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Over the past few days, I took another baseball trip to Minnesota. Purpose was twofold: 1) see a MLB game at Target Field, the only current MLB stadium I hadnt been to, and 2) see my college team (U of MD) compete in the Big 10 baseball tournament (also at Target Field).
Thursday May 21-Sunday May 24 - Big 10 Tournament
Tournament started Wednesday, but I got there Thursday. Maryland was the #4 seed and coming in was on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, so they needed to do well there to make it. We beat Michigan State 2-1, another bubble team, on Wednesday, getting the usual gem from Mike Shawaryn, who projects maybe as a late 1st-rounder in the 2016 draft. On Thursday, they played Illinois, who had a pending 27-game win streak. Maryland's problem all year has been getting good starts from their other SPs but Brian Shaffer pitched very well and we ended the Illini's streak, 2-1. We then had Friday off before playing Indiana on Saturday who had swept us 3 straight at home earlier. We won 4-2 to get a spot in the championship game Sunday against Michigan. The title game was scheduled for 1 PM so that's when I got there, only to find out that they had moved the game to 9 AM because of fears about the weather, so it was over before I got there. Michigan won 4-3. But we did well enough to get an NCAA tourney bid. I wont say a lot more about this tournament other than the teams that lost did so because of errors, including MD in the title game, as only 1 of the runs was earned. Yeah, I know, that's usually the case but was even more so in this tournament. Among notable 2015 draftee prospects in the tournament were RP/SP Tyler Jay (potential #1 overall pick) and SP Kevin Duchene for Illinois, RP/2B Jacob Cronenworth for Michigan, whose got saves in all 4 games, OF Cam Gibson (Kirk's son) for Michigan State, SP Blake Hickman for Iowa, and draft-eligible soph. 2B Brandon Lowe and RP Alex Robinson for Maryland. Also, in addition to Shawaryn, OF Ryan Boldt of Nebraska and Ryan Lakins of Ohio State for next year's draft.
Monday May 25 - Twins vs. Boston
The forecast called for rain all week so I was beginning to think this was going to be like when I was here last year when there was no telling when they would get the game(s) in. But the weather cooperated this time and it actually got partly sunny. Wasnt much of a game, as they pounded my roto starter Joe Kelly for 7 runs in 1.7 innings, and the Twins won 7-2 w no scoring after the 3rd inning. Suddenly attractive roto SP Ricky Nolasco won his 5th straight start and the surprising Twins continued to roll (3rd best rcd in AL now). Kelly threw 94mph and only walked 1 but couldnt put away anybody. Nolasco threw 91-92.
The stadium was nice, as are all the new stadiums. They constructed it to blend in w the downtown Minneapolis architecture, which has a lot of yellowish buildings. That's understandable, except that I dont think the yellow bldgs are particularly attractive. Even the dugouts are Minneapolis drab yellow. But it has about the best scoreboards I've ever seen. One scoreboard has the current hitter w both season stats and in-game stats, as well as not only what he did in his prior ABs but also shows where he hit the ball. Another scoreboard has an in-game box score. And the out-of-town scoreboard displays not the SP's uniform number, which virtually no fan knows, but the SP's name instead. And it displays not only the inning but the current runners on base and the outs. My ticket was a little pricey, $32 for high upper deck behind home plate. Bleacher seats were $22. The food prices were about standard for today's MLB. I had a pulled turkey sandwich for $7.50 and a bottled Pepsi for $5. I had a brat and a coke during the tournament for $12.50. Tix for the tournament were only $7 for a student ID. Announced attendance for the Twins was 29000+.
I thought about driving there and back (1250 mi 1-way), which would have been cheaper, but decided to fly at the last minute. I decided to try to save money by not renting a car for a change. My hotel (Days Inn) had a shuttle to from the airport so I thought I'd see if they'd shuttle me back and forth for the entire 5 days I was there. I had planned to try using a Zip car, which I've never tried before, to get from the airport to downtown where the stadium was, as they had a facilities both at the airport and near the stadium. This would have $7-10 each way. so maybe $70-100 all told. It turns out that there as a subway (light rail) that went from the airport rt to the stadium. This was only $1.75 1-way, which I think is a great price to travel about 10 miles.
However, this was different from every other subway I've ever been on in that there were no machines to read your fare card when you entered an exited the stations. I bought a fare card the 1st time and looked around for someone to present the card to and there was noone. I felt foolish buying a fare card each time if noone is ever going to collect it. I began to think that there might be some special rule where the subway is free if you're going to and from the airport, so I didnt buy a fare card the next 3-4 times or so. On about the 6th ride, some police officers entered the subway cars and asked to see peoples' fare cards. I told them I didnt buy one because noone ever collected it, how non-sensical I thought this "lack" a of procedural system was and that I would gladly pay if they tell me who I'm supposed to present the proof of payment to. They said that there isnt anyone to present the card to but that I'm supposed to buy the card anyway. I bought a card each time thereafter and sometimes there were police to check cards and sometimes there werent. Wouldnt police time be better spent chasing real criminals and having the city install machines that dont allow entry or exit unless you have the proper fare, like any other sensible subway system?
Another nice thing about the subway cars is that they have special places to hold bikes, and there were many riders that took their bikes onto the subway. I've never seen this on any other subway system, altho I'm sure there must be others that have it. This is an important feature in Minneapolis as there are bicyclists everywhere.
I learned that, in addition to Target Field, which is only about 5 years old, just about all of the Twin Cities' sports facilities are almost brand new or soon will be. They are building a new Vikings stadium on the site of where the old Metrodome used to be. Supposed to be ready for the 2016 season. They'll play at U of Minnesota field until then. They also have a new hockey arena, which is separate from their basketball arena, Target Center, which I think is only about 10-15 years old. I dont know of any other cities that have separate facilities for major league basketball and hockey, altho perhaps there are some. Any they also have a brand new park for their minor league team, the St Paul Saints, which just opened while I was there. For the Minnesota taxpayers' sake, I hope these werent all publicly funded!
Also, I found the Minneapolis people to be about the nicest I've seen in any major US city. The hotel people were nice too and they did shuttle me back and forth to the airport the whole time w/o hassling me at all. And it was about the best Days Inn I ever stayed at. Cheap too, about $45 per night plus tax. I may stay there again if I ever go back to the Twin Cities.
Didnt do anything else but watch baseball, read and watch TV but all in all a fun trip. So I now finally can claim all 30 stadiums! At least until the new one in Atlanta goes up in 2017.
Grade for Stadium: B
Grade for Light Rail procedures: F
Grade for Light Rail prices: A
Thursday May 21-Sunday May 24 - Big 10 Tournament
Tournament started Wednesday, but I got there Thursday. Maryland was the #4 seed and coming in was on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, so they needed to do well there to make it. We beat Michigan State 2-1, another bubble team, on Wednesday, getting the usual gem from Mike Shawaryn, who projects maybe as a late 1st-rounder in the 2016 draft. On Thursday, they played Illinois, who had a pending 27-game win streak. Maryland's problem all year has been getting good starts from their other SPs but Brian Shaffer pitched very well and we ended the Illini's streak, 2-1. We then had Friday off before playing Indiana on Saturday who had swept us 3 straight at home earlier. We won 4-2 to get a spot in the championship game Sunday against Michigan. The title game was scheduled for 1 PM so that's when I got there, only to find out that they had moved the game to 9 AM because of fears about the weather, so it was over before I got there. Michigan won 4-3. But we did well enough to get an NCAA tourney bid. I wont say a lot more about this tournament other than the teams that lost did so because of errors, including MD in the title game, as only 1 of the runs was earned. Yeah, I know, that's usually the case but was even more so in this tournament. Among notable 2015 draftee prospects in the tournament were RP/SP Tyler Jay (potential #1 overall pick) and SP Kevin Duchene for Illinois, RP/2B Jacob Cronenworth for Michigan, whose got saves in all 4 games, OF Cam Gibson (Kirk's son) for Michigan State, SP Blake Hickman for Iowa, and draft-eligible soph. 2B Brandon Lowe and RP Alex Robinson for Maryland. Also, in addition to Shawaryn, OF Ryan Boldt of Nebraska and Ryan Lakins of Ohio State for next year's draft.
Monday May 25 - Twins vs. Boston
The forecast called for rain all week so I was beginning to think this was going to be like when I was here last year when there was no telling when they would get the game(s) in. But the weather cooperated this time and it actually got partly sunny. Wasnt much of a game, as they pounded my roto starter Joe Kelly for 7 runs in 1.7 innings, and the Twins won 7-2 w no scoring after the 3rd inning. Suddenly attractive roto SP Ricky Nolasco won his 5th straight start and the surprising Twins continued to roll (3rd best rcd in AL now). Kelly threw 94mph and only walked 1 but couldnt put away anybody. Nolasco threw 91-92.
The stadium was nice, as are all the new stadiums. They constructed it to blend in w the downtown Minneapolis architecture, which has a lot of yellowish buildings. That's understandable, except that I dont think the yellow bldgs are particularly attractive. Even the dugouts are Minneapolis drab yellow. But it has about the best scoreboards I've ever seen. One scoreboard has the current hitter w both season stats and in-game stats, as well as not only what he did in his prior ABs but also shows where he hit the ball. Another scoreboard has an in-game box score. And the out-of-town scoreboard displays not the SP's uniform number, which virtually no fan knows, but the SP's name instead. And it displays not only the inning but the current runners on base and the outs. My ticket was a little pricey, $32 for high upper deck behind home plate. Bleacher seats were $22. The food prices were about standard for today's MLB. I had a pulled turkey sandwich for $7.50 and a bottled Pepsi for $5. I had a brat and a coke during the tournament for $12.50. Tix for the tournament were only $7 for a student ID. Announced attendance for the Twins was 29000+.
I thought about driving there and back (1250 mi 1-way), which would have been cheaper, but decided to fly at the last minute. I decided to try to save money by not renting a car for a change. My hotel (Days Inn) had a shuttle to from the airport so I thought I'd see if they'd shuttle me back and forth for the entire 5 days I was there. I had planned to try using a Zip car, which I've never tried before, to get from the airport to downtown where the stadium was, as they had a facilities both at the airport and near the stadium. This would have $7-10 each way. so maybe $70-100 all told. It turns out that there as a subway (light rail) that went from the airport rt to the stadium. This was only $1.75 1-way, which I think is a great price to travel about 10 miles.
However, this was different from every other subway I've ever been on in that there were no machines to read your fare card when you entered an exited the stations. I bought a fare card the 1st time and looked around for someone to present the card to and there was noone. I felt foolish buying a fare card each time if noone is ever going to collect it. I began to think that there might be some special rule where the subway is free if you're going to and from the airport, so I didnt buy a fare card the next 3-4 times or so. On about the 6th ride, some police officers entered the subway cars and asked to see peoples' fare cards. I told them I didnt buy one because noone ever collected it, how non-sensical I thought this "lack" a of procedural system was and that I would gladly pay if they tell me who I'm supposed to present the proof of payment to. They said that there isnt anyone to present the card to but that I'm supposed to buy the card anyway. I bought a card each time thereafter and sometimes there were police to check cards and sometimes there werent. Wouldnt police time be better spent chasing real criminals and having the city install machines that dont allow entry or exit unless you have the proper fare, like any other sensible subway system?
Another nice thing about the subway cars is that they have special places to hold bikes, and there were many riders that took their bikes onto the subway. I've never seen this on any other subway system, altho I'm sure there must be others that have it. This is an important feature in Minneapolis as there are bicyclists everywhere.
I learned that, in addition to Target Field, which is only about 5 years old, just about all of the Twin Cities' sports facilities are almost brand new or soon will be. They are building a new Vikings stadium on the site of where the old Metrodome used to be. Supposed to be ready for the 2016 season. They'll play at U of Minnesota field until then. They also have a new hockey arena, which is separate from their basketball arena, Target Center, which I think is only about 10-15 years old. I dont know of any other cities that have separate facilities for major league basketball and hockey, altho perhaps there are some. Any they also have a brand new park for their minor league team, the St Paul Saints, which just opened while I was there. For the Minnesota taxpayers' sake, I hope these werent all publicly funded!
Also, I found the Minneapolis people to be about the nicest I've seen in any major US city. The hotel people were nice too and they did shuttle me back and forth to the airport the whole time w/o hassling me at all. And it was about the best Days Inn I ever stayed at. Cheap too, about $45 per night plus tax. I may stay there again if I ever go back to the Twin Cities.
Didnt do anything else but watch baseball, read and watch TV but all in all a fun trip. So I now finally can claim all 30 stadiums! At least until the new one in Atlanta goes up in 2017.
Grade for Stadium: B
Grade for Light Rail procedures: F
Grade for Light Rail prices: A
). And I've never heard anyone complain that it's prison-like to use fare card reading machines. The honor system? They dont even use that in Japan which is one of the few places I know of where that might actually work. And, like I said, police resources would be much better utilized elsewhere. Couldnt they at least create some special 'fare police' so they dont have to use the regular police force? 
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