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A Special Fan

June 19, 2007 3:21 AM

COMMENT

July 7, 1966 (Click to see the entire scorecard with ads)

On July 7, 1966 the Twins lost to the Detroit Tigers, 4 to 3. It was a game with very little meaning to anyone in the baseball world, but would come to have great meaning to me.

Harmon Killebrew and Rich Rollins homered for the Twins that day, as did Al Kaline for the Tigers. The Twins rallied, but stranded the tieing and winning runs at first and second in an exciting bottom of the ninth. Mudcat Grant dropped to 5-12 with the loss, Dave Wickersham (5-2) got the win, and Fred Gladding got the save.

My grandmother was in the stands that day at Metropolitan Stadium and kept score. Several years later, when I was old enough to appreciate it and be careful with it, she gave me her program and scorecard from that game as a special gift. From that moment, baseball would be the basis for the warm bond we shared. I've always cherished that program as the first and oldest baseball souvenir I ever had.

She died this weekend at the ripe old age of 89. It's hard to be too sad because her life was so long, and her body had become quite frail these past years -- even though her mind remained razor-sharp. This was her time, she knew, and she was ready. I'd had my chance to say goodbye, and her passing was peaceful, with family nearby, in her own home. We should all be so lucky.

When I last saw her a couple of months ago, she wanted to know what I knew about all these new pitchers. She knew enough about the rotation to be openly skeptical (she was equally skeptical about the Vikes). She smiled broadly when talking about Mauer and Morneau and Santana and Hunter, despite the fact that macular degeneration had stolen most of her vision and she hadn't actually seen much of what they'd done. But she thought there was greatness to be found within this team. UPDATE: A cousin told me today that, when he saw her the night before she died, she really wanted to know whether this Slowey was going to be any good. Hard to know what she would have thought after his outing the next day: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 3 HR...

She lived with our family for a time when I was growing up, and loved to play catch in the afternoons. I could not begin to count the number of hours we spent together out there with either a baseball, softball, or Frisbee. She was also known to join in our pick-up games, and she was catching the day I got beaned in the eye with a batted ball (our pitcher's mound was always a little too close to the plate).

Many people in my life have loved baseball, and many have loved the Twins, but Grams was especially loyal. A couple of years ago she gave me all of her remaining baseball keepsakes. Never has an envelope of ticket stubs and a carefully-folded Homer Hanky meant so much.

I'll miss her, but part of my love for the game came from hers, so I'll always carry her with me.

Comments

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I farm in Northwest North Dakota. My Dad was a lifelong baseball fan and a Twins fan from the day the team came to MN. A satellite dish allowed him to watch many games in his last years.

On the day of his funeral as we were leaving the church to go to the cemetery one of the casket bearers, a neighbor, came up to me and asked if it would be ok if he wore a Twins cap at the grave site service in honor of my dad being such a fan. I said that would be very nice.

The touching story of your Grandmother reminded me of the tribute my neighbor paid to my Dad.

Baseball memories last a long time. Thank you for sharing your story and may your Grandmother rest in peace.

Posted on June 19, 2007 at 08:38 AM by Bruce 1

My great-grandparents were farmers in Fargo, ND (reoccurring pattern it seems, Bruce). I was young when they died, but I'll never forget how much they loved the Twins. Thank you for sharing your memories, it brought back many fond ones for me as well.

Posted on June 19, 2007 at 9:35 PM by Joe 2

Booom shakalakalakalaka!

Note to Carl, Oputz and the sham 'ball park commission', get your wish list out and start crossing things off. The price of poker on Mpls realestate just went through the roof!

Posted on June 21, 2007 at 08:10 AM by Zygmeister 3

So you choose to comment on a thread he devotes to his grandmother. You're a misinformed loser. Go back to the forum where they barely tolerate you.

Posted on June 21, 2007 at 11:08 AM by mullen 4

riiight. I think 2 days is an appropriate "moment of silence" considering the circumstances. Who told what what 'misinformed' means?

Posted on June 21, 2007 at 12:09 PM by mullenisaloser 5

C'mon fellas. Let's be respectful.

Posted on June 21, 2007 at 2:28 PM by Lafferty Daniel 6

thanks for sharing a well-written tribute!

Posted on June 22, 2007 at 8:47 PM by yeahklye 7

An open-air ballpark? Bad idea. An enclosed, retractable-dome ballpark would have worked out better for the Twins. Yes, it would have cost a fortune to build. This cost saving measure of building an open-air ballpark is going to come back and haunt the Twins later on.

Posted on July 3, 2007 at 5:11 PM by Block E 8

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"You talk about the magic, the aura, but what really makes a stadium is the fans. Concrete doesn't talk back to you. Chairs don't talk back to you. It's the people who are there, day in, day out, that makes the place magic."

– Bernie Williams

Explore the Site

Here are 50 images chosen randomly from the 3004 found on this site. Click the image to be taken to the original post. A new list is created every 10 minutes.

The tracks on the right will be moved to the newly-cleared area on the left. The edge of the ballpark will be about where the rocks and dirt meet.

This is where chain link is being replaced with fencing which matches the plaza

Looking across the top of the batter's eye

Welding workers

Section 101, Row 34

Target Plaza looking toward the grandstand

Yes, it's pretty tempting to just walk right in...

The east wall of the building looks like it will be the first part completed. These are probably supports for the plaza, and they hug the very edge of the site.

Mound from the other side

This was from January 19, 2007, when it looked like wonderful things might never happen here.

The Carew lounge was all ready for some corporate event.

Look beyond the gigantic hand (a hounds tooth jacket? really?) and you'll get a glimpse of the main grandstand configuration. The two (or is it three?) levels of suites are visible, as is the design of the so-called "split upper deck," and the extensive use of limestone for decorative accents. Let's hope these little touches don't get cut as costs increase, because they make a nice tie-in from the outside of the park to the inside. Of most interest to me is the way that the very best seats are physically separated from all the rest of the seats by that limestone. There will be virtually no way to sneak into these seats. On one level, that's a somewhat sad design feature...

Love the lighted, translucent panel

Click to enlarge greatly.

Big Dog

Window area sketched by the limestone

Looking north (toward Fifth Street and the LRT station).

Dan Mehls, Mortenson Construction

From the Downtown Council's 2025 Plan, a Metrodome "Revelopment" and a strong indication of where they think a new Vikings stadium should go.

Not my actual kids!

Uh oh. A code of conduct. Clearly posted. I'm not gonna mention any names, but you know who you are... (Click to enlarge.)

Standing, standing, standing.

This is the view from the Seventh Street circulation ramp. It will eventually be covered by the wood louvers.

Also warming things up are these planters.

OK, people are definitely riding their bikes to games! (Photo by Tim Davis, courtesy MBA)

Sure would be nice to cover that metal grid with more wooden louvers, eh?

Now, why is there horse shit on the street next to Target Field? (I saw it in two places. Mounted police maybe?)

Viewed from an A ramp elevator lobby.

Of the players up there, only Bert does not have a gate with his number (28) on it at Target Field. You know, there is that door underneath the skywalk on Seventh Street between gates 14 and 29...