I've gone to a few baseball games at the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN with good friend Ross over the years, and was always amazed at how artificial the experience seemed. We (Ross more than me since he lives in St. Paul) were psyched when we heard the news that the Twins were building a new open-air baseball park (not a stadium, just ask George Carlin). And when we learned Opening Day in the new ballpark was going to be Twin vs Red Sox, we made a pact to be there. Of course, we didn't anticipate the difficulty in getting tickets to that opening series. It was an apparent sellout minutes after the opening bell. But Ross persevered, and when he found out a week later that a block of tickets was made available, he shot online and scored two for the second 
game of the series - Section 2, row 10, Seats 17 & 18. And I bought a roundtrip ticket to Minneapolis.I wore my gray Boston away jersey, and Ross was in his replica Tony Oliva home jersey.
We took public transportation to the stadium, and just like Boston, the light rail cars were filled with other fans on their way to the game. I love the familiarity - chatting up strangers: another guy in a Boston jersey, working in Minny, but originally from Hull; a rotisserie player who was bemoaning the fact that his fantasy team had players on both sides including the Sox starter, John Lackey; checking out the myriad of different Twins gear - lots of throwback jerseys, Oliva, Killebrew, Puckett, Hrbek, Carew, and scads of guys and girls in Joe Mauer jerseys. Joe, a hometown lad from St. Paul is the reigning AL MVP and had just signed a long-term contract. He owns this town.
It was a great game to watch. The Sox took an early 2-0 lead, but the Twins came back to knot the game at 2-2. Pedroia hits a solo blast for 3-2 Sox lead. The Twins load the bases in the 7th, but Okajima gets Morneau, the 2008 AL MVP, to pop-up to get out of the inning. The Sox load the bases in the 8th with 2 outs and Hermida empties them with gap double for 6-2 lead. Bard get rocked in the 8th but only gives up 1 run on a Cuddyer home run. Papelbon puts two on in the 9th, and with the tying run at the plate gets Cuddyer on a deep fly to right for the last out and a 6-3 Red Sox win. Box Score
Notes from the game:
- Insecurities run deep. When Morneau was up with 2 down and the bases juiced, I was sure that he's come through with a base knock and a Twins lead. Ross was convinced Okajima would get him out. Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Do other fans assume that their teams will succeed in these situations? The only time that happened with me was back in 2004 vs KC - here
- There were two 20-somethings in front of us - good, knowledgeable baseball guys - and when I was cheering after Hermida cleared the bases for a 6-2 Sox lead in the 8th, they cautioned my enthusiasm with a very serious, "It's still early"
- Dustin Pedroia is a little guy the media guide has him at 5'9", but that's stretching the truth. Up at bat, standing next to 6'5" Mauer, he looks tiny. He's also leading the Sox with 5 home runs and 13 RBI. On one close call, a guy in front of us moaned, ""If he was normal height that would have been a strike!"
- Lots of food choices in the new ballpark - Ross had fried cheese curds in a little cardboard canoe, Asian noodles, and a Summit Ale. I bought a soda in souvenir cup and an unsalted pretzel - warm and chewy, but served with some disgusting cheese sauce. I passed on the Walleye on a Stick, and was bummed that I passed a Kettle Corn guy, but didn't buy a bag. He was nowhere to be seen after that. After the game, I grabbed 3 more souvenir cups to make a set of 4 as lots of fans left them in their seatbacks. Another guy near me had a stack of at least 10.
- It rained during the middle innings. As Rusty (aka Ross) was quoted in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "My favorite part? When it started to rain, the home-team fans — albeit briefly — cheered! Outdoor baseball! Rain and all!" - link
- Ross also noted that it would take a while for the Twins to have a real home field advantage as they'd never played there before. Later, he wondered aloud, "What the heck are those guys chatting about?" when Youk, on first after a single, and Morneau were deep in conversation.
- There was lots of excitement in the park - everybody was happy before, during, and after the game. The park itself is great, though it felt a little vanilla - the curse of being compared to Fenway? The bullpens are a little funky - stacked one behind the other in right center field. The scoreboard is amazing - rich rich colors and super high resolution. And check out Minnie and Paul shaking hands in center field - link.
- After the game, everyone in Boston Red Sox garb was my buddy. High fives, tips of the cap, knowing nods - it was fun to be in the minority, but with a shared identity. And, of course, the midwestern Twins fans were totally gracious to their guests.
Finally, there is this. Baseball really is the national pastime. I connected via Chicago going out and St. Louis coming in, and in all four cities - adding Boston and Minneapolis/St. Paul - as the plane descended nearing the airport, the single most obvious and most numerous landmarks were baseball fields. They are everywhere, and that fills me with a little bit of joy.
