| Home InGameMagic | Theme: | Login Cart |
Flag Pole - Part 2June 5, 2006 1:51 PM
With the sun shining and my driving path taking me right by the place, I grabbed my camera today and took some pictures of the flag pole which stands in front of the American Legion in Richfield (just a few blocks south of the crosstown on Portland Avenue). It's in amazingly good shape for its age, and because it is so tall, it can be seen for quite some distance.
Though there was no plaque, just one look and it's easy to confirm that it is, in fact, the same one which flew over Met Stadium for all those years (see comparison at right). The image on the left is a detailed enlargement from a photo I took on photo day, September 15, 1974 (the actual subject of the photo was, of course, Tony Oliva). The image on the right was taken today. There's no question that the detail at the top is an exact match. While it is possible that such detail was common on large flag poles in 1955 (when it was presumably installed at the Met), I'm much more inclined to take B.W. McEvers and his story (see my original article) at face value. So much of Met Stadium ended up at the bottom of a landfill in Eagan, that it's great to find a piece still being put to very good use. Wouldn't it be amazing if this flag pole could overlook major league baseball again someday? (By the way, I have been working on a long entry about the naming of the ballpark. Hopefully I can wrap that up and post it sometime later today or tonight. While there may not be much known about the Twins' thinking, there was a great deal of research involving branding and some of the potential companies. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for stopping by today! -- Rick)
CommentsTo utilized enhanced comment features, please enable cookies in your browser. I think it would be somewhat neat to include the fonts of the previous ballparks. For instance in left field you'd have the 320' (or whatever it is) in the original font that Met stadium had. For center I would like to have a 7' fence (or wall) as a subtle tribute to the metrodome--hey home run saving catches were a huge key to center field. I think the metrodome "408'" style writing could be in center as another tribute to the dome and all the game saving catches made in the dome. Then in right have whatever the new stadium design warrants for the measurement mark. This way we could include an element of the dome but not have to look at extreme ugliness
Posted on June 1, 2006 at 11:10 PM by Boof
The met home plate is in the park of mall of america, and We already have a homeplate to be installed. If Pohlad sells naming rights to land o lakes, we could keep the milk carton!
Posted on June 3, 2006 at 5:53 PM by Jason
Please, no Metrodome tributes whatsover! And please tell me someone can design an advertisement on something other than that god-awful shiny plastic junk that's hung all over the dome. If they do that at the new place, I'm not going. getbocorl
Posted on September 19, 2008 at 11:02 PM by bastaeltt
I think it's great that they will use that flgpole! Go Twins! Hello! dcdfedc interesting dcdfedc site!
Posted on August 3, 2010 at 3:48 PM by Pharmd187
Very nice site!
Posted on August 3, 2010 at 3:48 PM by Pharmk235
Hide Facebook box
7 people here in the past hour (1 reading right now), including:
NotMendoza, Dr. X This page was last modified on January 21, 2010. |
"The only thing the ballpark can give a visitor that he cannot get anywhere else is baseball."– Shannon/KalinskyExplore the SiteHere are 50 images chosen randomly from the 2393 found on this site. Click the image to be taken to the original post. A new list is created every 10 minutes.
Of the players up there, only Bert does not have a gate with his number (28) on it at Target Field. You know, there is that door underneath the skywalk on Seventh Street between gates 14 and 29... The Fifth Street side is pretty busy. There's a small street entrance to the B ramp, then ticket booths and an entrance gate, a rare exterior section not covered in limestone, the wooden screen covering the circulation ramps, the administration building, and finally (just out of view) the interface with Northstar. All of that sits behind the LRT action. How pedestrians will interact with this side of the park is a great mystery to me. You know that Metro Transit won't be letting them cross the tracks anywhere but at either end of the block... New section labels, but some curious choices. A mural featuring the names of a bunch of Minnesota towns. Bronze glove delivered (awaiting installation) with Met flag pole horizontal behind the gate That's Fifth Street (and a tattooed arm) in the foreground. The reverse angle shows that the signage will only partially obscure views from the top of the ramp. The wall is pretty high up there, so you'll need something to stand on, but it appears that this is one of the so-called "knotholes". Another piece of the neighborhood puzzle: the Northstar platform. This is what passes for imagination at Miller Park -- they didn't even get the shape right! (Source: LP) The Puckett atrium fireplace is just barely visible at the far left. With the engine behind us, we got a real sense of how fast we were going by looking out the front (back) window How many times did we water down our field as kids? More times than we played games, that's for sure! The official ballpark development area Here's a correction: The LRT platform will actually be able to load outbound trains from both sides. Ye Olde Tyme Vegetable Cart (and its modern cousin) This is during halftime. Section 237, Row 15 (top of the Trap) Suite level view This will be a great neighborhood. Note that the covering is being built for the emergency access. Also, note the streamers above, which appear to be monitoring air flow. Frost on the pumpkins, snow on the plaza A flurry of action in front of the dugout before the game (Photo by Jeff Ewer) This is as close as I could get to a pedestrian-eye view of Seventh Street (looking west away from downtown). It's inviting, not imposing, and remarkably dignified. If you arrive by bus, your first glimpse of the park will be the scoreboard's profile. (Viewed from the bus station in the B ramp.) Nuts on Clark (a couple blocks north of Wrigley Field) Looking back toward the ballpark from Third Avenue and Fifth Street. Again, the track configuration is now clearly visible. Tickets! Click to enlarge A detailed crowd shot. Click to enlarge greatly. Wanda's view! Banners on the parking ramp are a great touch. They help manage scale and turn a lemon into lemonade. On my way there today I passed the WCCO building and remembered how the Twins schedule used to be painted in giant form on the side of that building (which is no longer visible). Wouldn't that be a great thing to resurrect on the side of that ramp? A giant Twins schedule. I always thought that was cool. "Original" or "Dinger" Dog Who Owns What (Click for larger version. Source: Ballpark Authority) Pesky Reality Not from Moose's tour, but it's an image you need to see. (Click to enlarge greatly.) From about two blocks away you can finally get an idea of what it looks like. Just to my left (but out of view) was a valet parking stand where a limo was idling. In case you don't know, that's Earl Battey. Outside the Metropolitan Club, photos of all the other major league ballparks The alumni band sounded great. Concourse ceilings (from the Ballpark Authority's May update) Welcome Visitors From Two Men On (Accessiblity) Glossary BRT - Bus Rapid Transit DSP - Dave St. Peter FSE - Full Season Equivalent HERC - Hennepin Energy Resource Company (aka the Garbage Burner) HPB - Home Plate Box HRP - Home Run Porch LC - Legends Club LRT - Light Rail Transit MBA - Minnesota Ballpark Authority (will own Target Field) MOA - Mall of America MSFC - Minnesota Sports Facilities Commission (owns the Metrodome) NYS - New Yankee Stadium SRO - Standing Room Only STH - Season Ticket Holder TCFBS - TCF Bank Stadium TF - Target Field Selected Bibliography - Analysis Selected Bibliography - Surveys
Selected Bibliography - Nostalgia |