Target Field, Home of the Minnesota Twins

Posted on 02. Oct, 2010 by Corey in All, General Baseball.

It is hard to explain, but visiting sports stadiums really excites me.  My friends always joke that I would pull of the highway to see a Little League in a new stadium, and they could be right.  Although it means nothing more than bragging rights and self satisfaction, I enjoy being able to say that I have visited EVERY CURRENT Major League Baseball stadium.  Well, to start the 2010 campaign, the Minnesota Twins opened Target Field, bringing my resume back to 29 of the 30.

Following my season with the Dayton Dragons, I looked at the schedule and picked out a home series for the Twins that I could attend. It happened to be this one, a set against the Toronto Blue Jays to close out the 2010 Regular Season.

My dad and I exited the light rail system feet from Target Field and were immediately impressed with what we saw.  We decided to take a complete walk around the park, stopping to see all the history, banners and statues outside the park.

A common theme you can see throughout the ballpark, both outside and inside, is the limestone that was used in Target Field.  It also covers the tops of both dugouts and on the facade around the yard.

We entered the stadium through “Gate 34” honoring Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett on the Target Plaza next to the Target Center (where the Timberwolves play).  Dad and I continued to walk around the lower bowl taking in the awesome views and various “nucks and crannies.”

As my self guided tour went on, and even carried into the next nights game when I did the middle and upper decks, I fell more and more in love with Target Field.  The very urban look is very pleasing to the eyes.  Some skyline of downtown Minneapolis can be seen out through right field.

Although I never buy much, if any, food at the stadium, I checked out the stands to see the various selections.  Many specialty items were on the menu from local favorite pork sandwiches to a bucket of mini donuts.

It felt like every turn I took, another bar area, pub, or small eating zone popped up.  Most are accessible to the casual fan, and only a few needed a special ticket for entrance.

Visiting as many parks as I do, and studying them as in depth as I do, I always find a few negatives or complaints.  Probably out of the control of some, the prices in the gift shop and on some of the food seemed extremely high compared to the same items I have seen at other parks.  I also could not find a ton of “history” of the 50 year old twins.  Sure, they honored a few former players with pictures or statues, but didn’t see much on past teams as a whole they have been fortunate enough to win many Division titles and a few World Series titles.  My dad disagreed with me on this aspect, but I just didn’t see it.

The views from my seats were great.  Each night that I went I tried to pick a much different location in the sold out stadium.  The first night I was seven rows off the field down the left field line.  I wish the seats would have had a little more room in between as I felt like people to each side of me were on top of me.  I also felt it wasn’t angled enough towards home plate.

As a whole, I have greatly enjoyed my visit to Target Field.  The public transportation makes it very easy for fans to get to the park and the numerous restaurants and bars around make the atmosphere even better.  The stadium is gorgeous and and a delight to walk around.  Some day I will make an official ranking list for myself of all 30 current parks, but off the top of my head, this one is easily in the top third in baseball.

I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures and had a very hard time to picking some out to show you.  I apologize for the still large number but I didn’t want to leave anything out. Enjoy!

If you get a chance I would love to hear about your favorite stadium that you have attended.  If you have a picture of yourself there also, please feel free to email it to me and i can try to get it up on the site.  Thanks for looking.

Sorry if this pics aren’t in order…