Opinion: Target Field truly worthy of all the hype

The telephone calls, e-mails and texts came pouring into my cell phone in the minutes after that ball came looping at me. It had been a moment televised throughout the Midwest as the Minnesota Twins showed off their new ballpark Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Friends and acquaintances who saw it on TV sent messages to congratulate me for catching a foul ball during my first game at the Twins’ plush new digs.

Consider it a brief moment of fame at a Twins game. More on that later.

As for the new ballpark itself, you’ll have to trust me. Target Field is all that it’s billed to be, and this comes from a nonbeliever — someone who was comfortable in the Metrodome because: A) I had great seats there, and B) My wife will not be happy the first time we drive to the Twin Cities for a game that gets rained out.

I wasn’t expecting to see the new stadium until later this month. But as a partial seasonticket holder for five seasons now, complimentary tickets came in the mail last week, inviting me to take in the Cardinals game. It was too hard to resist.

Target Field is beautiful. Tucked into the Warehouse District in west Minneapolis, the stadium is the centerpiece of a rejuvenated neighborhood that features theaters, restaurants and niche bars.

We couldn’t get to Minneapolis in time for Friday night’s game, but arrived just as it ended. Target Field’s lights still flickered, however, and like a siren song, they lured us into the city. We found our way to a parking lot about a block from the stadium.

We talked a security guard into letting us in the front gate for just a few minutes and we literally stood in awe. It’s so much more than the photos, newscasts and commercials portray.

Saturday’s game was everything you want from a day at the ballpark. Expected rainy weather didn’t materialize and 34,000 fans enjoyed an 8-3 win in sunny jacket weather.

A few highlights:

• Parking appears to be easier and more ample at Target Field than it was at the Metrodome, although this could be due to the city’s consistent push to get people to ride transit systems to games. It’s tough for me to gauge the parking, since my family generally is first in line at every game we attend, whether it’s in Minnesota or elsewhere.

We paid $7.50, parked about 150 yards from the front gate and walked into the park via the block-long plaza that is so prominent in Target Field advertising.

• The amenities are so much better. Not only are the stairways at an easier walking angle, but they also are equipped with handrails.

Too, the bathrooms are vastly improved. I can’t vouch for the women’s rooms — although I know there are many more — but the men’s rooms are modern and convenient. No communal troughs, like those found at the Metrodome.

• The food choices are so numerous that even veteran Twins fans struggle to choose a menu item. This actually slows down the process, but it’s rather humorous.

My boys each had $20 in their pocket, so I don’t know how their food-line experience went. They were off on their own, examining the choices.

My wife and I jumped in line at a Mexican-themed concessionaire. We ordered super nachos, a massive burrito of some sort and a tap beer. Cost: $24 — certainly not a great price for a South Dakota lunch, but not too bad for a majorleague ballpark.

• The seats are angled toward home plate, but not quite at the angle I had hoped for. Still, it’s better than the constant neck-twisting that was happening at the Metrodome.

• The traffic leaving the park was surprisingly void of traffic jams. Every postgame at the dome was met by slow traffic as motorists bolted en masse for the few freeway entrances. Perhaps Saturday was an anomaly, but we hardly slowed as we made our way out of the ballpark’s neighborhood and headed back in the direction of South Dakota.

Now, back to my foul ball. I didn’t actually catch it, and for that I blame my wife.

The boys were off exploring and it was late in the game, meaning there weren’t many people around us. As the ball soared high in the air, Mrs. Wenzel — who doesn’t appreciate a high fly ball nearly as much as I — froze. We tangled, and I had to reach over and backward, like a centerfielder trying to save a home run at the fence, only uglier.

The ball hit the pocket of my glove and bounced out.

Maybe I was thrown off by the lack of a Teflon roof.

Whatever. It was a good bounce and I got the ball anyway.

I was roundly booed by nearby fans, and the friends back home who saw me on TV (there was a great close-up shot) can see my sheepish reaction to the error.

It’s not my first close-up TV appearance at a Twins game — I was once circled by Bert Blyleven in Kansas City. That day, I held a “Mitchell, S.D.” sign and when Blyleven saw that, he said, “Mitchell, South Dakota, you are hereby circled.”

Saturday’s also was not this family’s first stadium ball. With two young sons working games for five years now, we have 70 or 80 major-league balls at home, gathered during batting practice, actual game play and from the players themselves. Personally, I’ve gotten four fouls in the past five years.

Caught them all, too, until Saturday.

Tags: korrie wenzel, opinion