Target Field Tour

This afternoon we went on a tour of Target Field, which is the fourth major league stadium that we have officially toured (Fenway Park in Boston, Camden Yards in Baltimore, Progressive Field in Cleveland, and now Target Field in Minneapolis).  The weather was uncomfortably warm but the tour was very interesting.

 

We learned some interesting facts about the park, which is the "greenest" in the Major Leagues.  For financial reasons, a park in the great northern state of Minnesota was built without a retractable roof.  They did splurge with radiant heating throughout the stands and concourse and also under the state-of-the-art field. 

Besides an impressive drainage system, the field (and stadium) is heated... by garbage.  The location for the park is literally right next to the county's garbage facility.  Trash is burned at this plant, resulting in steam that is piped throughout the city (and next door to Target Field) to heat public buildings and the amazing Skyway.  The waste facility and the stadium are owned by Hennepin County and when the park was built, the rubbish building was modified so the Twinkie fans didn't have to suffer even a single whiff of refuse.

Another interesting fact we learned is that the Twins' original home, Metropolitan Stadium, is now the Mall of America.  There is a bronze home plate in the middle of the mall, marking the location of the plate at the stadium.  (No, we don't plan on visiting the MoA on this trip.)

We learned that when the Washington Senators franchise was looking to move to Minnesota in the late 1950s (the Twins' first official season was in 1960), there was a heated rivalry between minor league teams the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints.  To avoid hurt feelings, the owners built the stadium outside of both cities, and petitioned the league to name the team the "Twin City Twins."  Major League Baseball responded with, "No that's dumb.  No one knows where the Twin Cities are" (Not a direct quote, but the sentiment is authentic).  As such, the team was officially dubbed the Minnesota Twins, and this was the first time in Major League history that a team was named for the state rather than the city in which they played.

We got to see the Twins' two World Series trophies up-close and we toured the many areas of the park with memorials or dedications to Twins great players, including Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, and the recently deceased Harmon Killebrew.  Other neat park features include the giant Golden Glove (seen above) outside the park and the nine baseball bat topiary lights (one is lit every inning).

All in all, a nice (albeit warm) day around the park.

-Karyn & Rich