2009 Game #13 - Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins
Final Score: Tigers 11, Twins 9 (16 innings)
Hot Dog - 3/5
16 innings. 15 pitchers. 20 runs scored, and 5 hours of baseball. And it couldn’t have happened in a better place– no wait. It couldn’t have happened in a worse place. The Metrodome stinks.
I made a complete circuit of the concourse, and if I hadn’t taken the time to remember what section Rich and I had sat in (we had general admission tickets), I don’t know if I ever would have found him again. Everything looked the same all the way around, at least on the concourse.
Another thing is that you can’t understand anything that comes over the loudspeakers there. It was tremendously loud, but it was just noise, not at all intelligible as words (or occasionally, music). Being constantly assaulted by noise is generally not how I want to spend a baseball game. And of course it figures that the marathon game (a record 16 innings for Rich and I) happens at the Metrodome. Yuk.
At first, we thought the Twins were going to get blown out early. But, they just kept creeping back up and eventually tied it at 7-7. It stayed that way until the 14th, when Detroit scored one in the top of the inning. At this point, I was secretly rooting for the Tigers, if only to end the game. In the bottom of the inning, though, the Twins scored 1 to tie it again, and it was on to the 15th. Then it was on to the 16th, where the Tigers scored 3 runs off R.A. Dickey (the last hope for Twins pitching on the night). The Twins tried again to mount a comeback, but only managed to score one more before the end of the game. Finally! It only took 5 hours and 7 minutes for the Twinkies to lose this one! Sheesh. On the other hand, the end of the game was actually more comfortable than the beginning. The guy sitting on one side of us looked just like William H. Macy, and his son (who was about 3 or 4 years old) became really good friends with Rich, staring mesmerized at the scorebook, and once even almost hitting Rich in the head with the autographed bat they handed out to the kids at the game. They left in the 5th inning. On the other side was a screaming child (about 2-ish) who was there through at least 9 innings, and behind us there was SuperFan. He gave a pep talk to all the Twins players when they were at bat, and encouraged them as a team when they were in the field. Here is a sampling: “Come on, fella, we need 2 runs.” (The Twins were down by 5 at that point.) “Good eye, good eye, fella.” “Come on, boys, we need to hold ‘em again. Let’s go, fellas.” If I never hear the word “fella” used again, that would be great. I can talk a lot (and usually do), but this constant stream of encouragement and chatter from behind us was amazing in its quantity and consistency. SuperFan left in the 12th. I guess he wasn’t such a super fan after all.
Other happenings at the game included having 2 stretches (7th and 14th innings), and the girl who sang both the national anthem and “God Bless America” goofed up in each of them. “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave/ ‘for’ the land of the free and the home of the brave?” and (my favorite) “From the mountains, to the prairies, ‘through’ the oceans, ‘white with snow’” Wait, what? Anyway, there was also a strange vendor sighting at the Metrodome: “Donuts! Get your donuts, here!” Donuts? At a baseball game? I asked Rich if donuts were something commonplace at football games, but he said no. Donuts… hmm… Someone must buy them, or else they wouldn’t keep selling them. Overall, the donut-buying crowd as a whole was great. They were really into the game, and they managed to avoid The Wave until some time in the 14th or 15th inning. I really hate The Wave. Anyway, it was a good, loud crowd. They cheered their boys on, and booed vigorously at appropriate times. Ultimately, a really long (and losing, as it turns out) game, in a not-so-good stadium. The fans deserve better than the lousy, inflated blob that is the Metrodome. I think I can say with confidence that I will never see another baseball game at the Metrodome. Oh, and did I mention that the Twins will be playing at the brand new Target Field in 2010? Open-air stadium in Minnesota… great idea, Minneapolis. When I make it back to a Twinkies home game, I will be sure to come in the middle of the summer so as to avoid the snow. Happy Fourth of July, everyone!!
-Karyn
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