matthew weaver .com | mlb ballparks

Ballpark:
An AstroTurf monstrosity that generally keeps the fans at home, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome may be the worst baseball venue in the Majors. The multi-purpose stadium was built to house both the NFL Vikings and the MLB Twins - and it shows. All of right field and a chunk of center field are just a big wall of folded football seats. To cover the seats in right field, the stadium uses a fabric sheet nicknamed "The Baggie" and most of the outfield wall is made from the same fabric. The Teflon roof of the dome is off white and players regularly lose fly balls since they are basically the same color. To make things worse, the ball flies well in the park, once earning it the name of "The Homerdome."

Since there are no luxury suites or club seats, the Twins are losing money and have had a difficult time competing with large market or new stadium teams. Though the Twins have been competitive in recent years, their Championship years of the 1980's seem far away in an era of retro styled, real turf ballparks.

As for the park itself, the seats are more suited for football, as they point toward centerfield instead of the infield. Even the home plate seats are pretty lousy, as they are high above the field. The original Astroturf surface did not provide true hops and singles became easy triples if outfielders charged the ball too much. Fortunately, the team replaced the old field with FieldTurf to make the surface more grass-like. Other observations are that tickets and food prices are reasonable.

The Twins fans are knowledgeable, but that alone does not make up for the artificial feel of the Metrodome. Baseball was just not meant for this kind of park. I have to give this ballpark an "F" rating.

Fortunately, the Twins have announced a plan to build a new 42,000-seat outdoor park that is scheduled to open in April 2009.

How to get there:
From Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, take Interstate 35W North into Downtown Minneapolis. Exit onto South 5th Avenue, go 4 blocks and turn right on South 6th Street. Go three blocks and you'll see the dome. Parking is another story - there are many surface lots and a few parking garages in the area. Twins parking is pretty cheap.

City:
The Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is a frozen tundra in the winter, but a beautiful place in the summer. The area is in the heart of the Land of 10,000 Lakes and many of its residents spend their time outdoors - boating and biking especially. During the winter, the outdoor enthusiasts take to the indoors to shop at the Mall of America, play hockey or cross country ski. The people of Minnesota are some of the nicest that I have met and I have always enjoyed going there. And if you want to see blond haired women, Minneapolis is the place to go due to its Scandinavian heritage.

The area around the Metrodome is a bit sketchy, so don't stray too far from the ballpark at night.

Stuff to do while there:
The hip place to be in Minneapolis seems to be the bustling Nicolett Mall area of downtown. There are many choices for shopping, eating and nightlife, and the area is clean and safe. A few too many smokers for my taste, but hey, it's the Midwest...what can I expect?

Story:
I flew into Minneapolis to catch two games wrapped around a trip to Milwaukee. I met up with my long time friend Mike, who had flown in from the Bay Area, and we had dinner with three of his friends from Minneapolis. After eating, Mike and caught the game and went our separate ways. I drove to Milwaukee the next day and came back for the Sunday game. However, a late season snow storm hit and I bailed on the game and went straight to the airport to catch the first flight out of town.

Fun facts:
The Metrodome has hosted an MLB All-Star Game in 1985, two NCAA Basketball Final Four Championships in 1992 and 2001 and Super Bowl XXVI in 1992.

Super Bowl XXVI was the northern-most Super Bowl ever played. Detroit, Michigan, is the only other cold weather climate to host the game (in 1982 and 2006).

The left field seats used to have a Plexiglas shield extending up from the base of the wall to about 10 feet. This was removed in the mid 1990's and its now easier than ever to hit one out of the "Homerdome."

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The exterior of the Metrodome from the home plate entrance
April 19, 2002

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A 5-photo Metrodome mosaic
April 19, 2002

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Matt from his infield seats
April 19, 2002

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Twins pitcher Kyle Lohse throws the game's first pitch to Indians outfielder Matt Lawton
April 19, 2002

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A wide shot of the infield
April 19, 2002

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Artist's rendering of new Twins
park to open in April 2009
Source: twinsbaseball.com