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The Student News Site of Macalester College

The Mac Weekly

The Student News Site of Macalester College

The Mac Weekly

Play ball: green grass, blue skies await at Target Field

By Daniel Kerwin and Mathew Starner

Daniel’s take:I’m one of the people who absolutely loved the Metrodome, so I entered Target Field with a skeptical eye. By the end of the game I was won over by the ballpark and will gladly go back whenever I can this year. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros – The openness of the layout means that you can always see and hear the game no matter where you are in the stadium. Walking through the concourse you can quickly step towards the field to catch a glimpse of the action, whereas at the Metrodome you were completely cut off when walking through the concourse and had to enter through a door to return to the action. There are a wider variety of food choices than at the Metrodome and the vendors try to capture a distinct Minnesota taste. If you catch an afternoon game, the sunsets are to die for!

Cons – There are a lot of seats that give you an obstructed view of the field, especially for plays in the outfield, which makes you wonder if this could have been avoided. There are also a large number of seats where you can’t see the large scoreboard in center field. The food are merchandise are both expensive. The stadium tries to incorporate a unique character with such features as its bright stone exterior, pine trees and flowers at the outfield wall and a neon retro Twins logo over center field, but it still feels like a standard new baseball stadium.

Mathew’s take:

I’m one of the people who was absolutely neutral about the Metrodome. Sure, it was the team’s home virtually since Mother-Minnesota found out she was having Twins. But it was obviously meant to be a place where football was played, and I am ecstatic to see the Twins finally get a park to call their own.

Pros – For many fans in Minnesota, this is the first chance they’ve ever had to see MLB baseball outside, where it’s meant to be played. The first thing new fans will notice is the beautiful sight of grass. Scratch that. The first thing fans will notice is the beautiful sight that is Joe Mauer. They may get slightly distracted by the gorgeous grass, the breathtaking sunsets behind home plate, a skimming of the Minneapolis skyline, and the “holy-oh-my-god did you see the size of the scoreboard screen resting atop the outfield bleachers?”

Cons – No matter where you sit in the outfield, you’re going to have an obstructed view of some part of the field. Also, the ticket prices are substantially higher than the cheap seats you could get at the Dome, while the merch shops don’t sell a t-shirt for much less than $45. Target Field presents itself as an upgraded version of the Metrodome. Despite this, the overwhelmingly biggest problem with Target Field is that this park wasn’t built sooner for me to enjoy!

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