Target Field Notes

Crews are finishing up grass installation at Target Field field today, completing one of many milestones for the Twins new home. I guess it's exciting because it reaffirms what we've been told for a couple years: the Twins will play outdoors next year. Thus, we will take this opportunity to recognize this moment.

Of course, no milestone would be complete without some overblown controversy. It seems the grass was grown on a sod farm located south of Denver, then trucked here in refrigerated trucks. Colorado? Outrageous! Why wasn't it just grown in Minnesota? It's a question that's been raised by a number of Minnesota horticulturalists, sod farmers and people who like to complain.

The Twins spout a lot of bullshit about "similar climate"' and "soil-type" and "THC content," but they chose a Colorado farm because it was MLB-approved. That MLB approval probably required a big fat fee, in addition to under the table agreements with the farm, (probably quid-pro-quo, I'll trim yours if you trim mine.)

Apparently the thought of Twins players playing on foreign grass is simply too much for some to imagine. I present an interesting fact for them: Kentucky Blue Grass isn't a native species to Colorado. It's not even native to Kentucky. And it sure as hell isn't native to Minnesota. It's European! The national past-time being played on an immigrant. Minnesota sod farmers are all livid, "goddamn immigrant sod TOOK OUR JOBS!"

Next time you hear Gardnehire on the radio disparaging invasive species, tell him to look under his feet.

Debunking the Target Field as Urban Ballpark Myth

On the list of Target Field attributes, the fact that it's an "Urban Ballpark" is usually toward the top. It's mentioned right away in a Twins press release in the About Target Field section.

Target Field, one of America's most urban ballparks, will be located in the historic Warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis.

I think the word urban, to them, means that the ballpark is surrounded by city streets rather than parking lots. It seeks to compliment the neighborhood, not dominate it. It doesn't try to change things, it's simply another piece of the community. Unlike parking lot palaces like Anaheim Stadium or Miller Park, an urban ballpark mingles with everyday people, not just baseball fans.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Except that Target Field's location could hardly be described as a neighborhood. It's like a tiny peninsula that will shoot from the butt of Target Field. With Wrigley, there is a genuine neighborhood all around. People live, work and drink there. Many people walk by Wrigley on their way to school or work.

There are three tiers of ballpark locations: one is the suburban parking lot palace, like Citi Field, Dodger Stadium, Miller Park, Kaufmann, etc.

Next is the, "this ballpark will really spur development" location. The Metrodome is an example of this. The Star Tribune pushed hard for the dome and the location because their property values would skyrocket. People envisioned brand new stores, bars and condominiums. This type of ballpark wishes to become urban, but only on their own terms. Other examples: PETCO, Jacobs Field, Nationals Ballpark, etc.

And of course, the true urban ballpark. Wrigley Field, Ebbets Field, Fenway Park?

Target Field seems more in line with the, "this ballpark will really spur development" style location. They're hoping to build mixed use commercial and residential high rises over the parking lots to the north and south. On one side, there's a basketball arena and the other is a garbage burner and industrial wasteland. It's not much of a neighborhood.

To top things off, the Twins want to change the name of one of the streets which runs outside Target Field. So much for plopping a stadium into a neighborhood.