By Michael Haas
This week there will be much fanfare as ground is ceremoniously broken for the New Twins Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. I will be attending the ceremony, but you won't hear any cheers from me. I will be booing like I just spotted Barry Bonds. Call me selfish, call me a dinosaur, call me afraid of change - but I do not want a new stadium.
There are various reasons to not want a new stadium:
I love the Metrodome. Think about the word 'love.' The true meaning has nothing to do with aesthetic qualities or functionality. It has to do with fun-value and fond memories. The 'dome is certainly not in the top 25 of major league ballparks, but it has sentimental value - and that's why I love it. Here's a list of things I remember about the 'dome to illustrate my point:
- I remember seeing Kirby Puckett play there.
- I remember when I had a 'cup of coffee' with the Twins as an audio intern. I got to eat free press box hot dogs, (best hot dogs ever- bar none), go on the field before the game, and meet Mr. 573 himself, Harmon Killebrew.
- I remember watching Joe Mauer foolishly force a pass with the final seconds ticking away of Prep Bowl '00. The pass was intercepted and
- I remember watching the Gophers lose in heart-breaking fashion to
- I remember when I saw Ken Griffey Jr. rope one opposite field that just got over the fence and to the right of the foul pole. It was the best I felt about an opposing player hitting a home run.
- I remember going to college baseball games in March and walking around the tunnels.
- I remember watching numerous Prep Bowls. Notably 1997 when the Northfield Raiders finally won it all.
- I remember after a Gophers baseball game in March one year, I turned back to look at the field, and thought to myself, 'this is the last time I will ever gaze upon the hard bright green astro-turf' Within two weeks, it had been replaced with Astro-play.
And the 'dome is great for other reasons too. Mainly selfish reasons:
- In many sections, you can spread out. It would go to half as many games if I knew that I'd be sitting elbow to elbow with some stranger, and theres one in front of me and one behind me too. Ahh! What do you think the new stadium will be like?
- Ticket availability and pricing. I don't really need to elaborate on this one.
- Parking. I park for free. I have a secret spot. I'm skeptical that I will be able to find a new one that is so so perfect for the new stadium.
- Windy doors.
But perhaps the broadest, most unselfish reason that I do not want a new Stadium is the financing issue. The stadium situation in Milwaukee
Bud Selig has told many Major League cities that they need a new stadium to remain competitive. The line of thinking goes like this: new stadium=more revenue=more money to spend on players=better team. The main problem with this is that owners don't always put that extra money back into the organization to make the product on the field any better. If they did, everyone could just cut to the chase and start paying players with county sales taxes.
So when an owner pockets money which made because of a stadium built with taxpayers money, it's essentially stealing the people's money. The owner of the Brewers, Wendy Selig-Prieb, ended up pocketing much of the revenue from the first two seasons ofMiller Park
Carl Pohlad and his team has gone on record saying that the new stadium figures to bring in about 40 million dollars of revenue more than the Metrodome. When asked how much of that will be used to increase the payroll, he answered: about 20 million.
Bud Selig has told many Major League cities that they need a new stadium to remain competitive. The line of thinking goes like this: new stadium=more revenue=more money to spend on players=better team. The main problem with this is that owners don't always put that extra money back into the organization to make the product on the field any better. If they did, everyone could just cut to the chase and start paying players with county sales taxes.
So when an owner pockets money which made because of a stadium built with taxpayers money, it's essentially stealing the people's money. The owner of the Brewers, Wendy Selig-Prieb, ended up pocketing much of the revenue from the first two seasons of
Carl Pohlad and his team has gone on record saying that the new stadium figures to bring in about 40 million dollars of revenue more than the Metrodome. When asked how much of that will be used to increase the payroll, he answered: about 20 million.
10 comments:
Before anyone bashes, let me just say that in reality, I will be cheering on Thursday. I do have many memories in the dome and i love how its cheap and accessible, but I AM VERY VERY EXCITED for the new stadium.
I wrote this just to write it. It partially came about from comments after my faux-news post from Monday, May 21st.
"M-Ha"
I have some memories of the dome myself:
- going to the last game of the strike season, where Hrbek hit three blasts to the wall before finally hitting the ball where it belonged, in the seats.
- Nothing was better and more heart breaking than watching the Northfield Raiders come to their demise four years in a row before finally winning the big one in convincing fashion.
- I have played in three football games in that dome. Only to win the last game I would ever play.
- Watching Kirby Carr hit a walk-off homerun for the Bethel Royals.
- Watching Setty dominate in college and in the pros.
- The memorial ceremony for Kirby Puckett.
- Watching Dave Winfield's 3000th hit.
I have always been jealous of those wise old twins fans that speak of the old Met. In 20 years, we will be those wise old fans that get to reminisce about the old stadium with the young ones that never got to be a part of our Metrodome.
I will be cheering at the ground-breaking, at the first game, twenty years from now, and at the three world series championships that will take place in this new stadium.
Sitting in the very top row of the upper deck and watching Frank Thomas crush the ball during the A's sweep of the Twins in '06. Even from that immense distance, he looked intimidating.
Or sitting in the first few rows of the left field seats when Mickey Hatcher was out there -- always an adventure.
Or watching Hrbek josh with the fans behind the visitors dugout -- his little pantomime of knocking back a beer was priceless.
Yeah, the Dome is a horrible place to watch a ballgame, but the game and the players overcame that (for the most part).
Bring on the sunshine!
Yeah, I hate when owners blackmail their cities. The politics and economics of baseball suck.
My experiance with ballparks in other cities isn't as extensive as some of the other contributors on this site, but I have seen enough baseball to know that the Dome sucks to watch a game. That is if you haven't grown up with it and lived some truely magical times.
Mike, the last game I got to go to when we were in the land-o-lakes ice cream row and we got on the Jumbo-tron and did the Joe Mauer rub the side burn gag, priceless.
Going to the first ever dollar dog night and getting an entire section on the third base line to ourselves.
Being able to watch in person, the majority of the Hall of Famers of our generation.
I saw a drunken bafoon try to start the wave and tripped on the stairs and break his nose.
I saw a, get this, Rick Reed throw a one hitter.
My favorite part about the dome: You can see a major league ball game cheaper than all the shitty movies that Hollywood is pissing out on a weekly basis.
I can't wait for the new park to open up, I plan on reserving season tickets as soon as I possibly can, and I plan on being a season ticket holder for the rest of days. So one day my kids will feel the same way about the new stadium when they tear it down to make way for the future.
I share some of the same memories. Here are some more:
-Buying a cheap seat ticket for $2 and sneaking all the way down to the first row just to the right of the twins dugout. That was amazing.
-The best were going to the playoff games, enjoying the high energy atmostphere.
-Caught a Mo Vaughn foul ball. We were the only ones in the section and it came right to me. Omen?
-Going 2-4 in my collegiate debut.
-More to come with roughly 2.5 seasons left.(if they get the new one done in time)
Rezac - did you really go to the first ever dollar dog night? was I there?
i think there were quite a few of us there.
Dome memories not yet mentioned.
-Dad started the Al Newman fan club, and hanging a homemade banner that took me and dick days to finish and multiple Red and Blue Sharpie Magnums.
-Being in the highest seats and thinking if I touched the Jumbotron I would be electricuted, (I don't think I ever did).
-Watching the big advertisments, change from BUD to TCF to Coke
(and then learning what TCF stood for).
I saw the two most dominant pitchers of our era, Santana vs. Pedro from 15 rows behind homeplate. Twins won in the 9th with a walk off E4.
The only other place I felt the electricity of a playoff game at the homerdome is maybe a Husker game at memorial stadium. I had no idea what it meant for a stadium to have "electricity" until I sat there waving my homer hanky waiting for the first pitch.
It will be missed.
While I have a couple fewer years of Dome memories, I still have many...and yeah, it'll be slightly bittersweet to see 2009 AL Cy Young award winner Francisco Liriano throw out the first pitch of the 2010 season at the new stadium. But mostly it will be sweet. I can feel that icy April breeze numbing my face now...
And the Dome isn't going anywhere. Vikes won't get a new stadium in the foreseeable future, so we'll still get to see Setty. And the Gophers for a couple of more years. and the Prep Bowl. and HELLO! Are we all forgetting about Monster Truck Rallies and the Minnesota Swarm??
We'll soon be the old geezers talking about the good ol' days of the Metrodome. And we'll be not-so-secretly jealous of the youngsters who we have to give our foul balls to and who are blissfully ignorant of the greatness that was the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
Karin Haas for President
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