New Yankee Stadium opened last week to mixed reviews and expensive seats. The $1.5 billion stadium fits the Yankees perfectly: expensive, manicured, snooty; but ultimately, not that great. It's gotten a lot of bad publicity for it's extravagance, expensive seats, obstructed views and it's utter sameness to old Yankee Stadium.
When Target Field opens in a year, it will surely get less national attention, but the reviews will be better. Like the Twins team, Target Field will be cheap, small and awesome.
Other stuff of note:
- The Twins are working with Hormel to develop some sort of replacement for the beloved Dome Dog.
- They'll start installing seats in less than a month.
- Grass will be planted in September.
- I'm dreading the possibility of a large Target brand target in the outfield, but excited that I'll have a chance to win some money if a player hits it.
- The plaza has been redesigned, with small canopies to mirror the large one atop TF. It also has baseball bat-shaped planters with hops growing in it. Seems like a crowded place.
The Thing About The Roof:
Some people will still tell you that the Twins screwed up by not putting a roof on their new stadium. Here are five easy steps to telling those people that they're idiots:
1. A roof would have added another 200 million dollars to the cost of the stadium. The Twins had tried for ten years to get funding for a retractable roof stadium, to no avail. They took the roof out of the plans, and they almost immediately got their public financing.
2. There were three principal architecture firms bidding for the stadium project. Two of them dropped out when they saw the site on which it would be built. All of them would have dropped out had they needed to include a retractable roof, because it wouldn't be able to fit.
3. The Twins won't open the season in early April at home. They won't play many April home games at night either. Yes, there will be some rainouts, but so what? And a roof wouldn't help with the cold weather, as it wouldn't have a heating system.
4. Roofs are ugly. At Miller Park, one feels inside even when the roof is open.
5. Quit being a wuss.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Target Field is really coming together
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8 comments:
Miller park has jaded my experience with retractable roofs. My only game there was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in May...and the roof was closed for the entire game.
Haas and Holmer, you were there. We wanted to go to Liriano's major league debut as a starter. Then an oil truck spilled over. This caused us to turn around that Friday, drink boose, then drive back early on Sunday morning for Boof Bonsor's MLB debut the next Sunday.
But seriously, it's April. Wear a coat and shut up.
Those ballparks in Cleveland and Boston and Pittsburgh and New York and Chicago and even Kansas City and even Denver must just be impossibly horrible in April and September. I do not know how in the world those fans stand it.
Also: hops?
FrontRowSeats
Nice renditions Haas. Microsoft paint?
Replacing Liriano's first start for Boof's will never sit well with me. I recall immidiately hating Boof for his fat slowness. Back to back roadtrips are always good though.
I'm over not having a roof. We're Minnesotans, aren't we?
Your stadium comparisons to the Yankees and Twins teams themselves are dead on Mike. Ive said almost that exact same thing a couple times recently. I think the tiny and unique Target Field is going to be a gem.
I have the same feelings about the roof and Miller Park as well. A few AH! contributers will remember a rediculous trip to Miller Park in its inagural season in which the power went out and the game was canceled after the 2nd inning or so. You see go to a game at a ballpark with a roof you expect youll see a game. Not quite.
Big retractible roof stadiums feel too modern and trendy and I think will go out of style quickly. That isnt the case with some of the newer classic parks like Coors and Camden Yards, and I think Target Field will fit into that small category.
I've experienced a rain delay, in Cleveland, Haas was there. It was the funnest time I've ever had at a baseball park. Everyone crowded into the covered plaza and drank beer. Then when the game finally started a drunk, fat lady fell over on me, and Scott Baker was rocked for 9 runs. A lot of things went wrong on that trip, but I still had a great time and will always remember the great mood everyone that showed up for the game were in. It was a party atmosphere that you just can't have indoors during the summer months.
And another thing, why would anyone want the new Yankee stadium to be anything like the old? The old one was a complete trash heap that should have been condemned.
you're not a real baseball team unless you have a home game get rained out.
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