Twins at Target Field

The excitement has been building since opening day. The Twins new stadium, outdoor baseball is back in Minnesota. We couldn't wait to get to a game! Eric and I went to our first Twins game at Target Field on Friday night, April 16th. Be forewarned, this post has lots of pictures. Are you ready?

Here's a picture of a billboard taken on the way to the game.

We parked in Ramp A, right next to the field. $13.00...ouch....but the convenience of being so close to the field and exiting right onto 394 made it worth it.

It was 63 degrees at the start of the 7:10 game. 53 degrees by the end of the game at 10:15. It was a little chilly, but who cares?? Here is a view of the stadium from the parking ramp.

We got our tickets from our friend Tonya. She works for the Twins and has season tickets in section 220. She also has a blog about this first year in Target Field. I did the header for her a couple of weeks ago....it's at Twinstidbits.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. Our seats were great. The first thing I noticed was the cool retro Twins sign.

We got there a little early to take it all in. The grounds crew is top notch.

Adding a Twins logo to the pitchers mound. The grass was so green, it didn't seem real. Were we really outside getting ready to watch a baseball game?

Then this wrapper flew past us in the breeze....yep....we were really outside.

There was a bit of a breeze, the flags above left field were blowing. Pennant flags for the pennant years, I like it.

The shiny new Twins sign under a big bank of lights in center field.

A couple of fans that were pretty giddy about being at the game. :-)

The Twins were playing Kansas City. Here are some of their players stretching out below us.

The Twins were stretching over by first base. Tonya's seats are in the front part of the 2nd deck, between 3rd and home, about even with the pitcher's mound. Great view.

We had to try out some of the stadium food. BBQ's and kettle chips. We got the food about the time we had to stand for the National Anthem....poor timing. We stood for that, then sat to try and eat only to stand again and again for late comers taking their seats. Lesson learned. The food was good though!

There was only a short time were the sun was a problem for seeing the game...it reflected off of the old IDS building into our eyes for about 15 minutes. They shouldn't have washed their windows!

What's a little glare when Baker is on the mound for the Twins. Did I mention that they are playing outside?

Kansas City must have had an off day on April 15th...Jackie Robinson Day...because they were all wearing their Jackie Robinson number 42 jerseys when they played the Twins. Hey, it's number 42 at bat. Again and again.

The stands were full for the game...no one seemed to mind the cool evening air.

We could look into the Twins dugouts from our seats. Some players were standing, some were sitting on the bench, some were on top of the bench...just like a bunch of kids. I like it.

Game shots...here is Joe Mauer at the plate....

The pitch, the swing....

Foul ball.

K.C. # 42 trying to steal 2nd base....

The throw, the catch, the slide.......

The missed tag. Safe! Oops.

K.C. # 42 trying to score from third. The throw, Mauer's got it....

...the slide....

the tag....

.... he's out!

The game was awesome. The views were awesome. Here is the Mpls. skyline as seen from our seats.

Here it is 20 minutes later after the sun went down.

These were taken at about 5 minute intervals. Loved the colors.

The grounds crew was hard at work half way through the game. There is a reason the field is as beautiful as it is.

Eventually Tonya came by to see if we were enjoying our evening.

Yes we were...thank you very much!

She took our picture...that was sweet.

Then the big dude sitting next to me offered to take our picture. It just goes to show that even with everything set on automatic...my camera isn't idiot proof.

Kansas City had some troubles. They met at the mound to talk things over. I couldn't help but think that what they were saying went something like this....

Larry: Excuse me, but what the heck's going on out here?

Crash: Well, Nuke's scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man's here. We need a live... is it a live rooster?

[Jose nods]

Crash: We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose's glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present.

[to the players]

Crash: Is that about right?

[the players nod]

Crash: We're dealing with a lot of s#@&.

Larry: Okay, well, uh... candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let's get two! Go get 'em.

Name that movie.

The movie is Bull Durham

The bull pen at the new stadium is way out in center field. They know that it's time to change pitchers when too many balls come over the fence into the bull pen.

I didn't realize that the Twins sign lit up with colored lights at night.

I also didn't realize that it did this....it was cool.

As the night wore on and the Twins lead grew....the crowds thinned out and we were able to put our feet up.

And sneak up a row to take each others pictures. Me.

Eric.

Twins win 10-3...and then there were fireworks.

Jsut a few.

Outdoor baseball in Minnesota, it's something to celebrate.

The season the Twins are having is too.

Congratulations guys....it's looking like a great season ahead.

Birds and Flowers and Stuff

I had to make a quick trip to the farm this week so the farrier could come and trim Skylar's hooves. Poor boys feet grow like weeds. I left here on Wednesday, early afternoon, just as the rain came. I think I drove in the heart of the storm the whole way there. Yuck. But I did see something cool along the way. One of the towns nearby is known for it's lakes and the fishing. Well, word must have gotten out to the Pelicans about the good fishing because there was a big flock of them in the lake!

I pulled over into a nearby parking lot and stood in the rain taking pictures....a few other cars stopped to look too. It was quite a sight!

I eventually made it to the farm, the rain was letting up a bit, but I still got wet waiting for the farrier. He was supposed to be there between 3:00 and 3:30. Which means if you have your horse caught and ready by 3:00 the farrier will come at 3:30. If you can't catch your horse or get delayed in some way, the farrier will come at 3:00. And if it's raining and you catch your horse right away, even if the farrier comes at 3:30 it will seem much later because it's raining. I'm not complaining, my farrier lives on a neighboring farm and is as nice as can be....it's just the laws of timing that complicate things.

After the hooves were trimmed and some coffee was drunk we looked out the kitchen window saw these....wild turkeys!

I snuck out the door and shot 'em....with my camera and zoom lens. I'm to much of a wimp to be a hunter.

I decided to spend the night and spend some time with my mom. The sunrise at the farm is different every morning. Yesterday it had been raining to start the day, but the soft colors were too pretty not to take a picture.

My mom's Virginia Blue Bells were blooming. Pretty blue on a gray day. We did some shopping and had some lunch and when we got back to the house my mom headed out.....

....she said, come on, let's check out the flowers across the road!

And off she went. Sometimes I just have to try to keep up!

It was worth the effort. The hepatica's were in full glory. There were a few that were blooming on Easter Sunday, but nothing like this.

There aren't any words that can say more than the pictures, so I'll just let them do the talking.

I took my pictures, my mom picked her bouquet, and then it was time to head out. There goes my mom on her bike...she's got a faithful parade of dogs following her every move.

I sort of like following her around too. You never know what you're going to see.