Grand Day Out

If I were to make a short list of "Things I Love", it would look like this:

1. Family and Friends

2. Ultimate Frisbee

3. Twins baseball

And with that said I can now tell you, without exaggeration, that Monday was one of the greatest days ever. Opening Day.

I had been to Target Field before. I went to the stadium in March for an "Open House", and froze my butt off checking out my seats and walking around the concourse for about an hour. I went to the stadium for the first exhibition game against the Cardinals, when it was a little chilly and windy and cloudy. But Monday blew both of those experiences out of the water.

It was gorgeous, and surreal. Before the game I walked around the plaza and admired the Puckett and Killebrew statues. I entered the gate and received my commemorative homer hanky and official certificate. It says "Be It Known To Baseball Fans Everywhere That On The Afternoon Of The Twelfth Of April, Two Thousand And Ten At 3:10PM, Ben Hesse Witnessed The First Regular-Season Game Ever Played At The Target Field, Between The Minnesota Twins And The Boston Red Sox In The City Of Minneapolis, In The State Of Minnesota." (It doesn't really have my name on it right now, but there's a space for it.)

I wandered around the concourse, and checked out the view from a few different spots around the stadium; the right field bleachers, the third-base line, the Legend's Club. It was fun to just be able to walk around. Once inside the stadium, I didn't see any ushers demanding to see tickets. They were there to help you find your way if you were lost, but they didn't play the role of bouncer if you wanted to do some pre-game exploring. I think the fact that every seat would eventually be filled allows for this. People with general admission tickets won't try to sneak their way into better seats like at the Dome, simply because there won't be any empty seats to sneak into!

As it got closer to game time, I went and found my seat in the third deck on the first-base side. These were the "cheap seats", but the view was perfect. Above left field, the Twins raised the flags which commemorated the Division, American League, and World Series Championships. Familiar faces like Brad Radke, Corey Koskie, Bert Blyleven, Al Newman, and Jack Morris helped raise each of the flags. O my God, there is wind blowing the Championship flags!

It was starting to dawn on me that this was actually happening. Outdoor baseball, "for realsies".

My cell phone buzzed. Text from Tom (who didn't have tickets): "Standing outside gate 34. Woo hoo!"

Oliva, Carew, Killebrew, Kirby Puckett Jr., and Kent Hrbek brought out the baseballs for the first pitch. It was a little weird having five guys bring out three baseballs for the "first" pitch, but the Twins have done a great job incorporating all the memories and history by bringing in the legends.

Text from Tom: "Larry Fitzgerald just ran past me outside :)" Wow. That's pretty cool.

The Red Sox and Twins marched out on to the field for Opening Day introductions. Scott Ullger was booed when he was introduced, which I was a little surprised by. (Sunday Ullger had waived JJ Hardy home on a Thome double, and Hardy was out by about 40 feet. I blame the Twins for not having Hardy steal second before the Thome double, since Pierzynski has such a noodle arm, but o well. I forgive you, Ullger!) I did boo Kubel, just for old-time's sake. My buddy Jeff gave me a look. "Hey, you gotta boo the hell outta Kubel in order to get him to play well!" This is a strange but true fact. I booed Kubel for years and it finally paid off last season.

A ginormous flag was unfurled on the field for the Star Spangled Banner (it covered the entire outfield!), and fireworks erupted as four F-16s flew over the stadium. I've seen flybys on TV before, but this was an experience that Dome-goers never got, and it's pretty impressive to see it for real. Much better than a video screen in the Dome just showing eagles and fireworks.

Text from Tom: "Best day ever, and I'm not even inside!"

I'm going to fast-forward to quickly cover some of the in-game notes. The first pitch of the game was a ball. Chorus of boos. The leadoff batter for the Red Sox got the first official hit in Target Field, and was promptly picked off. Chorus of cheers. Pavano pitched a great game. Denard Span tracked down a number of long flies. Off of the bat there were several balls that I thought would be home runs, but the wind kept them in the park. There is wind that is keeping home run balls in the park! (Thank goodness too, otherwise former Twin David Ortiz would've had the first home run, and that kind of would've sucked.)

Every Twins player reached base at least once. Nick Punto stole second and broke his belt while sliding. He jogged back towards the dugout while taking it off, and the ballboy ran out to him with a new belt. I was surprised they had a backup belt ready that fast. Does this happen a lot? The Yankees and Red Sox have been criticized for their slow pace of play, and the Twins have backup belts ready.

Justin Morneau looked like he was swinging for the fences with every at bat, but it ended up being Jason Kubel that hit the first official Target Field home run. I told you the booing him would pay off! And, ultimately, the Twins won the game after Jon Rauch locked down the save. I was wondering what his entrance music would be. It was "Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica. Definitely not as awesome as Nathan's music, "STAND UP AND SHOUT!"

But for me, the best moment was after the F-16 flyby, and before the game even got under way. There was just a small pause. The anthem was finished, the giant flag was being folded up and carried away, and the players were crouched on the top steps of the dugout. The sun was shining on the 38,000-plus who were on their feet, and vast majority of us were holding our breath in anticipation of cheering the team on for their first-inning sprint onto the field. It was during that pause where I thought, and I'd like to think everyone else in the stadium thought, "It's happening! It's finally happening! Real professional outdoor baseball in Minnesota!"

Pause.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR MINNESOTA TWINS!"

Joy.