Monday, April 5, 2010

So we livin life like a video where the sun is always out/And you never get old and the champagne’s always cold

Let the 2010 Baseball Season Begin…
I have been waiting for this day since the second week of October.

HAPPY OPENING DAY!

2010 is the most exciting time to be a Twins fan:

*We have an amazing new stadium…er, ballpark.
*We have Baby Jesus (Mauer) signed to a eleventy billion year/dollar contract
*We are getting plenty of press and publicity

So, let’s talking about this amazing new ballpark – Target Field
I went to the exhibition game on Saturday with Vegan Joe. Here are the notes that I took mentally & written on my cellphone as I went through the day.

Commuting: There still needs to be a lot more thought put into the Light Rail system for it to be a viable “commuting” option. I had a ridiculous wait time coming and going to Target Field. I have some suggestions but I don’t think anyone hear has the ear of the transit authority. My only advice is if you are going to any games in the first month that you drive and park a ways away from the field or if you take the train to plan on going very early (like 2 hours) and leaving long after the game ends.

Food: I tried the Asian noodles (only one stand left of Hrbek’s). They were okay…the noodles were a little soggy but the veggies were very fresh and crisp. I love that they came in a standard Chinese take-out container and had chopsticks. Yum! I am compiling a list of food I want to eat: Tony O’s Cuban Sandwich, Something from the Mexican stands, Kramarczuk’s sausage, root beer, helmet sundae, state fair food, onion rings, their lame attempt at the Jucy Lucy, excuse me Juicy Lucy.

Prices: Ticket prices aren’t that much different. My advice is to buy the cheapest ticket and then wander around the stadium and check out all the different views. Food and beer prices went up significantly but I figure it was about time that happened…plus I am willing to pay a dollar or two more for something I want to eat.

Seating: Again, buy the cheapest ticket and wander. We spent two innings in our seats and then we walked around. That’s the perk of the new park. You can see the field for everywhere. We walked the length of the third level and then took some mysterious back stairs down a level to do a lap. Finally we hit the first, most popular, and best level. There we found the noodles and amazing views of the field. We also found the State Fair stand and the bullpen. We made a brief appearance in Hrbek’s bar. A really awesome location to hang out and chat. So, even if you are seated by some Class A Douchebags (and I can only guess that there will be a lot) you can leave and enjoy the experience somewhere else.

Shopping: FINALLY! The Minnesota Twins have an awesome Clubhouse Store (or something along that line) at Target Field. The store is huge and has almost one whole wall dedicated to women. There are great tshirts, hoodies, ect. Alas the prices are very expensive. I found a pretty awesome vintage tee (to rival my favorite baseball shirt which is a Pirate’s one) but the cost was $49.00. That’s a lot of cheese for a tshirt.

Fangirly Moments:
I said no less than 20 times that “I Heart Target Field”!
*David Cook is singing the National Anthem for the Kansas City Royals home opener. Hey, he’s gotta be a good guy if he sticks with his hometown team! Come on, it’s the Royals!
*Wally the Beerman is at Target Field hocking his wares and I totally gave him a shout-out.

Photo Ops, yo!
Here are the pictures I took around the ballpark on Saturday. I used my cellphone camera so I did some touching up/editing/funky things to them to make them look better. (@MLB even RT’ed two of my pictures and contributed to me getting an ass-load of new followers – HOLLA!)









Music of the Day
Jay Z – Young Forever

2 comments:

B Fuhr said...

Rachel linked me to your blog as I'm also a large baseball fan. A Royals fan.... yes.

I'll be there next weekend checking out Target Field with my friend the whole weekend. I'm getting all sorts of excited from your pictures.

Mmmmmbaseball

Baseball_Lipgloss said...

B Fuhr,

The stadium is all kinds of amazing! Make sure you take time to walk around all the levels and look at the different things. There are some great pre-game stuff to look at on the plaza too (statues and memory walls.) Don't forget to go into Hrbek's to look at the ceiling! Have fun!