grass is good!!!!.... i think i will go down 2night and try to get a peep

Who will be the first Twins player to get a grass stain on their uniform? :)

I know someone mentioned something like this in the "Restoration" post, but two quotes from the Startribune article remind me why I go here instead of the "real" media:

"They apparently had gotten the information by following progress on the ballpark through the Twins' website." (MY COMMENT - I'm sure that's where they got it because DSP has been so quick to update on that type of information)

"The $425 million stadium complex, built with mostly public money, will have a retro feel to it. But the playing field will definitely be high-tech." (MY COMMENT - I guess that's why we shunned the brick exterior of all of the new retro parks and included a futuristic halo with embedded lights. If by "retro" you mean a real ballpark, then yes, it's retro.)

I suppose it makes sense but it's a little odd seeing the field on the webcam. It's as empty as I've ever seen it.

"i think i will go down 2night and try to get a peep"

That sounds like as much fun as watching gra..

Err..the only people who should be this excited by an interstate delivery of grass should be Tommy Chong or anybody over the age of 15 still riding a skateboard.

Rack me.

Using sod from Colorado rather than from a local sod farm is a waste of money. Trucking grass through several states is also not very green. I hope taxpayer money isn't paying for this unnecessary expense.

Joy 6,

This building will be LEED certified, and one of the mandatory components of LEED certification is use of local materials. This park will have plenty of local materials in it.

As far as the sod goes, they're buying it from Colorado because that's where they can get the variety best suited for the park. Having to re-sod the field every few years isn't very green, either.

Joy,

MLB has sod farms located around the country that are their "official" sod farms. Colorado was the closest to us. You can just head up to Elk River and pull up some sod and make an outfield out of it.

Joy-
The kitchen is over there....do something useful and go bake us some cookies.

Sorry CAN'T head up to Elk River...

Ouch. That's not right. Joy should be as welcome (if not more) here as that stripper you rubes were chatting with a few months ago.

Kevin, your cave is over there. Go crawl back into it.

Joy,

Us taxpayers are paying to move your Shubert theater 1 block to rot for 10 years. Chill out or move to Oregon.

Joy has a point. Maybe we should just reuse the Metrodome turf.

+1 common man

Hey The Truth Hurts,

Do you have a problem with strippers?

i know i don't

Under LEED Credit MR 5.1, you receive 1 Point towards LEED Certification if 10% of all materials used on a project are manufactured 500 miles of the project site. LEED Credit MR 5.2 you receive 1 additional point if it is 20%.

Straight from the LEED Reference Guide V2.2

"MR Credit 5.1 10% Extracted, Processed & Manufactured Regionally"
Use building materials or products that have been extracted, harvested or recovered,
as well as manufactured, within 500 miles of the project site for a minimum of 10%
(based on cost) of the total materials value. If only a fraction of a product or material
is extracted/harvested/recovered and manufactured locally, then only that percentage
(by weight) shall contribute to the regional value.

MR Credit 5.2 is 20%

With all of the Limestone from the Mankato and that stuff is not cheap, I am sure that they will meet the 20%, so they will most likely be obtain a point for MR 5.1 and 5.2.

The truth is The Truth Hurts is just as big of a ballpark nerd as anyone on here.

green, green, it's green they say
on the far side of the hill
green, green, i'm goin' away
to where the grass is greener still

So wait, Colorado grass isn't green?

Why do I read the comments on this page and check it about 20 times a day? Call me Tommy Chong or whoever the heck he is.
Hey all, What is the prediction of what 3rd Ave. will be renamed? This is a reference to the DSP update about renaming that section by TF.
They should go with Mauer Drive. That would be one very small step to getting a deal done this winter.

BTW, I'm 39 and still ride a skateboard too. That explains it. Thanks TRUTH

It's sad how quickly you all bring down the level of conversation. Let's try to be more respectful of one another, please.

With the green roof on TC, the trees and plants on TP and the field at TF, we can all agree that the webcam will be green.

How about Victory Lane

Taxpayer Boulevard?

isn't every street a taxpayer street?

or..."Revenue Making, Job Creation, and Neighborhood Revitalization Street"

How about "Would You Rather The Twins Were Still At The Dome Street"

Well, if the trucks left at 4:00 am like they were supposed to...the grass should be in Minnesota by now!

Here is another diagram of the playing surface. Tonight at 10 p.m. it'll begin to look like a baseball field!

Proposed 3rd Avenue name:

In your-face-whiners boulevard

Pepsico Sierra Mist Brought To You By Stanley Tools Drive NW.

It's a little wordy but I think you'll agree that it works. What an exciting group of sponsor partnerships!

on Webcam #1 at 2:00 there were some green trailers at the loading dock. It was hard to see what they actually were, but I was wondering if it could be the refrigerated trailers with the sod?

On second look, they might be dumpsters. Sorry about that!

Word on the street (or the freeway) is that the trucks are a bit behind schedule and they won't start at 10PM as planned.

"they're buying it from Colorado because that's where they can get the variety best suited for the park"

So --- you have to go to CO to get grass that grows well here?

"Word on the street (or the freeway) is that the trucks are a bit behind schedule and they won't start at 10PM as planned."

There is word "on the street" about trucks coming to MN?

A bit off-TF topic, but I have heard rumblings that the Wild will unveil a 3rd jersey this week.
I hope it's a black one. Or that they might go back to the green, which I wish they had kept.

The NHL changes their jersey rules too much. I thought they could only have two?

Also, I think it's dumb that they'd rename 3rd street. It doesn't really mesh with the whole Urban Ballpark mentality.

Luke, Totally agree! My buddy and I have been talking about a black jersey before they got rid of the green one. A black jersey with the gold red and green trim would be sweet.

A couple years ago, the NHL switched to a "new" jersey manufacturer, this custom-fit sort of thing. I don't remember all of it, it was a league-wide change, and everybody pretty much ditched whatever alternate jerseys they had, and the rule from the NHL higher ups was teams couldn't unveil an alternate for like two years. Incidentally, the Wild basically kept their 3rd jersey from before, and ditched the original green road jersey (which became the home jerseys when the NHL switched the rules and the white ones became the road ones).

I agree with Elston, They're just sweaters folks - why all the rules?

I wonder if "Kirby Puckett Place" will be moved to Target Field? It doesn't make much sense to keep that section of Chicago Ave. that way, when the ball club plays on the other end of town.

joy, all of this "green" stuff and products are all a scam. I work for a "green" store that sells "green" products from supposedly "green" companies. I see all of the stuff that goes into this and really it's just a way to charge more money. nothing is really environmentally friendly so just deal with it.

Trosy - I wonder though, although a black jersey would be cool, if that might not swill up some bad feelings from North Stars fans. Norm Greed changed the logo to the universal "Stars" and those road jerseys were black. I still think it would look cool though.

Eric, not true. It is true that LEED Certified buildings do have a higher upfront cost, but the operating costs of that building down there road are substantially lower especially if they pursue Energy LEED Credits. Also, they are more environmentally friendly. Some Platinum LEED Certified buildings generate all of their energy (elec., heat) 100% from renewable sources and are only hooked up to local utilities for high energy consumption time periods, outages, etc. That has both a significant environmental and operating cost impact.

Luke - to some die hards yeah, but I think now, the chances of the Wild leaving are zero. I think most people believe that. I don't even want to think about that. I live in St. Paul and the year of the strike, it was a ghost town. I can't imagine what would happen to DT St. Paul if the Wild up and left. It would be devastating. The Government would probably step in if an owner tried to move the team.

Speaking of NHL jerseys, I am a traditionalist and think they should go back to white jerseys at home, regardless if it results in less sales of dark jerseys.

Rumors are it's a green jersey and supposedly will have "Minnesota" or some other word mark across the chest rather than a logo. There were some prototypes leaked recently and I will try to find them and post the link on here assuming they have not been taken down.

Looking at Webcam 1, did they install home plate and the pitching rubber?

"Twins Territory," It takes more than 12 hours to drive here from western CO. The grass will probably be arriving in about an hour or so.

"Joy has a point. Maybe we should just reuse the Metrodome turf."
-common man

...please tell me that "common man" is the actual common man. That was the best comment I've seen in a long time.

Better 3rd Ave name:

Kirby Puckett Blvd.

It would be pretty sad to see Chicago Ave remain Puckett blvd with the Twins playing on the other side of downtown. They should definitely bring that one with them to the new stadium.

I found this site regarding the Wild jerseys.

Well whenever the grass arrives...webcam one makes it seem like left field is where workers will start. I'm seeing sprinklers running and lights up on the warning track in foul territory

Very true trosy, I think the Wild are staying put. I think Leipold is a good guy, and being from Racine, WI, he's not going anywhere. He's got a great fan base, tremendous season ticket base, good merchandise sales...
BB - I was thinking it would be the other way around. Everything with TF started on the right field side. Construction started there, as well as seat installation. So, I think they'll start sod installation there as well.

yeah I would think grass would start in right field so workers would work their way back...but maybe they plan on using the warning track...either way it will be fun and interesting to watch

Yeppers that is the home plate and pitching rubber in place

Stupid question probably, but in regards to TCFBS compared to other Big Ten stadiums, do we have more bleacher seats on average than other Big Ten stadiums, or about the same?
I think Hawkeye Stadium is all bleachers...and I'm pretty sure Camp Randall is all bleachers, but I wasn't sure about the others.

Much smaller amounts of bleacher seating, Luke. Almost all college football stadiums are bleachers, so the high amount of regular seats in TCF, combined with the small size, makes this really no contest.

Our friend Marney G. just reported on Twins Live that the Home Plate and Pitching Rubber that was installed today is temporary...

Yeah, it takes about 12 hours to get from Colorado, but the installation won't begin until 10 p.m. tonight.

well the lights are on! bring on the grass!

I'm so proud to be from winona........

Billy, I'm pretty sure in the Strip article the the woman and her husband were from Wisco

you can see the sprinklers going under the lights, grass must be pretty close. remember green side up!

i agree BB - I see sprinklers... i think!

Watching the webcam is like stadium geek erotica. Ooooo yeah. Giggity.

Baker looks good tonight...but we need some offense to get him the W...

If you take a look at webcam 2, the lights are on in the concourse. You can get a pretty good look at how open it is going to be...

OH NO! Out of focus webcam!

yeah BB....noticed that also...that better not stay like that...

Out of focus webcam. I have never seen it go out of focus in two years. Grass tonight. Coincidence? I think not.

ahhhh...much better...those lights are bright...

the webcam won't go past 8:00 pm for me, anyone else have that problem?

Nope, my most recent pic is from 8:45pm. Not much to see. =\

8:52 for me...

Any suggestions for local media coverage tonight? Usually KSTP is good with this stuff, so maybe I will check out their 10pm newscast.

The press release says the field installation won't begin until 10 p.m. so there probably isn't going to be much changing until then. I think they're doing it overnight each night this week too.

Does anybody know how long it takes for the webcam 1 photo to post? Because it takes a photo avery 15 minutes. The last photo is from 8:30 PM and it is now 9:00 PM. I bet they turned it off and in doing so they accidently put the camera out of focus. They don't want us geeks to enjoy one of the best moments that that camera has to offer. I hope I'm wrong.

Ok, ggod i was wrong. I tried my mozilla browser and it's back in focus and uptdted to 9pm. whew

Really nice piece on the number 9 tonite about the sod installation. I'm sure the numbers 11, 5 and 4 will follow, with 4 being the most unlikely candidate.

like a kid on christmas morning....they had a story on ch. 9 tonight, but no live shots.

Click name for a Twitter Picture provided by Fox 9.

Sorry for the double post, but you can follow Fox 9's Tweets by clicking my name. I don't know how many more updates they will have, but they posted a couple of tweets about the installation.

Twins win, ChiSox lose, sod arrives, all we need now is for Detroit (winning 1-0 in the 3rd) to lose and the night will be complete

There was a helicopter hovering high above TF a few minutes ago while I was walking to the store. That's all I've got.

Trucks have arrived! :D

40% chance of Thunderstorms starting at Midnight.

Click link to see some great aerial shots from KSTP.

Can't wait to see some more pics of the grass tomorrow. How exciting.

KARE11 has live shots...rolls of sod visible...

according to one of the people from Mortenson that was on Ch. 5, the infield will be the last area to be installed,on the fourth day, he said. His explanation sounded a little disjointed about how the the outfield will progress, but I think he said left first, continuing clockwise to right field.

Is there any way to post or link to video taken tonight for us outside the Metro viewing area?

At 10:30, I think I see grass along the 3rd base line...

I'm not seeing anything. Perhaps the rolls are just past shortstop in shallow LF?

Fox 9 had live video of the sod rolling machine. Pretty sweet.

I noticed there's quite a crowd down there - there's no way they require that many workers right now. I think a lot of them are just as geeked up as we are. Half of them seem (at least) gotta be there just to watch.

It looks like they started behind home plate and worked down the 3rd base line.

It is hard to tell on the Cam, but it sure looks like green.

Truth,

What is the diff going there to checking this site a few times a day like you do?

dont be a d-bag just for the sake of it.. you will be fine!

I see a roll of grass down the line!

Is this one of those Magic Eye optical illusion dealies where I have to look through Target Field to see the sod being rolled out? I don't see anything!

It looks like they also are outlining the infield arc.Mark Albert reported on Channel 5 that a Twins executive said the team may even do batting practice next month at TF.

Chad, it is a little hard to see, but if you zoom in on webcam 1, you should be able to see green grass running down the third base line, and then also along the infield arc from third base toward second base.

Houston, we have sod! I repeat, we have sod!

Truth,
I know you're relatively new to this site so you don't quite get my bit. When someone makes a unbelievably STUPID comment, I typically follow it with one equally if not more absurd. If it bothers you, perhaps you and the goodie goodie from Winona can both go to church together and pray for a sense of humor.

If you're referring to me, what the hell did I do that was goodie goodie?

I'm not referring to you

sorry to back-track on a previous conversation from this same thread, but i have a suggestion for another wild hockey jersey.

here goes:

it is green, white and yellow and has a large "N" with a star above it. damn, i wish our nhl team could have still been called the north stars.

I agree Beta...I thought at first the name "Wild" would grow on me...It hasn't. And I don't like the colors, especially that hideous jersey they came out with a few years ago that looks like a Christmas jersey - lets just put them in santa suits.

Man does that strip of green look good! Can't wait to see what it looks like when I wake up tomorrow morning.

On the wild jersey and the link that got posted with the possible jersey. Green jersey, good. Minnesota script that looks like it belongs on a baseball jersey, bad.

Because I AM a total geek (and I love my kid) we went down and took a look tonight. Not many places to see, but we were able to get a quick look over the right field wall...grass along the left field line and then around the back of the infield behind third and short.

Might not be the most important thing I did today, but it sure was fun!

The grass is going in right now!

yay s looking awesome!!!

*it's

That's a whole lot of green!

kevin in az -

Not only are you totally insensitive towards women but you attack "relatively new" people to this site with unusual violence.

As a Psychiatry professional I find this troubling. But since you aren't my client I suggest you go buy a case of Fleets Enema so you can clean all the sh*t out of you.

psych,
get over it!

Yeah psych, get over it. Kev is a good fellow.

I had no idea they would be able to lay that much grass that fast! Left field is done! It is beautiful!

So true DeePee...What a treat to wake up to such a beautiful sight.

awesome, looks great!

It does look nice. And I was wrong, they didn't start on the RF side.

I agree with psych, kevin in az is certainly an ass... but getting indignant about someone acting like a jerk on the internet is kind of like getting upset about the sun rising. I usually just skip his comments - for the same reason I avoid comments at the strib.

puckett place should stay by the dome just like how killebrew drive is still by the old met (now moa)

kare 11 had good aerials as i was falling asleep last night and then reshowed them this morning on the 6am news. quite exciting.

The grass looks awesome!

it's crazy, the color of the grass makes tbe seats look almost blue, I think i like the contrast

Gotta echo the North Stars comment. I moved back to MN just in time to catch the Stars' farewell season. Try as I might, I just cannot get into the Wild. It's just not the same team I grew up with. Part of it is the fact that they could be much better if they would spend some of that boatload of cash they have made filling every overpriced seat in their palace. Much like the Twins, they seem to spend as little as possible without alienating their fan base. I think a few hundred empty seats a game would send them a message, but it doesn't seem to be happening. People keep buying into the mediocrity. Here's to hoping the new regime is different...

I didn't know if I just hadn't woken up yet, but I agree with you Dirwin7, the seats do appear to be more blue than green now that the grass is down. It sure looks great !!!

"As far as the sod goes, they're buying it from Colorado because that's where they can get the variety best suited for the park. Having to re-sod the field every few years isn't very green, either."

Completely, utterly, absolutely wrong. I can't even begin to explain how false this statement is.

Wild website hinting at new jersey? Click my name for link to site.

Oops sorry forgot to finish the post. The website looks pretty real but i cannot verify the validity of the page.

Badjogger-

Check your facts, the Wild have been spending close to the cap max for the past 3 or 4 years. They are NOT withholding a "boatload" of cash.

The grass looks great!!

Turfguy, I’d be interested to hear why you think that statement is so false? Is it the “green” portion of the statement, or the fact they are getting the sod from CO?

"Turfguy, I’d be interested to hear why you think that statement is so false? Is it the “green” portion of the statement, or the fact they are getting the sod from CO?"

The sod they are getting from Colorado is a blend of Kentucky bluegrass varieties. Any Kentucky bluegrass blend could have easily been grown in Minnesota--I'm not sure why it wasn't, but it probably had something to do with MLB, not with the inability of local growers to do the job (I know the local sod industry was not happy about this).

The 'green' comment is just wrong--the Kentucky bluegrass varieties they used would grow the same way in the new field regardless of where they were seeded for sod (CO or MN) and if the field ever has to be reseeded it won't have anything to do with the origin of the sod (as long as the soil it was originally grown on was a suitable match for the Target Field soil profile). It will be interesting to find out which varieties they went with and why they were selected--there are several hundred different varieties of Kentucky bluegrass and selecting the right combination is pretty important, especially in a situation like this where you need the field to be playable in both early April and late October (at least after the Twins recover from the Bill Smith era).

Turfguy-

My guess is the reason they used the sod farm in Colorado is because they have proven experience growing turf for other MLB ballparks. Why take the chance of going with someone who's never done this before, when you can go with a someone who's already proven they can do a top notch job? But, more importantly, why do you even care where it's grown? I don't.

Actually, I take back the comment that I don't care where the sod was grown. Turfguy piqued my interested and I think I found the answer to his question in an article in today's publication of MinnPost:

So why use a Colorado company to supply the sod for a Minnesota stadium? It comes down to the soil.

At the farm, Graff's sod is mowed every other day at five-eighths of an inch. That height promotes new shoots and encourages root development, producing a dense mat of sod that is perfect for a sports field. The Twins' sod is a four-way blend of Kentucky bluegrass, each variety selected for durability, wear tolerance and color. Graff's seeded the Twins turf one year ago, making it now the ideal age for sod that will be used for sports turf. The young sod will begin rooting within days of being laid.

fred is right, why do we even care? At least its grass and not artificial. Its a pointless thing to argue about!

"At the farm, Graff's sod is mowed every other day at five-eighths of an inch. That height promotes new shoots and encourages root development, producing a dense mat of sod that is perfect for a sports field."

So do they maintin this height on the grass at TF? Grow it longer? Or do they do what some teams have been rumored to do and change lengths based on playing style?

The post Fred made from the MinnPost makes sense being that the subsoil for Target Field is 93% sand and 7% peat. In order to grow this sod in MN, they would have to take 2.5 acres of land and put a completely new subsoil base down before they even seeded. In CO, that condition is already present. My guess is that not too many areas in MN that have over 90% sand subsoil.

Just my thoughts...

Nevertheless, the grass is going in!! Once the sun comes out, it is going to look amazing...

The Wild was 8th in ticket sales last year and 17th in player salaries. If you are satisified with that you have been drinking too much of the Riseborough Koolaid. Enough hockey talk!

Where are you getting this "17th in player salaries"? from. The salary cap was around $56 million, they spent around $54 million in salary. That is a fact.

isn't there a hockey forum somewhere where the wild, their spending and this breathless anticipation for a third jersey can be debated? unless it's about TF possibly hosting an NHL winter classic game, that is.

2bb,

good work... i have taken my son to the site over 10 times in his young life...and he loves it im sure he would have thought that it was a tf nighttime mission!

I wonder what Larry D is thinking about this wonderful light rain we are having today. Is it raining downtown? No sprinklers necessary today.

Blah blah, Twins not Wild, waa waa waa. Heaven forbid convo gets off topic. Even the author of this site doesn't stay on the twins at all times. See recent post about TCFBS. Get over it. If you don't want to read about the Wild, skip the post and read the next one. Or have we become so lazy that a flick of the index finger on the little wheel on our mouse is too much for us anymore?

Believe what you want to, Fred. Here is where I got my salary numbers. Care to divulge where you find more reliable ones?

End of ice talk. It's all about Grass!

awfully chippy today on this site for a big milestone day! was everyone up watching the grass get installed last night and not get enough sleep? get out your mats kids, i'm mandating a little nappy-time for everyone this afternoon. Kevin! stop pulling psych's hair.

Whew, sorry about that the alter ego got out.

Was anyone else able to stop down and check out the "laying of the sod" last night? The lights on the webcam and the green left field this morning were a great sight.

Sorry if I'm reposting this, but here's a gallery of last night's action.

No rain downtown so far, Locker. That grass shore does look pretty in person! Can't wait until the full carpet is down. It makes an amazing transformation from the brown areas up until now.

Badjuggler-

One last Wild post from me...My source is the same as yours...but take a closer look. The cap is $56 million, those on the top have to shed salary to get under. NO team can spend more than $56 million and the Wild were/are at $54 million. /Wild talk.

Ooooooooooh! And there's even a closeup of the actual grass!!!!!

Nick in CO-you beat me to it!
i cant get over how fucking awesome this is! i have been waiting for my whole life to see outside baseball in Minnesota (being born in 86. Miller park was my first outdoor games this year

oops ment to put ) after 86 haha

so why is it that they are only installing grass at night? Cuz they are doing 10pm-4am, last night, tonight, wed night, and thurs night, with it being done by fri. Wouldn't sun be good to install in? i mean when they do sod for like lawns, they do it during the day don't they?

"so why is it that they are only installing grass at night? Cuz they are doing 10pm-4am, last night, tonight, wed night, and thurs night, with it being done by fri. Wouldn't sun be good to install in? i mean when they do sod for like lawns, they do it during the day don't they?"

The best time to harvest is early morning. Early morning + ride to MN = 10PM.

on the news last night, they said the sod "sleeps" at night so it puts the least amount of shock on it. the reason normal people lay sod during the day is because nobody is going stay up until 4 am with spot lights to lay sod.

I wonder what kind of equipment Target Field will be using. John Deere, Toro, Jacobsen? Toro has their headquarters here I believe. I wonder if that will effect equipment decisions.

thanks dudes, right after i posted that i did the google map from the farm to TF (well target center) and i saw how long a drive so that make sense B.W. and i didn't know what Hugh! that's cool

Well 6 more trucks tonight!

I agree with whoever said the seats look blue in contrast to the grass. I wonder if they had gone with blue seats if they would have looked black? Seeing left field full with grass makes me happy!

I say use Snapper and bring back the "Snapper mow em down inning" as seen on the MSC broadcasts during the mid-90's.

billymays,
I thought the same thing, but then I clicked on the 15th to see what the color looked like before the grass and on a similar overcast day - the seats looked blue as well. I'm thinking the color contrast has more to do with the lack of sunlight.

The 12pm webcam image shows the Nortstar. Neat. =]

After looking at the cross section of the field diagram,(it is a pretty cool cutaway) I noticed they didn't include the sprinkler system. I know it isn't a big deal...but something was missing ;~)

It almost looks like the N* train is on the regular(bnsf) rail. It's pretty hard to tell from the camara angle.

They have indeed been running the Northstar trains on the regular rail (closest to Ford Centre). My guess is they are just testing the trains and the actual track must not be quite ready yet for whatever reason. I have seen 5 or 6 trains on that far track in the past couple of weeks.

Kubota would be my guess since they have been a twins sponsor for a while...interesting question though

Toro would be nice touch - local business and all. The Twins, however, are into touches of a different sort.

Click my name for another 3rd jersey concept for the Wild. Just found it today.

luke,

That jersey concept is pretty close to accurate since the 3rd jersey was leaked today. Click my name. Ok, I used my one "detract-from-TF-convo" card.

and just like that, the gomez trade just got a little bit brighter...

So, the Wild fall victim to "a ha" moments as well, eh?

Looks quite similar to the jersey worn by the West in the 2004 All Star Game (held at the X).
Unless someone is BS'ing us, and making us THINK that's what it's going to be.

shut the puck up!

That third jersey is no suprise as its been rumored for a couple years now that they wanted to go back to a green jersey and also have a "Minnesota" script across the chest. I am digging the "star" on the jersey! Nice little touch to the new jersey

As for the Johan Santana news, that has definitely not been talked about much on this site with the new sod arriving last night. I just hope he makes a full recovery because he's one of my all-time favorite Twins. I (as many others have) witnessed a lot of great moments when Johan was a Twin. It's never a guarantee when talking about elbow surgery and pitchers, but I wish him nothing but the best in his recovery.

The Twins are not messing around the last few days with the announcement of 2010 season ticket deposits, DSP blog update, sod installation, and now the commemorative all-metrodome team medallion set to be released.

Here's a Strib video about the grass installation.

Write something funny, Kevin, and I'll start laughing.

I'm still pissed we didn't trade Johan to the Yankees for Phil Hughes etc. None of the Mets prospects we received excited me at the time or now. Hope Johan recovers quickly though. Still a great pitcher, but no longer the best in the game thanks to Lincecum. We actually "sold" at a pretty good time, just wish we would've gotten more in exchange.

Those new Wild jerseys are pretty cool. I bet they look even better in person.

And that video from the Star Tribune is fantastic. I like how the sod makes the seats look blue-green. More pics please!

With that sod cut to 5/8ths of an inch, it looks like they're laying carpeting. Oh horrors! Not again?!

Looks like the lights will be facing away from Cam 1 tonight. We should get a much better look at what is going on!

1.) kev in az for president! his humor is the humor of a new generation. you just don't understand. ;-)

2.) i am pretty sure they will be using toro lawn equipment at the new ballpark. primarily because they have all the right equipment to do the job AND because they are headquartered in minneapolis. also, call it a hunch, but i have seen larry devito (head groundskeeper) wearing shirts with a toro logo on them quite frequently.

3.) it seems to me that they are paying a little homage to the old north stars jerseys with the new wild jersey that is coming out. that new third jersey has more green than any other color. the shooting "star" across the minnesota script. also, it looks like they didn't include any of that horrible harvest gold shade into this jersey. it appears to be a lighter shade and almost a sandy color.

not surprised as i am sure they have noticed that many people show up to wild games in north stars jerseys. hopefully they are finally realizing that is people telling them that they aren't too psyched about the color/design scheme the wild have gone with over the years. i hope we will see some more changes over the next couple years.

I see some Minnesota Twins history in that new Wild sweater. It reminds me a lot of the original Twins script logo used in 1961. (click link to see for yourself)

Hopefully the seats were made from plastic grown right here in MN! Hopefully the concrete was harvested here too.

How the hell do you "grow" plastic?

I am pretty sure that DreDogg was being sarcastic...

Yes, sorry, I forgot to use the Sarcasm font. Just a dig at all of those people that think/feel every part of the stadium needs to be from Minnesota.

DreDogg - I echo your dig...I wonder if people know that a majority of the materials that they buy at home depot and lowes for use on their house is not from/made/harvested in Minnesota...

Mike in Winona,
I love to pick on you but I must confess, I have great admiration for you. You have suffered long as a Vikings fan like I have. You have felt the heartache that many of these young people only experienced in 1998. I don't know about you, but I damn near predicted the result of the Atlanta game in 1998. You're so right, the Vikings will never win squat in our lifetimes - I'm just as convinced of that as you. The younger folks just don't understand. I still think a part of me died in 1975 thanks to Armen Terzian/Drew Pearson and company.

Dredogg,
Just make sure that Joy's tax dollars didn't pay for any of that plastic...you know we can't spend tax dollars on anything unless she approves it.

trosy - or the Minnesota institution that can do no wrong, Target. I can't tell you how many times I hear someone say, "I'd rather buy (item x) at Target because it's Minnesotan." Well, I understand that the company is based here, but that doesn't mean that their stuff is made here... I'd rather save money and buy it cheaper at Walmart.

Hey Kev,
That NFC Title game against Atlanta was a rough one to watch. Taking a knee at the end of each half? Please! They had the most potent offense the league had ever seen to that point and they take a knee with half a minute left. What happened to stretching the field with Moss?
When the Vikes punted it away in overtime, I was certain they had just given the game away. So was everyone in the building.

As an old geezer, I don't think the '69 Vikings get enough credit. Twelve wins in a row. They set the NFL record for points at that time, and gave up fewer points, points per game, yards, and yards per pass/carry than the 1986 Bears. Had they been able to hang on to that second half kickoff and not fumbled deep in their own end, they might have turned the momentum around against the Chiefs in Super Bowl IV, and we'd be talking about the best defense, perhaps the best team, ever.
Yes, younguns, our hurt at the hands of Viking failure runs truly deep, so please forgive our cynicism.

well, wal-mart can piss off as far as i am concerned. cheap? yes. cheaply made goods? yes. an even remotely ethical company? hell no.

and this is coming from someone who worked as a purchasing manager for a fortune 100 retailer. they are nothing but a marketing slogan. nothing else.

DY steppin up tonight. The kid has talent, he just needs to put it together for the entire season. Hopefully the change in scenery he needs is Target Field.

Back to TF sod installation. It looks like they are going to start work soon, as there are lights on the field, facing away from webcam 1.

Oh, and nice win by the Twins tonight. I think Young had 4 singles tonight, including the game winning RBI single. Not pretty, but it is a win they need to get, by beating teams with worse records, especially when Detroit and Chicago have tougher matchups. The Twins are now tied with the Whities, and back to .500!!

I really really want to get excited about whats going on with this team right now. If the Halos win, the Twins will be even closer to Detroit. I want to get excited but I just don't feel it inside of me for some reason.

Winona,
Go to youtube.com and search "missing rings 1969" this is a 4 or 5 part special done by NFL network. It is a great commentary on that awesome team - I'll never forget feeling the Met shaking when Roman Gabriel was sacked for a safety late in the game. I can still remember the excitement while running onto the field after the game against Cleveland.

nfl network also did a "missing rings" special on the 1998 vikings. oh how i wish neither version had to be made and instead were profiles on two vikings super bowl championship teams.

it WILL happen someday for the vikings - contrary to what our "old lions" kevin in az and winona mike have to say! ;-)

to kevin in az, and to all good non-bandwagon Twins fans out there,
don't feel bad for not being able to get excited about the team's status at the moment. Yeah they've just won five in a row, which is a real promising thing, (and I'm starting to get a little hope back) but I don't have to tell you to keep in mind that it's their longest winning streak of the season thus far, and that it's been against the Royals and the Orioles, teams that are 48-77 and 51-75 respectively. Now granted, sometimes that's all it takes to get a good streak going and get back into it, (to win a few games against some lousy teams, you build some momentum, and before you know you're playing well against the good teams again too). But like I said, I don't have to tell you that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves here. I don't think that we have to worry about the Sox (they're taking care of themselves for us it would seem, and with eight more terribly tough games for them to play on their current road trip, it's entirely possible that they could be completely out of it nine days from now).
I have a little bit of hope right now for the possibility of seeing our boys in the playoffs yet again. It could happen. But I also remember our great division-winning seasons being quite a bit more remarkable than this one. What with the '06 season with the 16-2 interleague record, which was also during the June-July stretch in which they went 21-2. And the whirlwind September they had going 19-11 to win the division in the first (and only) year that the wild card came out of the AL Central. Things like that make me wonder if October baseball is possible when their season has gone this way. Then again, considering the way that their past few Octobers have gone despite their great regular season performances, maybe eeking their way into the playoffs wouldn't be such a bad thing at all. Remember the '05 White Sox and the '06 Cardinals? Maybe that's just what the Twins need; a division-winning, two-games-above-.500 season to catapult them to the big dance...

What "all good non-bandwagon Twins fans out there" want most is a team that can dance when it gets to the dance. We have the core of a VERY dangerous team that, in my opinion, is currently being allowed to go to waste due to the Twins' stance that playing just well enough to keep the fans interested is the way to go. What they should be doing is asking themselves what it will take to keep the seats occupied once the allure of a new stadium wears off and do that NOW. In other words, quit spinning grass, seating arrangements, etc. and start selling BASEBALL. Why have they seemingly forgotten that a quality team can play in a toilet?

Beta - You're telling me that the brand name canned goods, cereal, dog food, etc. at Walmart is "cheapley made," and the same stuff at Target isn't? Right... I'll keep my 20% savings on my grocery bill (and 40% or more over the local grocery store) and live pay check to pay check, rather than put it all on a credit card every month just to eat. Gotta love the American Dream!

I personally really don't care if the ballpark is all Minnesota made. To me, most of it is Minnesota made, or if not most of it, ENOUGH of it is. I'm sure that in a couple years, very few people will know that the grass was grown in Colorado... and I'm positive that fewer will care.

The next little thing I want to point out is that there's a lot of talk on here about how people want all these things that were at Metropolitan Stadium. (The flag pole, I've heard seats, uhhh just so many other things that people wanted) My thought is that this is not the Met, as much as lots of people on here want it to be. I can see some things put in there as a tribute. They already named a club after the met though. Let's have Target Field be Target field, not Metropolitan Stadium 2. It's 2009, not 1979, so I'll take the Metropolitan Club and the blue sky and green grass as a tribute to the Met, and then let's just let the park be unique. Let's have the Target Field flag pole flying the flag and let's play ball. There's going to be so much Twins history put into the park, and made into the park, that I really don't think we need much else. Anyways that's my little rant. Probably a lot of people will disagree.

i can't access the webcam at work, how much of the field is in place after last night's sod install?

The difference between Wal-Mart and Target is that WM sells products made in Asia, and Target sells products made in Asia with better American marketing to make you feel like 90% of the crap isn't from Taiwan.

Not that there's a whole lot of American goods to sell these days, I'm just saying that's the primary difference. Now let's see how I can tie this completely irrelevant post back to the ballpark -- in summary I hope that some of the beer for sale in the park is sourced from our backyard, ie. the Summit brewery.

Tim, it looks like all of left field and left center is done. I think they finish the outfield tonight and then do infield tomorrow night. It is looking great. It's almost technicolor how green it looks!!

On another note, the natives are restless over the sod (local vs. outstate)! Get a grip people, not everything has to be from MN and not everything in MN is the best. Most of Target field has been built with local material and labor. I love MN but the insular attitude of supporting MN at the long-term expense of not getting the best is ridiculous. The primary reason for going with Graff's in CO is their experience and expertise with major league ballpark projects and the nature of the sandy soil. As someone wrote in the comment section of this Strib article, if MN was so experienced with producing great sod, the Cubs and other MLB and NFL teams would have come to MN.

The comments people are posting for that article are ridiculous.These people are absolutely retarded; they are just talking out of their ass. They are using this out-of-state sod thing as just another lame excuse to bitch about the stadium. And they keep talking about 'my money, my money!' It's only costing each taxpayer about $25 per year. That's only about $0.07 a day! These are the people who scare me because its this backward and asinine thinking that's going to prevent a new vikings stadium from being built and the inevitable movement of the vikings to LA.

And don't forget pawelk, it's only costing taxpayers in Hennepin County $25 per year. Anyone who doesn't live/work/shop in that county can complain about "my money, my money!"

I'm not from Minnesota originally, but I've lived here 25 years. Yet, I still feel like I'm not from here because I don't have my grandparents here, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins etc. Even my mom and dad and sister don't live here anymore. I also don't have the cabin up near Alexandria or Brainerd that I go to ten times a year. So that still makes me an outsider and I'm fine with that. I've even come up with a word for it. Too many people here are "Minnecentric."

I hate the fact that if a celebrity spent the night here once when five years old, Minnesotans claim them as their own. I remember how whenever John Madden did a game here we had to hear about he was born down in Austin, MN. Never mind that he lived here like five minutes.

Ok, rant over.

People shouldn't complain that the grass isn't from here, i think someone said that there are only a few places that grow grass for the MLB and CO is closer, majority of the stadium id made of Minnesotan things such as the limestone. The thing i tell those people who bitch about paying taxes for the stadium i simply say, don't buy things in Hennepin County. It's a short drive to any other county!

Amway still loving the grass progression, don;t know who said it, but i also am guessing that they will finish outfield tonight and infield tomorrow night

What's going on with the rest of the seats? Have you stopped until the grass is put in? Doesn't seem like more are added, unless i just didn't notice cuz of the beautiful grass

Lots of new seats have been installed this week.

Re: Faber College Alum
I can see your point. I'm a life-long resident of MN and outsiders tell me similar things about our state. I'm just glad you're a MN immigrant who isn't a criminal!

"I'm just glad you're a MN immigrant who isn't a criminal!"

i don't get it.

It looks like they are starting to put the finishing pieces on the back of the scoreboard.

Does anybody have pictures of the grass from today yet?

i was born here in minnesota, but none of my aunts, cuz are here, only fam i got are my parents who came from India over 30 years ago, but i still feel Minnesotan

"I'm just glad you're a MN immigrant who isn't a criminal!"

i don't get it.

It's the old "all the criminals come from Chicago"... written, apparently, without irony

The Sooj,

Maybe that's why you feel Minnesotan, you were born here. I grew up all over the country and didn't move here until I was 13. My entire family moved away when I was 20. I just happened to stay here.

So, I only saw the Vikings Super Bowl futility from afar, for example. In fact, at the risk of pissing off 3/4 of this forum, I don't think Drew Pearson pushed off in 1975. I think it was all incidental contact. I like the Vikings, I hope they do well, but I've never emotionally invested myselft in them (probably better for my mental health anyway).

The only Minnesota team I bleed for are the Twins. In 87 I was a senior in high school and 91 a senior in collge. Normally those are memorable years anyway but they are even more so for me because I can recall in vivid detail where I was when Hrbek hit his grand slam in game 6 of the 87 series and when Jack Buck gave us "and we'll see you tomorrow night" in 91.

I can't wait to show my son Target Field. I remember going to the dome in 1983 for the first time and thinking, "ewwww." The only other major league stadiums I had been to up to that point was Baltimore's Memorial Stadium (say Reggie Jackson hit a homer for the Yankees) and although that was a fairly cruddy stadium, it towered in comparison to the dome.

Yeah, Steeks, just who are these "criminals" you speak of?

Does anybody know why both the web cams arent working?

Does anyone know how much higher the lights at T.F will be compared to the Dome's lights?

Dickey, The web cams (for some reason) are back to their querky double click mode again. When you choose the cam you want, you'll have to re-click when it comes up.

yeah, they should have sourced webcam setup to somewhere like Colorado, because they did a $hit job of it here! And they should have outsourced DSP's blog to someone in Bangalore because it would have been updated more frequently for sure.

Faber College Alum,
We are the same age. Going to Met Stadium with my grandpa to my first ever Twins game and actually getting to shake hands with Rod Carew after the game was awesome. Watching the Twins win the WS in '87 and '91 before my sr. years of HS and college were amazing. And now, the chance to take my sons to an outdoor ballpark next year will top them all. NOW, turning 40 next month will be brutal. Augh!!
I will never invest any emotional energy into the Vikes after '98. What a killer that was!! Well, on the other hand, I was pretty pumped to see Favre last Friday night. Damn, I'm hooked again! GO VIKES and #4!
GOSH, that grass going in looks beautiful! Sure is better than counting the CHS. (Canopy Horizontal Supports for those newcomers. Their are 31 in case you were wondering.)
PEACE
ps. Those four big singles by Delmon last night were nice. Trade him for a pitcher while his value his high!

Do you think TB would trade us Garza for Delmon straight up? They can even keep Bartlett and his .340 avg.

i just took a walk around the park and i forgot how massive and imposing it is in person. the herc didn't have any smell but those trucks entering it sure were stanky. i am assuming that they will coordinate schedules to cut down on truck traffic before and during games.

i did see a cop pull over a pickup for speeding down 7th avenue. maybe this is the start of them keeping that road pedestrian friendly.

I wrote that with the perception MN's think all criminals move in. Sorry.

I did steal an eraser from a store once when I was about five. My mom made me go back to the store and apologize.

"I did steal an eraser from a store once when I was about five. My mom made me go back to the store and apologize."

Did she let you keep the eraser? :-)

WTF?????

Goober, Just to keep it short, you should google WALMART. You will find out all about there politics and policies. They are one hated company for many reasons. Sorry guys, it just bothers me when I see blogs in support of Walmart. Back to the topic.

I hope Blogmaster Rick is back from Vaca soon. We need more pics!!!

Walmart must be stopped. They treat their employees like crap (worse than that actually). It is a non-unionized retailer. The smiley face logo for the place is not quite the feelings of the employees of Walmart. Their wages stink (what do you expect from a non-unionized company).
Things went way downhill when Sam Walton died. If he were alive now, and saw the current state of what he worked his entire life to build, he'd be properly pissed.

I have a friend that lives in near the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and he says the headquarters are literally a Walmart on the outside with cubicles on the outside, and that the conditions are really bad. Nothing like Best Buy or Target's.

back to TF for a second. Someone mentioned that webcam 1 had a Northstar Train in its sights recently.
Can someone remind me the date/time it was on Webcam 1?

Faber,
Drew Pearson didn't push off? You must not be joking about your alma mater. Knowledge is good, and Pearson's a dirty, rotten, good-for-nothing...

Luke,

It was the 12:00pm shot from yesterday.

Luke, The N* web cam image was yesterday (25th) @ noon

Got it. Thanks.

VIKES:
Why is tavaris jackson still on this team?!?!

he is a cancer and the longer we keep him around the more his cancer will spread

Here are the photos thjat I

here are the photos that I took of of Target Field on August 22nd, click my name

here are pictures i took monday and today. enjoy.

Nice pics fellas. I am so excited to see our beautiful ballpark in person next spring.

Nice pics indeed! I didn't know they had started laying turf in right firld yet. And that exterior stone is beeutiful! It's got plenty of textural character, and should look spectacular in a late-afternoon sun.

What I'm most looking forward to at this point is when they open the plaza and surrounding sidewalks to normal people like me. Then I won't have to stare from the skyway, or webcam, or across 5th or 7th st.

That'll be the day!

(I might be drunk. This post may or may not reflect the actual sentiments of he that posted it. )

looks like the lights are positioned to give us a really good look tonight.

One thing I find funny, is how people like to reference they're drunk when posting on various websites. I know I've done it.

Great pics guys! I like the louvers on the 7th street side better. There seems to be fewer gaps, and they show less of the frames.

i'm thinking a web cam up above home plate on the lights so we can see the whole field

When are they going to open the Plaza, will that be an earlier date than the first game?

Sorry, I cannot let the random shot at TARVARIS (show the man a little respect and at least spell his name right) Jackson. How can you call him a cancer? He has done nothing except get jacked around by Childress. If the Vikes had committed to Jackson two years ago and stuck with him (through his inevitable ups and downs that come with any young quarterback) he would be much further along in his development now and we would not need to spend $12MM on an over-the-hill stopgap. We are now going to lose Jackson (free agent after this season and why the heck would he re-sign?) and he is going to blow up on some other team while we are back to square one next year with Sage "Career Backup" Rosenfels and re-re-re-re-re-retired B. Farve. It's refreshing to see that some of Jackson's teammates are sticking up for him (albeit anonymously). Rant over.

Looks like the canopy is almost done on webcam 2

Deenels - They are planning to have the Twins Pro Shop at the Ballpark open by Thanksgiving for the Christmas shopping season. There for the plaza will be open.

Woohooo! Look at that outfield! And an open pro shop by Thanksgiving?! That means the plaza would likely be open at that time right?

That is the plan at least. It has been discussed in the weekly project meetings...

Grass...[i]so pretty[\i].

Huh, that's not how you close a tag.[/i]

There.

Sooo......by tomorrow morning, ALL of the grass should be in, huh?

yep, they're doing the infield and foul area tonight

We are rapidly approaching the time where just about ALL of the major finishing work that we can see without actually entering the park will be completed.....I imagine it won't be too much longer before we are viewing the web cams to see if we can get a look at Mauer or Morneau testing things about by taking the first BP at the park.

It would be great if they could move the Ford Center webcam (#2) to some spot on the canopy or in a suite, to view the stadium looking out from behind homeplate. I don't think webcam #2 is providing alot of oooh-ahhh views of construction progress.

Take a look at pic 8 that is in the gallery up on the Twins official site. It is one of the most beautiful pictures I've seen so far!!

you're so right, that's the best pic i've ever seen of the park. TF lights up like a jewel at night, with that green grass glowing. that's what we have to look forward to.

pic 9 is also nice for the day time, see where that pic 8 was taken i think they should put a webcam well a little more above home plate who agrees with the sooj?

I agree with those above...Webcam 2 is a complete waste...move it within the park, itself.

excatly! it was good at first now its blocked by the party deck

From today's PP:

With the infield dirt set and grass finally taking root at Target Field, the Twins want to schedule a workout at the unfinished ballpark next month to familiarize themselves with their new home before it officially opens in April 2010.

"I think more the novelty of it than being able to use something for next year, it'll be kind of cool to go out and knock it around a little bit," right fielder Michael Cuddyer said.

ok what the heck are they doing to those seats you can see from webcam 2, they've been taking them out and putting them back in for a while...I hate to ask it but, is it the bolts?

This question may have been covered before, but along the 3B/LF line, there is a gap in the 2nd deck - does anyone know the reason for that?

I think its to separate the club level seats from what ever those other seats are considered

Next to the roof that seems like the 2nd most covered question Steeks. The split is to separate the Legends club from some additional seating that will be sold on a single game basis(or maybe groups), and does not come with legends club access. It's a separate seating area all together.

So they felt the need to physically add dead space and disrupt the seating flow just for that? odd.

I am not sure how long it's been up, but you can now look at panoramas from inside each club on the seat viewer.

You can see where the WS trophies will be in the Champions' Club (which is good since I'll never be able to afford to see them in person), views inside the Met and Legends Clubs, and what the view will be like from in those lounges.

Sorry if it's already been posted!

Can we lay off of the Twins and having the trophies in the Champions Club? It only makes sense, cure you may not see it on game days, but who right now goes into the Twins Offices to take a look at them? You'll still have opportunities on tours, Twins Fest etc to take another look at something I've seen a few dozen times. It's not really that big of a deal.

other guy - how do we see inside the Met and Legends clubs on the 3D seat simulator? Is there something special you need to click on or how does it work? I can't seem to find any interior views.

I agree Camden! If you really WANT to see the trophies, get to Twinsfest some year and you can get up close and take as many pictures as you want of the trophies.

Mike, click on club level then click on one of the tabs that comes down

Anyone see what the Fort Myers Miracle wanted to do? Have a Tim Tebow night with a mock circumcision(no joke). The gators put a stop to it though.

Thanks for the direction to the interior views. Looks like its going to be great. It brought a few questions that are unrelated to the interior. First, I noticed in the 3D renderings the plaza still had the old looks of the rows of trees and the light poles with banners on them going into right field. I also noticed on some of the pictures (i believe the were the ones submitted by annoying customer) showing what appear to be bundles of cables or something on the plaza inside the gate in right field. Are the light poles with banners still part of the plans?

Also does anyone know where field access is for all the grounds crew equipment, batting cage, etc?

Its funny, but I've looked at the model pics about a million times and never noticed that gap...but there it is!

I guess I thought is was just a construction thing that they'd finish when they finished the canopy or something.

I can't say I like that feature. Just put up some kind of knee wall or other divider instead of a gap in the bowl.

I actually don't care so much about not being able to see the trophies; I've seen them before. It's like tailgating by the third webcam looking at the footings for the future retractable roof (omg it's so coooold in MN!) while smelling the garbage burning.

I bet a polite request to the "bouncer" would get you ushered in for a quick peek on game day in any case.

I care a lot more about the fact that they look to have built three trophy berths, and there are two trophies...that looks off-center, for the moment. Even worse, it's like the architects believe we can only win one more trophy in that building. Where's the hope!

Currently they have the 1965 AL Championship trophy in the Front Office's Lobby along with the two World Series Trophies. I would imagine that will take the third spot as well.

i'm not a fan of that gap in the seating either. kinda like the moat separating seats in the lower bowl. if even purely from a looks standpoint. if i had to pick at a couple of minor things i don't like about target field, those would be it.

Looks like we may have hops being planted soon in the giant bats. Dirt has been added to the bases (except for the one furthest from the field - which is odd). They are also laying a bunch of sod in some of the planters on the plaza. Kind of a nice look to tie together with the ballfield. Looks like maybe you can sit on a little grass hill and sip your pregame beer if so inclined.

I don't mind the gap - the non-club level seats should be cheaper, and I think those will be a great spot to watch a game. It's also going to separate the woodback seats (the club) from the regular greenback seats.

this is coming from a season ticket holder.......me. if the front office doesn't go out and make some BIG splashes in free agency and/or trades this off-season all of the pictures of grass, skylines, party decks, limestone, metropolitan clubs, etc. aren't going to mean jack shit to me.

the park will be nice and all (and i will be able to see many games in it being a season ticket holder), but honestly all i am going to really care more about is the twins putting a world series contending product on the field. no more messing around with re-treads. i sure hope they don't still think that opening a new ballpark is going to be enough for the majority of season ticket holders and real twins fans out there......because i think it has truly gotten to the point where it won't be. and i am happy about that.

with what this last decade could have been (with some actual free agency spending) i don't have any interest in watching the start of another decade where we can all go "oh well we won the al central a few times but got knocked out of the playoffs right away, but that's okay because we are just slightly above-average".

Indeed!!!!!

I am as excited about the new park as anybody --- but when I go there it will be to see some baseball get played!!!!!

hugh,

I cannot get it to work. I click on club level, and all that shows is the legends club tab, which just takes me to the normal seat views with no interior shots.

I tried both explorer and firefox so perhaps I must be doing something wrong?

Is there more than one tab when you click on club level?

Mike-

Don't click on 'Club'...just hover your curser over it...you should see a drop down giving you the extra selections.

Hovering doesn't work on my computer, either. Then again, I'm at work and the weirdest stuff either is blocked, or doesn't work outright. I'll have to try when I get home later tonight.

I'm with you Chad.

doesn't work for me either

Since someone mentioned Twinsfest above I saw at the game yesterday in the little magazine/program that TwinsFest will be January 28-31 (I think-close to that) at the Metrodome again. I wonder if they'll set up the baseball field or what??

It'll probably be set up for college ball anyways. Also gallery on the MBA Website of sod installation, nothing to groundbreaking though.

I think there is no shortage of ah-ha moments that will come here over the next 3-4 months," St. Peter said. "Every week that goes by until the end of the year, there should be a major Target Field announcement."

Interesting quote by DSP...sounds like a lot is yet to come that we may or may not know about

Click link for full article by Kelly Thesier

You're just in time, Rick. Were jonesing for updates!

welcome back rick! one request.....please try and post your second Gopher Football Stadium review whenever you have the time. really want to see it.

thanks!

beta

JCTwins - it is very likely they will. I was there this last year, they had the baseball configuration set up and TwinsFest uses every single square inch they can for the show. Personally, I hope they keep it at the Dome, at least until the Dome is out of commission (as in a new stadium built on that site) because they would have to dramatically size down if it was anywhere else (except maybe the Convention Center).

Click my name for a little more information on whats actually underneath the grass at Target Field. Thanks other guy for the update on the seat viewer!!

Does anyone know what's going on in the outfield just behind 2nd base? Is that some sod that has been ripped up? Dirt poured? Can't figure it out.

the seat viewer thing was pretty cool. the seating outside of the Metropolitan Club looks like a good view of the field.
Are they going to be sold as individual seats, or season tickets or what?
and yeah, what the hell did they do with the sod behind second base?

fred - my guess is that they are probably just going around and from time to time if they see a patch of sod they don't particularly like for whatever reason then they cut it out and replace it with a new section of sod to their liking. not sure what else it would be.

yeah but the seperation is huge on that second deck pioece.....I can understand the seperation but thats like 20+ feet

Just tried the seat view on my home computer; it works! Weird that I never even thought about why the other levels weren't on there.

Twins reportedly claim Rich Harden off waivers, it would be nice to at least remain competitive until the final weekend to keep the interest level up. Not sure how much of a help Harden would be, but with him and Pavano, that is two veterans to help our young guys along.

I did the same thing Chad...for some reason it wouldn't work for me at work today, but I got home and it worked fine.

I think it might have something to do with a java update, but who knows for sure.

I'd sure like to see some higher resolution shots of the ballpark from the inside in the past few days, (such as the low-res one locked up by flash player that is currently the headline on the Twins website taken early Wednesday morning). Does anyone know of any pics like I'm describing, official twins pics or not?
I've always wondered why they didn't put a webcam up inside the park along the third base line looking towards downtown, like this one:


It would've been great to see the almost-three-year time-lapse of the park's progress from a fan's seat perspective.
Anyone know of any recent shots from inside the park besides this one?

A little off topic - more appropriate for the last post:

Did any of you in favor of real grass for TCF Bank Stadium see the Eagles game tonight? The Eagles use the DD Grassmaster, right? (real grass "stitched in" with synthetic fibers, or something like that) I probably don't know the whole story, and I know it's a bit of an unfair comparison since the Eagles have to share their field with Temple, but . . . it's August, and that field looked absolutely trashed. Brown spots and huge divots everywhere, especially between the hashes.

The FieldTurf is certainly not maintenence-free - it has to be replaced every so often. The University of Nebraska (my home team) was the first major program (college or NFL) to install it in 1999, and they replaced it about 5-6 years later.

I think the Gophers made the right decision - especially since they'll need to share the field with the Vikes while their new stadium gets built ;)

TF's looking great. Beta, I'll see you there next year!

sorry for a favre related post on a twins website, but i saw this video on the wcco.com (cbs channel 4 in minneapolis) website and couldn't resist.

i love that dave ryan from kdwb (a top 40 radio station in minneapolis) hired that company to fly it right over lambeau field during a packers preseason game. nice! too funny.

click on my name for the wcco video.

mike - rich harden huh? let's hope. that being said i knew the twins front office just couldn't do the unexpected and try to figure out a way to get penny off waivers one way or another. oh well....

Here is the Rich Harden link which I forgot to post earlier.

The gophers will be sharing TCF for gym courses and intramurals etc. That's a big reason the aren't using real grass

They've started laying the infield grass....

On the link provided by DreDogg, There is a guy in the third picture without a hard hat on, (he looks to be wearing some kind of fedora style hat).

Regarding the design nature of the gap between the Skyline Deck and the Legend's Club down the 3B side, there was an artistic consideration involved in this feature in addition to the pragmatic function of separating the different price-class seating areas.
I've read that things like this feature were intentionally included in the design as a part of the attempts to make the ballpark reflect the natural scenery and rock formations found throughout Minnesota. Quoted from the "design principles" page on the Twins website (linked), "The exterior will feature Minnesota-native limestone and echo the look of natural stone formations with gaps or fissures in the stone massing and ledges. These ledges or steps will provide distinctive viewing sections that create inimitable fan experiences." This particular description was referring to the outside of the park as seen from 7th street and the NW side of the park, however, there are a number of elements on the inside of the park that could easily have been influenced by this design principle as well. Including the gap in question, there is also the "trapezoid" as Luke refers to it, (with accompanying trapezoidal billboards above it and a gap separating it from the seats), the "Overlook" seating area that gradually goes from flush with the RF wall to hanging out over the warning track, almost like a natural cliff formation, and probably various other idiosyncrasies inside the park that reflect this "stone cliff, ledge, cracks & fissures" theme. It will be fun getting to walk around and explore the finished park, discovering all the little design nuances we've been hearing about that are going to make this ballpark one of if not the best in all of baseball.

err, not Luke...Rick. (Sorry Rick)...I'm tired, should probably go to bed...but...too much fun...updating webcam...every 10...minutes...eyes hurt...green pretty...zzzzzzzz

Here is from Mr. Walters at Twincities.com. Ah Ha!! Click my name for the link to the story

One deck underneath the "Harmon Killebrew 573 Club" eatery at the Twins' Target Field next year will be a "Hrbek's" pub. The specialty offering?

"Beer," the former Twins first baseman said.

these "design principles" the twins supposedly used inside the park are just a way to say "no we didn't seperate the rif raf from our richie riches by an enormous gulf in the upper deck, that was the architechts, for reasons to simulate mn's natural rock, it's not to keep our true (albeit poor) beer drinking fans away from the suits of these people who probably know little about our team but will pay us a lot of money to tell their golf buddies they were at the game"

I'm sorry but intentionally breaking off an upper deck cannot be faked as a "design principle to represent mn's rock"

it's looks absolutely nothing like rock you'd see in nature, (flat, 90 degree angles, squares) please Twins, don't patronize me with these silly explanations that were made up well after the fact

Having grass looks great!

Looks to me like there's several tours going on this morning...maybe news crews. Plenty of people shuffling around in packs.

Did anyone see this gallery? There was one on the 26th too that I never noticed.

the garden dude from channel 11 is doing a report for their newscast tonight about the new TF grass. he said he was going out on the first night of the install and then today to see the finished product and interview head groundskeeper.

ah now it looks like a ballpark!

dirwin7,

Take it easy - stating that everyone in the club section (who forked over $1000-$2000 per seat, PLUS the per-game ticket price) is "not a true fan," who "doesn't know anything about our team" seems like a bit of a risk. But, it's your opinion. What do you think jfh?

GREAT FIND, CAMDEN. New locker room pics, the mural art is going up, etc...

WTF are they leaking out these things with unannounced galleries, but they get pissed at bloggers who want to highlight all these cool features!?!!?

what if i told you that most of the uniforms weren't changing at all?

what if i told you the "M" is going to stay on the caps?

what if i told you the only major change is that the away uniforms will have script on them, instead of the M I N N E S O T A block lettering?

it's amazing, isn't it? the Twins have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebrand their team, which will experience the biggest fan and experience transformation ever in this park...yet they are satisfied with low-risk, low reward decisions.

Can't say I totally disagree with you Dirwin. It's a pretty ugly ass gap out there in the club level of the 3B line. Looks like someone knocked one of TF's teeth out. But, if that's the worst we have to complain about, we don't have much to complain about. I'm sticking with my assertion that this is going to be one of the best, if not the best ballpark in all of major league baseball.

uniform bird...I couldn't agree more. There are very subtle changes to the logo - if you look at the big one above the scoreboard. It is a shame. I mean, the "old school" Twins script logo is on the front of Twins Magazine, has been on some promotional items in the past, and was part of the 40th Anniversary logo a few years back.

And for them to keep the "low-risk" (and seemingly low-budget) logo they have now, moving into a new park, and a new era of baseball in this state...is a big mistake.

if they don't want to reap the marketing/financial benefits of a uniform switch that's their problem. i think it's unfortunate also as they move into a new ballpark. maybe they just really like the current uni's and don't see the need for any big changes. i'd opt for the 60's clean look, with maybe some minor tweaks. the classic pinstripes just look better imo than the '87 version that's lasted until the present. and the "M" on the away caps just should be retired.

there was interesting article in the ny times a couple days ago about new era baseball caps and the most popular teams. basically been yanks, red sox, dodgers, white sox and braves for quite some time.

Have you guys not noticed that the gap that your all complaining about allows the seats to jut out at a completely different angle than the club seats, thus giving the non club seats an angle towards the infield as opposed to the centerfielder. From what i can tell this is the true purpose of this gap, and it doesn't look all that bad, it's nothing like the gap in the upperdeck at Great American Ballpark, which is absolutely hideous.

This is concrete.....changing angles is not rocket science....

With Steel Yes it would have cost a whopping 10,000 dollars more

With Concrete maybe 5 dollars

Pohlad is involved I tell ya......

As jp is saying, the gap at Target Field is nothing compared to other stadiums. Click my name for a discussion (with pictures) at Baseball Fever about the gaps at other stadiums. Some are really bad and obvious.

There is no reason to complain about a gap, and as jp said, that truly looks to be what it was. And besides that, it is not that big. I suppose they could have just built out the office space and taken up more seats, similar to what happened on the first base side with the Metropolitan Club and the Suites, something that most of us will not be able to see anyway.

jp-that is exactly why that gap is there...

Nice find Taylor, we have NO reason to complain about our so-called Gap. Some of those photos, I can see why people would be upset. What ever happened to people just being thankful that we can sit Outside and watch our Minnesota Twins. Enough of the nit-picking. Don't like it? Don't come, more seats for all of us that want to see MLB outside.

"uniform bird," are you saying there is something wrong with the current uniform design? I think our boys uniforms are perfect. I like them just the way they are, block M I N N E S O T A lettering on the away jerseys and all. Why do you think they need a rebranding? It's not like they're the '07 Rays with a desperate need to grow a non-existent fan base and win more than 66 games, or even finish with a winning record for the first time for that matter. Those old Rays uniforms were terrible, (no matter what "uni watch" says), and they definitely needed a rebranding. If you think there's nothing wrong with this...then something's wrong with you.




And let us not forget the neon/flourescent colored days, or maybe we should...(poor Wade Boggs):


This one's just funny - Ozzie Guillen giving Jose Canseco a shoulder rub. That's my new wallpaper for today.

Seriously, is this not a vast improvement?


I mean, it's not an eyesore for starters. Maybe that's why I like it so much. The standard of judgement for Rays uniforms up until then had just been so low...

On the other hand, what's wrong with these? Our boys uniforms are perfect.