On August 19, 2010, we drove from Utica, Illinois across Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota where we watched the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 11-0 at brand new Target Field.
The Back-Story. All three games we saw on this trip involved at least one team in pennant races, but this one had the best back-story. Minnesota and Chicago have been battling most of the season in a pretty decent division race. This was the third game in a high profile, three game series. Minnesota won the first two games to stretch their division lead to 5 games. Minnesota was hot, having the best record in baseball since the All Star Game.
For the first 125 or so miles of the 400 mile trip we were well within range of Chicago sports talk radio. More bombast and idiocy. The underlying themes (and my disagreements) were:
- The season would be over if the White Sox lost that evening’s game against the Twins. OK, I’ll acknowledge that being 6 games back with 45 or so games left is not an ideal position, but it is ridiculous to claim that the season is over if you are in that position. The general rule of thumb is that you are in contention if you are within 1 game of the lead for each remaining week in the season. So, by that rule, if you are 6 games out with 6 weeks left in the season, you are definitely in contention.
- General Manager Ken Williams is incompetent and to blame and should be fired. Williams built a team that won a World Series.
- Field Manager Ozzie Guillen is incompetent and to blame and should be fired. Guillen managed a team that won a World Series.
- The most important attribute of a Manager is his ability to handle the bullpen and Guillen is not capable of doing that. When the Chisox won the World Series, Ozzie proved nothing in this regards because of the dominating starting pitching that the White Sox got in that series. I found this to be particularly weak sauce. There are no flukes in baseball. The 162 game season generally ensures that the best teams win (unlike the single game elimination crap shoot that is the NCAA Tournament). So what if Ozzie didn’t have to make major bullpen moves in the Series – I am sure he had to “handle his bullpen” during the season and playoffs.
This was just some of the pretzel logic on display. The trip reinforced my opinion that the collective IQ of the country could be raised several points by simply eradicating talk radio and reality TV. I think the underlying current that really annoyed me the most was how spoiled the Cardinal and White Sox fans were.
These people should walk a mile (or 18 seasons) in this Pirate fan’s shoes. Do you realize how long it has been since the Pirates had a meaningful game after July 1? I think I have to go back to that magical night in July in 1997 when the Pirates beat the Astros on Mark Smith’s homer and Francisco Cordova pitched a no hitter. That is 13 years ago.
The Trip. Some other observations on the road to Minneapolis.
- My geography chops suck. I had no idea that Madison was so close to both Milwaukee and Chicago. Easy to understand how the Badgers are able to field such strong teams in Basketball and Football – pretty fertile recruiting grounds and they are the state university in a decent sized state.
- Interesting to see all the billboards advertising cheese and dairy-related products.
- Also saw many Wind Farms in Wisconsin.
- Bloomington, MN reminds me a lot of Irving, TX.
- We camped at a KOA campground about 15-20 miles south of Minneapolis. Rich suggested that we leave the campground around 4:30 for the 7:10 first pitch. Smart man. There was a lot of traffic getting into the city.
Parking. This was a little trickier than in our other two parks. The new Target Field is shoehorned into a very small downtown space adjacent to the Target Center (home of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA). When we pulled into the first downtown lot we saw, we were greeted with a curt “I can’t fit you here”. Nothing else. Got to love that customer service. No recommendation for where we might park an RV – just get that the hell out of this lot. Thanks dude.
Fortunately, when we pulled next to the next lot that wouldn’t accept us, that attendant at least gave us directions to one of their lots that would take RVs. He also indicated that it would cost us $40. Ouch. When we pulled into the lot, there was an older African attendant (speaking little English) who indicated that the charge was only $20, but our hopes were dashed when a younger attendant arrived and straightened everything out ($40 it was).
Our parking location was quite good, It was a quick jaunt up Hawthorne and then to 1st Avenue and we were in front of the Target Center.
Outside the Park. Rich made the (I thought) perceptive comment that, by building the new stadium next to the existing Target Center, the existing infrastructure could be reused (mass transit, parking, and a nice bar scene in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis). It seemed there were a ton of bars and restaurants in the area of 1st Avenue and Hennepin Avenue, which made for a cool atmosphere.
Rich’s longtime friend Bill, from Virginia, has been working in Minneapolis on an extended contract and Rich arranged for Bill to join us for a pre-game beer in one of the many bars. So, after meeting up with Bill at the ballpark, we walked to a bar on 1st Avenue (the consensus is that the bar was Brothers). They had a special - $2 domestic pints. It was interesting that Steve bought a round of 4 pints for 8 bucks plus tip and about 15 minutes later, that 10 bucks would barely cover a single 20 ounce brew at the ballpark. Talk about pure profit. As Rich highlighted, “We all bitch about the cost of beer at these games, but it doesn’t stop us from actually buying it.”
By the time we had finished that brew, it was getting close to game time, so we proceeded to the ballpark. Outside the ballpark there are some cool statues of Twins heroes Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, and Harmon Killibrew. Here is a Flickr slideshow of some shots taken of Minneapolis and of the exterior of Target Field on August 19, 2010.
Inside the Park. Target Field is in its first year of existence. Designed by Populous (what new ballpark nowadays isn’t?), Target Field felt completely different than the others designed by that firm and against the grain in many ways. The combination of Minnesota limestone, steel, and glass and the sharp angles evokes a post-modern sort of feel. (That almost sounds like I know what the hell I am talking about. Talk about pretention.)
As mentioned earlier, the footprint of this stadium is tiny. It feels shoe-horned into a space and that has its advantages and disadvantages. It has a very cozy feel, but, on the other hand, when we entered the stadium (about 15 minutes before the first pitch), the concourses were very congested and the seating felt a bit cramped as well (compared to Busch).
The stadium has no roof and all of us were wondering how that was going to work if the Twins make a post-season run into late October. Apparently, the cost of a retractable roof would have added about $100 million dollars to the price tag. (Post trip-research revealed that the playing field itself can be heated – interesting.)
Here is a Flickr slideshow of shots taken inside Target Field in Minneapolis on August 19, 2010:
When we ordered our first beers of the night, it took the beer lady literally several minutes to draw us a brew that wasn’t all foam. (I was about ready to send Rich behind the counter to maybe clean the lines or check the pressure on the keg.) But it would be really hard to get upset at the friendly wait staff at Target Field.
Our seats were in the 2nd row of Section 221, right at about the third base bag. The Twins number levels a little weird – we were in basically the 4th level. But the seats were nice nonetheless. I tried the Chicken Breast Sandwich at the game – very good. Decent sized piece of bird with fresh lettuce and tomato and a really good bun.
The Game. If this was a fight, they would of called it. I guess the White Sox can keep playing. They staved off elimination by blasting the red-hot Twins 11-0. So I guess they can continue to play meaningful games in Chicago this year (at least on the South Side).
This had the making of a good pitching matchup between Twins ace Carl Pavano and Mark Buehrle. Buehrle held up his end of that deal, but here was poor Carl, in the early innings, just getting barraged with every possible style of base knock. In the words of legendary Chisox announcer Hawk Harrelson, the barrage included:
- Little duck snorts
- Humpback line drives
- Several chopper two hoppers that had eyes
- Several Put It on the Boards
By the time old Carl had been finished off, he had given up 15 hits and 7 runs in 6 innings. The White Sox would finish with 21 hits and Buehrle and three others finished off a 5 hit shutout. Not a whole lot of drama in this one.
Other Impressions from Minneapolis:
- Tempered probably by the fact that the Twins had the best record in baseball since the All Star game, the crowd was so, well, polite and positive while the home team was getting its ass kicked. Kind of bizarre. Contrast that with the North East cities.
- This Minnesota Nice stuff even seems to extend to visiting fans. We had a family rooting for the White Sox in the row in front of us, but even they were pleasant. No trash talking or obnoxious behavior when the game got out of hand.
- Paul Konerko is a beast. 5-for-5.
- The White Sox started Omar Visquel at 3rd Base and he made a splendid diving stop of a rocket in the bottom of the 5th when the Twins had 2 on and 1 out and the game was still competitive. I was really glad to get a chance to see this guy play defense before he retired. 11 Gold Gloves at Shortstop. He is 43 years old, in great shape, and looks like he could do world-class work with the glove well into his 50s.
- Pavano has grown a mustache that is rivaling Wanny’s.
- After the game, we exited via this mysterious flight of stairs from the 200-level. I am not sure if this was an officially sanctioned exit – it sort of felt like this part of the ballpark had not yet passed inspection.
- That Chicago Sports Radio dork can still claim that Ozzie doesn’t know how to handle a bullpen.
