Random Thoughts From a Weekend at the Dome

I took in the 3-game series at the Metrodome this weekend between the defending champs and the Twins. Just some thoughts from the weekend.

My tickets for the 3 games cost a total of $18 – parking cost $45… Most people put ketchup not only on their hot dogs but also on bratwursts. That’s just not right… The Twins fans are very knowledgeable and they cheered a ground ball to the right side to move a runner to third with no out just as enthusiastically as they did a homer. They also don’t like AJ. He was booed very loudly all weekend. I think they should give him a standing ovation every time. After all if it wasn’t for him they wouldn’t have Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser… The White Sox seem complacent. I didn’t see the fire that I saw last year. I also noticed a few of them dogging it on ground balls… Joe Crede plays an awesome third base… Brian Anderson swings at the first pitch too often. I wouldn’t throw him anything good on the first pitch… Johan Santana may just be the best lefty in the game… It dawned on me that a generation of Twins fans have not seen a Twins home game outside. And many have not seen the Twins play outside except on TV. That will change in 2010 when they open their new park… The Twins are a fun team to watch. The have a bunch of scrappy players who play hard for 9 innings. Their speed and aggressiveness really pressured the White Sox defense and made them look bad… Pablo Ozuna is not a major league outfielder. His poor judgment in trying to throw out Luis Castillo at third on a hit run opened the door for a big inning by the Twins in Sunday’s game… Jose Uribe still thinks he has to swing at every pitch like he’s going to hit it 500 feet… Jason Tyner throws funny. He pauses to skip his left foot at the top of his motion. When throws on the run he does the foot thing and then throws… The Twins do a great job of promoting youth baseball. They had youth baseball promotions all weekend. There was a group they honored today that builds “Miracle Fields”. This group builds baseball fields for the physically challenged so that they can play the game and participate in a team sport… I noticed that there doesn’t seem to be any acknowledgement that the Twins franchise started in Washington D.C. as the Senators. There’s no mention of the AL or WS championships won by the Senators on the banners hanging in the dome. And not to beat the Hometown Heroes thing again, but shouldn’t Walter Johnson be a nominee for this franchise? I think so… And no article about the Metrodome and the Twins would be complete without mentioning Kirby Puckett. Kirby by far is the most popular Twin. It’s very evident by the number of 34 Twins jerseys that are worn at every game. His passing was a big loss for the organization and the Twins fans. During the 7th inning stretch right after the singing of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”, they play a moving video montage accompanied by Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” honoring Puckett. And his number 34 is painted along both the first and third base foul lines… I’ve ripped the Metrodome in the past but after watching 5 games there this year I guess it’s not all that bad.