February 22, 2007
But When Do We Get the Ghost of Kirby Puckett?
By
Amanda
Posted at 10:38 pm
I didn't even realize that the Twins were looking to replace the Metrodome, but now that I see that they're having problems getting the land deal done, I see what a potentially large impact this could have on the Reds. I mean, if they don't build themselves a new ballpark, how are we ever going to get their old one?
Any team stuck with an abortion like the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome *ought* to be looking to replace it – even if it is brand new and they just moved in yesterday. It’s not bad as a football venue, but it’s lousy as a baseball park. There’s 45,000 seats, but only about 20,000 of ’em are worth sitting in. The seats are angled at the 50-yard line for football, so the only seats that face home plate are right behind homeplate and in straightaway center. If you sit along the third base line, you’re facing the visitor’s bullpen. If you sit along the first base line, you’re facing the home bullpen. If you sit in left field, you face the visitor’s dugout. If you sit in right field, you face the home team’s dugout.
There are drainage holes in the roof and back in 1984, a visiting player hit a pop fly that went up there and got stuck in one of those drainage holes and stayed there. I’m not sure, but I think it was Dave Kingman. In any case, they gave the guy a grounds rule double. Then in 1992, Chili Davis hit what should have been a home run over the right-field wall, but instead became a “pop-up” to the second baseman after it struck one of those giant-sized speakers they have suspended in right field.
It’s $4.50 for a tasteless hot dog and $5.25 for a hamburger. You are crammed in your seat like a sardine. No leg room at all.
Worst excuse for a baseball park I have ever seen. The Minnesota legislature approved a new ballpark for the Twins last year, but the timetable for it that I saw says it won’t be ready until the 2010 season. That’s about 25 years too late.