ahh great pics Rick!

Rick...having trouble viewing video... when I click on the play button, text appears on the screen that reads "this video is a duplicate of a previously uploaded video."

thanks for the post, btw!

I second Truth Hurts' observation. Would love to see that video!

Here is my brief video of the wind veil from Friday night. The "smoke" effect is actually the art in motion. It was a moderately breezy evening, and of course this is before the plaza was open so this was my best (less than ideal) angle. I give hearty approval to the plaza and the art!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCEB83N3iRI

Great update! Make some time around 7:30 at night to give yourself a chance to walk around at night when the plaza is all lit up. It is a spectacular sight and you wont regret it.

Seeing those distances on more than just the target center would have been a great addition to their promotional materials, like those 3D signs. I got a great laugh after seeing that one but I feel like its been buried back there and not many saw it. More will get to now. No one will hit it, but how awesome would that be if they cleared the plaza during the home run derby and added a fun piece to the event...Not only homers but see how far down the plaza they can get the ball to bounce/roll? It does have a natural grade down towards first avenue right? So they will usually get a helpful bounce from the plaza! :)

Just heard what I consider to be a fairly reliable report that Joe Nathan has a torn UCL. Not cool. Here's to hoping it's just a rumor...

It is indeed true. Nathan has a "significant" tear in his UCL, which will force him to undergo Tommy John surgery if rehab doesn't work. He is going to attempt to strengthen the muscles around the ligament for two weeks and see if he can pitch through the pain, but it looks almost certain that he'll miss the 2010 season and possibly a bit more.

Terrible news.

And the magical season begins.....blah

That sucks about Nathan. I don't know who's with me but if Neshek is healthy and he returns to what he had before, he could be a pretty damn strong closer.

Not to push Nathan aside too quickly, but if he can't make it happen this season where do the Twins turn? Neshak? Rauch? Deal Perkins for a stop-gap closer? Man, of all the things we didn't want to deal with...

I like the thought of Neshak stepping into Nathan's shoes, but he's never been a closer and is coming off his own Tommy John.

Also, Jon Rauch had 18 saves in 2008.

If Nathan has Tommy John his career in MN is likely over. Hes under contract for 2 more years and would likely not be able to pitch until at all until the end of the second season. At that point he will be 37. Man, all of those who said we should have traded him are now looking smart.

What's Reardon up to these days...other than robbing banks

It's official according to the Strib....Nathan has torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament...."season in doubt". DAMN!

Losing Nathan is not the end of this team. Just look at the rest of the pitching staff and the rest of the team. Not too shabby!

What does this do, if anything, to the Mauer negotiations? Thoughts?

Even though Rauch has 28 career saves...he has also blown 40% of his chances. No thank you. I think you have to give the ball to Matty Guerrier and hope he can step up. If Neshek can become the RH 8th inning set up man that Guerrier was then this won't hurt that bad. Those are 2 big ifs though. Really wishing that they would have given Slama and Delaney some big league time last year now, seeing as they are our 2 best closing options in the minors but neither have played a big league game.

Trosy I think this only affects negotiations if they go out and make a trade. Glen/Lexi to the Indians for Kerry Wood? They want to unload him, and they need pitching with big league experience. Their staff is a bunch of no-names. Not sure they would make a trade in the division though.

That is some tough new about Joe Nathan. He seemed be a great guy. I wish him only the best!! But, he had me worried a little last year regarding his arm strength and control, regardless if he was dealing with an injury. In the long run I think this helps the Twins organization. No longer do they have to question to keep him, trade him, or sign him to a possible extension. Therefore, they can now look for a replacement sooner, (not the most ideal situation) rather than questioning if he still has what it takes to be a dominant closer. Yes I know what his stats are! It will create strong competition among the current relievers to take over his roll as closer. Also, the Twins do have a strong track record of finding great closers.

I would like to see Heath Bell. Maybe even John Smoltz...

I like Guerrier a lot, but he doesn't have that power you want in a closer.

Great post, Jeff. I totally agree! His numbers are awesome and no one doubts what a great guy he is, but (a) we were going to have to move on at some point, and (b) last season he wasn't exactly the dominant, lights out pitcher we had come to expect. I'm interested to see what the Twins do from here (assuming that Nathan can't go this season).

As far as the Mauer negotiations go... does anyone have any insight on when/if injury insurance on a contract kicks in? I know big deals (like Nathan's) come with insurance and if that kicks in soon doesn't that free up a good chunk of change that the team could use for Mauer's deal? Just a thought (and I may be way off in my wishful thinking), but if anyone has any knowledge please share it!

If you go to Rick's actual YouTube channel, you can watch video of him walking up the plaze. http://www.youtube.com/user/rixware

Smoltz is interesting, but would he really come out of retirement and come up here? The FO can't make a move for 2 weeks anyway, since Nathan is going to try and gut it out. If they make a move before then they probably hurt his feelings or something lame like that.

You don't honestly need a ton of power to close. Matty's stats last year indicate that he would atleast be an average closer. The problem is who fills his shoes? What's the point in moving him if you don't have anybody to pave the road to the 9th? Lining to the clouds is that this will really push Neshek to step up, which I think he will do. It also gives us a chance to look towards the future. We have closing prospects in the minors, but with Nathan a fixture at that position those guys didn't get the chances.

This is from MLB Trade Rumors. This article says that Smoltz will sign with someone. We may be added to this list now...

This is exactly why you spend a little more money and get the retractable UCL.

The Nathan thing sucks, but closer is probably the single most replaceable part on any team. Put it this way, if Eddie Guardado could handle the job, then I think any of about 3 or 4 guys we already have can handle it too. The key will be replacing that guy.

Hit up the plaza last night and I was pleasantly surprised to see how open and expansive it felt. I'm sure crowds will tighten it up, but for the most part it was very roomy feeling.

The store is okay... I've been in 12-15 MLB stores, and I was a little underwhelmed by this initial offering. Hopefully new product will continue to arrive this week... The Twins have had 3 apparel buyers for the park in the last year and are currently searching for a new person to fill the position (seems like bad timing, eh?) I received word that they low-balled a man who recently interviewed for the job (insultingly lowballed). Having a qualified, well experienced buyer is key in the retail world - I would encourage the Twins to see this and bring in some real talent to beef up the Opening Day shopping experience.

I don't know if anyone posted this yet, but I thought these views on The Show were pretty cool..

TTH, that was golden...:-)

Greetings from Spring Training in SW Florida. Headed to the ballpark in a bit. Will have a cold brew and a hot off the grill brat for everyone this afternoon.

BTW: The #1 thing holding this contract negotiation up with Joseph Patrick Mauer is the Major League Baseball Players Association aka The Union. They want Joe to test the market in order to raise the bar for future contracts of other players. If he settles for $22 million when he could easily surpass $25 million on the open market it is NOT helpful for the rest of MLB. I have a feeling this baby is at a stalemate over essentially 40 million dollars. The Twins are at 8/$160 and the Shapiro/Mauer camp is at 8/$200. Basically, the difference of $5 million dollars per season. Everyone knows that the Pohlad's have no choice but to sign Joe Mauer. If they were to not make it happen I am pretty sure the cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul would explode (a part of me secretly wishes for this to happen to see the sheer anarchy at Target Field in 2011). I personally am happy to see the Shapiro isn't rolling over and play dead for the Pohlads. If you wanna play with the big dogs you gotta get off the porch once in a while...

TTH, I got to say a long time ago I posted a quote from Spinal Tap about how it's a fine line between stupid and clever and your posts were more on the stupid side because you often just posted in order to get people riled up. Lately you've definitely been on the clever side! Funny, funny stuff.

Promotion schedule is out. Homer hanky on opening day.

New design homer hankys? or the generic ones they've been passing out the past few post seasons?

Twins posted this on Pre-sale page.

Orders with non-matching addresses will be cancelled - no exceptions. This match is required in support of our continuing effort to curb scalping, deter fraudulent registrants, and maintain the integrity of the exclusive season ticket holder pre-sale window.

I think a lot of tickets will go back up for sale.

Don't know if anyone has saw this yet, but the City has announced plans to shut down 1st Ave between 4th and 6th St for an hour before and after the games. Personally, I would like to see that stretch shut down for a couple of hours before the game, similar to Yawkey Way in Boston. I think with the bars and foot traffic, it would be a great gathering area for fans before they head onto the plaza.

Our company just got our season tickets today!! Pretty sweet!

Minnie and Paul bobblehead on July 4th. Not in my plan, I'd like to get one of those...

I signed up for the "guaranteed giveaway" so I hope they include the mini Target Field and the Minnie and Paul bobblehead.

Pre-sale addresses...

Uh Oh! All of us in season ticket groups just got screwed. I bought tickets yesterday for a Seattle game in the overlook. Problem is I am not the head of the group. I just emailed him to see if he can go out and get this fixed for me. (He works for the Twins)

A friend forwarded me the STH pre-sale info, and I nosed around in it for a bit yesterday, but did not buy. I noticed that the Twins shut the site down early yesterday afternoon, and this morning it opened again with the warning about matching addresses.

Actually, I appreciate them doing this and totally understand. Demand is high enough. I did wonder about this during my searches yesterday, however, and 3 things stopped me: 1) whether this was actually the ethical thing for me to do, 2) whether any completed a transactions of mine would be cancelled anyway, and 3) ticket selection was incredibly limited; they have got to be holding back on better seats that will be available on the 13th (hopefully!).

It did help me peek a little closer into the sneaky ways that ticket sales are manipulated.

I think I'll end up lining up early for both those dates... Definitely good giveaways

I bought some tickets yesterday for a member of my group and used his CC and address. I called today to see if they will be canceled. She said that it we will be alright and the won't be canceled. They added that for todays presale. Hopefully I got correct info or my buddy will be pissed.

Thanks for the awesome video, Rick.

Does anyone know what the status of the Cedar Lake Bike Trail is? Does it connect with the river yet? Or just end at the ballpark?

Didn't they give everyone the same password? Therefore won't any orders not sent to season ticket holder addresses probably get voided right?

I have 4 open house Saturday tickets that I would like to swap for 4 Sunday tickets.

I called again to see about the address deal to get a second answer. This guy told me if you got a confirmation number for your order yesterday, you should be good to go.

trosy29, did you get your pro-shop card and all the other stuff with the tickets or does that come later?

Jimmer, I will have to see. Our CFO has the Tickets. I will check with him.

WIND VEIL...

Okay, as phenomenal as the plaza looks, I do have one problem. The lights that reflect off the wind veil at night are terrific, the PROBLEM is that the dark yellow parking ramp lights blast right through. I think it ruins the overall effect of the veil at night.

SOLUTION...

Option 1. Do people in the ramp really need to see down to the plaza? Put a cover over that wall so that the true beauty of the wind veil can be seen.

Option 2. Simply change the color of the lights on the ends of the ramp. Have those lights play off the light show somehow, anything but dark yellow.

Option 3. Now this might ruin the "art" aspect of the wall, but what if the thing that covered the lights was a massive twins mural, then the wind veil (through its transparency) would make that mural seem distorted and moving.

It looks great during the day, the light show is impressive at night, but it could be better without seeing through to the parking ramp.

Brandon I noticed the same thing in regaurd to the veil. I hope they cover those so that you cant see into the structure and see the lights. I am hoping my season tickets are at my place when I get home today! That, and maybe some Joe Mauer news would take the Nathan sting away a little bit.

Jimmer - The Season Tickets included the 20% discount card.

Also, they included a pass for the Metropolitan club. But there is a note that you can gain access with the pass OR your ticket.

Brandon, I too thought the wind veil would be less transparent. The video clips on the artist site shows veils that definitely have a less see-through feel about them. Your ideas are great. Maybe a ninja should just go and cover the openings in the ramp so the light doesn't come through!

Not that I would ever commit such an idiotic act, but does anyone know whether or not the automated ticket machines could spit out a replacement ticket for the ones you forgot back home on the kitchen table? maybe with the credit card used for the original purchase? Might also be nice for the buddy who is running late for whom you didn't previously email the print-at-home ticket link...

Someone sold me their open house tickets for 5 bucks a tix. Can't beat that.

"The #1 thing holding this contract negotiation up with Joseph Patrick Mauer is the Major League Baseball Players Association aka The Union."

On at least a couple of occasions I have argued here that the Twins do NOT "have to" re-sign Mauer - and used the above as a major premise of my argument. On every such occasion I pretty much got jumped and slammed by the large % of Kool-Aid drinkers who post here. But, my arguments stand and may well be becoming more efficacious with the passage of time. The players union is a HUGE consideration and if you don't believe that they are adding tremendous pressure to the issue in toto you need to re-think things. Anyone who believes Mauer is going to push away 40 million dollars and simply ask for a pen needs their ticket to never-never land validated. I know he is a local boy with a great deal of value to the team, and I believe he is willing to allow some sort of "home town" discount, but there is an end game and I think it may well be playing out as I write. If Mauer is not signed by OD things should be considered to look very bad. Try to think like a Yankee, they need a new catcher and have tons of money. If they get a chance they will be offering Joe the moon and the stars - and such is not unknown.

Ben is my new favorite poster.

You could not have said it any better Ben!

I am depressed today.

I would like to buy - cheap - 3 more Saturday Open House tickets so I can bring my kids. (they are 15, 13 and 9 and really would love to go)

email me (see link) if you wanna sell....

Ben - while you right that the Twins don't HAVE to sign Mauer (in the literal sense). They DO have to re-sign him in the PR-sense. They cannot, on one hand, claim that they need the taxpayers to fork over money to build them a ballpark so they can "compete", and on the other hand, not re-sign the hometown hero who also happens to be the League MVP. I've said all along that the Twins better be prepared to fork over somewhere between $28 - $35 million per season. They simply HAVE to. The potential cost of not doing so could be higher than the $$ amount they would spend by giving in to his demands.

I waited for the mail truck today. No season ticket package in today's mail. Maybe tomorrow.

I pretty consistantly make fun of my neighbors. The high lite of their day is to wait for the mail. Once the mail person drives through the neighborhood they all walk out to the mailbox within 15 minutes to see what they got. Today, I was one of them. Pretty sad life I lead when mail is the best part of my day.

I wonder if Rick or anyone else knows when the former player bronze statues will finally get put up?

I have no problem seeing Joe M. traded if we get a boatload in return, however I fear that window of opportunity is all but closed. (The union WANTS him to sit on his hands.) But what happens if we wait..and wait...and wait... and he ends up playing out the season and signing elsewhere? It's Torii all over again.

That's the potential ultimate failure. That's when B.S. comes out looking like one big Schweigert.

minn55441, don't feel too bad. I'm doing the same thing these days, whether it is from the Twins or a few other things I've got going on. The mail has suddenly become a very exciting proposition. lol Sad.

For those of you that got your season tickets today:

Are the tickets for the home opener special souvenir tickets, or are they the same as your tickets for the other 80 games?

I brought this up a few weeks ago but didnt hear anything and one of Ricks pics (#5 entitled "Looking out from under gate 34) reminded me of it again-does anyone know if Target Center inteds to turn on the red/blue neon lights on the outside of their building? They used to be on every night and then a few years ago only on T Wolves games/events and last I rmemebered them being on was 2 years ago-from Ricks photos you can see they are still there (under blue circle and to the right of it)just not turned on. I know a week or so ago they mentioned advertising on that wall but I assume that will be the flat part where the checkerboard pattern is. I think it wouldn't be too cost prohibitive to maybe use some of the $1.5 million that is left for enhancements to fix (if broken) and get those turned back on.

Tom - They are different than the other tickets. Larger and special graphics.

I am more concerned that i have not recived my pre sale exb tix or OD tix yet in the mail, have anyone gotten these yet?i swear it has been more than 10 biz days

"They simply HAVE to"

NO, they don't. They SHOULD is a much better way to put it. You people have got to get it into your heads that there is what economists call a "choke point" - a deal breaker if you will. I do not pretend to know what it is but there is a reason (or reasons) why the deal is not already done. Tick, tick, tick, -----.

On a more mundane, and far less volatile note --- of obvious absence on the promo list is the "bronze" statues - especially since Pepsi was the sponsor. I thought they had become a regular deal, like bobbleheads. Oh, wait -----

some of the sports media are guessing it could be that mauer's agent is seeking an opt-out after a certain number of years. it could be that or the deferred money issue.

Trosy - Wow that's awesome!! I can't wait to see them.

My uncle went to the opening day of Busch Stadium back in 2006 and the tickets were really neat, they were about 150% as big as the regular tickets with raised font - a real collector's item.

Would you be willing to post a picture? You should block out the seat details and bar code of course, but I'm dying to see what it looks like!

Tom - They are not that snazzy. Just larger and different than the others...

Mazaratirick I bet they will come with your ST if they are in your name. They showed up on My Twins Tickets after I bought them. I don't even want to think about this Mauer stuff anymore. I am starting to panic

On Nathan ---

You gotta figure he is toast given condition, age, and contract. The two week rehab is a fairy tale that is beyond tired. Too bad, the end of yet another era. Maybe it's even a good thing in the sense that it will maybe temper the team's smugness and arrogance a bit - which is BADLY needed.

Hey Maz, where are the pictures from your recent self guided tour.

And, since I seem to be in a writing mood today ---

I have it on (very) good authority that the Twins will have some sort of dedication/"first raising" ceremony for the old Met flagpole prior to the first exhibition game. A contingent (commander, adjutant, etc.) from the Richfield American Legion (Post 435) will be presenting the team with their first set of flags (U.S. & POW/MIA) at that time.

Please call me the founding member and president of the TWINS PRESALE CONSPIRACY GROUP. Anyone want to join?

#1-I got through yesterday, via phone, at about 10:40 and the only Yankee and Brewer tickets left were in the family section. I asked if they were holding tickets back and they said no (what else would they say, right?).

#2 Now today, I find out through this blog that some ticket requests "MAY" be rejected if the address of the order doesn't match the address of the STH. Why was this not communicated PRIOR to pre-sales?

I will answer that question. Because it provides cover for the Twins regarding the issue of holding back tickets when Yankee and Brewer tickets later become available. They can just say that these were tickets from addresses that didn't match STH addresses.

I have heard many of you complain about Twins business practices. I never had any information to support those feelings or defend the Twins. However, I am still waiting for my password and link to order online for the pre-sale. I'm still waiting for the person I left a message with to return my call from last Friday. When I called yesterday, someone told me I didn't a password to order by phone. Then when I called the 33-TWINS number, they said I did.

I was traveling in my car and asked specifically if the 1-800-33TWINS number would work on a blackberry phone. "OH YEA, OF COURSE", they said. W has no number on a Blackberry. I called back to get the actual number and was given the wrong number. Instead I got a number to a phone sex site. So 5 minutes later I got my first phone sex text message and will have to explain that to my wife for months to come. I called the Twins again and finally got the right number. While waiting on the phone for over 40 minutes (the automated message estimated it would be 5) the voice recording was on no more than a 1 minute loop of which too much of it was in regards to season tickets and how I should get them. Note to Twins: "This is a pre-sale for SEASON TICKET HOLDERS. I ALREADY HAVE SEASON TICKETS".

So, after my rant here, I'm not sure if they are just clueless, clever as a fix regarding holding tickets back, or just don't care about good customer service or all three.

Ben I was wondering where they would fly the POW flag. Will it be on the Met flagpole below the US flag? Where are they going to fly Morneau's Canadian flag?

I have no problem seeing Joe M. traded if we get a boatload in return...

Well, that's a pretty big "if", ain't it? We certainly didn't get a boatload with the Santana trade (more like half a dinghy-load).

I reckon that a majority of fans, fair-weather or otherwise, are gonna plunk down their hard-earned Hamiltons on kitsch, carbs, and caps no matter what transpires with the lad. The ballpark will be as big an attraction for the next few years at the team is...presuming they'll be in contention.

If you want cheap Open House Tickets, I suggest looking on Craigslist. I bought mine on there for Saturday for only $5 each.

On Mauer:

I've developed an anti-"Twins Way" rep on this site and I don't consider myself in that crowd on this subject either. With Joe I think it's worth spending the money to keep him here. He'll draw the fans needed to pay his salary and at this rate, he'll end up in the Hall as one of the greatest catchers ever... if he keeps it up. I'd like to have Joe on the team come October, too. I doubt he's going to evaporate in the postseason like the young Twins of the 2000's.

So in looking at the price structure for games Value vs Select vs Premium it looks that unlike previous years prices are more determined by day of week and time of season rather then opponent.

Of course the Red Sox, Yankees & Brewers are still Premium prices so are every Saturday summer games. Value games are available in April, May, September & October but for June, July & August they are all Select or Premium.

I'm not sure if this is how it works with other outdoor ballparks but I guess it's just one more thing to get used to with the change to outdoor baseball.

Not that I'm complaining, I'm a season ticket holder so it doesn't matter to me what is what I just found it interesting that tickets are based more on weather then opponent.

Man, I missed it by a day!

I went for a little walk on the plaza yesterday.

Jeff,

after I seen rick and a few others posted its much of the same but i will load them today since you asked!

OH MY GOD, I just got hung up on buy a Twins Ticket rep!!!! the old fart did ot know what he was talking about thought i was calling about my season tickets, I called to inquire about the pre sale tickets i bought 14 days ago! first he told me I should have gotten them last week, then he told me they have not been mailed out yet, then he told me just wait another day and call back. i asked to speak with his sup and he yelled at me! would not give me his name and told me that he did not care, then hung up on me.

wow, i thought you guys were exaggerating a bit with these stories, so i emailed my rep and cc'd 5 of the upper sth managers with my rant.

within 4 mins i recived a call from Steve smith with the twins and said he would look into it and was sorry and was happy i am bringing this to his attention,

he did tell me that since i called the 33-twins number it was a call center, i think this is a source of alot of our complaints.

also the tickets have not been printed yet per there is a problem with the ticketing system, dont know when it will be fixed... damn!

Ben-

I'm aware there is a "choke-point" or a dollar amount that would make it impossible to sign him...but that "choke-point" is much higher than the $35 million or so it would take to get him signed. Everyone knows a deal will get done eventually. They are most likely bickering over some details, but in the end the Twins(and Joe)know they HAVE to sign him, because the alternative would be a disaster for the franchise. ;-)

DVS2008:

The POW/MIA flag is properly flown just below the U.S. flag and must be smaller in size if so displayed. I believe Rick has pictures of how things looked in Richfield. It took me several rounds with both Matt Hoy and DSP before I could get a flat statement that no other flags would ever be flown from that pole - there was, believe it or not, talk of a "Twins Territory" flag or other such non-sense. I basically did an end-around on them by persuading the Legion to donate the first set of flags, which pretty much settled the issue. My guess is that there is going to be considerable spin emanating from the Twins' regarding the whole flagpole story - but the truth will be appearing here.

As to the Canadian flag --- my guess is that one will be flown from one of the two secondary poles when a Canadian team is in town. They do not have enough poles to fly all the flags of nations represented on the team.

I was just joking about it being Morneau's flag. I am pretty sure that they HAVE to fly a Canadian flag though because there is a Canadian team in MLB.

I received a weird call last night from someone who was a Twins ticket rep. Sounded like he wanted me to buy a 20 or 40 game ticket plan but he was the worst salesman I ever heard. I basically said "eh, I don't know" and he said "thank you, have a nice night" and hung up.

It was kind of strange.

Fred ---

Please supply us with evidence to support your arguments that "--- (the) "choke-point" is much higher than the $35 million or so it would take to get him signed." and "Everyone knows a deal will get done eventually."

I (and the proverbial "everyone" else) hope you have a point somewhere, but your logic sucks - it is riddled with false premises and therefore invalid. And, I think you know that.

I kept getting phone sex calls last night from Jesse Crain. He kept telling me he wanted to "blow my lead." I said, "don't you mean load?" Nope. He meant lead.

"--- within 4 mins i recived a call from Steve smith ---"

Maz: Steve Smith will hand you a big pile of steaming BS every bit as quickly as any rep of the team. It's their job.

Just got an announcement from a co-worker whose wife just had a baby boy. His initials are M.L.B. Gotta go down and find that new fan a Majestic onesie!

I love koolaid. Sunshine punch was awesome.

just out of curiousity - anyone else that paid their FST on the 5-payment plan have 2 payments taken out this month? lol

Scratch that, I missed it by 2 days.

On a slightly different note, after looking at Rick's image of the plaza through gate 34, I wonder how many "Plaza-standing room only" tickets the Twins will dream up and sell for opening day just to get an easy buck out of as many people as possible?

Ben,

yea he still could not tell me why the tickets have not been printed yet, just the new ticket system is not working right

(re-post form page 1, would like to hear more thoughts)

WIND VEIL...

Okay, as phenomenal as the plaza looks, I do have one problem. The lights that reflect off the wind veil at night are terrific, the PROBLEM is that the dark yellow parking ramp lights blast right through. I think it ruins the overall effect of the veil at night.

SOLUTION...

Option 1. Do people in the ramp really need to see down to the plaza? Put a cover over that wall so that the true beauty of the wind veil can be seen.

Option 2. Simply change the color of the lights on the ends of the ramp. Have those lights play off the light show somehow, anything but dark yellow.

Option 3. Now this might ruin the "art" aspect of the wall, but what if the thing that covered the lights was a massive twins mural, then the wind veil (through its transparency) would make that mural seem distorted and moving.

It looks great during the day, the light show is impressive at night, but it could be better without seeing through to the parking ramp.

Don't know if anyone has saw this yet, but the City has announced plans to shut down 1st Ave between 4th and 6th St for an hour before and after the games. Personally, I would like to see that stretch shut down for a couple of hours before the game, similar to Yawkey Way in Boston. I think with the bars and foot traffic, it would be a great gathering area for fans before they head onto the plaza.

I think closing 1st Avenue N between 4th Street and 6th Street is a bad idea and sympathize quite a bit with the business people on 1st Ave who are having this arrangement foisted up on them after already getting saddled with the bizarre and unnecessarily confusing on street parking set up. Pedestrian safety in the approach to Target Field can be achieved via traffic cops controlling the intersections without having to shut 1st Avenue N down for an important two block stretch.

The set up on Yawkey Way, which I was able to experience and enjoy in 2003, exists because it's borders the park and because Fenway Park's concourses and concession stands are overburdened enough to make it necessary for the team to effectively create a concourse on the street. 1st Avenue N is close to the ramps leading to the Target Field, but is physically separated from Target Field and its plaza by Target Center, Butler Square, and parking garages in a way that Fenway and Yawkey are not. Apart from that separation, Target Field and its plaza have the amenities that Fenway lacks and makes up for with Yawkey Way. It's not an apples to apples comparison.

Beta - without getting into the "it", (quote Beta from last article: "luke - you are starting to do "it" again. be careful. try making it through the day without pondering the weather and the twins at the same time)." I was moreover just honestly curious about what the procedure would be in that situation (the Texas series), as I'm not old enough to remember the rain check policies during the Met days, what the refund policy were/would be in situations like that and so forth.

On the other hand, the answer to that question probably would more likely be, "you'll just have to get a refund, fella." :)

Wait the businesses are upset that the city is going to close down astretch of raod where people will be in their cars driving by so that thousands of people walking can walk by their shops with an insanely more higher possibility that they would wander into their shops than someone in a car who would have to stop, find a parking space get out and walk in????

Sorry any business owner that is griping about this is looking to try and grab some money for damages from the city. Lame.

Anybody just get that e-mail from the Twins about the special dining night at TF??? $250?? Yikes

Just wondering how the Sunday open house tix were distributed? I got my 4 season ticket ones for Sat but I thought Sunday was open to the public? Can someone straighten me out?

First Ave is going to be the tailgating epicenter for Target Field, sans cars. And as noted above, the bars want foot traffic, not cars driving by. This is a great idea. A couple thousand people milling around, eating, drinking, food carts everywhere, bars packed, etc. It'll be great.

On Mauer, there are numerous issues being discussed. The Twins, at a minimum, will be getting insurance proposals to cover a percentage of Mauer's contract in case he's seriously injured. Various options take time to go thru. Then you have deferred money, length of contract, salary per year, opt-out clauses, etc. It's a big, complex thing that takes time. Let it play out. The odds are better that both sides win this way than finalizing a deal in hasty fashion.

Lastly, Mauer is going to sign by OD. As much as people say he has all the leverage, I can assure you that, in this economy, with his family here, there's NO WAY Mauer is going to tell this state, his fans, thousands of whom are hurting financially or don't have health care, that he turned down a nine-figure contract. It simply is not going to happen.

If he were to do that fans would really turn against him as a greedy SOB who's suddenly too good to play in MN and at TF for a competitive club. As the season drags on, he wouldn't even be able to go out in public and his family would be emotionally damaged by the rippings, as well.

But that's not going to happen because he will sign by OD because both sides need this deal to happen.

K

just out of curiousity - anyone else that paid their FST on the 5-payment plan have 2 payments taken out this month? lol

Jax,

I'm a FST with the 5 pay plan. Each month I get an e-mail form them announcing the payment. This month I received two of the e-mails. I just checked my CC statement on line and nothing has posted to the account yet.

Have you noticed that since last week our tickets are no longer listed on "my tiwns tickets". I hope Target Field has fewer bugs to be worked out than the computer/payment/ticket systems have proven to have so far.

Stevie B, Sunday is not open to the public. Season ticket open house is over two days. You got tickets for one of the two. The public's open house is through the Gopher baseball game the following Saturday.

DVS2008, That event is a fundraiser for the Twins Community Fund. I like the Community Fund. I have no issue with that. I can't afford it right now, but I hope that in the future, I'll be able to participate in such things.

Regarding 2 payments on the 5 installment plan - must have been a computer glitch, because I had two authorizations approved yesterday for the last payment, about 3 seconds apart. I was going to call the Twins, but was going to wait for the payments to actually post to my credit card before complaining.

I guess I'm not the only one - looks like the Twins accounting department is going to have fun in the next few days. :)

No public til the 27th Gopher game, Stevie

Since no one answered Luke's question about rainout/reschedues, I'll give it a shot - everything varies, but here's the general MLB guidelines (not quoting anything directly)

- game will be played the same day (umps and home club decide, based on time) if possible. Will not be played same day if it can be reasonably assumed that 9 innings won't be completed by 1 am the next day.
- game will be scheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader the same homestand. The rescheduled game is the earlier game, usually scheduled to avoid changing the previously scheduled start time of the "regular" game. The tickets for the postponed game are automatically for the rescheduled game. Many clubs will also let you exchange the tickets for another date, pending availability.
- Clubs try to avoid a day-night double header on a getaway day. The only time I've seen this not apply is when the visiting club is on their only/last trip.
- Game will be rescheduled for the next time visiting club in town, preferably on an off day, as long as the off-day doesn't violate the players union terms for consecutive games a team may play without an off day.
- If a game is rescheduled late in the season and cannot have any impact on post-season berths for either team, either division or the Wild Card, the game may be canceled. I don't remember if the clubs decide this or MLB does. Don't know what happens to revenue sharing if the game is canceled - I presume it's as if the game was never scheduled, as the Twins would refund the original purchaser the cost of the tickets.

Thanks jfh. That makes sense.
Loved the plaza video as well. That would look really nice at night...
Won't be long now, friends.

yup - and I'll be there rain or shine. :D

Looks like the Twins can communicate in a timely manner when necessary:

Dear Season Ticket Holder,

We learned today that your credit card was incorrectly charged twice for the final payment of the Easy Pay Payment Plan. We sincerely regret this error and are taking steps to correct it.

By the end of the day today, the second of the two charges will be reversed on your credit card account. This will leave your season ticket account paid-in-full and your tickets will be printed and mailed to you in the coming days. However, depending on the issuing bank of your credit card, it may take 3 to 5 business days to have the reversal reflect on your credit card account - although many banks make these types of adjustments immediately. For information on this processing time, please contact your issuing bank's customer service department.

If you have any questions about this notification or about your season ticket account, please don't hesitate to contact your Twins Sales & Service representative directly or call the Season Ticket Holder VIP Hotline.

In the meantime, we hope you will accept our sincere apology.

Sincerely,

Your Minnesota Twins Ticket Sales & Service Team

OK, I'm set for the "Target Field World Premiere" event on April 10th. Anyone else here going to go? I have no clue who any of the musicians are, but should be an interesting Saturday evening and I wasn't sure what to do for dinner than night anyway ...

(Easy sell to my wife - one of the beneficiaries of the event is the public library).

Thanks jfh -- very nice summary. Could you stand on the plaza every night with clouds in the sky and explain that to everyone? Maybe you could charge folks for the info.

I know you are doing that from memory, so I won't hold you to anything. My question is about your first point, and I honestly don't know how MLB deals with this. Let's say there is a storm on May 8, where we have a 12:10 game against the Orioles. There is rain socked in starting early morning, but it looks like the front will blow through by 5:00, and we could start at 6:30. Will they hold the game that long, or will they just cancel?

I just have no idea how other teams handle that situation.

Hey guys! Please take a look at my blog and read the latest post. I'm asking for people's questions because I got invited to take a tour of Target Field and i'm focusing on the ballpark's accessibility. PLEASE LEAVE A QUESTION. Click, my name!

Linc - if the game never starts at 12 and it's not a getaway day for one of the teams, they would almost certainly wait until the storm passes. Teams *really* hate to reschedule if they can avoid it. And if you delay the start of the game in advance, you don't burn your starting pitchers. Likewise, if there is 2 inches of snow on the ground, they can cancel a game well in advance (happened in Colorado last April). In that case, the Braves came back on a previously scheduled off-day in July while on some other road trip. Kind of cool if you had tickets, because no one wants April games. Everyone wants July games ...

Pretty much up to the home team until the game starts, though they do consult (or are supposed to) with the other team, the head of the umpire crew and MLB.

Maybe someone posted this and I missed it, but click my name for link to the Target Field World Premiere FAQ for the event on April 10th.

Appears to be open to the public (though certainly NOT free)

Just received 2 Open House tickets for Sunday. I have plans that day. If anyone wants to switch my 2 on Sunday for 2 on Saturday, click on my name and send me an e-mail. Thanks.

Rick, will In Game Magic be ready for the Open Houses? It sounds like an awesome feature, and it'll be interesting to see in-game views from different areas of the park.

Natron bought me an iPhone!

The walk-off Home Run celebration animation on The Show is pretty cool... Just beat the BoSox 7-6 in 11 innings with Delmon Young and they do the whole throw the helmet off team mob at home plate

The walk-off Home Run celebration animation on The Show is pretty cool... Just beat the BoSox 7-6 in 11 innings with Delmon Young and they do the whole throw the helmet off team mob at home plate

Luke, this may come in handy... click.

Jimmer, have you seen the celebration in action close-up on there yet? I haven't seen it yet, but supposedly it does work.

The Minnie and Paul sign? No, I've hit a few HR's and haven't seen it... I doubt it would show that on a dramatic walk off though

@schweady and his pic, isn't that just like Minneapolis to throw a tax on a "complimentary ticket".
Good grief, that World Premiere is almost like having a Super Bowl at TF. That is one pricey gig.

I can confirm that the sign does in fact work. They don't really focus in on it like they do with some other stadium features (Phillies Bell, Houstons Train). I am assuming that this is because it is new, maybe not though. Also one thing I found kind of weird, is that when you do a franchise with the Twins, when you look as ticket pricing and updating the stadium, they still use the Metrodome as the templates. So it says that you can upgrade the turf, not the grass. Kind of funny.

OMG I just whiffed with Kubel and the bat flew out of his hands and into the 1st base stands...

Luke: It was one of the treasures I found while my brother and I were going through things after Mom died. Not sure, but I think it's from a Mpls Millers game. Anybody willing to venture a guess?

Do we know what will be painted in the grass behind home plate at TF? "Twins" or "TC"?

Probably is from the Millers...Nicollet Park I would presume. That's a treasure indeed.
Somewhere I have a couple ticket stubs from a Saints game at Lexington Park that I bought at a collector's show about 15 years ago...

I think if I remember right the bronze statues of the players would not be ready for opening day and probably would be installed closer to mid season.

I got my season tickets in the mail today!

To answer a few questions:

Yes, they have gates printed on them. At least mine say Gate 34, not sure if all tickets will say Gate 34. I am in section 103 so Gate 34 is the nearest gate to my seats along with Gate 29. This by no means you are required to enter that gate as we all know. They are putting those on there for convenience since there are no longer upper and lower level gates. All gates are now on main concourse level.

Yes, they have rain checks printed on them and the full policy will be posted on twinsbaseball.com.

It will soon be time to post some of my games on TC Traders!

For those of you receiving tickets, did the extra exhibition tickets you purchased through the presale come with your season ticket package, or are they being mailed separately?

So far, everything I have seen has been "Twins" behind the plate...I like this, but prefer "TC" on the caps.

I personally prefer the 'm' cap.

Punto had two errors today. Valencia hit a solo home run in the eighth to break a tie.... You do the math...

TTH, off a guy who'll be bagging groceries in a few weeks.

I like the little "smiley face" on the thumb of the bronze glove in the first picture. :)

I seriously think signing Smoltz is the obvious and only choice to be the new closer. Mijares definitely proved at the end of last season he doesn't have the mental makeup, Guerrier was born to be an 8th inning set up man, Neshek needs more time to come back from injury, Rauch doesn't have anything unhittable enough to trust him as a closer, and as far as Crain, I can't think of somebody I want to have the ball LESS when the game is on the line. Signing Smoltz must happen and needs to happen. Thoughts?

Thanks jpberka and jax. I think when the open house was first announced in the Star Trib they said ST holders Sat and general on Sun. With the number of ST holders being so large maybe they had to switch it. I will be there on Sat and can't wait!