Where is the entrance for the roof deck? Is there a person scanning tickets like for the Metropolitan club?

Right --- a fluke hit --- now that's a good reason to spend a billion dollars if ever I heard one!

I am co organizing a group up there for Friday the 13th next week.... I cant wait. Thanks for the pics, they look awesome.

So, I have standing room only tickets for the 15th...I'm assuming that the Roof deck is off limits to standing room ticket holders. Am I right to assume this? If so, where are good locations to get to early if I have standing room only? Thanks

Wow that is quite the short white skirt over there near the railing. Was that intended in your pic Rick? Well done.

What are the concession options up on the Bud Deck besides ice cold beer?

Anyone making the trip to Comiskey next week? I was in KC for the beatdown last week and the tailgating was excellent. Stopped for BBQ at Arthur Bryant's before one of the games. I've now been to about 22-25 current/retired ballparks and the remodeled K is definitely high (Top 5 probably) on the rankings. They did an unbelievable job with the amenities and space in the OF (where you previously couldn't walk between the foul poles).

Everyone is crazy about Target Field and I do enjoy the experience. However, there are definite drawbacks that were caused by the space constraint issues on the site.

Typical Twins getting pounded by last place Indians.

You gotta be freakin kidding me. How do you review that play, and call it a double. Wow. Thanks for nothing, instant replay.

http://www.1500espn.com/blogs/Casillas_strange_odyssey_turns_upward

: )

: (

Slow day in here, eh?

Just thought I'd share a few links with you guys in case anyone's interested. I found some great med-res aerial photography of Target Field on opening day and during a night game. I believe the photographer's name is Steve Bergerson and the galleries can be found here:

Opening Day, and Dusk Aerials. Here's a few samples:

(Forgive me if I'm woefully behind and you all already know about these...)

Hmm, perhaps he's somehow prevented embedding of his photos on other sites. Oh well, just click the links, "Opening Day" and "Dusk Aerials."

Whoooooaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! Have a look at the throw back the Twins are sporting tonight, oh my....!!!!! 1906 St. Paul Gophers

I missed the reason for the old-timey uniforms, can someone enlighten me?

Thanks!

It's a dedication to the local negro league teams, Cleveland Buckeyes and St. Paul Gophers

Love 'em.

I like my HP FinePix camera

My daughter and a friend of mine have the Canon PowerShot SX10IS which is basically the same camera..I've played around with it and if your looking for that step just below a 35mm DSLR you found it.

team photo of the 1909 st. paul gophers. third photo down. click on my name.

the 1909 St. Paul Gophers team defeated the Chicago Leland Giants for the unofficial championship of Negro baseball. there was no official "negro league" yet in 1909.

from twinsbaseball.com: "No official Negro League teams ever represented a Minnesota city, but the state did have some all-black teams in the early part of the century, the most notable being the St. Paul Gophers and Minneapolis Keystones. Bobby Marshall—who had competed in baseball, track, and football at the University of Minnesota—played for both the Keystones and Gophers. Marshall was a key member of the 1909 St. Paul Gophers team that defeated the Chicago Leland Giants for the unofficial championship of Negro baseball. The Leland Giants were led by Andrew Rube”Foster, the great pitcher who later founded the organized Negro Leagues. Although he pitched against the Gophers in the 1909 championship series, Foster also pitched for the Gophers on several occasions. Foster was brought in—essentially as a ringer,”according to local historian Fred Buckland—to pitch for the Gophers in key games over the years."

and hey, you can even get a pair of old school nike's with the st. paul gophers logo on them. click on name for image.

is there anything that nike doesn't make?! ;-)

From Nike: "The Nike ”Untold Truth” collection dishes out a new Blazer Hi. Coming with dark cinder premium leather, university blue accents and a touch of navy blue. This Blazer pays homeage to a small club of black baseball players (St. Paul Colored Gophers) formed in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1907. Each sneaker from the “Untold Truth” collection is packed with Negro League history. As Nike teamed up with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to create this collection which will showcase the greatest Negro League baseball teams whose stories were hardly ever told."

"packed with Negro League history" --- and made by people working for fish heads.

Great photos, thanks for the link thelonious.

Not a very good start for Duesing. We really don't want to leave Cleveland having lost 2 of 3.

did you say something ben? oh wait.....you are just complaining about life in general again......never mind.

anyways, hope you are able to find a way to enjoy this beautiful sunday.

peace.....

Don't look now, but the Rays and Yankees are starting to slip and maybe, just maybe, the AL Central can get a shot at the Wild Card too. Not to much to bitch about lately, but it seems that they may be being a little too cautious with Morneau. He wants to get the minor league stint out of the way, and they keep dragging it out. Running backs sometimes miss a week or two of action and are back getting smacked in the head again. It seems that the more important thing is to get him some minor league action and if the timing is there, get him back. Fortunately, his absence hasn't cost the Twins yet, but I never would've dreamed he would've been out for a SECOND series with the Sox! I wanted 5-5 out of the road trip, and that should be doable. Our schedule, starting 8/30 gets pretty soft again.

Beta ---

You realize, of course, that all you are really doing is depriving some nice, sleepy little village of a perfectly good idiot?

Methinks there's more to Morneau's condition than the Twins are letting on. But then, I have a very suspicious nature.

I think he is probably ok...it's this overly cautious era of concussions, coupled with Gardy's "let's now give him 3-5 days to sit in the dugout and watch the game and see how he responds" type of steps. Seriously, the NFL is rightfully paranoid of concussions, but it's pretty typical to miss one or two weeks, do aerobics after a week and get back in the mix. And that is knowing that you are going to get pummeled again with shots to the head. Morneau probably won't take another shot to the head for the rest of his career, so let's see some minor league at-bats. The timing should be the only issue right now. With the way they're handling it, he won't be back playing til Labor Day. It's one thing if he struggles to hit in the minors, but let's get him there.

Pretty interesting article on the concussions. It's one of those things where the risk is always there, but you're going to eventually have to get back out and do it. Morneau has been saying he's ready to do the minor league stint, but they are holding him back. If the testing and scans are showing something that we don't know about, by all means, keep him out. From what we know, this seems to be a normal concussion with an extremely cautious approach to getting him back. I haven't seen this much caution used with NFL players, where the risk of a repeat is way greater. I think of Brian Westbrook this past season. Got a concussion, missed two weeks, returned, got another concussion within a quarter of his first game back. I assume that Morneau's scans are clean, or else he wouldn't be taking BP, etc. The one baseball-specific factor in these concussions is timing...if you don't have 100% perfect recovery, hitting would be damn-near impossible. He's now been beaned in the head and now this...not sure if the beaning was an official concussion or not.

One other issue is the degree to which he may become "timid" in regard to running hard, taking out catchers or second basemen, bailing on pitches, etc. I fear he has just flat had his bell rung once (or twice?) too often and we may not ever again see the "old Morneau" - try to remember Oliva's knees. I wish him the best.

Football players do usually go back quickly after concussions. That's why so many football players are helpless after their careers are over. Their brain is mush. There has been a lot of talk about how damaged the players are after they retire, especially recently. They become broke with no care. There are TONS of articles out there about it. It's serious and it should be taken seriously, no matter what sport.

Morneau, himself, was reporting that he would get dizzy after working out. Not until recently has that stopped. There are just too many cases of this going the wrong way, so it's good for them to be cautious. Anyone can be the next Corey Koskie and never play again.

And Morneau may say he's ready, but he hasn't done a full workout yet. He's meeting up with the team, but he hasn't done everything the team does. He hasn't gone through his normal routine. He's just finally gotten past the small steps in order to get to the big ones.

This also isn't Morneau's first concussion. It's his fourth or fifth (two in baseball, the rest playing hockey when he was younger). The more times you get a concussion, the worse it is. Remember in 2005 when Morneau got hit in the head? He had a concussion. He tried to rush back, it made it worse. 2005 wasn't that long ago.

and mhalv68-
That's not Gardy, the "give him 3-5 days on the bench," that's the Twins awful medical staff. They've been wrong so many times in the last five years or so. I'm surprised they haven't been fired. Liriano, Neshek (a few times), Hudson, Hardy, Casilla. Those are just some of the recent ones. Gardy isn't a doctor, he doesn't know how long it's going to take. If the medical staff says this amount of days, he has to believe them. Unfortunately, they have a bad track record.

Anyone notice they have a new MOA ad on top of the grandstand where the Target logo once was displayed, alongside the Mortenson, Pepsi and Delta ads. The Budweiser ad on the left field wall is also different than the previous Budweiswer ad we saw in April, May and June. I first noticed the in early July during the TB series.

It should be interesting on Thursday night, September 2 when both the Twins and Vikings are playing at home at the same time, not to mention, it's also a week night so there will be rush hour traffic and a lot of gridlock in downtown around 5pm and 6pm.

Mike-
I knew something was different about the trap ad. Other people didn't notice. I wasn't sure what was new though. Now I know.

The Budweiser on the wall changed at all ballparks that have it. I was watching another team play the other day and there's was the one we have now.

With respect to the brain there is no such thing as to much caution.

My wife is one of the few people who have survived a ruptured brain aneurysm, (actually two, but surviving one is enough of a miracle by itself).

A brain aneurysm is only one of a number different types of brain injuries that can cause sever disabilities. Because she has survived this deadly diseases she participates in a support group through Health East for others with brain injuries, and some of the stories from that group about how debilitating even a minor injury can be would make you thank what ever god you might believe in, that a brain injury has not happened to you.

In fact according to the “Brain Injury Association of Minnesota, (www.braininnjurymn.org), an estimated 100,000 Minnesotans live with a disability due to a brain injury.

So give Justin what ever and as much time as he needs to be healthy.

By the way if anyone knows how to make the link to the Brain Injury site clickable feel free to help out a computer dummy.

You've got one too many n's in that link.

Sponsored by ------

Sorry about the spelling Rick, maybe some brain injury side effects are rubbing off on me.

I noticed the trap sign had changed when I went to the Mariners game on Aug 1. I think that sign was part of the stuff they re-painted wasn't it? Players were complaining about shadows on the batters eye...and I thought Mauer said something about a glare on the trap sign.

Target has their name and logo on the whole ballpark, and the plaza, and the 20-year-old arena next door. Did they really need an ad on the trap too?

Is it possible that in this economy they couldn't sell the space? I wonder about that FSN ad on the main scoreboard. I recall reading that the Cowboys new stadium is simply named Cowboys Stadium because they can't get get their price for the naming rights in this economy. Knowing that, I have to wonder if the ad space sales at Target Field haven't felt the impact of the recession.

Twins are now tied for first place with the White Sox. (63 W - 49 L)

What a great off day. The White Sux not only lose, but they also use 5 pitchers in 10 innings and have to take a late night flight back to Chicago.

We are now in a first place tie. Win the series and leave town in first place.

Good call about the FSN sign. It stuns me that Pepsi took a smaller unlit sign over the trapezoid instead of a more prominent one on the big scoreboard. Maybe they were outbid or maybe it wasn't in their budget. I don't think there's an auto maker with signage, nothing prominent at the very least.

Pohlads still have a significant stake in Pepsi, don't they? They probably didn't want to end up paying themselves. Either that or they didn't want to pay what they felt the space was worth.

" --- didn't want to pay what they felt the space was worth."

???????????

I know it seams like someone says this every week, but the next 5 series will show us (IMO) how likely it is this team will get to/go far in the playoffs. 3 @ Chicago, 3 @ Oakland, 3 vs. Chicago, 3 vs. Anaheim, and 4 @ Texas. That's a lot of games against good baseball teams. 16 games...it'd be nice to win 11. if we hit that mark, I'll have high hopes for the end of the season.

Oops! 3 vs. Oakland.

They own about 10 percent of Pepsi, if I'm remembering right.

The Twins play well within the divison. They also have played well against the West so the Twins "should" do well in the next few weeks. It'd be nice to have Justin back, but they're not bringing him to Chicago. They're not calling it a setback either, seems kind of weird.

AJ, having Justin in Chicago to work out seems weird to me when you have Target Field to work out at. Now if the Twins were still at the Metrodome, then I can see the Twins wanting him to have a better facility to work out at.

Also, If he is still not 100%, I wouldn't want him traveling more than he needs to. I think the Twins are smart just letting him workout at home and rest. Just my opinion though.

The Chicago Tribune talks about what they like about Target Field. For the entire article click my name.

By David Sharos, Special to Tribune Newspapers
"On the downside, unlike U.S. Cellular, where rows are about 15 seats long, Target Field's are more than twice that length, which makes everybody get up nearly every inning to let someone out. The three-tiered outfield seating holds heat in the park, which makes for a stuffy bowl atmosphere.

On the bright side is visibility. We went to three games and sat in three areas, in both lower and upper levels. All had great sight lines. And for stat rats, the scoreboard had some of the most amazing array of information I've ever seen without being cluttered."

Target Field has a facebook page that doesn't hold back its opinion on the team. Click my name for the article from WCCO.

Just another bloggers opinion on Target Field. If interested click my name.

Jeff-
I'm fine that if it's a setback..that they're not rushing him. The point is to get him into his regular game routine if he's ready, and he doesn't do that at TF. He would do that with the team in Chicago (Team BP, team infield drills...etc.). He's not going full throttle now, but two days ago, they said they would send him to Chicago to do that. That's why they were sending him there.

As much as they don't want to call it a setback...it seems like one. That I know of, he can't do his regular routine at home (unless he's not ready, which they aren't admitting).

regarding the pohlads & pepsi: corporate parent company "pepsi" purchased a majority stake in their two largest worldwide bottlers earlier this year/late last year for several billions of dollars. one of those two bottlers being "pepsi americas" which is headquartered in minneapolis and is/was majority owned by the pohlad family.

coca-cola is similarly attempting to purchase majority control of their largest bottling groups to streamline development and distribution like pepsi now has, but is having a tougher go of it.

And to add to the thing on Morneau, they were going to send him to the minors this weekend, which also doesn't seem to be happening anymore. My guess is setback or he really never was ready in the first place (they wouldn't just throw him back into the majors without the rehab assignment). Either one is not good for the team.

I'd rather they not say anything, than to do things like this. Keep it out of the news. Things like this, just make me think of Koskie and how he was never ready.

FYI...the Twins have SRO tickets for the Friday Angels game on their website still...pretty rare to get weekend SRO tickets through them at this point. $22 + fees to get into the park for a good game on the weekend.

Forced to take late lunch today. Jumped in the car at 2:15 and heard the end of DSP announcing that they are staying with AM1500 through 2012. The part I missed and interested if anyone heard the details was the timeline and what they are doing with season ticket holders. I heard something about Sept 1st and season ticket holders renewing, but noghting else. Did anyone catch this? Price increases? New areas opening up to season ticket holders? How priority will be determined for next season?

Thanks for the info.

Ben, that crazy sentence was supposed to make no sense. I was implying that while they are selling the space, they see a higher value than were they to purchase the same space. The clearer sentence here (I hope) didn't seem as funny at that early hour.

What I wonder is if STH will have an opportunity (somehow) to "upgrade" their seats to closer in, etc. This would require other STH to be not renewing, I suppose. The team, of course, would prefer everyone to stay put and maybe that's the best way to go anyhow.

Ben,

this from an e-mail that I recieved on August 3rd. I was just curious what if anything, DSP had to add to this information.

" By now we hope you have become familiar with all that Target Field has to offer and that you are enjoying sharing the experience of outdoor baseball with business associates, family and friends. That’s something you can look forward to continuing next year as we start our 2011 season ticket renewal process, which we plan to begin in late August.

Please watch your mailbox for your 2011 season ticket packet, which explains your ticket plan for 2011, payment options including our Easy Pay Installment Plan, benefits and rewards exclusive to Season Ticket Holders, as well as information about seat upgrade and relocation opportunities at Target Field. "

I think that a large number of tickets were purchased by ticket brokers for 2010. Tickets will not be in such a high demand in 2011, the question is whether there is enough of a drop off, to discourage the tickets brokers from buying as much as they did this past year.

I guess I got one of those e-mails as well and just didn't read far down enough. Much in this regard, I think, will depend on how the team fares at season's end. If they make and do well in the playoffs that could only extend the "honeymoon" period. If they get their clocks cleaned or otherwise fail to make a good account of themselves it may well cause the beginning of the end of same. Ticket "brokers" probably don't have much in the way of fingernails - and there is a reason why the team wants to get everything lined up early even though they have plenty of time to spin and sell. Hard to spin a clock-cleaning.

I have season tickets and the guy next to me does as well. He has four seats and if he keeps getting +4 times the face value as he has for every game (I've only seen him at one so far) he's set to make over thirteen thousand dollars. That's a nice chunk of change.

"stat rats". I like that description!

where are the northstar nay-sayers now?

Metro Transit had committed to providing Northstar service to every weekend game and to all weekday night games between June and August. This week’s announcement extends service to all weekday evening and weekend regular-season games in September and October.

Back in first where we belong! Will Perkins be a stud or dud tonight?

Dud...and hopefully the Glen Perkins experiment is over!

I hope Perkins enjoys playing in Rochester, since it looks like he'll be there for a while.

But, the Twins defense didn't do him any favors, either.

Star Tribune is reporting that Harris has just finished making Perkins bed for his anticipated return to Rochester.

Absolutely no deference of offense last night! I hope this pitching experiment is over, especially during the important games! Hopefully Franky has a good game tonight, and we can get some hits against Floyd. If we take this one, 2 of 3 is not bad, especially with them coming here next week! Then we need to do well against AL west!

A thought i had for Texas being in the AL west is, they gotta have a lot of 9pm games! I don't like those 9pm late games, when the twins do them, so i can imagine how it is for rangers fans!

Anyone going to any of the Oakland games? I'm going Saturday, sitting in batter's eye!

*deference or offense. Usually i look over my typos more, but it's early!

Just now read the USA Today column about Target Field. Cuddyer needs to get over his issues with the new stadium. He whines at every opportunity. Perhaps if he had been playing at Target Field last night he could have found a way to blame his poor pick-off throw on the stadium.

Another Rick, you're overreacting if you complain about Cuddyer "whining" in that article. There's nothing even in there that comes close to whining.

Atta boy O-dawg! Good start.

Great road trip by the boys, now lets come home and take care of business!

This was the stretch I was most worried about...seeing how the Twins would do on the road 17 of 20 versus mostly last place teams. So glad they did not play to the level of their competition and got some solid starting pitching and much need offense. Did I see that the Twins had 25+ home runs over these 20 games!

. . . and that last homerun an absolute dagger. 2 outs, 0-2 pitch, to a guy you intentionally walked Mauer to get to - ouch.

So nice having our boys coming home in first place. Now, the Twins need to put the pedal to the metal during this homestand and get some distance between them and those hated White Sox.

And I agree with Expectorate - Kubel's shot was a dagger!

Next game for me is the 20th against the Angels. Yippee!

Anyone going for the Mini Target Field replica giveaway tomorrow?

Any suggestions as to how early I will need to get there for a "good chance" of getting one? Gates open at 4pm so if a person would get there at 2pm, would that be early enough? Does any particular gate give you a better chance at getting a giveaway item?

I met some US Marshals downtown last night. Apparently this weekend is a conference for the US 8th circuit court, and many justices/clerks will be at the Twins game tonight. Justice Alito is going to be there as well. They told me there will be over a dozen US marshals at the game tonight.

Mike-
It really depends. It's a weekend so people might be hanging around a lot more. I don't know how many would be there, but I know for things like this at the Dome people started to line up at least four hours before gates open.

That's not to say that people who started to line up an hour before didn't get one. I don't know if they did or not, but people can get there pretty early. Giveaways like replica stadiums and bronze statues don't get as much attention as the good bobbleheads did. Two hours might be good enough.

Well I went to the Minnie and Paul bobblehead on July 4 and was shocked at the number of people there that early...I was there at 9:30am (gates opened at 11)

The last few years at the Metrodome, the lines were much shorter and you could simply walk up when the gates opened and still get a bobblehead. That is why I was so shocked to see such long lines at Target Field on July 4. Gate 14 ran out of bobbleheads rather quickly, but luckily the usher told us before we went in, which allowed us time to run over to Gate 3 and get one of the last bobbleheads at Gate 3.

These mini Target Field replicas are going to be very difficult to find on the open market. Last I checked, there were only 2 posted on eBay. With the lack of cheap seats, and the overall high demand of tickets, the dealers are not able to get the access to tickets as in years past.

I am thinking I will get there around 1:30 just to be safe as I nearly learned the hard way on July 4.

Really? I could care less about how people choose to spend their time, and if folks want a souvineer that is great. But will 10,000 people be out there at 3:30 to snatch all these up?

Rick,

I own a Canon SX20IS. While I am quite happy with it and the results, there are now several megazooms in a compact body that boast nearly the same features. Just bought my wife a Sony DSC-HX5V which has a 10x zoom (vs the SX20IS 20x zoom) and GPS/compass for automatically geotagging photos (if that's your thing) in a compact camera. Can't go wrong with either.

ahhhh.....twins organization and post game fireworks at target field = MAJOR FAIL TWO TIMES

try launching some actual big-time FIREWORKS bubba......not wimpy, low altitude, low burning crap people can buy at a fireworks shop. the stuff that the white sox launch after simple home runs at u.s. cellular field put these shows to shame.

sorry......just the reality on this topic.

I thought the fireworks were pretty awesome. I'm glad I stayed after the game for them.

This could be old news, and apologies if so, but two pieces of signage have changed or are changing. On the unlit sign above the trapezoid, the Target logo has been replaced by one from the Mall Of America. Meanwhile it appears that neon looking LED lighting is being affixed to the Budwieser sign atop the roof deck. So far the new lighting is visible on the "d".

Twins are limited as to what sort of fireworks they can shoot off. There are a few tall buildings with lots of glass windows only a few blocks away - the Twins wouldn't look too good if they shattered a few dozen windows while trying to make the fireworks fanatics happy.

Loved the squeeze bunt tonight! Did you see the fan's reactions on the replays? Beautiful... :-)

Not sure how long this has been there, but they've installed a display case right next to the stadium model, containing memorabilia from the U of M/La Tech game, and the first exhibition game against St. Louis (first ball pitched, bat used by Span to hit the first home run, lineup and scorecard, etc). Would they ever have one for opening day memorabilia, or do those items go to Cooperstown?

I had forgotten that Pavano also started that first exhibition game

What a perfect night. Twins win, followed closely by a Tiger homer to put a dagger (hopefully) in the Whities. Nothing better that to shut up that arrogant Hawk and is "He gone!" with a little Tigers YOU CAN PUT IN ON THE BOARD, YES!!!!!!! effin Harrelson, hate him!

twins!!!!!

Anyone selling tickets for tomorrow's (8/15) game?

Let me know, thanks!

Thank you antifire, I feel like puking when I hear him calling a game.

The "Mini TF" is, actually, quite nice. My guess is that it is, for all practical purposes, identical to the one given last winter as a gift to the Champs Club people. We arrived at the Hrbek gate about 4:25 - 4:30 and marched straight in - no lines at all, the ticket checkers were twiddling their thumbs - and there were plenty of "trinkets" still available. Pleasant surprise.

Jorge-
The "D" on the Budweiser sign has been like that for a month or two now. They haven't changed the others yet, it's weird since the Twins have been on long roadtrips. They could have changed the rest a long time ago. It's looks pretty dumb with just the "D" different.

The mini TF's were okay. The mini-Met stadium and mini-Metrodome were both much better quality. It might have to do with the fact that Pepsi did this one and Treasure Island did the other two. TI did a much better job.

Duensing was pretty outstanding last night. I was pleasantly surprised. He was facing a very good pitcher.

Neither Pepsi nor TI did anything other than sponsor the promos. It's the Twins who choose/determine the vendor/manufacturer, dictate quality levels, negotiate pricing, examine prototypes, place orders, etc. Or, at least that's my understanding.

I got there about 2, only because I was dropping people off at the Orpheum anyway, so I wandered around and noticed Gate A had room in the shade. As it turned out you could have shown up at 4 or later and still got them, at least at Gate A. One of the Twins staffers said there were some campers from thursday at one of the other gates. Friday night we sat not far from Hrbek, Viola and Laudner, I caught a foul ball in the first inning, and thoroughly enjoyed the game, the weather and fireworks show. We are so fortunate the Twins were able to compromise on a ballpark deal and do it in time to beat the Great Recession.

There are always campers, even in the latter days of Metrodome bobbleheads when lines were gone long before the bobbles ran out and you could get as many as you wanted via re-entering with "cheap seat tickets. I guess they think they are having fun. I think they also spend some time befouling the gene pool.

I know Gardy is going to be criticized, but I back him 100% in taking out Slowey even with the no hitter. Had 105 pitches, and he had to beg off his last start because his arm was tired, poor thing. So absolutely, get him out.

And wherever they send Perkins, make sure he takes Rauch with him!!!

antifire, I completely agree with you on taking him out with his elbow injury. But Gardy should be soundly criticized for who he put in the game. Did we really need to see Rauch today? Put him in when we're up by 7 runs or down by 7 runs, not when they're trying to pitch a no-no by committee.

Rick, what section was that? We were in row 6, 19/20. The 'section' of 8 seats above the entry ramp. I would consider those for a ST package. It was great never having to get up to let others past. Occasionally the vendors or others would stop at the railing obscuring our view, but not terribly so.

I noticed that they have paved the ground underneath Rod Carew's statue on 7th Street, and imagine the same has been done with Kirby and Harmon.

Besides Budweiser signs and new drink rails, are there other changes that I've missed lately?

Kevin -- agreed. He can do his crybaby routine somewhere else.

Please, please, please VOTE FOR THE TWINS 25 TIMES PER DAY THROUGH AUGUST 17: Click my name! Courage Center really needs this field. Please Rick, Tell your fans how much Courage Center needs this.

Expectorate--there is also an Opening Day display in the same case as the UofM/Exhib diplays. It has about everything you could imagine it having...minus at least 94 other things, according to Clyde Doepner, the Twins official curator.

Also thought the Mini Target Fields were nice. My observant 10 year old said they put the Twins logo on the 3rd base dugout instead of the 1st base dugout.

"But if these were my STH seats, I'd be disappointed."

Disappointed?????

Ben,

I think it is referring to the view with the railings in the way. If you were to have gotten those specific seats as STH, without seeing the view prior to selection, it would be a disappointment. I would personally never like to sit there paying full price.

TWINS MAGIC NUMBER: 42

Yep, those are row 9s all the way around the top, on the aisles. For me the larger issue on those seats are the people walking up the aisles and blocking the view. I've noticed many less Twins employees holding people in the stairwells until after the at-bat is complete, so they just wander up at will.

I would also note for those of you hunting for seats that looking across the walkways can be almost as bad. You don't want to be in the view level along the third base side and get seats 1-2 in rows 3-8, starting about section 320, as you'll constantly have your view blocked by those in the aisle. Same goes for seats 15-16 on the first base side starting about section 310 I imagine and going down the line.

My point - at the risk of getting Beta all worked up again - is that people were told that "there is not a bad seat in the house" when that statement is neither true nor, perhaps, possible. So, what of those who were/are spewing that line of crap? Should they be forgiven for disseminating an acceptable level of "misinformation" (spin)? Are they so imbued with the "company line" that they do not realize they are lying through their teeth? Why is it that some settle for this level of competence just because the park is new and shiny?

Ben, I think the Twins as a whole have always been upfront about there being some obstructed seats in the ballpark. Maybe you had a ticket rep sell you on the "not a bad seat in the house" line, so I suggest you take it up with them.

I know everybody's experience with the ballpark is different, but I can personally tell you I've never had a bad seat in the 10 or so games I've gone to Target Field this year and have never had a bad experience. So whatever.

This goes back a few days, but I thought the fireworks on Friday were perfectly acceptable for a post ballgame display. Target Field, as many have mentioned, is in very tight quarters, which likely prevents the Twins from shooting off some of the bigger starburst type of fireworks.

I attended an A's game last season and their display was nearly Aquatennial level good, but the Coliseum is surrounded by a parking lot with room for about 20,000 cars, so they not only have no buildings nearby to worry about, but can also block off an area for debris to fall into. Even then, they closed the walkway to the BART station for the duration of the fireworks due to safety concerns regarding falling debris.

The Twins will never be able to launch a display of that magnitude, but the 8/13/10 display was still more elaborate than the 7/3/10 display and the club will probably expand the displays further in the future as they figure what is and isn't feasible given Target Field's location.

I have not had a bad experience either - and nobody sold me anything. It's just that I got that line straight from the mouths of several of the Twins' top brass, among them DSP, Matt Hoy, Joe Pohlad, Chris Iles --- and in at least two instances, as I recall, Rick was standing next to me when the line was delivered. So, as far as the "disappointed" discussion is concerned, Rick knows full well that I would have picked a stronger word. I'm just curious as to why he chose such a flimsy one. Where I come from spades are called spades.

I don't get mad - I simply prefer not being lied to.

Hardcore Football Fans Annoy Me. Just Sayin. I'm glad my dad taught me about Baseball so I could be a happy person.

I fervently hope I am dead wrong --- but I really fear that we have seen the last of Morneau as we have known him. Even if he comes all the way back physically I think the cumulative effects of these concussive events has got to at least begin to impact his play psychologically without him even realizing it. You can only slam your finger in the car door so many times before you start being more careful with your finger, consciously or not.

I guess if you're looking for a completely unobstructed view of the game, your best bet is to watch it on TV. More than likely, most folks go to the game for the gameday experience, which includes people-watching, sounds, smells, etc. There will be distractions. People will get in your way. It's just the nature of things. It's nigh unto impossible to construct a stadium with no obstructeed seats. Seat heights and railing heights dictated by law will always create some problems. The best the designers and engineers can do is minimalize such problems.

I guess that should be and is understood when someone buys a ticket.

Now, what the hell does football have to do with any of this?

Now that Favre is offically back with the Vikings, what do you guys think is going to happen during the two dates when both teams play? Thursday night, September 2nd both the Vikings and Twins will start play around 7:00pm. On Sunday September 19th both games will start between noon and 1:00pm.

I normally park down by the dome and walk to Target Field. I would guess parking prices will jump on both of these dates regardless of where you are at. Riding a bike might turn out to be a good option as well.

I know what I'll be doing those two days - I'll be watching the Twins.

:-)

I will say that I would take a bad seat at TF over a good seat in the dome. Given that on Saturday night they sold 1300 SRO tickets, others must think so as well.

That said, one thing Dave St. Peter said recently is that the early season ticket renewal date is to give them more time to relocate STH'ers that want to adjust their seating arrangement. I'm sure its not to hold our money for a few extra months (I'll give the Twins the benefit of the doubt and say it is a little of both).

Oh, and in KC every Friday home game is fireworks night, and they are really good too! Big parking lots are good for tailgating and fireworks. I'll take our downtown stadium over those all day long, but there are always tradeoffs.

MOONSHOT SCOTT!

JESUS H CHRIST!
What the HELL was that?

Yet another blown save for Capps. What is that now, three in seven opportunities?

This game should have been over after the first inning!

If the Twins lose this one they gave it away leaving guys in scoring position almost every inning and having TWO guys thrown out at home.

Thome ROCKED it!!!!!!!!

I have full season tickets and havent received any email or letter about renewals for next season yet. Have you guys heard anything about this? Is there a deadline?

man, hawk harrelson sure is an in-depth announcer isn't he?! click my name for the wgn video feed of thome's walk off homer.

betting that uber-homer hawk had already torn off his microphone and left the broadcast booth before thome's homerun had even landed.

poor steve stone.......wonder how he handles being in the booth with hawk sometimes.

a list to end all lists. most walk-off home runs in mlb history. all tied with 12 each. all currrent and/or soon to be hall of famers.

you are in some amazing company, big jim.

1.) jim thome
2.) jimmie foxx
3.) mickey mantle
4.) stan musial
5.) frank robinson
6.) babe ruth

tom-
They said the season ticket renewal stuff was going to be sent out sometime this month. I haven't seen mine yet either so they probably haven't sent it yet.

Tom ---

So long as you are still breathing - and have money in your pocket - it is highly unlikely the Twins are going to forget about you.

Beta-

That link seriously had me laughing hard. If it weren't for the "we'll be right back" muttered at the very end, I would've thought he and Stonie both bailed. Made me want to say, "C'mon boys...let's keep it goin' now...", but I guess the game was over and we won. Another good Hawk moment was last week in Chicago, Ozzie came out and his starter, can't remember who, had thrown like 120 pitches and was laboring. Ozzie left him in, and Hawk basically said something like, "That's why I like Ozzie...he makes his players accountable and can be talked into letting you stay in the game." A few seconds later, Kubel deposited one into the left field bleachers, and Hawk was somewhat quiet.

Season ticket renewal info goes out at the end of this month. Get ready for some price hikes. The question is how much?

Anybody want to throw out predictions? I would love to see the Rays win the AL East, and the Twins get the #2 and host the Yanks in the LDS. OK, maybe I wouldn't.

hawk harrelson is a great guy and was nice player back in his day. read a history of the red sox for the chapter on their '67 miracle season. it's a nice story and look into his personality. teammates all sang the guy's praises as a stand-up person. i'm thinking we'd love him if he was calling twins games. i would take him over john gordon. perhaps he's too over-the-top for the typical minnesotan's sensibilties. too that i'd say listen to paul allen call the vikings games. it's basically hawk harrelson doing football.

The last two games the Sox have played here the Twins have taken the walk off win. Hey Ozzie - have you figured out yet that it wasn't just the dome that caused the Sox to lose all those games in MN???

Great game last night.

Does anyone have any details on the kid that ran onto the field in the 8th or 9th inning? Was there any mention of it on the TV or radio broadcasts? I was watching the play, when I heard some cheers from left field. By the time I looked down there, the kid was 20 to 30 feet from the stands and sprinting off the field. He hoped the railing ran up 6 or 7 rows and sat down by his mom before security arrived. Security talked with them for only a couple of seconds before the whole family of 4 got up and walked out.

The kid looked to be only 10 or 12 years old, but I can't imagine that they would simply let it rest by kicking the whole family out of the game. Then again, I don't think they would send a kid that age to jail for the night. It looked like it all happened in section 125. I don't think the game was held up for more than 10 or 15 seconds.

Click for the as-always entertaining post-game Ozzie-isms from the Sun Times. A few comments about the Young play at the plate as well.

I was there in the LF bleachers when the kid ran out. It was really weird. Probably the youngest person I've ever seen run out onto the field. About 15 feet before getting to Delmon, he dropped to his knees and did several "I'm not worthy" bows. He then got up and ran back, climbed over the wall and went to his seat next to his family. If he took off for the concourse, he might have gotten away with it. My immediate thought was, "What kind of parent allows their kid to do that?" If I did that when I was a kid, my dad would have given me a good whipping and I would never get to go to a game again. Maybe they didn't know he was going to do it or see him in time. In any event, from where I was sitting it seemed like they were smiling when he got back and thinking they wouldn't get kicked out. It's just sad. They missed an amazing finish just because a kid decided to copy all the idiot adults who run onto the field.

BREAKING NEWS: Twins win grant, click name!

That's great news! If you've never seen these wheelchair athletes play the game, be sure to check it out sometime - they will impress you.

For those that didn't see Hawk Harrelson's call of the Thome's homer, click my name. The Youtube link that Beta posted has been removed by the MLB gestapo.

That was some call... "This game is over", barely above a whisper.

Anything that shuts up 'Hawk' is OK in my book. :-)

Anybody still here?