this is twins territory

For nearly my entire lifetime, and as long as I can remember, the Minnesota Twins played inside the Metrodome. They shared the space with the U of M football team and the Vikings. I have attended several Twins games in the dome, and I have marched there with the U of M marching band. The dome seemed perfectly adequate, mainly because I had nothing to compare it to. It wasn't until I went to a bowl game and marched in an outdoor stadium that I wished the U had its own stadium to call home. And it wasn't until I went to an Angels game that I wondered what it would have been like to watch the Twins play outside, at home.

Last April was the Minnesota Twins' inaugural season at Target Field. Thanks to Facebook, I got to see several of my friends' photos of the new ball park. Judging by all the photos, it seemed that everyone in Minnesota was at Target Field at some point during baseball season. And this made me really jealous. I'm as excited about the new field as any other Twins fan, but I was bummed to miss the inaugural season.

So I was very excited to check out the new field on this trip to Minnesota. But seeing as how it wasn't baseball season, I wasn't expecting to see much. On our first day in Minneapolis, Drew and I wandered over to Target Field to have a look. I snapped pictures and tried my hardest to see what I could see through the gates. At some point, the baseball stars were aligned because at some point when I peered through the gate, a tour group happened to be walking by. I didn't know it was a tour group until they called out to us and told us to take the tour. A tour! I had no idea such a thing was possible! So, due to a sheer stroke of luck and good timing, Drew and I returned the next day for a tour of Target Field.

This is where it all begins:

I have seen so many photos just like this on Facebook, and now I have one of my own!

Our first stop was for a photo break. There were only 6 of us on the tour, us and a family of 4. (tip: if you go on the tour, don't go in the summer. our tour guides said that there can be as many as 100 people on a tour in the summer and winter is the best time to go)

Our tour lead us around Target Field, deep into the underbelly. We got to see the Metropolitan Club and the Legends Club, two clubs accessible only to season ticket holders. The Legends Club pays tribute to a few legendary Twins players, including Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, and Kirby Puckett. Below is a giant wood carving of Puckett:

And one of about four memorabilia cases:
We also saw a few event suites and the press box:

Another tribute to some Twins legends (the numbers in the middle of the frame, not the Budweiser sign):

We learned that the artist, Ray Barton, who created this Minnie & Paul logo in 1961 earned $15 and then later a $25 bonus. I guess that back in the day, people in Minneapolis and St. Paul rarely crossed the Mississippi River to visit the other city. It was feared that if the Twins field was built in St. Paul, then people from Minneapolis wouldn't go to any games, and vice versa. I think this logo might have been developed as a marketing tool. It shows Minnie & Paul shaking hands over the river that divides them, but joined by the bridge that unites them. When a Twins player hits a home run, Minnie & Paul light up and greet one another.

Here we are from upper deck in left field:
A nice view of downtown Minneapolis in the background:

Our tour continued with a visit to the Visitors Clubhouse. We weren't able to see the Twins Clubhouse because it is still in use by the players. I, of course, would have had no problem with the possibility of running into a certain catcher that wears the number 7.

We are told that the visitor clubhouse is quite similar to the Twins Clubhouse, except a bit smaller. There is a weight room and a kitchen where players can get ballpark food cooked to order. They can even send the kitchen staff out to fetch non-ballpark food, like subs from Jimmy John's.

Our next stop was a visit to the Visitor Dugout:
And then a visit to the Twins Clubhouse:

And that pretty much ends our tour of Target Field. It was a great tour, and I definitely recommend it. There is no Twins Museum, so many of the things that would be in such a museum (memorabilia, artwork, paintings, etc) are sprinkled throughout the ball park (some of which is accessible to the public and some of which is not).

I snapped lots of photos outside. The best thing about visiting in the winter is that there's no competition for photos and no strangers to wander into the frame. Along the walk up to the field are pennants of several former Twins players. Here are a few of my favorites:

Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek are like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau of the 1980s and 1990s. I was a fan of both players, but I leaned a little more towards Hrbek.

Below are nine renditions of baseball bats. During the games, one lights up for each inning played.
There were many statues of former Twins players, all covered with snow, like this one of Rod Carew:

And Kirby Puckett:

I didn't let the snow stop me from having a seat in the Golden Glove. Our tour guide said that now would not be a good time to lick the Golden Glove, but really, is there ever a good time to lick it?

I waded through the snow for this picture. It certainly resembles a certain catcher, doesn't it?

These flags line the field, extending into downtown Minneapolis:

We made a quick visit to the gift shop for a license plate holder. Here I am with the Twins mascots.

I came home with a Twins decal, a license plate holder, and a homer hanky, but my favorite Twins souvenir is this 1987 Wheaties box given to me posthumously by my grandpa.