Thanks for the update Rick!

However, it never seems to fail that once I get on a rant (ala Dynamic Pricing) a new post appears and my rant gets buried on a previous post :)

Tk-

I would let it go, with the Twins being popular they are going to attempt to squeeze every cent possible. Right now the prices will be high, but in time this may mean being able to buy tickets from the Twins for less than face.

Would you rather they make the prices in two section fluid or raise the price throughout the entire stadium more than the $1 they did this year.

The way it mitigates the impact of scalpers is by giving them more competition from a potentially powerful player, the ticket and entertainment source itself. The scalpers benefit from the price inefficiencies by arbitraging. Now the Twins (and soon concert venues, other sports, etc.?) start to close those profitable gaps. True, STHs can justifiably ask more for some of their tickets for many games, but for the same reason it could become much more difficult to sell our low demand games at close to cost. Fair enough. Probably more emphasis on bundling in the future. The small 20 game packages are easy to split up and cost is minimal.

Here's a question, why is an official MLB baseball, with last year's limited-edition Inaugural Season logo, out in a pile of snow? A collectible of that nature should be in a Lucite case with a padlock on it and an armed honor guard nearby. Wouldn't you think?

I think people are missing the point on the flex ticket prices. The pricing will not matter for high demand games because for the most part those games are sold out.

Last year there were games that you would be able to go on SH and buy a ticket for less than $5. If the Twins are trying to sell those same seats for $30 they will be stuck with them.

The flex ticket pricing allows the Twins to compete with SH on the games that people do not want to go to. In theory, the flex tickets prices should gaurentee a sell out. The Twins can lower ticket prices until all seats are sold.

Really Luke?

I think Luke is a little delirious from seeing too much snow. We need to get him a view of some green grass, stat!

And, get me that view, too!!

Two weeks till my first game this season, April 12th against the Royals.

Long range now calling for rain but 57 on Saturday the 9th. Dohhh!

Twins just put out the press release for the new menu items for TF. Doesn't say much about expanding places where Kramarcucks (sp?) is offered.

Info about the Kosher stand, and the suites will now be able to get buffalo chicken mac and cheese...man that sounds good.

Pat any mention of 2 fer $2.00 beer nights on Tuesday?

Spending any time contemplating a weather forecast more than 48 hours out is a waste of same.

Naw but they will be having $7 beer night all year long.

And...the TurkeyToGo sandwich that I tipped off here at Ballpark Magic months ago.

Looks like some fantastic additions in 2011. Which reminds me, did anyone try the Rex burger in Hrbeks last season (juicy Lucy with caramelized onions inside)? Thoughts? How bout the onion rings there? Were they Sysco outta the bag to fryer or a little more homemade (batter/seasoning etc)?

Looking forward to a new season, Rick. Thanks for the update.

I have some hypocritical friends and co-workers who claim I am "lucky" and "wealthy" to have season tickets to the Twins.

For the record, I have 2 seats with a 20-game package and pay about $1200...

The funny thing is, these people all seem to go on some nice vacations each year to California, Florida and Mexico and a couple others seem to go on a Caribbean cruise every year in March.

So I just think its funny when they complain about the prices of Twins tickets this year and the difficulty getting tickets. These are also the same type of people that expect to get tickets to every Fri/Sat/Sun game in May-August.

I just choose to spend some of my entertainment money on Twins season tickets and spread out the fun over 6+ months of the year rather than take once nice weeklong vacation in the winter months.

I never had the rex burger at hrbeks, but I did try the walleye fingers. They're lightyears better than those offered at the Hennepin Grill stands, and you get more of them. I think it was $12 but you got about 12 pieces of fish, a far better value than the 3 pieces of fish and cold fries that you got in the concourses for $8.

Two quick searches yielded results for at least two pair of tickets still available for the Royals game Tuesday night. Interesting that people are saying they can't get tickets. These are on the Twins website, nothing fancy. Two in HPB, or two in center field.

Who is saying they cannot get tickets?

Just a generic comment about the tone in the coverage of the ticket debacle. I'm not referring to anything specific that was said here or anything.

I hear you!

Walked around Target Field on my lunch. A lot going on, but also seems like there is a lot to be done. Snow and ice everywhere. I could see the tarp off of the field and the grass looked pretty green. They had the right field video board on and it looked a lot bigger when turned on.

There are vertical lines on the batters eye...not sure if they were rope or what? I'm sure there is more to come because what they had out there looked really distracting.

Automated ticket machines still locked up. The woodback seats are not covered up anymore, so that was cool. From Gate 6 I could see some that Danny Valencia was now featured on one of the signs. They are also doing work to the entrance to Gate 6. Not sure what.

Mike my 20 pack cost $520! Grab some free parking and some $1.00 dogs at the Holiday store and you can do it on the cheap man! Some rum here and there goes good in a coke now and then too!

Thats 2 seats!

Re: right field video board.

Pat, I think that might have to be my new pick up line.

Looks like the boys might get a little wet the next 2 days in Atlanta the next 2 days. 100% chance or raing tonight and all day tommorow!

Free Parking at the Holiday? Anyone have a Map of where this is?

I wonder if the work being done at Gate 6 is preparation for the Tony O statue.

Another win for the "we don't need no stinkin' power arms, we just pitch to contact" philosophy. It's the 'Twins Way'...

moda...good one.

We get it...you love your Holiday $1 dogs. You can't park there for free though, Josh.

It looked like they were moving part of the gate out at gate 6. So unless they are putting statue inside the park I'm not sure that was the reason. It was hard to tell what they were doing though.

Ooops meant free parking along the street! Can be a little dangerous late at night however!

According to the Twins website you can view tonight's game free on MLB.TV

However, I would not hold your breath in it working like it should, but there is always hope tonight.

Question about Hennepin County owned property. Does Hennepin "own" any of the land surrounding the Target Field of the plaza?

I was curious as Hennepin County just banned smoking on any county owned property.

Sorry unable to edit fast enough in my last post.

I know that the Minnesota Ballpark Authority owns Target Field, but what does this mean? Does Hennepin County have a stake in it? I know that they have representation.

I am not a smoker, but Hennepin County just banned smoking on all county property, so would this include Target Field or any of the property adjacent?

F_T_K, thank you. Yes, you are absolutely correct. I've had it with snow.

tk, I don't think the Authority "owns" Target Field. They operate it for the Twins, maintain it, that sort of thing.

From the Minnesota Ballpark Authority: http://mnba.avenet.net/

Who We Are

The Minnesota Ballpark Authority is a public body that was created by the 2006 Legislature to oversee the design, construction and operation of Target Field. The MBA owns the site and the facility on behalf of the public.

The MBA is committed to protecting the public's investment, while creating a new urban landmark that ties into new rail lines and potential new development.

The MBA consists of five Commissioners appointed by the Governor (2), Hennepin County (2, including the Board Chair) and the City of Minneapolis (1)

BALLPARK OWNER:

The Minnesota Ballpark Authority (MBA) owns Target Field. The MBA was created by the 2006 Minnesota Legislature and charged with overseeing the construction and operation of a new ballpark. The MBA partnered with the Minnesota Twins, Hennepin County, Mortenson Construction, HOK Sport and HGA Architects on the construction project.

Well, I stand corrected. I guess I just figured that, the Twins take in most of the revenue that comes into the place - so I figured they owned it essentially, and the Authority just ran the place.

On another note, haven't heard this leaked on here yet, but UniWatch reports the Twins will also have a navy road jersey this year. Click my name for the photo.

TK game is on MLB network in HD also! Ch 873 comcast

Also, sorry for the screaming caps, it was a copy and paste and not me yelling :)

Twinkfan, I too, will be watching in HD, but wanted to share with those that do not have the MLBN

I like that blue road jersey.

Thanks Rick!

I do not get a chance to watch much ST, but it is weird seeing the Twins and Braves where the same blue colored jerseys. It is tough to tell which team is who, especially when both Freeman and Cuddy wear #5

Well said, Joe and Mike (5 and 16).

New for 2011 is Farm Girl Saison from Lift Bridge Brewery based in Stillwater, Minn. Never heard of it. Is it any good. Wished the twins would switch back to coke cant stand pepsi yes and I know the twins pepsi connection but one could always hope cant one. Still no surly beer hmm.

We really should have insisted on a "Minnesota Brewed Only" policy. Bud Light is a travesty of the first order.

Ben, I don't even drink beer and I agree with that statement.

UniWatch posted the uni-tweaks for teams this season. See link. I suggest checking out the sidebar and audio linked through it. Fun song from way back in baseball history.

Those jerseys have been on display in the Majestic clubhouse for months.

Lift Bridge Farm Girl is very good. All of their beer is very good.

For anyone that is a craft beer fan. Stone brewing company is taking over the taps at the Muddy Pig in Saint Paul tonight.

I had the rex burger at the open house, it was pretty good! I've heard good things about lift bridge beers but never had them. I like beer and food talk :)

I went to the Stone release at Stub and Herb's last night. You won't be disappoint if you hit up the Muddy Pig tonight.

What would you rather serve for an American style Lager than Bud Light? Premium? Gross. I know there are some beer snobs on this board, but if you would prefer Premium over Bud Light or any of the other main domestics, you have lost all credibility with me. (Not that anyone cares)

They are installing more Flagpoles above the Grandstand.

On what sections of grandstand are the flag poles being installed?

Why ever drink Bud light when you could drink Bud heavy instead?

To watch my trim figure?

Duffman ---

There are quite a few decent American lagers from the more "traditional" breweries, as well as several pretty good amber/red lagers. One does not need to be a "beer snob" (whatever that is, perhaps someone who prefers flavor to impact?) in order to enjoy a Killian's or a Leinenkugel product. Bud Light does not even meet the standard definition of beer, does it?

"To watch my trim figure?"

The difference in calories is typically in the 35 - 50 range, the number of calories you burn off taking a 10 minute walk or SLEEPING 30 minutes. For that you sacrifice body, aroma, and flavor? Light beer is a marketing mind f**k.

Sorry, I was going off of your suggestion of the insistance for a Minnesota beers only policy, I like Killians and prefer Leinenkugel.

My definition of beer snobs are those that no matter what the circumstance will always say they prefer a beer with "taste" whether good or bad, over a regular plain domestic.

I guess my best example was a discussion I got in to with a friends brother last year. It was my friends wedding and we were both in the wedding party. Since the best man dropped the ball and did not have any beer waiting in limo for the ride to the reception, I had them stop at a liquor store and I picked up 2 cases of Coors Light, (My friends prefered beer). I brought them back into the limo and he refused to drink one. I let it go at that point but then asked him about it later at one of the bars. He told me he doesn't drink beer without taste. I told him it wasn't about the beer but about being able to celebrate with the newly married couple and have a beer with the rest of the wedding party. He still refused.

I would equate this to someone at the wedding reception refusing to drink the provided champagne because it is not Dom Perignon.

More to the point at a Twins game. If you buy a beer say bud light and drink if over the course of 2-3 innings, it gets warm, but is still drinkable and smooth. Do that with a Summit and by inning 3 it is warm, nearly undrinkable, and one has to force it down the throat. In other words not exactly a enjoyable experiance.

I know, I know just drink the beer faster. Thats fine but I don't really feel like getting drunk every game, so I would prefer 1-2 beers to get me through the entire game.

I got a chuckle at Surdyk's last night. They have a sign in their beer section to the effect of "People who drink light beer don't like to drink beer, they just like to pee a lot".

Ben-

The "watch my trim figure" line was a joke, lighten up.

Obviously a lot can still happen with the weather, but the long range forecasts are not looking good for the home opening weekend. While the temps are expected to warm up, it's looking more and more likely a low pressure system is going to stall directly over the upper midwest (Wednesday-Thursday) bringing plenty of rain and clouds for several days. Obviously the front and the timing can change this, but right now its not looking good for late next week and into the following week.

It will be interesting to see how things play out with the weather next weekend but this is Oakland's only scheduled visit to Target Field this year. While the Twins have an off day on Monday April 11, Oakland is scheduled to play in Chicago.

I don't get too excited about long-range weather forecasting, but its discouraging considering this never-ending winter we have experienced this year.

Bad-

That is exactly the "beer snob" attitude I am talking about. Ben talks about a marketing mind fuck (Sorry but we're all adults here, whats the difference between spelling the word out and using an asterisk? Rick if you disapprove, I will apologize and cease.) for light beer. Well that sign is the same for the people that want to feel superior for drinking a darker, hoppier beer. My personal opinion is drink what you want, but don't think your better than someone else, for doing so.

I don't think it's a superiority thing. For myself, I just don't understand why someone would think that light beer tastes better than "real" beer in the same sense that some claim they prefer a MacDonalds burger to an Angus sirloin - that's fine but please excuse my incredulity rather than accuse me of snobbery. Do a little experiment --- hand your Coors Lite pal a Dirty Bastard and see if his eyes don't light (sorry) up.

I highly recommend watching Beer Wars it's available on streaming over netflix.

Nothing wrong with American Light Lager it's just a style. A style that has been pushed pretty hard. Even as much as I like a flavorful beer. Sometimes a light lager is great on a hot day (which is one of the reasons the style flourished in the midwest)

That said it might be a little better if they ran it through the horse twice.

For a minute I had to check to ensure that I was on the right site, as I thought I accidentally ventured to the beeradvocate.com :)

Well, Spring Training is over! Bring on the W's!!!

I think the twins had and still have an opportunity to showcase good stuff from Minnesota including beer and the like. I know what Bud and Bud Light tastes like but other local beers I dont. I mean do people want to be know to be like everyone else or just a little different. I can go to just about every sporting event in town and out of town and get Bud stuff. But other local beers not so much.

I assumed Duffman only drank Duff beer.

I like me a good Dr. Pepper at a ballgame.

Duffman: The sign is funny no matter what kind of beer you drink. The fact that it pissed you off says more about you than about my "beer snobbery".

The 6 new Flagpoles go all the way across the top of the Grandstands section.

OK, predictions (not that you asked)

AL East: Red Sox
AL Central: Who else?
AL West: Angels
Wild Card: Rangers
NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Giants
Wild Card: Rockies

Twins over Red Sox in ALCS, Phillies over Giants
Phillies win it all.

Nick Blackburn, 19-7 3.38 ERA. 4th in Cy Young Voting. Bill Smith deemed genius for signing him to a multi-year when no one else believed...

I'm in serious spring training mode in regard to Blackburn...I'm expecting big things from him this year. I don't think 19-7 is realistic though, just based on no-decisions and such.

I predict that Skeeter will finally be outed as a cheater and forced in to an early retirement by the bigwigs of the TF racing league. Oh, he says he has big plans to open an honest working-man's bar in the now vacated Skyway Lounge, but after that ultimately fails-and it will-he'll hit the peak of depravity; finally succumbing to his natural desire to drink the blood of druggies, thieves and-the lowest of the lows-scalpers.

Pauvre Skeeter.

"Sometimes a light lager is great on a hot day (which is one of the reasons the style flourished in the midwest) --- "

For this very reason light beers are referred to in the brewing industry as "lawnmower beers."

Exactly Ben! That's what I've called them though I learned the term through home brewing.

beer snobs vs. kool-aid drinkers. LOVE IT.

Speaking of.... Twins over Red Sox in the ALCS? Can we add a category for glue sniffers??

I'd be interested in knowing how others predict the AL Central will go this year. Here's mine for what it's worth (not much!):

AL Central
Tigers (the better team - barely - and it might take 163 games to seal it.)
Twins (better hitting than Tigers, but bullpen pitching suffers a bit too much)
White Sox (have the lumber, but lack the pitching - Ozzie meltdowns are X factor)
Indians (better starting pitching than K.C. saves them from cellar)
Royals (I feel really bad for K.C. fans. I really do.)

IN speaking with a coworker today about the transit station/LRT future plans at TF, I found what I had been looking for to show him what ideas for it were flowing.

theinterchange.net

Then I found this great nugget, linked. It is a great presentation that gets you into the minds of designers and what they are thinking for how to build into that space around the Ford Building and the HERC.

Sorry if it was posted already.

Jared - It's worth repeating, because whenever it was mentioned on here, (and I know it was), it's buried somewhere in previous posts and probably several months back.
I thought the presentation was good. Been a while since I watched it.

A fun challenge for Rick:

Document all the season predictions here and then release them again after the season is over to see who got closest.

The winner naturally gets a case of Bud Light courtesy of this board's beeradvocate members.

K

Actually, the case of Bud Light should be second prize with a first prize of $1.50. How's that for snobbery?

So here is an interesting one. I was fooling around with my MLB At Bat 11 app, and saw that under the Target Field section there is a tab for "Expanded Highlights". It says check-in required, available 2 hours before gametime.

This coincides with the expanded wi-fi at TF, and they have at least hinted that they are going to stream more controversial replays during the game. We'll see how this works.

I don't think the Red Sox will be much improved over last year. Losing Beltre, adding Gonzales is a wash. Losing V-Mart, adding Crawford, upgrade, but still the same pitching. I see a nice drop-off for the Yanks and Rays. The Tigers scare me a little. The Rangers have the best offense but no pitching. Watch out for the Angels with stealth-MVP Vernon Wells and Danny Haren for a full year. The Twins can sneak through some mediocre pitching staffs until they meet the Phillies. Nobody can beat a team where Roy Oswalt is the #4 starter. Of course, my prediction is based on bias and a full year of Morneau hitting .330 with 35 HRs.

Blackburn will make you proud. He mowed 'em down in September and will continue that.

I don't have any problems with "lawn mowing beer" - in fact I've been told there is an actual "Lawn Mower" Beer in Texas...

But Bud Light over Grain Belt?!? Blasphemy!

The Red Sox should be better just by being/staying healthy. They won 89 games and were making a playoff run while being down Ellsbury (only played 18 games), Pedroia (only played 75 games) and Youkilis (only played 102 games). You can say losing Beltre is bad, but they're getting Youkilis back at third base and he's great. I think Youk + Gonzalez is better than Beltre + 102 games of Youk. I'd take Gonzalez over Beltre any day. That was Beltre's first great year since 2004. I wouldn't be surprised if that green monster had something to do with it as he put up the most doubles of his career. He's still a defensive wizard, but I wouldn't trust his offense yet, but he's going to another hitters park so who knows.

Beckett also missed time, he's usually at around 30 starts and he only had 21. The fact that they added Crawford and Gonzalez just makes them even better. I was fine with Gardy getting manager of the year, but I think Francona deserved it just as much. Down two important bats and the ace of the team for big chunks of the season and playing in arguably (or not even arguably) the toughest division in baseball. This year, unless injuries hit them again, I see it as their division title to lose. High expectations and they could fall flat on their faces or be as awesome as they look.

The Tigers don't scare me. They still look like Scherzer, Verlander and Cabrera but now plus Martinez at DH. We'll see if Ordonez improves, I don't see why he couldn't it's just a matter of will he. They're unpredictable, I'll give them that. If another starter does well and if they get hitting out of more than just three players then they'll possibly be a threat.

The White Sox look to be the Twins biggest threat. If Buehrle rebounds, which I think he will, that staff could be four deep as far as good pitchers. Danks is good and I'd definitely call Floyd a good #4. Edwin Jackson will be the wild-card. Either he goes back to being nothing special or he kills it. Even if he's in between those two that might be good enough. I think their pitching staff greatly underperformed last year. I was surprised. I hope it happens again, but I won't count on it. Peavy's also hanging around and he could be a factor when he gets healthy. Pierre continues to be a steal machine. I think Beckham will improve, not be amazing but improve. Then they've got Dunn, Konerko (likely regression), Rios (could go either way, but has been unimpressive to me), Quentin (if healthy, a factor). Likely another good year for Ramirez and I think their rookie third baseman, Morel, will do well.

They easily have the pitching if they don't underperform again and they have more bats than the Tigers do. Tigers will likely need to pitch impressively to overcome a still mostly weak lineup.

i agree with you dodgeboy! Bud Light over Grain Belt is Blasphemy!

I will gladly sponsor a case of Bud light for whom ever closely predicts the Twins final record.

And if the Twins make the playoffs, I will bump it up to two 12 packs of your choice of Leinie's.

It pisses me off that the Target dog wins the race everytime. I get it, they have the naming rights--but does that mean they have to win that thing every time? I went to probably 25 games at Target Field last year and saw someone other than that dog win maybe 5 of those.

Babe is the best, by the way. Cheer for him everytime.

So, do we call today "Opening Day", or are we reserving that for tomorrow?

Either way, enjoy some baseball, everyone!

Rick, I just happened to dig into your Wishful Fields Archive up top and chuckled while reading this text on the Warehouse District location you have listed (aka, current location of Target Field). Do you know when you wrote this:

"This plan has the most likelihood of coming into being, even though that is a very slim chance. Still, it was enough for me to go out and take a few photos of the site. Maybe these will one day be the before photos. Who knows..."

Can we make that Miller lite instead of Bud light? I much prefer the Miller Lite!

MLB opening day! Thank you clocks for tirelessly ticking through the off-season.

I like pretty much ANY beer, with the exception of those "winter lagers" and Guiness and the like. I detest dark and bitter.

I'm all about the "refreshing" and "less filling" aspect of drinking beer.

I would like to see TF offer Old Style. Best beer out of a keg!!

In April 1961, I was a grade schooler. On Opening Day that year I ran all the way home from school because our new major league team - the old Senators - was playing its first game against the vaunted "Damn Yankees". I got home in time to see Reno Beroia's home run which made the final Twins 6 Yanks 0. The Twins finished in 7th place that year, but for one glorious day the Twins were in first place and the Yanks were in last. That was one of only four games Whitey Ford lost that entire year.

Happy Opening Day everyone!

Terry's post brings up this question. I'm not sure on the demographics on Rick's loyal readers, but was anyone actually at the Met for Opening Day in 1961? I'd love to hear about the experience (maybe a guest post entry Rick?)...

Yankees vs Tigers starts shortly!!!

White Sox
Tigers
Twins
Royals
Indians

I'll go with:

Twins
White Sox
Tigers
Indians
Royals

Picking the Twins even though I would agree that White Sox probably should be the favorite. My pick is probably partly "homer" and partly that the Twins usually find a way to pull out the division. Won't be surprised either way.

Twins finish 96-66

56-25 (Home)

40-41 (Away)

Twins
White Sox
Tigers
Royals
Indians

Another Rick-

Aren't the White Sox picked as the pre-season favs EVERY year based on their supposed "great" moves made over the offseason?

I predict it will take 94 wins to win the AL Central.

Twins (I'm too much of a 'homer' to pick anyone else!)
Tigers
Cleveland
White Sox (with Ozzie getting the boot late in the season)
Royals

If I win the beer, do I have to drink it? (yuck!)

F_T_K you have to shotgun them all...in a row.

A nice little video from the Startribune showing Target Field getting ready and what the batter's eye will look like.

In that video, you can see the 6 new flagpoles above the grandstand/new scoreboard area. Any announcement made yet as to their purpose?

Click on my name for my A.L. Central Predictions!

schweady,

AL Central Division team flags?

Fred,

Yes, I agree. That's why I'm still picking the Twins. But I do feel the White Sox are improved. I'm just not sure they are as improved as everyone seems to think. We shall see.

Wondering what people think the Twins' record will be after Toronto and New York? I'd settle for thre wins.

*three*

All I can say is that while baseball is a long season, EACH and EVERY game is of equal importance so I don't like to hear the "it's a marathon, not a sprint" cliche....

If the Twins lose the division by 1 game, that's all that it takes whether that game is lost in April or September.

Bottom line is, the Twins need to improve their record outside of the AL Central Division, specifically, their record against the AL East.

The AL Central is going to be a lot tougher in 2011 as well. I think the Twins hang on to win a tight division race, just ahead of the Detroit Tigers. The Chicago White Sox will fall apart and implode in August/September. It will take 92 wins to win the AL Central this year.

Minnesota Twins (92 - 70)
Detroit Tigers (89 - 73)
Chicago White Sox (84 - 78)
Kansas City Royals (75 - 87)
Cleveland Indians (68 - 94)

1. White Sox
2. Tigers
3. Twins
4. Indians
5. Royals
6. Luke

Very tough early schedule. I would say a 12-16 record would be ok for April. I'm gonna go with the following

Det 90-72
Chi 88-74
Twins 82-80
KC 74-88
Tribe 70-92

I think our 2 closers could be in for a long year maybe. Huff n Puff Nathan and the Mad Crapper might be this years version of the heartbreak or heartattack twins!

1. White Sox (don't see their pitching underperforming again)
2. Twins (90 wins)
3. Tigers
4. Indians
5. Royals

With the White Sox and Twins I feel like it could go either way. I'll be happy to be wrong if the Twins are first. Our starting pitching is decent to good (Liriano needs to prove it again and Duensing needs to keep surprising people) and our starting lineup is extremely deep.

Hate to do it but have to go with:

Chicago with 92 wins
Twins: 89
Tigers: 86
Cleveland: 78
KC: 73

K

Twins Tower is ready to go. Click my name.

Pat Neshek already 1-0.

Jeff,

Thanks for posting, I like some of the Twit comments:

Minnesota Twins
"Testing Twins Tower. Any ideas on what we should use this for? "

Fan Twits:

"World's largest carnival strength test game."
"Giant Twins PEZ"
"Count the number of DPs Mauer hits into?"
"Shouldn't you have thought of that before you bought/installed?"
"You should sell ad space to Sanford Health."

Twins 94-66
White Sox 92-68 (forced into game 163 with Rays to determine wild card winner and win)
Tigers 84-78
KC 66-96
CLE 59-103

Yankees miss playoffs with a 87-75 record, Oakland wins the west and face the Twins in the first round. Twins win 3-1 (barring mid season trade for Torii "dive at uncatchable ball when there are two outs and a runner on 1st, miss it and allow 2 run inside the park homer" Hunter.

Red Sox sweep the pale hose setting up Twins and Red Sox in the ALCS. Twins win in games 1,4,5,7, each game started by either Duensing or Liriano (sox 5 lefty starters are their downfall) Liriano pitches complete game shut out in game 7 and wins ALCS mvp.

Twins and Brewers face off in world series. Twins win in 6, record low television audience forces Bud Selig's hand and he agrees to award World Series trophy to the team with the most regular season wins in the Eastern Time Zone.

Nice to see the Twins blowing money on a Twins Tower they publicly have stated they have no predetermined use for. Meanwhile the bullpen suffers.

TTH - I agree wholeheartedly. Although the thing looks cool, via the pic Jeff posted - I think I could have done without.

TTH, I'm pretty sure they didn't take money out of the Payroll budget to build the Twins Tower. I could be wrong though...

T-17Hours

My guess is the Twins thought the view of the skyline at night was a little underwhelming with the stadium lights washing the lights of the city out. So the Twins Tower adds a little flair to that side of the ballpark. Also the Twins are mandated to spend a certain amount of money to improve the stadium every year, so this doesn't affect the bullpen.

Also the Twins finish 92-70, 1st in the AL Central.

White Sox
Twins
Tigers
Indians
Royals

Cmon fellas the Twins Tower was all about distracting and/or blocking the view of the Sanford Health sign....

At the gate waiting for Toronto as we speak...looks like several Twins fans are making the trip.

Finally - opening day of the season.
Granted, we're opening today in much the same fashion we were forced to do so for 28 years: in a cavernous pie-hole complete with carpet.

Will the Twins continue to have the home opener later than sooner? Last year, they could have opened on April 5 at TF, easily. This year, while there's still some snow on the ground; they've done well to get it out of TF. We could have opened at home today too.

C'mon! What's more American than Opening Day in Canada?

Luke, I'm pretty sure it is policy to have northern teams with outdoor stadiums primarily open on the road. I wouldn't rule out the occasional year with opening day at home but I think we'll have to get used to watching a week of games on TV before getting our Target Field fix.

Reusse's column today pegged the Twins as an aging, declining power with a dim future. I hope he's wrong, but I agree. There are too many holes and the minors offer little longterm hope. Rochester and New Britain were the worst teams in their leagues by a considerable margin last year. I do think an AL Central crown is possible in 2011, but this team will be done as a contender afterwards for a while.

Nice little photo gallery of the food offerings (old and new) at Target Field for this year. Click my name.

I nominate that 'walk a taco' for the "most likely to need at least a dozen napkins" award.

The apple pie thingie sure looks tempting, though. I might have to check that out here in 11 days. :-)

I am fine with the Twins opening on the road for the next 30 years or however long. Better to go play and get the first week done and then come home to some better weather. If you can win some of those games too you can get some serious momentum going.

That being said, I hope we do better than 2-5 on this roadtrip, but I wouldn't be all too surprised if we didn't.

The Phillies have a new scoreboard at their ballpark. The bottom left picture has a field graphic with what that hitter has done with each at bat. Did the Twins have something similar last year on their scoreboard? Click link.

Why do we think MLB is avoiding opening in northern, open air ballparks? This weekend we are opening in Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Denver (and St. Louis, Kansas City, and DC which are at least a bit more southern). MLB SHOULD try to open in as many southern/west coast/domed places as possible, but the schedule makers just don't care anymore. We will get a March opener here some year.

I also predict a 2-5 start with a lot of close games, and just a .500 April given how we traditionally play against the East. We should go 5-2 at least with our games against the Royals and Indians, and pretty much split the rest. Not the end of the world...I think this will come down to how we match up in those 38 games between the Tigers and White Sox.

What bothers me is why does MLB schedule so many non-divisional games to open the season when the weather can be very challenging.

It would be nice to see some of these teams such as Oakland, Anaheim, Toronto, NY Yankees and Boston throughout the season and not just in April or late September.

Last year the Twins were done playing the Red Sox by mid-May. In fact, they played the Brewers, an NL team, more than they played the Red Sox, an AL team. That is just ridiculous scheduling.

What happens if there are weather issues next weekend for the home-opening series with Oakland? That is Oakland's only scheduled visit to Minneapolis in 2011. While the Twins have an off-day on Monday, the A's will be in Chicago.

What if there are weather issues in New York? That is the only Twins' appearance in New York this year. Would the Yankees get a "home" game at Target Field in August or would the Twins get the shaft and be forced to fly to NY for one game if a makeup game is necessary?

It would be much easier to make-up games with teams in your division, especially with the unbalanced schedule.

It's time to put more emphasis back on league play and not so much the divisional play, but this will not happen anytime soon as long as the Red Sox-Yankees and Phillies-Mets are on the schedule.

If they have weather problems in New York, depending on how many games are effected, the Twins would probably have to fly back out there after their game on Apr. 10th and play the 11th.

I would not exactly say they are getting "the shaft" as this is outdoor baseball and things such as this happen.

Cant wait to be able to go Target Field again this year. My first game this year will be on May 11. Hoping to have better luck this year. I went 0 for 5 with wins and sun, but 5 and 0 with cold and/or some sort of precipitation. Anyways, this year I'm going to try to be more patient and wait in those long lines at the Kramarczuk's stand. Does anyone have recommendations on which one to try: the standard brat, the Polish, or the Hungarian? I know they have two new ones this year, but I'm not a fan of sauerkraut or wild rice.

Jeff-
Yes, the Twins had an area on the scoreboard that said what the player did in each at bat that game. I think it only fit four or five at bats at a time so if the batter had six at bats the first one or two at bats would not be shown anymore. It was in the top left corner I believe.

pawelk, I'm a fan of the Polish sausage personally, but you can't really go wrong with any of the choices.

The arrival of the Hebrew National hotdogs will also be very welcome, especially since they're coming off a grill like the Twins Big Dog from Schweigert which promised much, but didn't quite deliver. The Twins are likely to find that just one stand won't be enough.

The marketing opportunity of two Opening Days is three games on ESPN, two or three on regional channels, and then another set of opening days the following day. I don't like it, but it's huge for TV.

Too many question marks going in create a decrease in my usual optimism regarding the outcome of Twins '11 campaign.

--- Mauer & Morneau (especially Morneau) are both a bit more fragile than we should like to see
--- Nathan is just one year past TJ surgery and is no longer a spring chicken
--- Liriano too violent in his delivery and inconsistent in his approach
--- Casilla still a little scattered around
--- Butera - need I elaborate?
--- Bullpen - ditto
--- Pavano is a year older and may well regress

There are, of course, some bright spots - but I just detect a couple too many questionable areas that normally are better reinforced by the minors. As usual, I hope I am dead wrong but:

Twins 89 - 93, second place at best.

Lincster,

Are you insinuating a 3-team 163+ with the 38 games against Chicago and Detroit!?!

Still going to be a homer, but the Twins are going to shock us this year...not sure how, but there going to get it done.

Homer prediction, Valencia team MVP

Heh...don't we play our division rivals 19 times each, or am I mistaken? Maybe it is only 18 times each. Must be -- 19 doesn't make much sense. My bad.

But yes, I could see 3 way tie at the top :). I do think that the White Sox have underperformed the past couple of years and could be dangerous if they can put a whole season together. A way to win this division is to not only play very well at home, but also go 11-7 against the main rivals. I think the division is close enough that it would be hard for the Sox and Tigers to overcome that 4 game advantage elsewhere.

Don't worry about Pavano and Liriano...we have Nick "Cy" Blackburn. 19-7 I'm telling you. The Twins will go 91-71 for my shot at the two cases of beer. Tigers and Sox both a game or two behind.

At risk of complete geekdom, here are some BA predictions:

Morneau-.330
Mauer-.326
Valencia-.310
Cuddy-.301
Casilla-.296
Young-.285
Nishioka-.273
Kubel-.256

Jorge,
Thanks for the tips.

StubHub ticket sales have dropped to under 4,000 finally.

They were at 4,300 earlier this week prior to the Twins release of some seats that brought it as high as 4580.

I my humble opinion Herbrew National is the BEST hot dog made.