Today the White Sox played their last game at the Metrodome and they left it in style. The Twins only have a dozen games left there and then they leave for greener pastures at Target Field. The new stadium looks very nice and I'm looking forward to seeing some real live outdoor baseball.
One of the things that makes baseball a special sport is that each stadium is unique. For football, basketball and hockey every field is the same dimension, set by rule. Old baseball stadiums has to be built in whatever space was available and that made each one different. Space is rarely a real obstacle for a modern team (especially with the common partnership with the city or state). Nevertheless, baseball architects have stayed true to the past and tried to give each place a heart of it's own.
Of course, each team also creates their own traditions down on the field. I'm hopeful that the Twins work to make some kind of unique tradition all of their own. This could be something small like a special music choice (like the Red Sox with 'Sweet Caroline' or the Yankees with 'YMCA') with something new. I want to say they could do something with 'Batdance' from Prince...
Shooting off fireworks after homeruns or after the game are a White Sox tradition but they've been so thoroughly used throughout the league that I'm sure they'll happen here too. Throwing the ball back after the opposing team hits a home run is a Cubs tradition and I hope that Twins fans stop stealing that once they move into the new park. Noisemakers have been done (those gawd-awful Thunderstix in Anaheim and boat horns in Oakland).
I've suggested in the past that they get rid of TC, their Barneyesque mascot and replace him with a school of Walleye mascots. They already have the costumes! They could release a dozen of them out into the wild and people could try and harvest them.
Ok, I don't know what they should do but I hope their marketing team has been doing some thinking.
2 comments:
Holy crap I'm behind the times. I didn't have any idea that this was happening. Of course, one could blame the fact that I purposely avoid reading the sports section and we HAVE been overseas for a couple of years.
I'm sure the new arena is great, but it's still kind of sad. Peder, what are they going to do with the Metrodome? I assume the Vikings are still going to play there?
Yes, the Vikings will still play at the dome. There are some other minor sports like Gopher baseball and the high school football playoffs that will still play there. I think that they still have monster truck rallys. Maybe concerts and trade shows of some sort.
Years ago Hans had the idea of using it as a driving range during the winter. I think they should have model blimp races or remote control airplane fights there.
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