Bravo, Rick!

I'm feelin' a ah ah ah....CA CHEW!!! Yep, it's all that dust from the brooms comin' out for the sweep on the south side....GO TWINS!!

MAGIC NUMBER: 17

What's the "MAGIC NUMBER: 17" business?

Isn't magic number Twins' wins or Tigers' losses? Aren't there only 14 games left?

I'm confused...

Is the art on 5th St. only going to cover the lower part of the dark brick? (Just below the scaffolding in the pic above.)

ironic you reference pearl jam the day their new album is released exclusively at target...

Has it ever been suggested by Target (or others) to place some sort of large "target" in the outfield? Out of all the companies that have naming rights for a stadium, their Target symbol is easily the most fitting.

Put it above the right field stands, instead of whatever generic advertising they will end up putting on the trapezoid billboard. It doesn't have to be giant. Make it into some sort of contest like Big Mac Land. Fun for all!

Glad to see Pearl Jam has signed an exclusive deal with Target instead of Wal-Mart. The only time I have set foot in a Wal-Mart in the last ten years was when the Eagles forced me to buy their last CD there. These exclusive deals seem to be the fad for the foreseeable future.

the countdown number should be one less then it is. unless your counting April 12th as one day left instead of zero

I sat in the front row of the upper deck once for an NCAA basketball game at the Dumpty. Tremendous leg room, and in all of the basketball games I've seen at the Dumpty, those seats are absolutely the best. I was right in Sec 219. Perfect.
StubHub is off my radar. If they have ungodly fees like that, I'd be better off going to eBay or something like that (incidentally, I got tickets for the 10/4 game via eBay).

Speaking of the Dome and basketball, no NCAA's until at least 2014. For those wishing for the Vikings to get a new outdoor stadium this is why we need a new dome for all these events that need large capacities. If we can't, then forget about any NCAA tournament game ever being played in this state again(The X and TC are apparently booked until infinity).

yeah, that sounds about right, and that's not even the Final Four. I doubt we're ever getting the Final Four again - mainly because of nicer, bigger stadiums such as those in Glendale, Detroit, Houston, Dallas (the "Monster") and Indy (whom the NCAA has locked in Final Fours every five years), incidentally, with the exception of New Orleans, there's your next Final Four hosts.

Compared to those, our Metrodome is rather insignificant. It'd be nice to have some NCAA games at the X or TC (the X is horrible for basketball BTW), but I think the NCAA feels they can sell lots of tickets here. I went to a tournament game in 2000 I think, when Iowa State was here - I think they brought the whole damn town of Ames...lol.

Luke,

How can you say the X is a terrible place for hoops when very few games have been played there? There have been rumors of a Kansas-Gophers game being held at the X(but alas, it's likely going to the barn). The X and TC should be in the running for future NCAA games(early rounds), but where do you put the Final Five and the state basketball tourneys?

I've seen basketball games at the X Pikachu. I said that out of experience. TC is a much better venue for basketball because TC was designed for basketball.

If any are interested, click my name for future Final Four sites thru 2016. I forgot about Atlanta. They're getting one in the near future as well.

I saw a show at First Ave. on Saturday Night so I got to spend some time walking around the area after the show wondering what will change when club goers and baseball fans converge. The one thing I noticed is the lack of real sports bars. Yes there are a few but the current atmosphere just doesn't feel anything like Wrigleyville. I'm sure much of that will change. I really can see no negative effect on the area as a result of the new crowed. Of course, First Avenue can't really lose many more stores so any growth should be good.

Oh one more thing. I understand the area has had issues with crime, but the police presence is off the charts. The Minneapolis Cops in cars were constantly flashing their lights to run through intersections police on horses paraded down the sidewalks. This needs to get scaled back. I got the feeling they wanted crime to happen so they had something to do.

Anyways...that's my two cents.

Anyone making the trek to Ryan Field to see the Gophers this weekend? Now after being in TCFBS for a game (Air Force) it will be interesting to see how the other half lives. Aside from the Dome and TC, isn't it nice to say that we have it great when it comes to stadiums! We've got the new, the future, and a great history of the past (Williams Arena is the 2nd oldest arena in D-1 basketball).

Where's flyover country now?

This should not come as a big surprise to anyone, but the Twins have signed a 7-year deal with Pepsi.

This from the Sports Business Journal:

PEPSI, PLEASE: The Minnesota Twins have awarded Pepsi pouring rights at Target Field, their new ballpark opening in April.

The Twins have not officially announced the deal, but the soda maker’s dispensers were visible during a recent hard-hat tour of the $412 million downtown facility. The team has had a long-term promotional relationship with Pepsi at the Metrodome, a building that serves Coca-Cola products.

The contract is for seven years, according to an industry source. Financial terms were not available.

Pepsi now has its taps operating at 17 of MLB’s 30 parks, according to SportsBusiness Journal research.

I'm totally fine with that (actually desire it), as long is there a clause in that agreement that allows them to have coke on hand for the Jack.

Thank You so much rick for this short update! I was having anxiety issues the past few days due to the long hiatus of updates. This website is almost a drug to me (straight into the veins!) now that I'm at school in Detroit kitty country!

I love this website a little too much!

Pepsi? Yuk..... :-P

RE: Magic number. Assuming the following records, Twins 82-80
Detroit 81-81, if it was based on 162, you would end up with a -1 magic number after game 162, and it should be zero for the division winner. It needs to be 163 to be the correct result.

163-(82+81)=0 vs. 162-(82+81)= -1 (wrong)

another example:If the record at game 161 is 81-80 for each team, the result would be 163 -(81+80)= magic number 2 for both teams.If both teams win game 162, there is still a tie at magic number 1, but if one team wins and the other loses game 162, it would result in a record of 82-80 for one team, and 81-81 for the other, and the 82-80 team would rightly have a magic number of zero.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought it might help. I had to test it to make sure I understood why it was 163, because it does seem strange not to use 162 as the number to start the calculation.

I was afraid of that, I really hoped the Twins would serve coca-cola products at the new yard. Don't really care for pepsi, guess i'll just have to order beer with my 'bulls-eye dog' :)

wait - people really thought that a team owned by the Pohlads... who own Pepsi Americas, the second largest bottler in the country - would ever consider Coke? Not a chance in hell... I for one am quite happy with that development.

I am too CJ. I do prefer Pepsi over Coke.
The "Bulls-Eye Dog"...hmmm. Interesting. You might have just given the Twins something to think about JCM.

I'm with Dan...

Pepsi? Yuk..... :-P

Yeah!!!!

Mountain Dew!!!

Dear posters: Despite what you may think NOBODY CARES whether you like Coke or Pepsi better. So stop wasting my time and others with posts like "I HEART MT. DEW" or "CHERRY COKE ROX." It was a simple press release. We read it. Now move on.

p.s. - Kudos to Rick for taking pics of chicks at Twins games and passing them off as "news." You sly dog, you.

My god...I actually agree with TTH. I'm not going to bore you with my beverage of choice and I really don't want to read 25 more posts with everyone's opinion. I believe the thread on beverages happened already on a post Rick did back in the spring or early summer.

Great writeup, Rick. Thanks for your continued coverage.

TWINS MAGIC NUMBER: 16
TIGERS MAGIC NUMBER: 11

I saw them testing out the replay board at Target Field a few minutes ago while driving past the park on 94 East. It looked pretty sharp even from that distance.

I was not aware that the Pohlads owned a Pepsi bottler. It makes sense that they did it then.

The Twins logo on the scoreboard was lit up this morning as I drove in on 394. Looked pretty nice!

I have heard from my source that the celebration sign is to be installed the end of next week.

Via City Pages, a new pic of TF taken from a DC9.

I know it's not, but when I first clicked on the pic, it looked like a model of the stadium, superimposed onto the cityscape.
Of course it isnt, because not all the seats are there...

It's a sweet picture, especially if you can see it from a commercial plane...

Looks like they have the scoreboard light tower light up tonight on the webcams!

Actually, I believe the Pohlads just sold PepsiAmericas or whatever it's called. Still, I'm sure there's some loyalty involved. Especially if Pepsi offered more money...

I think the light is coming from the scoreboard itself

That is what I was also thinking BB once I checked out the webcam

Yep, drove by not long ago. It's the large white panels on both sides of the jumbotron that are lit up.

Good win for the Twins tonight- bummed Detroit won but hey...didn't lose any ground!

Checked my mail earlier today and to my surprise I had my POSTSEASON INVOICE sitting there. I got pretty excited just to open it and see that the HR Porch is going to be $65 per ticket. Anyone have thoughts on this? I understand its Postseason and the MLB sets the prices, but $65 for seats that are usually $23 face? Nearly 3x face. Looking forward to anyone's thoughts.

Is that $65 for the (2 or 3) home games of the ALDS? I thought playoff tickets were sold that way, but I haven't been to a playoff game in a few years either.