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Well it's getting pretty close now, something that I've personally been waiting on for 27 years since they left my childhood neighborhood in Bloomington, outdoor baseball returns to Minnesota in 25 days. Took a few snapshots a couple weekends ago walking around near the right field gate (#34) and plaza. Ya'll won't have the Metrodome to kick around anymore although they did cook up a couple quirks that should annoy the Whitey's and Tigers for decades to come.
Glad they broke out of that Red-Brick Retro mode that has been way overdone lately and I like the results. What do you all think?
exterior looking toward main plazaentering Right Field Terracefrom right to left....
plaza view of (L to R) pro shop, ticket windows and season ticket holders club...
plaza view looking toward right field entry past topiary (hops) baseball bats...
didn't get any decent shots of the playing field through the gate(s) but these give you a bit of a feel for the decks layout (snow is long gone)...
1st base side...
view from 1st base line, main concourse...
view across same concourse to LF foul pole and "Budweiser Party Roof Deck" (has outdoor fire-pit) beyond...
view past RF foul pole on to 3rd base-side stands: main level, club level, suites, terrace level & top deck...
view from RF terrace, past RF Grandstand stairs and on toward LF corner admin bldg and roof-top party deck. Black flag pole was saved from Metropolitan Stadium and reinstalled here...
better interior details shown in the following youtube video...
Looks nice! but NOT putting a roof or convertible roof might have been the biggest mistake they are making here.
I agree....April and October could bring some brutal weather in Minnesota for sitting outside to watch baseball. Could probably feel like a football game in Green Bay.
Awesome pics---thanks. I obviously am happy that the ChiSox don't have to play in the dome 9ish times a year anymore, that place was not so kind to us in recent years. I do plan on getting up there at least once this season though, that ballpark looks worth going to for sure.
Looks nice! but NOT putting a roof or convertible roof might have been the biggest mistake they are making here.
Most people up here would probably say not putting a roof on was the best thing they could have done although there's still plenty that would agree with you.
It was a long process to get this built and the extra $200M (or more) to add a retractable roof would have likely pushed this off indefinately. The Hennepin County board of 7 members took matters into their own hands and passed the needed funding by a 4 to 3 vote. No state, city or voter involvement was required. I believe all 4 of the commissioners won their re-election bids.
I haven't seen any of the retractable roof stadiums that ended up looking like anything more than a giant airplane hangers and the structure required to support the roofs end up basically sealing off the ballparks from decent views of the surrounding areas as well as severely limit the amount of sun to reach the stands. My impression is that these stadiums are not heated anyways.
In spite of the general impression, Minneapolis is actually well south of the Arctic Circle and my recollections of ball games at Metropolitan Stadium are pretty much void of blizzards or frozen fields. Comparisons to other Northern Cities with outdoor baseball shows that this argument for an enclosed stadium simply has little merit. I would venture a guess that we are probably "drier" than most (if not all) of the following as well. Avg high/low for April...
62/32 - Denver
59/42 - Chicago
58/38 - Detroit
57/38 - Cleveland
57/36 - Minneapolis
56/41 - Boston
54/36 - Milwaukee
Although I can certainly understand the desire to put a roof on Miller Park by our less hardy friends in Wisconsin.
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New Twins Stadium "Target Field"
