Farewell to the Dome
In honor of the Twin’s last few games in the dome I decided to write a post which will include some of my favorite memories as well as a prediction for tomorrow’s tie-breaker game against the Detroit Tigers. So…to start it off here are a few of my favorite memories of the Minnesota Twins in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (dome here on out).
As I reflect on my favorite dome memories this first memory I really don’t remember. But thankfully my photo crazy mother, I have a memento to look back on. Here is a picture of my first visit to the dome.
I couldn’t tell you how we were playing but I must have been about three or four. So if you do the math. The Twins would win or had already won their 1st World Series title. I could ask my mom but it really doesn’t matter. You could say that this was a great experience for me because it helped feed my passion for wanting to play baseball.
Another great memory of the dome occurred while I was yet a tween or a fresh teen like couple 13 or 14ish. At the time I can’t fully say that I was a Twins fan. Deep down I was because they were the closest team we had to root for. In Sioux City, IA (Home of the Greats like: Kirk Henrich, Adam Timmerman, ) In SC you rooted for the Twins, Cubs, or Royals for the most part. Or you were a front runner and cheered for the Evil Empire out of NY. At the time I was a huge Ken Griffey Jr. Fan. I mean who wasn’t. He was the best Home Run hitter at the time. He was so young and so talented. So for my birthday my parents got the family tickets for a weekend game to see the Seattle Mariners at the Dome. For me this was absolutely the greatest night of my life. We had tickets down the first base line. Just about even with the base. I got to see a lot of great players play for Seattle-- Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, Joey Cora, Dan Wilson, Edgar Martinez, and Griffey. Here is a few pictures of that night. As you can see—I was a baseball nerd.
Then there were the many times in college when I had the opportunity to attend more than a hand full of games over my four years. A few highlights include: Dollar Dome Dog Wednesdays which were coincidentally college student day. I would say there were many games that were amazing to be at. Here are a few visual cues to help preserve the moment.
Followed by the Jenne-o Day-at-the-dome games that I was able to attend as a family friend of Joslyn, whose mom works for the turkey store. Who can forget the famous neon green, blue, and finally the awesome red t-shirts that were worn for those games to signify the group.
Kirby Puckett’s memorial service was also a significant event that I was able to attend. It was a cold, blustery night in 2006 when we remembered one of Minnesota’s greatest players. There were lots of tears, cheers, and great memories.
My final memory and quite possibly the greatest game that I have attended so far was last year when the Twins had to beat the White Sox in order to force game 163. The Twins were down and pretty much out of it. Then by a miracle or timely hitting and maybe an error or two, I forget. We made a comeback and won the game in extra innings. The place was electric. I have never seen it that crazy everyone was high-fiving and hugging each other. People who didn’t know Adam from Eve were kissing and making out. Ok it wasn’t really like that but I could say that I did have hearing loss for that evening. “It was electric” as the popular wedding dance song states.
“To Miss or Not to Miss”
Over the last few days many people have posed the question on KFAN, and many other news outlets, “Will you miss the Dome?” I would say yes, but no. I will miss knowing that there will always be a game because of the beloved Teflon roof. I will miss having the awesome 70 degree no wind weather in the early spring time. Finally, I will miss the blowing wind as you leave the dome because of the inflatable roof. I will not miss the artificial playing surface or the terrible sight lines in right field.
I grew up playing baseball outside. I fell in love with the elements, the warm summer sunshine, rainy days, and ever present wind factor. I have been to Wrigley Field in Chicago, Mile High Stadium and Coors Field in Colorado and believe that the move to Target Field next season is a move in a positive direction for the Twins. Yea, there will be rain, wind, and most likely snow, but baseball was meant to be played outside under the lights. So like Martha Stewart says, “It’s a good thing.”
Pappy’s Prediction
I don’t make it a habit on predicting the outcomes of sports games because I guess I believe that I might end up jinxing the teams in the end. However, I am going to make a prediction tonight--the night before the big game 163, the night of Brett Favre and the Vikings’ Monday Night Football game against his former team the Green Bay Packers.
After watching the last few Twins games I am predicting a Twins win on Tuesday. Here’s why I believe a win will occur.
1. The Sticks are on Fire!!!
a. Big—D elmon Young
b. Kublican Himself
c. The Famous Cuddy Bear
d. “Mr. Respectable” Orlando Cabrerra
2. Pitching
a. Starting Pitchers have been lights out lately.
i. Guys like Carl Pavano and Nick Blackburn have near perfect.
ii. As Burt Blyleven says the starting pitchers have been consistently “Attacking the strike zone” They haven’t been afraid to throw it inside establishing the inside part of the plate. I like that.
b. Middle Relief-I’m nervous at this part of the game.
i. Thankfully—the last few games the starters have pitched a little deeper into the ball game. For the most part.
c. Closer—Big Joe Nathan….that’s it.
I should give Detroit some credit as an unbiased post. But I’m going to say to them. You should have taken care of business. Minnesota should have as well. But they never gave up. So…..
THANK YOU METRODOME for hosting the Twins
THANK YOU METRODOME for the memories of seeing the beach balls popping up in the cheap seats playing keep away from the security guards.
THANK YOU METRODOME
