Traveling with the Crew

Father & son Brewer fans at Target Field. 6/13/23

Target Field opened in 2010.  I'm sorry to say it took me 13 years to get there.

 

It's a beautiful place.  Comparing it to the Twins previous home, the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome, isn't fair.  Watching baseball in the dome felt artificial and the game suffocating under fiberglass fabric roof.

 

The stadium fits into downtown Minneapolis and three underused parking garages adjacent to the Target Center, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

 

The original dream of the team was a retractable roof, like Milwaukee's home stadium, but it proved too expensive.

 

Target Field as seen from the parking ramp.

 The proposing, pleading, and planning took more than ten years.  In 2006, the plan came together.

 Locally-mined limestone creates a sense of warmth through its color and permanence.  Public transportation, walks, and garages connect to the stadium, funneling people to the field from all directions.

 As we walked down an open stair from a skywalk, I noticed a number of baseball-themed art pieces and statues of Twin greats. There was a lot of security gates, so many, there was no line anywhere.

The game's first pitch. 6/13/2023 dwm photo

Tuesday night was beautiful.  

 

The game between Minnesota and Milwaukee nearly filled all 39,504 seats which is an achievement for a Tuesday night game.

No roof makes for uncomfortable nights, especially early in the season when spring weather is unpredictable but on nights like Tuesday it was perfect.

It was 80 with a light breeze and clear skies.  Tuesday is $1 hot dog night at the ballpark, so we bought two each (the posted per person limit).

Arousing the home crowd in the bottom of the 9th

 We had good seats.  The game was fun for the first eight-and-a-half-innings with our team up two and our best pitcher coming in to close the game.

 

 Quite a few Milwaukee fans were on hand.  A few times, "Let's  Go  Brew - ers" echoed around the ballpark before the organist and crowd reacted.

 

 Milwaukee's Devin Williams had been virtually un-hittable coming into the game.  Then he gave up a home run to the first batter to cut the lead to one, then after a walk, the next Twin hit a shot to left to win the game, 7 - 5.

The classic team logo above center field.

Just like that the game ended and our team lost.  We were joined by thousands of crest-fallen Brewer fans heading to the exit.

 

It was a downer ending for a terrific evening.  The Brewers will bounce back (although they also lost Wednesday afternoon) some time soon.

 

Looking around the Twins outdoor home was wonderful.  It felt like baseball.  There was a real organ and a good team on the field.

 

You know, the only difficult part of the Target Field experience was getting out.  

 

The skywalk took us quickly to our car but once I backed out of the space and got in line behind other cars, it took 30 to 45 minutes before we made our way to the exit ramp and on to the streets of Minneapolis where we merged east onto I-94.

 

Brewer Manager Craig Counsell exchanges the line-up card before the game.

Victor Caratini safe at home on Christian Yelich hit.

Babe the Blue Ox won, Wanda Walleye, Bullseye the Target Dog, and Louie the Loon mascot race.

High atop a vertical scoreboard stands the Twin Cities logo in a rotating ball.

 

All photos at Target Field, 6/13/2023 by David Mossner