, at least that was always the case before. BUT, what was/is the deal (reported here) about people being denied access unless they said they would be purchasing drinks?

jpberka-
From what I saw on Friday, a lot of fans were ignoring the bar behind the WC row. They were standing right directly behind the people. The amount of space between the bar and the seats is huge, so I think it'll continue.

Actually, I will take it a step further. You MUST have your ticket to enter the Metropolitan Club. The ID card won't do it. I saw a man in front of me get turned away when all he had was his card. They said it wasn't good enough. His wife bailed him out when she dug the tickets out of her purse.

I can't speak to Friday's attendance, but there were moments on Saturday when the place looked pretty darn full. I can certainly understand a few people not using their tickets, but it looked to me that there weren't huge numbers in that category by any means on Saturday.

As a flex 40 account holder my tickets appear no different then single game tickets. Unless the barcode has information that they are season tickets the only thing that would Identify me as a season ticket holder is my ID card. I'm currious to see what happens.

PNB19, I was Flex 40 last year. Unless something has changed, your ticket should state that it is a Flex 40 ticket right on the face of it, if only in a somewhat small type. Does it not say that? All the same, they were scanning tickets and I do think the bar code makes a difference.

PNB19 ---

Check to see if your name is on them somewhere, usually really small.

Ben is right. That should also be the case.

Am I missing something? I thought Flex 40 was dropped for this year...

Two $62 (hard) tickets purchased online would come to $67.75 each with the two fees. We can argue if $80 is out of line or not, but trying to sell them in the comments section, now that TC Traders is alive, is for sure tacky.

People who had Flex 40 accounts prior to last year were given the option to renew it. Works great for me I live in Iowa. I don't know if they will for next year or not though.

Flex 40 was reincarnated when the Twins felt ST sales were going to be more sluggish than they had anticipated.

I think PNB is correct in that the option was only to be extended to existing customers of the plan. But only after they changed their mind about killing it altogether.

Great photo in my opinion of Justin Morneau during an exhibition game. Click my name for the picture.

What the fricking hell? I've had these tix posted on TC Traders since it went live, and made one posting to bring attention to it. I'm not going to go through the archives but I've followed this blog for months now and have seen multiple people try to sell tickets on here unrelated to TC Traders and no one has uttered a word. I've been a regular contributor on here and all of a sudden I post my tickets once and I'm a tacky scam artist. Besides this blog is about all things Twins and Target Field, so why would mentioning tickets be out of line? I'm not some hustler trying to make $, I'm a Twins and Target Field lover, and a paying member of TC Traders. All the grief I'm getting on here is ridiculous.

Just set it as my new desktop background Jeff. Thanks!

HebrewHammer, the point is the people here who post often know there are still tickets available. It's one thing to post it in TCTraders or somewhere else, but another thing all together to try to do so in the comments section. That's what's tacky. Considering the comments section has been dominated by talk of the newly-available tickets, thinking that you could scalp them in the same place just seems kinda weird.

The Minnesota Timberwolves won two big ones at home -- the battle to sell advertising space facing Target Field and the weenie war. Click my name for the entire article.

The comments on Flex 40 are right. As a previous Flex 40 customer I was permitted to renew it. I chose not to. My ticket rep informed me there would be blackouts and various restrictions that did not exist in previous years, so I elected to go with traditional 20 game seats.

What is UP with Tom Verducci? I'm watching MLB Tonight right now and he just said that there is a "good chance" of snow flurries when the Twins play the BoSox on OD.....A quick look at weather dot com is predicting a high of 76. Can this guy be ANY MORE misinformed???

I think that I am going to have to side with HebrewHammer here. There is nothing that says it is wrong to A)Post about tickets for sale here, and B)Try to make a couple dollars too. I did not think he was asking to much, and people would pay far more going through another site.

And to say that It's one thing to post it in TCTraders or somewhere else, but another thing all together to try to do so in the comments section. That's what's tacky. is kind of an odd statement, considering that this board gets brought down with Religion and Politics talk. Talk about tacky.

If this was a brand new poster, I could understand. But he has been here a while, contributed regularly, and was just trying to drum up some business for his tickets that he posted and [b]PAID[/b} to post.

Thank You.

"You MUST have your ticket to enter the Metropolitan Club. The ID card won't do it. I saw a man in front of me get turned away when all he had was his card."

I was surprised by this -- has anyone else observed this, or had this experience? The Metropolitan Club mailing clearly says "season ticket holder game tickets or Season Ticket Holder I.D. card" allows access.

This is important to me as I plan to use the Metropolitan Club mostly on days when I've given my season tickets away and I go to a game on cheaper tickets I buy from the Twins box office.

I plan to call the Metropolitan Club reservation line about this, but any insights would be appreciated.

The weather in Houston, TX today was 80 degrees and Sunny....yet the roof was closed for the Astros/Giants ballgame today. Further illustrating why I'm so glad our ballpark doesn't have a retractable dome.

Josh, that's all fine and good, but he's barking up the wrong tree I would say.

I'd echo what Josh said. Doesn't seem like Hebrew is at all out of line. There are no rules written or unwritten that suggest he shouldn't post about tickets. That's even more the case since he's a member of the trading site. As for the price, who cares? That's his call. Maybe an 10th row ticket would be worth a $10 more to someone than a seat farther back, or an aisle seat, etc.

Man, people are getting touchy. Nothing a winning roadtrip won't fix hopefully.

just bought the worst seat in the house (or so i can gather) Sec 327 Row 12 Seat 11... for the KC game next friday - review to follow.

I gotta agree with the Hammer here... $80 isn't too much to ask for premium seats. I'll guarantee the same seats are over $100 on StubHub and at Ticketking

Rick should probably address the ticket sales issue. If selling in the comments section is OK with him there is no need for TCT.

Being from St.Cloud I needed another option to sell extra tickets and TCTraders gives me that and that's why I became a member..The overall feeling I've gotten here is most members shoes squeek when they walk if you catch my drift..I sold 1 set(2 seats) of my OD tickets for 800 bucks somewhere else and of course NEVER would have put them here only because nobody would have bought them.I don't care what anyone thinks of my prices as I don't care what any other member prices their tickets for.Who am I to judge? Quit nitpicking and enjoy the season..I've had tickets on for a week now here 7-8 bucks over face and they just sit there..I knew signing up probably maybe 5% of my extras would even sell here..So what.

Theory about empty Champion Club seats (friday at least, that i noticed) and Legend Club seats that others noticed: I had to make a separate transaction to buy the exhibition tickets for Legend seats; they did not come with the package. If that was true for others, especially champion club, which would require someone making the effort to spend even more money on expensive tickets for a game that doesn't count, or just not getting around to it, could that explain a lot of the empties? Or was my experience the exception?

my extras for OD in 112 cost me $135 with fees. Padding the selling price to recoup that and a few bucks extra shouldn't be a big deal.

I actually didn't sign up for TCT- only because I would ONLY be selling. Never buying or trading. I don't want to pay to be only a seller when demand is high. I'll always just sell outright to people at work (who are clamoring for them). That's just my point of view - as skewed as it may be. :)

hebrewhammer - i picked up 3 cases of grain belt nordeast from surdyk's earlier today. by 3pm j.j. taylor had already delivered 4 full size semi-trailer truck loads of grain belt nordeast to surdyk's and it was selling like crazy.

it is very, very good. it is an amber style lager and the taste profile is very similar to an irish amber ale called smithwick's, which is one of my favorite beers of all time. i think grain belt/schell's have hit a home run with grain belt nordeast.

fred - was tom verducci on mlb network actually being serious when he said that or was he saying it in a stupid "tounge in cheek" fashion?

What is UP with Tom Verducci? I'm watching MLB Tonight right now and he just said that there is a "good chance" of snow flurries when the Twins play the BoSox on OD.....A quick look at weather dot com is predicting a high of 76. Can this guy be ANY MORE misinformed?

Fred, it's these kind of people that I call hosers. These are the kind of people who in 1885 write articles in New York news papers that call Minnesota "... another Siberia, unfit for human habitation." And then this results in us Minnesotans saying "WTF!" and coming up with things like St. Paul Winter Carnival. So let them be stupid, we know the truth. They're just jealous of our gorgeous new ball park.

Steve, nice to see someone from the area on here, I'm from Sartell. I too sold a pair of OD tickets. Mine were for $300, and that was from an offer received from another site I listed them at. To each their own on what they price them for and what they can get for them. The person I sold them too, was more than happy to pay for those tickets at that price.

Also, I have to echo what Jax is saying. I was interested in TC Traders, but I would only be a seller. And I would be fine paying the fees to list on their, but I too would have to inflate the price a bit to cover and fees on my end for purchasing, and then for the fee to list tickets there. There is nothing wrong with asking a bit more to cover these fees.

Again, it can be debated on whether or not this is the right place to post them, but some would and have argued that this is not the place to talk religion and politics, yet the same people do. I come here to talk baseball, stadium, tickets, views, food, fans, the wave, Rauch's tattoos, Rick not getting any credit for the flagpole, and anything else that comes to mind...

Oh and one more thing, look at the stats at the top...
TCTraders 304 tickets available (74 at or below face value)

Less than 25% of the tickets listed are at or below face value. HebrewHammer is not the only one trying to make a buck or two, or ten, or 50. He is just trying to drum up business on a listing that has gotten no responses yet.

I think there is plenty of room for TCT even if someone posts on here (which doesn't bother me in the least). TCT gives a good safe medium for sales and purchases. There's nothing wrong with calling out something to a public that might be interested. Obviously in the end it is up to Rick, but I know it isn't bothering me any.

Beta - I think Verducci was being "half-serious"....I don't think that he looked at some weather report that we haven't seen, but I think he has the impression that we are above the Arctic Circle and still have a foot of snow on the ground. I think that's the case with alot of the national media. Are our winters pretty damn cold? Yes they are, but our springs and summers are the same as most everywhere else in the Upper Midwest from Minnepolis to Cleveland and Pittsburgh. We've ALL seen the weather statistics that bear that out....Just wish that those Hosers like Verducci would educate themselves a bit and quit talking out of their collective asses.

Didn't see it mentioned but did everyone see the article on target field in the USA Today and usatoday dot com today? Flagpole was mentioned.

Yea they better have Nordeast at the "Twins Brews" at TF... I'm a huge fan of Premium and was excited to see it offered on tap when I went to the Gopher game.. nice job to the boys last night and here's to hoping Rauch looks that good every time!

What's the selection of beer are the aisle vendors selling? Just your standard Miller/Bud/Mich/Light?

I called the Metro transit today to applaud my 1st ride a couple weeks ago on the Northstar from Big Lake to Target Field and to express concern about OD and the last train leaving at 6:15..The game starts at 3 and no way jose do I leave early from a ball game to catch the train much less OD..I asked if the schedule might change in the next couple days,maybe add a later train?..NOPE, I'm SOL..So,As much as I thought it was a great idea I won't be doing it for OD for sure..

Steve-

Game time is officially at 3:10....my bet is the first pitch won't be thrown until at least 3:15-3:20...You're a smart man to not want to risk missing that train. I also thought about taking the train on OD until I saw the schedule.

I guess my only comment would be: Who the hell is Tom Verducci?

I am confused, I thought they said that trains would leave around a half hour after the game ended.

The more and more I hear about the train, the more I think we will not be using it.

You are one lucky man betaband. I went right to Surdyks after work and they were already sold out of the Nordeast, so I went across the street and got a pint of it at Keegan's. They said in the past 2 hours they had already gone through almost 3 kegs. I absolutely loved it, and I really hope they serve it at TF. Despite TTH describing Premium as piss, I personally thank G-d for Premium because my taste in beer usually gets pretty expensive and Premium is the first affordable beer I've found that I really love and can drink by the caseload. The fact that I live in NE Mpls. and get to try the Nordeaster a day early and hit my palate perfectly after work was icing on the cake.

Not for OD...6:15 is last train to Big Lake..
www.metrotransit.org/twins/Northstar-Twins-service.asp

For the record, its 41 degrees right now in Chicago and the White Sox are playing OUTDOORS....back in the "Arctic Minneapolis"....its currently 50 degrees as of 8pm CDT. But yet Minneapolis needs a roof???

If the media is going to make stupid conclusions about Minneapolis and the weather, than give us some respect when its nice out, such as last Friday and Saturday. Didn't hear any criticism last weekend though when the weather was perfect...

What's the national media going to say on Monday when the forecast is calling for mid to upper 70's for a game on national TV against the Red Sox?

"What's the national media going to say on Monday when the forecast is calling for mid to upper 70's for a game on national TV against the Red Sox?

Two words: "Unseasonably Warm"......bet on it.

....Or something to the effect that "this is not typical of your average Minnesota April."

Steve are you using the train for your other games? And do you know of any planned service from St. Cloud. I saw they have a bus that goes down to Big Lake, just not sure if this all ties in together.

Looks like the game tonight is in HD on DISH. Maybe all our complaining actually made a difference!

Beta and HebrewHammer,

I'm drinking a Nordeast right now. It's darker and smoother than regular Grain Belt. It tastes magical. Hammer, you should have tried Sentyrz, they had a load of it all day. I guess it doesn't matter now since it'll be available everywhere tomorrow. I hope they carry it at TF, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon.

Check out that Northstar/Twins schedule out because it's not always the same for every day..I'll be using it on the 18th because the times will work out..Here is the bus link;
www.catchthelink.com/schedulefares.php

I sincerely hope that Metro Transit is able to work out track time so that in future seasons they can guarantee a train home after every home game. Right now, they don't have the track time for it. 50-some games is a decent start though considering it is a new service, but it needs to become something that people can count on each game in the future.

rick, is there a way to add shipping/mailing costs into TCT? i personally just include it in my ticket price but i just bought some tickets for a specified price and then the paypal invoice showed an additional price from this seller.

i should mention that the additional price i paid was only $5 for 2 tickets...just a thought that it would be nice to know before putting in offers. keep up the great work rick!

Anyone else not getting the game in HD on Dish even though it is listed on the guide on the HD channel? This is BS.

Will Nordeast become the Yuengling of the midwest? Hmmm.

It was explained to me track time was the problem and this year they would be flying by the seat of their pants..Hopefully by next year it can be a service I can count on EVERY game..50 some games is a good start though..

Ole / Matt23 - Looks like Dish HD signal is coming through now. Wasn't on when the game started, but is now (aside from the technical difficulties). Not getting my hopes up that this is a permanent resolution.

delmon's at-bat...7 pitches, 3 foul balls, 1 swinging strike, 2 balls, 1 ball in play. Anyone want to guess how many of the 5 non-ball pitches were in the strike zone? 1! at least he lasted 7 pitches...

yep josh, you should certainly base your personal opinion of the northstar and/or light rail based on what you read on a message board (some of it from people with personal agendas against public transit). that is always the best way to approach it rather than actually trying it for yourself first and then forming your own opinion.

sorry for the blatant sarcasm, but i think it was called for.

Chad- that would be nice, man i could go for a Yuengling, well i can get it when im in Philly for at least one twins game!

Yea Ole, I saw the game was listed in HD tonight too, but when the game started, it wasn't being shown in HD....until about 9:15. Weird. But now the games from here through next Thursday are listed in HD on my Dish guide.

Rick, thanks for your great post. My experience with my dad Saturday at TF was definitely ballpark magic for both of us. Conversely, at the open house when my 5-year-old just wanted to get popcorn and sit in the pavilion seats to munch and stare at the field, it was another type of ballpark magic for me.

What is different about the "Skyline Deck" seats asides from not being allowed in to the hallowed halls of the Legend's Club glassed in fortress? I have tix to an un-named game there. Thanks.

That was crushed.

If we can keep tc traders as non stubhub like as possable that would be great, i just bought tix tonight and the member did not charge me shipping, and i mailed him a check, so we both spent a stamp...i would not buy from someone who wants to charge me bucks to ship something that costs a stamp, i mean seriously... thats tacky...

Carlos who?

Go JJ!

HELLO HARDY - 2nd homer of the year!

mazaratirick - i agree unfortunatey I was robbed by eBay buyers for not using a tracking number. Which is why I don't sell much of anything on eBay anymore. Stub hub is ok now that they do the eticket option but a lot of ppl. including myself think it's a pain carrying around an 8"X10" piece of paper and/or not getting the stub for a keep sake.

stubhub is what it is... no hassle, for the seller and buyer... if i want to hit chi town for a game with 3 days notice... i can and print tickets , dont have to hunt people down to collect or anything like that...i put OD tix on stubhub last night and 3 mins later they were sold, all i do is wait for my pay pal check...no i priced my tix waaaay under what they are going for there. (240.00) so i knew they would sell fast but geez 4 mins?

i dont have a problem with people on tc traders posting seats for above face as long as they are willing to accept trade or BO, which i have seen some that do , alot that dont.. either way i just wont buy your tix if you dont. i just want this thing of ours (LA COSTRA NOSTRA)will last... i have tix for 4/20 i cant go gotta work late but i wanna trade for 4/21 and of course nobody wants to trade!!! oh well lifes a bitch and ten you die....rememeber its called tc TRADERS!!!!!!

Rick,

In your video of the twins running onto the field for the first time, that is me at the end gazing around in amazement!!!

I had a seat in the WC section, can't believe you were right next to me doing your noble work.

CJ, we have tix in the "2 worst seats" up in 327 for the July 2nd game. We sat up there for part of the open house, and they're not bad seats at all. Just the LF wall you can't see because the Admin building blocks it, but you can see over the party deck to the scoreboard really well. Also, you can look behind you and out of the stadium, which is sorta cool.

If it's breezy tho, better dress warm. =)

Did the Twins use the same song for homeruns at TF exhibition games?

Anyone have a link to the schedule for opening day events/times?

haha...suck on that Torii.

Nice outing by Pavano tonight...its always nice to see your starting pitchers carry you into the 7th and 8th innings.

Another nice team win!

Puntoholio!!

thanks for the tip jeremy

as for nordeast - i was skeptical - as a "beer snob" but to hear it equated to my beloved Yuengling (which i drank like water when i lived in philly in 06)... now i'm beyond excited.

Julie A. - the seats in the skyline deck are not wood-backed, and I don't think they're padded (could be wrong).

Sounds like security's tight at the LC entrances - heard a story about someone who felt he should be able to walk through the LC because he is a season-ticket holder. He didn't have a LC ticket and was turned away, shall we say, in no uncertain terms.

Expectorate - i was just hoping they weren't bench seats. I have Flat Butt Syndrome from other less worth while ball parks.

It seems that this is just another seating area for the loyal cheap seat masses of which I approve highly.

"Didn't see it mentioned but did everyone see the article on target field in the USA Today and usatoday dot com today? Flagpole was mentioned."

Yet another piece indicating that the Legion sold the pole. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Julie A. - lucky for you, the Twins have made opening week - "Flat-Butt Syndrome awareness week." I don't think they've decided on a giveaway just yet, but they're considering the 'Punto-pad.'

Flat-Butt Syndrome does not discriminate!

Well Expectorate that it a true tragedy being that we are not going to make the opening week.

Thank you anyhoo luv.

i agree with you maz, there shouldn't be a shipping add-on to this. this seller isn't in MN and has a lot of tickets on TCT which looks like a case of the StubHub but most the tickets are under face so no complaints here.

MPR: Now that baseball's here, a few tips for light-rail rookies

jfh-
Here's the home opener events.

I know it's been discussed before - but can someone remind me where I can find information about the other 80 games, in reference to when gates open, batting practice, etc.?

Julie, I have skyline deck seats for the game on Thursday. I checked them out at the open house. They are regular seats like you find in the lower bowl or upper deck, no bench seating, no padding, either, just normal seats. I've stated before I think these will be some of the best seats in the house for the price, especially section S, the first deck past the LC seats.

Jonathan Yuhas just did a wind study for OD on KARE 11. He says it's going to be pretty windy on Monday, blowing from the SE which basically means blowing in from right field. This would be similar wind direction as Saturday's exhibition. I think when the wind blows that direction, there will be a swirl that carries the ball out to left. Just a guess. The flags and wind veil really allow the fans to see how the wind is affected things, at least in right field.

Luke -- I can't find the link at the moment, but from memory the gates will open 2 hours before first pitch on Friday - Sunday, and 90 minutes before first pitch Monday - Thursday. Twins taking batting practice 2.5 hours before gametime, and the visiting team takes batting practice 1.5 hours before gametime.

I personally think the Twins are leaving money on the table Monday-Thursday, but maybe they don't want to compete too directly with their new neighbors.

Ah...here is a link...it was in the 20 questions section in the Strib:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/89656102.html?page=4&c=y

Thanks Linc.

Metropolitan Club access:

* Access the Club by showing season ticket holder game tickets or your Season Ticket Holder I.D. card which is included with your season ticket package.
* A maximum of 4 guests per reservation.
* All guests must have a valid game ticket to gain access to the ballpark and Metropolitan Club.
* The Metropolitan Club is located on the Club Level at Target Field along right field between Gates 34 and 29. To access the Metropolitan Club use the escalator or elevators located near Section 103 just inside Gate 29.
* The Twins expect the Metropolitan Club to be an extremely popular destination. Although walk-ups are welcome, space is limited so please try to avoid disappointment and utilize the reservation system.

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/ballpark/metropolitan_club.jsp

Rick - If the Vikings stadium deal gets passed, will you be creating a forum for that as well??

TWINS MAGIC NUMBER: 160

Linc-
I think all teams run there gate openings that way. I could be wrong though. I've only been to two other ballparks and if I recall right, they did the same.

there = their. still asleep.

Wow, I knew that OD prices on Stubhub would be dropping since they released tickets and so many people put them on SH, but who saw such a drop! Over 1800 tickets on Stubhub, easy to find pairs at $125 ea, Home Plate Box at $160ea ($325 the cheapest a week ago).

pretty brave move by the Nationals organization. and a slap in the face to fans, especially as one would think they want to build a fanbase there and not alienate or embitter them.

sorry, click my name for the link to the story.

Who was the poster on here who kind of got screwed over by a broker on eBay for physical stubs? I might be able to help you.

Does anyone know if any of the bars are opening early on monday? most of them open at 11:00 that i can see, and yes, i would like to start earlier.

Thrillhouse--

I'm pretty sure that Smalley's will be open at 8am for breakfast. Other than that, I doubt that most places think they'll have a lot of people for 4 hours of pre-gaming. Ha.

Thanks Chad,

See i am hoping to get over to the park to watch some Twins BP, there is too much going on to miss!

Thrillhouse - Come to the BBQ!!!

748 N 3rd St
Mpls, MN 55401

11am - 2pm Opening Day

FYI: The MLB Extra Innings package is being made available for a free preview this week. If you are a big baseball fan this is a must have subscription. The large majority of the games are broadcast in HD and they have a channel where you can watch 8 games simultaneously. Truly magical.

Jeff, i will try to stop by, but i have to hand out 50 tickets to my group that i have going. Sounds like it will be a great time!

Thrillhouse- guess it's flask or pre-game at home first untill 11 ha

I've got a 10:30 AM res at Hells Kitchen for breakfast and then I will proceed to drink 10-15 beers somewhere else before going into the game. True story.

I guess so Sooj, i suppose i can go without til 11, but if i am taking a day off of work i want to make it worth while!

Thrillhouse, I love that you're using that name. I laugh everytime I see it.

exactly why wait, it's a day to celebrate

Thanks AJ, technically i probably should put thrillho, but i like Thrillhouse better

luke are we going to see you wearing this shirt on opening day? i'm sure kevin would take you up on it.

Re Max's comments, I'd be interested in any review on MLB.TV viewing online. I know you can't get the Twins in the local market, but interested in the quality as compared to HD TV on TV. Functionality, too.

Thanks.

Hang onto your ticket stub so you can remember you were there.

hey JCTwins, I noticed that my Roku has a channel for MLB.TV. Haven't checked it out yet but the Roku streams Netflix through an HDMI to my TV and the quality is excellent if your internet speed is decent.

trust me, i will sober up plenty during the game, i cant afford to drink $7 beers all afternoon

so just be clear on the liquid rule. Can you bring a bottle if it is sealed? I wasn't sure, so I've been just dumping out the water from my water bottle

I brought in a full bottle of water on Friday and no one said anything. I don't have the guide in front of me, so I don't know what it says.

Just a quick note to all the TCTrader sellers: I plan to buy tickets from you guys, but not for April games. I bet there are others who feel the same way.

PatMeares - it was me.

ok found it in the fan guide, "Sealed Bottles of water 32 ounces or less and soft sided single juice or milk containers are the only outside beverages permitted. Liquids requirement for legitimate medical purposes are permitted"

I just saw four tickets in Section 122 go for around $400 on Ebay. Who would have imagined that just a few days ago? Some good deals to be had out there. And who knows, even more tickets might still be released from the Twins before Monday.

Oh, speaking of home opener. I don't know if SH prices went down all that much, if at all. I remember before the Twins released those extras, the lowest ticket was $165. Those tickets were still on there as of last night with the same price. Listed before those tickets were a whole bunch of tickets I didn't see before, and a few WC rows. I just think scalpers got to the tickets too, because when I looked at the new ones listed a lot of them were just 1 ticket. I know on Tuesday night it was hard to get more than one or two at a time from the Twins site.

I know from watching StubHub and selling two tickets I bought that the prices dipped a little. When I bought my wheel chair tickets in Section 217, those type of tickets were going for a minimum of $200 a piece, some higher if you were in a lower row. I had to mark mine down as the market got flooded on there and "settle" for $150 a piece.

Not a bad deal, I'm sure they did a little and some maybe more than others depending on the desperation of the scalper.

They are strict about the sealed water bottle thing; my girlfriend tried to bring in an opened water bottle and she had to leave it. They also confiscated some cans of pop from her. However, twice now (Gophers and Friday exhibition) I've worn a small drawstring backpack in and they haven't checked it, while my girlfriend got her purse opened up and looked through both games. Her cans of pop were confiscated, but the ones I had in my backpack were not (because they never searched it). It seems like A) drawstring backpacks are way less likely to get noticed and searched than purses or other bags and B) the security guys are not really looking for men carrying in bags, but rather are keeping their eyes out for the women in line with purses.

Essentially, my recommendation is if you're trying to sneak something in, give it to a guy to carry in. Also, hiding whatever you're bringing in under some books or something will definitely help; they don't dig in your bag, they just open it up and glance.

Of course, now they will, haha. I'm sure they have people checking this site.

Well, true, however, I think if someone takes care of hiding whatever might get confiscated at the bottom of their bag, out of sight, the security guards are going to be dealing with 40K fans to check out, so they probably won't take the time to look through your whole bag. And like I said, they look at you from the front; if you're wearing a small drawstring backpack, they probably won't even see it. I thought for sure my backpack would get checked at both games, and both times I think they didn't even see it.

Hopefully no suicide bombers come to TF or we're all screwed.

Weather reports for Monday are starting to look a little more ominous. "60 degrees for a high and sprinkles" are what I'm seeing. Hopefully, it'll change for the better.

it's weird you say that - i had a dream there was a shooting on the plaza.

I think you and I probably both successfully scared some people, Jax.

I think someone on here once said that accuweather.com has the most accurate weather reports. Not sure if that's true, but I checked it last night and it said 72 and sunny. Not sure if it's changed since.

AJ - Accuweather is now saying 61 degrees and possible thunderstorms.

on weather.com it is saying high of 86 and 30% for Isolated T-Storms but Tues and Wed look great

the day is suppose to start out wet then clear up. Belinda said so.

No sense in worrying about the weather, I guess...not much we can do about it.

Nice accomplishment for the Twins and Target Field.

haha, I like the extreme differences in all of those forecasts.

Not me....I wish they ALL said: "80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky." :)

Rick, if I post tickets for sale here that are also listed on SHub, what happens if between the time they sell here, they also sell on SHub? Know it's a bit unlikely but I fear it could happen unless I'm checking both sites frequently which I would just as soon not do.

That would be nice Fred. I don't mind the weather, whatever it's going to be. I've never used an umbrella in my life and I'm not going to start now. It's just water, get wet, big whoop. And I never wear a shirt if it's 20 or above, unless I have to.

Bring the weather on! I know, I'm weird.

Just found this little blurb on the StarTrib site:

"Can't get a ticket to Monday's Target Field opener? Celebrate at FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar (31 S. 7th St., Mpls., www.firelakerestaurant.com), where chef Paul Lynch is offering $3 Summit beers, $3 sliders (beef, lamb or walleye), $6 footlong hot dogs made especially for the restaurant by Kramarczuk's ("We're calling them Field Footers," said Lynch), turkey chili and a house-made cross between kettle corn and Cracker Jack, all served outdoors -- in front of big-screen TVs broadcasting the game -- from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Radisson Hotel's driveway."

Yay, driveway party!

I'll believe whatever Sven says.

Someone might have posted this before but there is video with Jim Caple about opening day at TF (click on the "Opening Day at Target Field" link in the video list).

lol, Sven. My friend's wife graduated with him.

Hey Max regarding the free preview of MLB extra innings, what ch has those in HD. I have comcast and do not see any HD ch's for these games? You have the dish or Satillite? I get all the Twins games and ESPN and TBS games in HD. Was funny as I also saw NHL center ice had the free preview also. I would sign up for those but none of them including MLB network or NHL network have an HD ch. with comcast! Ok what are the odds of me getting a ticket to the opener about an hour after the game starts? Whats a scalper gonna do with a ticket 1 hour after the game starts? LOL! I might just waddle around there and see if I can score a freebie or $10 ticket on opening day!! LOL! I hear they have a great happy hour also at Sneeky Petes! $2.00 bottles of beer and $2.00 appitizers!!!!!!

::::wondering if TwinFan likes Sven:::

LOL! Been calling Twinkies for 50 years! Maybe I need to change my handle? Nah too much work! Is Sven realated to Olie? Badooom boom boom!!!!!ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!

Everyone knows Paul Douglas controls the weather.

Twink: I have DirecTV. I believe this is by far the best television service out there (Note: I didn't say the cheapest). On DirecTV the "Game Mix" Channel is 720-1 and then you can surf from 720 to around 750 for all the MLB games. I also buy the Sports Package for $5 a month which allows access to all the Regional sports channels so you can watch the pregame/postgame shows if you wish. To me the MLB Extra Innings would be worth it even if I only got the Dodgers' games. Vin Scully is an American treasure and the way he calls a game is amazing.

I should add that if you are a huge sports fan there is no better choice than DirecTV. This week during the Masters they have 4 different channels with separate coverage from Augusta. I mean it is pretty orgasmic (especially for those us who've been to the course and can relate to specific areas/holes on the course).

Max would agree on Scully! Not a huge dish or direct guy. I gotta believe that comcast will get its crap together and offer these ch's on HD soon! Man I got 6 games to go to in May. !!!! My 1st game will be in the sun April 17th!

Comcast does not currently air MLB Extra Innings games in HD nor does it air the equivalent packages in HD for the NBA, NHL, MLS, NCAA Football, and NCAA Basketball. It doesn't appear that this situation will change at any time in the near future.

One thing that will change, although possibly not until late in the 2010 season or even afterwards, is the status of MLB Network in HD. Comcast recently began the process of completely phasing out analogue cable in the Twin Cities. When that is done, the newly freed up bandwidth will be used for digital cable and will enable Comcast to provide more HD channels, including MLB Network. This process has already taken place in other markets. My family in California went from around 35 HD channels, about the same as Twin Cities Comcast subscribers, to close to 100 HD channels. Extra Innings in HD isn't part of the upgrade though.

The process will start in the East Metro and move westward. Minneapolis and St. Louis Park are last in line due to using different equipment and technology from their days with Time Warner and thus will require more effort for the conversion.

DreDogg: even if he says "it won't hurt"?

Yeah, they do previews every year to begin the season. They also do it after the AS break. I think they do it for every sport. I used to order Center Ice for hockey and get a free month of baseball because the seasons intertwine, but I decided to buy season tickets instead :D

lol moda, that would be on the pretty tame side of what he could say.

It may have been posted already but here is the USA Today story on Target Field. There was one area that irked me a bit.

--The shelters weren't needed for exhibition games with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday and Saturday, thanks to unseasonable game-time temperatures of 65 and 55 degrees. The weather shocked almost everyone.

"I thought for sure we were going to have two days off," Cuddyer says. So did the Cardinals, who booked workout time at the Metrodome as a fallback.--

"shocked almost everyone"? Ugh, I drove by a park yesterday where they were playing league softball. I also remember having little league practice start in late March, early April. It was chilly at times but it wasn't torture.

Even after a couple years of the national media and their snarky remarks, I still am amazed how they have no idea what our weather is like. Last year it was 32 degrees in Chicago for a series and no one cared to mention anything. If that happened here...just imagine the outrage.

Ugh... sorry, I needed to vent.

You forgot to mention the most important part of that. It was 30 something degrees in Chicago, but in the 60's here. Also, I was watching the Sox game last night and you could see everyone's breath. They said it was in the 30's again. It was in the 50's here at that same time last night.

I try not to get too worked up about those people anymore. They're all uneducated.

I am in no way related to Sven. I have ran in the same marathons and races - that's as close as I've gotten to him.

I traded some texts with my brother in-law and have a slight correction to make regarding Extra Innings in HD on Comcast.

In the Bay Area, they do get a single Extra Innings channel in HD. So if there are 14 out of market games being shown in HD on a particular evening in the Extra Innings package, Comcast will have 1 game in HD, but not the rest. When the digital cable conversion and resulting expanded HD capacity increase happens in the Twin Cities, that is likely to be the case here as well.

Sorry for the double post, but where is BallPark Magic's very own Jared with his forecast for opening day?

Jorge: Then the next obvious question becomes...Why would anyone stick with Comcast?

I know HD is a cost issue. And call me an HD snob. But I have a really hard time watching anything anymore that isn't broadcast in HD. It is like watching through saran wrap if in standard definition.

Just watch the Masters this weekend on ESPN/CBS. It will change your life. The beauty of the course literally takes your breath away.

well you can't fault anyone for thinking it would be cold here in March. I mean.... it's usually cold here in March. lol It WAS unseasonable... I can't get mad at that part.

Some people stick with Comcast out of habit. Others do so out of necessity due to a lack of a clear path from the dish to the sky (one of my issues) or since although an apartment owner or condo association can't legally prevent you from getting DirecTV or Dish, they can make it darn difficult. Others have legitimate preferences like the increased On Demand options on Comcast or due to the legitimate rain/snow fade issue with satellites. Meanwhile Comcast's cable internet is legitimately faster than DSL and bundling that with cable and/or phone service makes sense for some people.

Call me an HD snob also, but I won't watch a program in SD unless absolutely necessary either. The difference picture quality is just too great. Comcast's lack of HD offerings and slow speed to offer more is very aggravating. However, knowing that this big jump in HD offerings is coming has improved my mood. I don't buy the Extra Innings package due to not having enough time to watch all the games on FSN, 29, ESPN, TBS, and WGN anyway let alone to pay for more, although I do get the frustration on this front. Comcast not carrying NFL Redzone Channel in HD for the first quarter of the 2009 NFL season infuriated me.

One big drawback about our market is the lack of a phone company fiber optic TV carrier here. Verizon's FIOS and AT&T's U-Verse are direct competitors with cable carriers and satellite in other markets. They offer a lot of choice, including Extra Innings HD although they do lack some stations and have greater issues than their competitors about squeezing too much into too little bandwidth and losing picture and sound quality in the process. Likely due to corporate philosophy and finance, Qwest hasn't invested in such a service and pairs off with DirecTV for its bundle instead.

Agree Jorge! I get enough baseball without the MLB extra innings! All my viewing is done in HD these days. Once you see it you can't go back to SD fer sure! Looking forward to the Masters and some great baseball this weekend! Although may have to DVR it as it is supposed to be nice weather wise!

LOL.. click my name for story about the Giant's jerseys.

sorry, misplaced apostrophe.. S/B Giants'

Well to talk about Comcast and HD, when I finally decide to get cable HD I'll end up going with Comcast. The reason is this: Instead of using a Tivo or anything like that I built a PC that lets me use Windows Media Center to record TV. I currently have a couple HD tuner cards set up with it that uses a good ole antenna to pull in the HD streams and record it. Now I'm all for flexibility with what I record and I like that I can stream that Media Center data to other PCs in my house. In a couple months a new tuner card will come out that will let me put a Cable Card into it and have it so I can record four HD cable streams at once. I'll still have all the flexibility of what I'm used to now and will have all the Comcast HD channels. It does kinda stink that Comcast HD isn't as good as Dish or DirecTV, but neither of those two companies will work with the Cable Cards, and neither of their receivers have the flexibility that I want.

All great points Jorge. You are right on the money. I've heard great things about Verizon FIOS (which I believe is concentrated in the Northeast at this time).

I dream of the day when there is enough competition that I will only have to pay for the channels I use. It's retarded to make me pay for 150 channels when I literally use maybe 10.

Kathie Jenkins on the Pioneer Press has a headline that says: "Except Big Dog, Target Field food pricey, greasy, substandard"

I clicked on it, but it was a video and I was too lazy to watch it. For those who want to.

Just curious if anyone listens to the Twins radio broadcast through MLB.COM... I was listening to the game last night, and sometime around the 7th inning or so I think I lost the feed of Gordon and Gladden. The LA Angels broadcast came through no problem, however.I listened on Monday night with no problems.

Yesterday I got my first chance to walk around the exterior of Target Field (Eau Claire resident that I am and having not yet had a chance to go in the stadium, I'm still having those super-excited moments just looking through the gates). As I was walking on the promenade around 5:15, I got a pic of what looks like the final aesthetic painting of what used to be the entry doors on the HERC. See the attached photo link. The seemed to finish the paint job just as I walked by.

I lost the TRN feed on MLB last night as well. The pregame wasn't covered either, they had the feed on from the Cleveland game until the lineups were announced.

I don't think the HERC view will look too bad once all of the vegetation takes root and the trees leaf out. Especially in a few years as the trees grow.

Section 115, row 10 sitting on SH for opening day at $155 each - That means the seller is willing to take $132 each!!

Talk about a bear market!!

haha...very cute mplsgreg :|.
While I am very, very picky about whom I kiss...I wouldn't do so wearing a girly, pink shirt like the ones your link sells...lol. I can't believe that a paragon of masculinity such as myself would be caught dead wearing a shirt like that...
Incidentally, while we're putting to rest Dome-im's i.e. the Dome Dog and Sue Nelson's abhorrent organ music, I hope the Kiss Cam dies with the Dome and doesn't find it's way north to TF.

It seems like it's been an eternity watching that countdown find it's wayto just 3 days. Amazing!

guys in pink are hot.

KATHIE JENKINS is pricey, greasy, substandard.

Her voice is filled with superiority. And I'm from Wayzata.

She pronounced Berenguer incorrect - she said Berenger. (as in Tom.)
That alone means she is not qualified to critique MN ballpark food.

Well Ole,

The way it looks right now, I don't really see much happening. Monday just looks like a spring day with highs in the mid 60s and partly to mostly cloudy skies. (for the "all or nothing" crew out there I am saying nothing happens, as it stands right now). There is a loooooong shot for something to organize, but it doesn't look like that happens. I will watch for it and if anything changes post it, but for now just expect a good day for baseball.

And sorry luke, the kiss cam was huge at TF, literally, on that board in left field the people were huuuuuge. Meg noticed it right away when the kiss cam came on.

Oh and by the way Ole, as a freshman I took a weather class with Sven when he was in his last year. Dude is VERY smart. Graduated in 3.5 years IIRC.

Dammit! The Kiss Cam carried over?
Pink? Really Jax, you think so?

jorge - thanks for all the info about the comcast cable system upgrades. i am an east metro comcast customer so it is good to know i will be getting a big jump in available HD channels sooner rather than later.

i also wish that the dominant local phone company in minneapolis was either verizon or at&t, so that we had access to their fiber optic TV systems. qwest/us west is pretty lame and runs their technology infrastructure and investment in it in a very conversative and rural appeasing manner, which is very different from verizon & at&t.

Since we got some TV/cable talk the last couple days...I have Direct TV and was pissed a few months ago because my kids bought us Netflix but Direct TV wouldn't allow streaming netflix through the box..I did some research and came upon some software called "Play On" media server..They had a 2 week trial and it worked great along with having HULU and a few other channels which is cool..One time fee of 19-39 depending on if any coupons are out. All you do is run ethernet cable to your box and download the software..Anyway,,They have MLB now so if you bought it for your computer you can stream it to your TV for nothing through Play On....Check it out.

For those mulling "floating realignment," here's a column from Jayson Stark.

Nordeast better end up at Target Field.

I like me some hops, but I also enjoy a nice, easy-drinking-in-the-sun beer, and this is it. And at $12.50 a 12-pack, I really can't complain.

Rick, How will we know they are Wheelchair seating tickets? Have you guys been to my blog? CLICK LINK.

Luke,

Through a drunken haze, I seem to remember the Kiss Cam during Friday's game, and the only reason I remember is because they showed a couple that was having none of it.

The guy mouthed "It's my sister" while shaking his head.

That could have been a dream, though.

haha, no Chad, that was real.

haha, no Chad, that was luke.

those are the only redeeming moments of Kisscam - the extremely awkward ones.

haha - very cute Schweady.
It would have been funny...if I had a sister :).

all in good fun, l-dawg

Jacque Jones with the Rochester Red Wings went yard today on one Boof Bonser with the Pawtucket Red Sox. :D

Love the TV talk. I am tempted to get Extra Innings, but wondering why pay $200 for that when I can buy MLB.TV for $120 and take it with me on my laptop anywhere? That seems to be the more viable option. Also if I read right it looks like MLB.TV will pop up whenever players I choose are at-bat? I'd love to watch Gomez bat this year.

Agree with the comments on DirecTV. NFL Sunday ticket is life-changing, as well as the extra free coverage on events like the Masters, and yes, NASCAR, and the HD quality is AWESOME. Better DVR quality than I ever had with Comcast, too.

JCTwins...If you have a HDTV you can hook up your laptop to your TV as well...no brainer there..

chad - great pic! i got my 12'ers of grain belt nordeast for $10.49 each from surdyk's in mpls. i have even seen it advertised at a long-time liquor store on the east side of st. paul for as low as $8.88. all depends on where one shops, i guess.

So - anyone want to venture the odds of Opening Day moving to Tuesday if we get to Sunday and the weather forecast for Tuesday is far more favorable than that for Monday?

(given that Tuesday long-range forecasts look far better than Monday at the moment. Too bad opening day isn't tomorrow)

Nice double for Thome, and then nice jump to score on the base hit from Kubel.

showing his speed

If he get enough playing time I see him being a 30-30 guy...

It would only be moved if baseball could not be played on Monday...that is it...

I like seeing that from our Third Baseman!

Gotta come up with a nickname for the Nick Punto and Brendan Harris tandem. Hmmm...mayeb Nick Harris, or Brendan Punto, or maybe HarriPunto.

Yeah thats it HarriPunto.

Yep I like it.

Have we came up with a badass nickname for target field yet

I like when Rick calls it "The Railyard"

The Bullseye, Targe' Field, Baby Jesus' Manger, The House that Bud almost didn't let happen

Why the hell are the Wild on FSN? We don't get my29 way up here, so I'm forced to listen to Gordo and Gladden

Sorta what I was thinking Trosy.

the RAILYARD....hell yea

Interesting article on some of the new Target Field visuals....not sure what I think about having to watch Babe the Blue Ox race against a mosquito..But there are some other cool things that we will see that I hadn't heard about before..Click my name

They'll have to have like 3 inches of rain to cancel that game... As long as I get in the gates and get my Homer Hanky and certificate, I'll be happy, as I was already at the first Twins game at TF last Friday. I work Tuesday unfortunately and can't really skip school 2 days in a row anyways.

I HEART "The Manger." That's it: I"m using it from now on.

Well let's see if Mijares can rebound here...

i'm partial to The Railyard - but "the manger" has charms.

Torii Hunter strikes out like a latin american.

why are they doing the wave in LA

THOME!

Welcome to the Twins Jim Thome, #565

From what we've seen so far, apparently Delmon only needed to drop a few pounds . . .

Wow, Delmon looks like a #1 overall draft pick.

This is exactly why I loved the look of our lineup at the beginning of the year, 9 homeruns in 4 games, we just might give the Yanks a run for their money in terms of team homer totals. Now let's see if the youngster Burnett can get us to the South Side at 3-1!

The O-Dog looks like he's a "true Twin" with the way he plays - balls out even when the game is playing out the string... hope he's okay.

Love the offense! 9 home runs in four games! They also hit 3 home runs in those two exhibition games at Target Field last weekend.

Even with the offense shining, its been nice to see the bullpen has been effective as well, especially Crain.

Keep it up boys and let's beat them south-siders this weekend!

I hope Minnie and Paul are ready for some serious hand-shaking!!

Mike, I think Minnie and Paul are ready!

However, our friends at the Exhibition games were sitting next to a father/son combo and I guess the dad was telling his kid all about the sign. How after a HR the sign will light up, Minnie and Paul will high five, spin around, flip, etc. I really hope that guy isn't in those seats all season, I would hate being next to people that cannot separate reality from graphically enhanced imagery.

Sorry if that person who made those comments are on here...it will be our secret ;)

"Why the hell are the Wild on FSN? We don't get my29 way up here, so I'm forced to listen to Gordo and Gladden"

Also to my dismay but I really hope all those Angel fans loved seeing their asses royally kicked by the Twins in their own ballyard. God I hate South Cali. Almost as much as I hate the Least Coast.

I also had to spend several months living in Indiana right over the Chicago, IL border. EVERYONE there is a g&*d#%m White Sux fan. I had to become a fan of NASCAR asap or I was going to lose my mind.

who was it asking when bars open at 8 a.m. on opening day? Being a true hater of blue laws I should have made a list but you can hit up lots of places in Nordeast (unless they've become too trendy since Nordest decided to become trendy...).

Just look for the old timey dive bar signs. If I can find bars that open in Northern MN at 8 a.m. on my birthday there HAS to still be a few of them in Nordest. Trendy or not. Pfft.

I don't know why I thought of this. Who on here thinks Julie A. and Maz would make a good couple? Let's take a vote.

My friends at Cuzzy's (5th and Washington) will be open starting at 7am on Monday. Stop in for breakfast, stay for lunch, stay for the Opener!

Has this been discussed already, or is there a link...? What was the reasoning for not scheduling yesterday's tilt as an afternoon get-away game? I can't imagine that ticket sales would have suffered at all.

I heard a dad in the stands telling his kid that the Minny & Paul sign came from Metropolitan Stadium and also that Jackie Robinson became the first black major leaguer in 1959. Ah, baseball... bringing fathers and sons together via b.s.

Boof-

Just remember the national media thinks everything should be played in perfect conditions. It seems like they have all become crotchety old men. Every year when the super bowl comes around, watch PTI or Around the Horn (even that douche Jim Rome), and all you will hear is wanting the super bowl on a four city rotation because everywhere else is too cold or not festive enough. It sounds to me they just do not want to come up here if its a bit chilly.

On a different subject, a little antidote from Saturday's exibition game.

I was sitting in my seats in 327, row 7, when I hear the guy behind me say to another "I'll have to try that special kind of beer they have here, what is it called Old English?" I sort of laughed to myself then turned around and told him they propably weren't selling 40's at the game. He looked at me quizzically, and I informed him Old english was a malt liquor, he said oh, and laughed.

An inning later a beer vendor walks up the stairs carrying the dreaded Premo. The guy taps me on the shoulder and tells me that Grain Belt was the beer he was talking about, and asked me how it is. I laughingly told him it wasnt much better than the Old E, but to give it a try.

One pitfall of the new stadium is that it will be bringing out more people who are not the most knowlegable about the game. An example below.

After the game we got onto the elevator to go down, to guys in full Twins regalia, and, probably in college, get on. The operator asked them how the game was and one of the guys responded "Awesome, we got to come out and see the best player in the game play." Knowing full well they were talking about Mauer, I said "Oh so you came out to watch Pujols?"

He became all flustered and said no it's Mauer. I told him Pujols had been better for longer and had more MVP's. He told me Mauer was better because "he had been in the league for 3 years and won 3 batting titles and an MVP."

The elevator then reached the main concourse, I told him "I think Mauer's been in the league a bit longer than that." He told me no he hasn't and then walked away. I just laughed to myself.

For the record, while Mauer is an outstanding player, at this time, looking at it objectively, I do believe Pujols had been a better player than Mauer.

Question,

If you have season tickets, is there a way to get at the tickets electronically? For instance my season ticket group is 5 people and there will be plenty of nights where one of us can't go, can we get at the ticket online?

How does that all work? Thanks.

Anyone know how much parking will be in the ABC Ramps? I haven't decided if im going to park in the ramps or down by the Metrodome and take the train to Target Field for Monday's game.

Duffman,

That may be more an example of you looking for trouble (and finding it) than anything else.

yes there are a lot of ignorant fans everywhere, but let them come out and have fun, dont look to pick fights with them or try to show them you know more than they do. It just makes you look foolish.

ESPN has posted a promo for the Joe Mauer "Homecoming"...click my name.

I didn't mean it like that. I just found it funny that this guy was so convinced that Mauer was the greatest player in the game right now, but thought he had only played 3 years, this being his 4th.

I wasn't attempting to look for trouble, it was meant as a joke, but he took it personally and got all defensive.

Anybody else see the Minneapolis squad car on the plaza this morning watching over the covered Puckett statue? I truly hope they are off-duty and being paid by the Twins.

The "Greatest Player" is subjective....and I don't think it's all that outlandish for Mauer to be in that conversation, based on his numbers and the position he plays. If the guy were to say that Nicky Punto was the greatest player in the League, THEN he would deserve to get a little grief....but I wouldn't necessarily argue with anyone who thought Mauer was the best player in the League, because he is definitely in that Top 3-5 range. I may put Pujols a little higher than Mauer, but not by much.

I don't know...if Pujols can play another 10 years and keep putting up these numbers he'll be the best player to ever play the game period. Mauer never has that shot, best catcher, but not best player ever.

Star Tribune has an article about the decision making that goes into determining if fans will see the Twins play or if it will be a delay/rainout. Click my name for the article

...Are we talking greatest player "ever" or greatest player right now? You're right IF Pujols can continue playing at the same level for another 10 years (which would be pretty spectacular, and also unlikely), than sure, he belongs in the discussion for greatest player ever. But when you group the top or greatest players in the game at this very moment, Pujols and Mauer are at the top of most people's list.

I've seen a lot of lists with Mauer in the top 5, but not #2. Can't remember who's been #2. I would say Mauer's #2 and definitely no higher. I've always seen Pujols for the clear #1 as it should be.

His insane offensive numbers year to year way outway the fact that Mauer plays catcher. Yes, Pujols plays an easier position, but he also plays it at an elite level. Much greater offensive stats + elite defender = better.

"The Minnie and Paul sign in center is 46 feet high and 40 1/2 feet wide. The Twins have it programmed to do something specific for 14 different moments -- including victories, home runs, stolen bases, double plays, strikeouts, etc.

"In a rain delay," Price said, "the sign will be on and the river will keep moving.""

From the Startribune. Interesting that they have 14(!) different sequences for that sign.

AJ - It's all subjective. There is no "definitive" list. Mauer is a three-time batting champ (at the toughest position to do so) and AL MVP - if someone wants to claim that he is the greatest player in the game, I won't argue with him...I may disagree, though. That being said, I HAVE hard Mauer discussed in the "top 2" from various national MLB media outlets...most recently on the season preview of MLB Tonight.

From the Strib article posted by Jeff:

"We used to be pretty hardy people, until we got a dome," said Tim Laudner, a native who caught for the Twins both at the old Met Stadium in Bloomington and in the Metrodome, including the 1987 World Series championship team.

"Minnesotans have always griped about having to spend all this time cooped up in winter time. I hope they take advantage of [outdoor baseball]," Laudner added.

Well spoken, Laudner!!!

The lists I've seen were pre-2009. He should be top 2 now, but I can't think of why anyone would give him #1 over Pujols. But yeah, that's just my opinion.

Since 2005 (I took out 2004 stats for Joe's sake), Pujols has 170 more runs, 140 more HR's, 228 more rbi's, a higher BA, a much higher OBP, an extremely higher slugging, combine the obp and slg and I'm sure the OPS is ridiculously higher. Does Joe being a catcher make up for all that? It's valuable and definitely the hardest position on the field, but does it come even close to making up for that? Not to mention that Joe has never had one season where he has been better than Pujols.

Mauer's value is at catcher. Catchers don't do what he does. Put Mauer somewhere else in the field and he becomes significantly less impressive. He'd likely still be a top 5-10 player for that new position, but there would likely be several players ahead of him.

Put Mauer at 1st and I don't think he could equal Pujols' production. Put Pujols at catcher and I think he could equal Mauer's offense. I don't know how awful/good his D might be though.

Right now, or career so far, I don't think anybody can touch Pujols. I'd think of myself as extremely biased if I thought otherwise, but you're right, other people do think differently and have a right to think that way.

Vikeologist-

For the first exhibition game we figured we would try the ABC ramps to see how bad cost vs hassle (getting in/out) vs convenience was. We had heard and seen that the supposed event rate was $10. We parked in A ramp for $13, got in pretty easy about 2.5 hours before the game (makes sense), parked on one of the upper (much emptier) levels and got out pretty easily as well. We didn't really hurry to the car after but didn't wait long to leave either. While there were a couple of cars ahead and behind us in the neverending spiral of an exit, there wasn't a line to get in the spiral exit and only a few cars ahead of us at the gates to get out.

Granted this may very likely be different on opening day and for the first handful of games until people get word out on good and bad areas to park. Overall the A ramp was just fine. I am curious as to experiences in other (cheaper) ramps because for the first few games we are going to, we are going to try a few different ones to get our preferred ramp.

You could make an a very strong arguement on who's 1 & 2 if you're talking only last year. It could go either way, but "in the game right now" I count as more than one year. Maybe not career, but more than one year for sure. Too many one year wonders would be placed too high if we thought like that.

If we're just talking about one year and that year is last year, then yeah, I'd give it to Mauer for sure.

Vikeologist is right: Don't shove baseball knowledge in their faces, just religion.

here's an anti-roof rant disguised as a pro-roof rant. Hope Verducci sees it.

Duffman,

I get what you're talking about.

AJ,

I think it's a pretty tough sell to say that Pujols could eaqual Mauer's offense if he were behind the plate. Catching is about a lot more than "my knees hurt from crouching so much". I think it's pretty common for a catcher's hands to be almost numb from foul tips, blocking balls, and catching rocks thrown at 90 mph for 5 innings by the time they step up to the plate for their 3rd at bat. That means that in at least 1/3 of a catcher's at bats in a season he is dealing with something that no other position player deals with. There is a reason why no AL catcher had won a batting title prior to Mauer.

Plus, I would like to make a small point. I'm not necessarily arguing about Pujols vs. Mauer, but... tossing out BA, RBIs, HRs, etc. isn't the greatest measure of a player's contribution to his team or the game. I was thinking about Cal Ripken Jr, who has a lifetime BA of around .275 (I think?) but did things at his position that no one had ever done. He absolutely revolutionized the SS position and paved the way for the Jeters and Arods who followed (big, strong shortstops who hit for average and power).

The point I'm making is that we've had first basemen do similar stuff to what Pujols is doing. Granted, maybe not on this scale, but 1B has been a power position for a long, long time. But baseball has never seen a catcher do what Mauer is doing, and because of that I think it's awfully difficult to compare the kind of numbers you were comparing, let alone assign the guy a "greatness ranking" barely 6 full seasons into his MLB career.

I'm really confident of one thing, though. All defensive issues aside, there is NO WAY Pujols puts up Mauer numbers behind the plate.

Twins are leading all of the Majors with 9 HR's. 2nd is Toronto with 6...

Thank you Elston, that's one of the best rants I've read. All of the roof rats needs to read it.

Brandon T--

Yes, there is a way to get tickets electronically. The person in your season ticket group who receives the actual invoice should have gotten a password for 'MyTickets' on their invoice. Once logged into MyTickets, you see all the tickets. Then, what I did, was created a second account so I could transfer the tickets to myself. This serves two purposes: I can save my OD ticket stub because I will be able to print off the .pdfs, and second, it allows me to have an easily transferable electronic copy to send to somebody else in case I can't use my tickets.

Does that answer your question?

Favorite Pujols moment was in the 9th inning of a steamy night in Busch Stadium last June. StL fan next to me laughs: "I can't believe he's pitching to Pujols! What an idiot! Watch how this turns out!" clicky, clicky

If Mauer puts up 2009 numbers for the rest of his contract, I can agree with you, but as of now..we'll agree to disagree. I think it's no question that one guy is #1 and the other is #2. The difference is where someone decides to place them. Yeah, lots of 1B do this...but no way on Pujols level. Not without steroids at least (god, I hope, but he's still doing it so hopefully he's clean). Easily could be the best player in the history of baseball when he's done. Something Mauer could not. Mauer could be the best catcher ever. I just don't think that's enough to trump what Pujols has done.

AJ,

Slow your roll! I'm not saying Mauer is better than Pujols! I only think that you should compare apples and apples, take into account the rigors of catching, etc, when opening up this can of worms. No worries, you can think Pujols is better... I think there are plenty of arguments to be made in favor of that! I'm just witholding judgement until a few years down the line and maybe that's a copout.

But I'm still not letting you get away with saying that Pujols could do what Mauer does offensively if he were catching. Nope! That's just a silly statement. And I mean that in a friendly way.

But agreed on Pujols/steroids... seems like between Mauer and Pujols we may be watching integrity return to the game. Phenomenal players, great guys, steroid-free. It's pretty sweet.

The Truth Hurts,

You are the one crying about shoving religion in peoples faces, yet you continue to bring up the religion topic here...i don't get it...what are you trying to prove?

I wasn't getting defensive, just so you know. Just stating my thoughts. And I was putting into account all of what Mauer goes through behind the plate.

Pujols career production is so far better than Mauer's over the same time frame that I think Pujols could put up Mauer numbers as a catcher. Putting up Mauer numbers for Pujols, minus 2009, would be a gigantic dropoff in production for Pujols. Maybe he doesn't, but I know it would be a heck of a lot easier for him to equal than for Mauer to put up Pujols numbers at first.

Cool. Agree to disagree.

I love Fridays at work.

My opinion is that Mauer is the best player in the American League and very well might go down as the best catcher in MLB history, and that Pujols is probably the best player in all of baseball at the moment. If both players continue to play at the same level, they are BOTH sure-fire 1st ballot HOFers.

I only work once out of every three days so I get a lot of "Friday's." Definitely love them as well!

Agreed on all of that, Fred.

along with Vikeologist is saying, I am continually perplexed by this idea of "shoving religion" when merely faith and "religion" are being discussed. Even those who don't want "religion to be shoved" have their own position of faith/religion.

The belief that others shouldn't "shove religion" is, in fact, an imposition of their own faith/religion practices on others. They are saying the other person shouldn't live out and act on their faith. Penn Gillette, a proclaimed atheist, actually commends people who talk about their faith with him in a kind, loving manner, and says he has more respect for them than someone who says they believe in their faith only when asked, but doesn't actively share what they believe to be the most important news in the world, the "Good News."

I took down my Wild calendar (since they are done as of tomorrow) and put up my Twins calendar (both freebees) The Twins calendar was a hand out at Twins Fest. It has a count down till opening day at Target Field printed on the days for this month. 3 days, I just keep telling myself, 3 days and then everything is all offical and happiness can ensue.

Anyone else planning on putting the OD tix, certificate, Homer Hankey, game program, etc. into a shadowbox to hand on the wall?

Just over three days away. Holy smokes, we've been waiting for this a long time!

Seems like just a few weeks ago I was standing just behind where the pitcher's mound is located, watching the ceremonial groundbreaking.

Go Twins!

...I mean HANG on their wall??

I am Fred...

Fred,
I have been hearding that from a lot of people. Matter of fact i planned on doing the same, with a print of one of my panoramas in the back. Hang it above my desk in the office, the start of my man cave!

I hope Sundays forecast on weather.com gets pushed to Monday. Mostly Sunny, 68, and 0% chance of rain...

Im planning on having it matted up with my stub, photos, hanky, and certificate. Haven't figured out where to get it done though.

The only religion comment I have made was baseball-related. As a non-Christian, I find the singing of God Bless America at a baseball game to be offensive. If you are a Christian I will take a wild guess and say you might be offended if everyone at a game was encouraged to sing Muhammad Bless America. It simply has no place at a secular baseball game in a secular country. Keep it in your church.

I have no problem with the singing of the GBA, I just get offended when people act as though it is sacred and everyone should stop what they are doing.

Wow, just listened to the Sansevere/Kathie Jenkins critique on the Pioneer Press site about the food at Target Field. The comments were priceless. TTH: Did you happen to post in that comments section? Either that or you have an imposter...

Personally, I was surprised how reasonable the pricing is for concessions at Target Field IMO. If you've been to many sporting events (either in this town or nationwide) you know it isn't cheap to eat at the venue. However, the prices seem fair when you consider the wide variety and quality of the new food offerings. How much was beer at the Dome? $6.75 I think? Now it is $7 or $7.50 for a premium brew. Not much of an uptick considering the move to a brand new facility.

Eh, as an agnostic person myself, it's never bugged me Badjuggler. It's not a public entity holding the event. While I do have a problem with my kids having to say the Pledge of Allegiance in their public school, I can't really get worked up over a privately-owned baseball team deciding to have God Bless America sung during a game.

Now, that damn Lee Greenwood song, that's another matter altogether.

Just pointing out the hypocrisy of the statement, tis all. I apologize for interrupting our regular programming....

I also think Julie lives in a trailer and opens beer bottles with her teeth.

Oh shit TTH is she single? Wheel her on in and let's get a look at her!

Isn't Muhammad a god in the eyes of Muslims? God can stand for each person's understanding of what is a GOD. For non-believers, just imagine that the crowd is singing your praises.....since you seem to have all the answers to everything anyway.

Back to a prior point made by M.Thatcher. I enjoyed watching Ripken's career, but can we end the myth about how he "revloutionized" the position? There had been relatively big, slugging guys who played SS long before Cal - Joe Cronin and Ernie Banks, to name just two. Ripken simply made it fashionable again to think the position could be manned by a powerful, offensive-oriented player, but it certainly had been done before.

I'm as patriotic as they come, but I could do without the singing of GBA. It's not that I hate the song, but I don't understand why the need to sing that song at a baseball game....The Star Spangled Banner and Take Me Out....is enough for me.

Fred:

I'll go one step further. I think it's awful, jingoistic pap. Did anyone sing GBA pre-911?

We sing the SSB. Why isn't that enough? The 7th inning should be for TMOTTBG, and that's it.

And I absolutely agree with others who think it's beyond ridiculous to require that people obey some undefined protocol while GBA is being performed. It's just a song, folks. It's NOT our national anthem (for which there are actually federal statutory provisions governing etiquette, albeit with no penalty provisions!).

This probably going to be the first weekend ever that I have wanted to FLY by...

wow...horrible sentence structure in that last post..

Just got another single for OD... Skyline Deck, section S

BIR-

I agree completely. In my opinion, going to a baseball game should be an "escape" from dealing with the everyday grind and the real world. After the singing of the SSB, I want to settle in for a good ballgame and otherwise just have a good time. After "toasting" the crowd to the sound of TMOTTBG, I don't need to be reminded of the real world "suck" by the singing of GBA, I just want the game to begin.

This talk about stupid stuff you hear at games brings me back to the thread I've linked to. Never hear any talk about this Twins forum, but the juvenile banter there would make the stuff that goes on here look like child's play. Grab a snack and prepare to read some of the funniest stuff you've seen in a long time. It's great.

BIR,

I don't want to start an argument after the love-fest we had earlier (seriously, it was nice to get along), but... Joe Cronin?? He was 5'11" and average 13 HR over his 20 seasons. Did you just Google "shortstop + homeruns" or something? He wasn't exactly a masher. Ernie Banks counts, but he was just taller than 6'. Hardly an exceptionally tall shortstop. It's hard to argue with his 500 HR club credential (so I won't! He was a kinda big, slugging shortstop), but have you forgotten...

Cal Ripken Jr. (6'4", 200 lbs) didn't miss a game from '82 - '97 while playing (arguably) the second and third most physically demanding positions in the game. What did he make fasionable?? Breaking Lou Gherig's iron man streak while putting up almost identical numbers to Banks?

But let's not argue any more. I'll agree to disagree if you agree that the Cronin comparison is kind of ridiculous.

In mere hours I'll be pounding multiple beers.

Rick, it'll be my friend in that seat. I had a seat for him in 315, he said he'd rather sit in S. I'll be in HPB 117, WC row.

To anyone wondering I just called the Twins ticket office and the tickets listed on the site are an error, that's why the purchase won't go through. (Very Disappointed Right Now) :(

Isn't Muhammad a god in the eyes of Muslims?

Um, no. He's a prophet. You may be thinking of Allah, which is just the Arabic word for God (i.e., the big guy with the beard from the Bible - same dude).

HebrewHammer, not really the truth, I just got a single in S. They are very sporadic though. I've got nothing to do till 4, so I keep checking back.

@badjuggler "If you are a Christian I will take a wild guess and say you might be offended if everyone at a game was encouraged to sing Muhammad Bless America."

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, Christianity, Judaism and Islam all praise the same God (The God of Abraham.) It's what happens after that where they all differ.
(Sorry, can't think of a good segue... haha)
And I'm with everyone else getting pumped up to go to OD! I'll be sad on Wednesday though because that will be the first game at Target Field I haven't been to!

After years and years of waiting, only a little more than 72 hours until the first "real" pitch.......f%uckin' A, I'm getting pretty excited.

Fred is about to go "Howard Dean" on us.... LOVE IT.

YEEEEE-AHHHHH!!!!

I also currently see 5-6 "new" tickets in section S on StubHub in the row or row behind the one I bought. I'm putting my 315 ticket on there since I already have a full car and am driving 3+hours

Not sure what happended to my previous post, but I will try again:

Does anyone know which direction the F-16's will flyover Target Field on Monday?

I would guess they will fly over from the north to the south so the fans can see them approach TF from above the scoreboard.

I want to try to get a good picture of it so was just wondering if anyone heard anything.

question - are only Season Tickets oversized? Or are others oversized too? I bought some tickets on the Twins site and am picking them up tomorrow and am wondering...

for opening day that is

Jax,

Just season ticket holder OD tickets. you will get the regular stock.

I want you guys to turn to MPR(91.1-FM) at 6:20 tonight. Hint: I'll be on with Sam Graves talking about Target Field's accessibility. Reporting is Euan Kerr.

do the small ones say opening day on them??

"Does anyone know which direction the F-16's will flyover Target Field on Monday?"

My guess is that all traffic in MSP airspace will be put on hold briefly and that the tactical aircraft will be vectored into the wind (assuming formation flying).

Posts from 2:50 until 4:25 have been removed......censorship?

Michael - heard the story on my way home - great stuff.

If anyone on hear wants to look at the blog i'm co-writing, click link!

KARE11's OD Weather Forecast:

"MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins will play their first game at the outdoor Target Field this Monday April 12th and eyes are on the weather for that day so here is the forecast.

Sunburn time at noon April 12 is 35 minutes without sun block on sunny days as sun is the same sun angle (54 deg above horizon) as late August."

Keep an eye on the Twins tonight, except Liriano, they might be a little bit weary. Got into Chitown at about 6:00 AM from So Cal, maybe to bed by 6:30-7:00 AM. Liriano got a good night sleep. (He never made the trip to LA and should be well rested. Let's hope.) No excuses for Francisco anyway.

Right. Which brings up my question from a while back: Whose bright idea was it to make that a night game? Television executives? The Angels' financial wizards?...

And, here is the story that I was on this afternoon on MPR. CLICK LINK. Did you hear it, Rick?

Blame both the Angels and Major League heads....the teams get to set their starting times of home games with MLB's approval. We owe the Angels a favor. Glad we won big last night and took 3 out of 4.

I looked at the Angels schedule and they only have 3 weekday day games this year.

Here's a very interesting Jay Wiener article at MinnPost discussing the possible economic impact of TF in the North Loop area and the future of further development around the ballpark. "Clicky"

Last nights game in LA. TV viewership and ticket sales ($$$$$$$$$$ for all that figure to profit). Throw common sense out the window.

I'm curious if the Twins sent Liriano to Chicago a day ahead of time in order to make sure he was properly rested for the game tonight? It would make sense to do so, right?

i just bought 2 OD tickets off of the Twins website! Home Plate Terrace!

Liriano never went to Anaheim. The Twins decided to keep him in Fort Myers to get his work in, and then he met the team in Chicago.

good call Cuzzi. keep em comin! you owe us. lol

Have NOT been impressed with Hudson this week.... stupid mistakes and he almost seems injury prone. I hope he shakes himself out of it... 2B is like a black hole for the Twins...

O-Dawg.....OOOOOOOoooooooooooohhhhhh no......Hit to the head last night and apparently not much sleep either. Dazed and Confused.

The Truth Hurts.......I know better, the Twins don't make excuses.

whatever that means... *shrug* am I just extra blonde, or do some replies not even address what was said in the post?

By the way everyone - It's official I am on vacation! I do not return to work until April 19 at which time I will have seen 6 Twins games, (54+ innings, 18++ hours)and eaten way too many TF fare calories.

Sounds like the best vay-cay ever!

Sorry Jax, if you aren't watching the game on TV. Bases loaded and no out and Twins don't score. Bad...no horrible base running mistake by Hudson.

see...that's what makes no sense! that "not horrible" base running was Gomezesque in it's stupidity.

What does everyone think of Vizquel wearing Aparicio's retired #11? I've heard all of the "honoring the number" and "got permission" stories, but still just don't think it's right.

Trosy - still on the wagon????

Liriano still needs to "polish" his delivery..Balance himself.

JAX..."Bad.....NO".....haven't you ever started to say something and then said NO and then changed the wording. So to clarify it for you....... Bad base running mistake....."NO"......it was a horrible base running mistake by Hudson. I really don't see where I used "NOT horrible."

Wrigley Field upgrades include painted chain-link fencing. Classy.

Opening Day was AMAZING - perfect weather - high 60s, light breeze. Fantastic one-hit shutout performance by the starting pitcher, two-inning shutdown by the bullpen. Home team won 7-0.

Of course, that was this afternoon in Denver, but I'll take a repeat of the above on Monday in Minneapolis. :)

Opening Day 2010 x 2 - one down, one to go.

Hey Michael, great stuff on MPR today. Thanks for giving us the heads up on the story!

Webcam update: Almost finished hanging all of the bunting; been working on it over the past couple of days. Opening Day logos along the baselines were all white yesterday, now painted red, white, and blue. TC behind the plate with a fresh coating of bright white. (Could possibly yet get colored in, but I do like the white TC.)

TTH, what are ya bitchin' about, it said they painted the chain-link fence at Wrigley. That screams first-class all the way.

yes, I've heard that wording. I think it was your creative punctuation that confused me.

Off to Chicago @ 3am for the noon game tomorrow. Very excited to see the new road uniforms in person.

I got 2 in HP Terrace too... Row 2! Anyone on here know how long it takes to get paid from stubhub?

I really hope they color the TC. It looks too old school. If our logo was normally all white then it would be ok, kind of like New York, Detroit, and Washington, which is where the groundskeeper is from. Hopefully we will see a splash of Red on it.

Jimmer,
Depends if you have a Paypal account in your profile and if you instantly(email) the tickets..That would be the fastest way to get paid.

Luuuucyyyyy, you got lot a 'splainin' to doooooo!

wow this site has really gone down hill....

i have to work for the opener but i have wensday and thursday off, i will be pre gaming at sneaky petes at 9am.. cheap cheap cheap! if you see someone chillin on the plaza with a 12 pack of shit beer and smoking a cig.... come get at me!!!!!! TF baby!

im good on Julie , my girl is as good as it gets, already got it on in the uni sex bathroom under the trap at the gopher game..., 7 ballparks and counting...

well thanks for stoppin by to class the site back up Maz! :) lol

Yeah Steve I got a paypal acct and did instant download.. How long that take?

2-5 days...

Anyone else agree that O-dog has been worthless out there so far this young season? I really hope he starts to do ANYTHING clutch otherwise he needs to get benched a game to clear his head. I am confident he will turn it around but so far he hasn't done diddley out there.

I was re-looking at the StarTrib Interactive thing they did on TF.
In the "Playing Field" section, they got two of the dimensions wrong.
They had Center Field listed at 403. As far as I know, it's 411. And, they had the Right Field line listed at 323...which I believe is 328.
I just thought that was interesting...

Agreed DeePee...much agreed.

Ok Steve, because they sent me an email about processing payment 7 days after the buyer recieved their tickets, which was instantly... Is the 2-5 days after that, or is that 7 days BS?

Speaking of SH, my God have the prices dropped for the opener tonight...

I just got a chunk o change on one set but I don't go near SH. Fees are too high.

Yeah no doubt Jax... I just put a couple on eBay... Got a maybe from an acquaintance of mine, but I can always cancel the auction if he decides to.

im pretty sure straight centerfield is 403...it is 411 in left center