It adds expense,

Although, they can give it the nickname, "The Bullseye". That's a pretty cool nickname for a stadium.

retractable roof is the way to go. It adds expense, but it definitely is worth it over the long haul for the very reason Jeremy mentioned and more. Baseball was supposed to be played outdoors, but when it rains or is really cold, you should be able to account for that. Enter the sliding roof.

Umm, I'm not sure that has anything to do with what I said, and I was not in any way pointing to this season as my sample. My point was that Milwaukee is a baseball town, and you put a winning team there and there's going to be people in the stands County Stadium was packed in the early 80s and early 90s when the team was good. The Twins have been near the top of their division for about 5 or 6 years now and you would think they were the on par with the Devil Rays based on their attendance. That what I was saying. Even when the Twins ARE good they don't seem draw much of a crowd, even with tickets for like $10.

Seriously that was not one of your better points. "Dig aside" basically just led to more dig.

While I'm very much in favor of a roof, the thing I noticed at Miller Park was that even with the roof open, it still almost felt like you were inside a building. Since I'm one of the few who don't mind the Metrodome, this isn't a problem for me, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

While "The Bullseye" is sort of cool sounding, it's ultimately not much shorter than the real name, which isn't a prerequisite, but it's a somewhat big "con."

Here's the thing about the roof. I'm really bummed about not having one. But also, I feel uneasy complaining about it. It is somewhat of a luxury item. Plus, I can't really fault the politicians and citizens for not wanting to pay for it. I can be angry at the Twins ownership for not dishing out the money, but I really don't know if that's totally fair, because I'm not sure if it's technically worth it from their standpoint. We could rationalize that they're rich and they should do it for the fans and all that, but it's always easier to feel that way about someone else's money. On a slightly different note, Miller Park's retractable roof isn't exactly the poster child for the greatness of retractable roofs. They've already had some pretty serious repairs to do, and that's not cheap. Plus, according to wikipedia, the huge shadows it casts have made it quite difficult to keep the grass in good condition, even to the point of seriously considering using artificial turf. Maybe these are one time problems with simple solutions, but with giant moving parts like they have, I wouldn't exactly be surprised if the continued maintenence becomes costly/annoying.

I'm more worried about the lack of nickname potential. The Targ? The Get? Edit: I'm also not looking forward to the million times we're going to hear someone do the "Fancy"/Foreign "Targé" pronunciation that people who think they're funny do.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul/St. Cloud Combined Statistical Area has a population of about 3.5 million people, while the Milwaukee/Racine/Waukesha CSA has a population of about 1.7 million. The Milwaukee area, however, doesn't include the Madison area (which is about the same distance from Milwaukee that St. Cloud is from the Twin Cities). Add the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area in and you get a total of around 2.3 million. The CSA also doesn't include Kenosha which is only about 30 miles away, yet is considered as part of "Chicagoland". Add this in, as well as maybe Janesville/Beloit and you're at around 2.5 million. So, this gives the Twins about a 1 million person advantage, at least among the "Greater Metro Areas" of the two teams. There are a few factors that would probably reduce this advantage somewhat, but I'm not sure how much. 1. The Milwaukee numbers don't include any people who live in the Chicago/Northern Illinois area that are certainly within easy driving distance to Milwaukee (the Minneapolis CSA does, however, include Wisconsin's Pierce and St. Croix counties). 2. It looks to me like Minnesota has a much higher percentage of its population living near the Twin Cities (about 3.5 million of 5.2 million) than Wisconsin does to Milwaukee (about 2.5 million of 5.6 million). This likely means that the Brewers could expect more fans to show up from outside the Metro area, than the Twins do. Notes: I basically just used the numbers I could find on Wikipedia and some of the references found therein. Since some of the numbers were probably based on different years or estimations, I used rough approximations and so the ultimate figures may be a little off. The official Twin Cities metro area seems to be a larger area land wise that Milwaukee's, so that's why I tried to compensate by adding in Madison and Kenosha. Bud Selig putting the Brewers in the same division of the Cubs, certainly gives the Brewers a slight attendance boost. To sum up, it would seem that the Twins should have a bit of an advantage in drawing fans to the park based on metro area population. However, due to limitations with the data, definitions of metro areas, and other factors, its hard to really know how much (if any) of an advantage it really gives the Twins.

I think it could be a reasonible arguement that being near Chicago could actually hurt Milwaukee's fan base/draw. The fact that the Brewers are competing for fans with TWO teams less than 90 miles away, both of which are pretty strong fan bases, can't exactly be good. Their are probably way more cubs fans in Milwaukee than there are Brewer fans in Milwaukee. On the other hand, the Twins have no one to compete with really. There is no other team within 240 miles. And while the volume of people may be debatable as far as which area technically has more, the Brewers are one of 3 teams potentially fighting over part of the same fan base, while the Twins are all alone.

The close rivalry itself can also fuel the fanaticism.

The Bull Dog? (like "bullseye" dog).

His name is Spot, I believe. Meagen works for corporate.

Actually, a quick glance at the numbers shows that the attendance for the Twins and Brewers have been pretty similar over the past 20-25 years despite the fact that most people concede that the Dome is an awful baseball stadium. Both teams have their ups and downs that coincide somewhat with how well the team is doing. Now, in 2001, Miller Park opened and the Twins also started to get good. The Brewers got a huge attendance boost in 2001, then it dipped, and now their numbers are growing again these past few years that they have shown some life. Meanwhile the Twins attendance has been steadily growing during this time as the Twins have been good (and as people start to get interested again after the awfulness of Twins baseball in the late 90's, as well as getting over their anger towards Pohlad and his refusal to spend any money). If you look at the numbers, from 2002-2006 the Twins and Brewers attendance numbers were essentially the same, with the Brewers pulling ahead in '07 and '08. Obviously, you can't conclude anything definitively just using these numbers, but one could hazard a guess that the attendance boost the Twins got from winning, was offset buy the Brewers' new park, and that the Brewers are now riding somewhat of a double boost as they have a good team and a good park. Meanwhile the Twins have a good team and a bad park, which will soon be replaced by a good one. That was a bit of a ramble, but I guess what I wanted to say was that while it is certainly possible that Milwaukee is more of a "baseball town" than Minneapolis/St. Paul, the attendance figures don't really show a huge difference between them, and even these can be skewed by other factors. Historical attendance numbers

*just a note on the Braves attendance in 1962-1965: They were bought out in 1962, then announced prior to the 1964 season that they would move to Atlanta following that year; however, due to a court decision, they were forced to play in Milwaukee for the 1965 seasons. In other words, in 1964 and 1965, the Milwaukee fans were basically aware that their team was leaving, and it was two tumultuos seasons

So, in other words, they drew big numbers during another "now or never" situation.

Here's an article I enjoyed. It's got interesting info on the new park. I found it interesting at least. I really got a kick out of the part about the sod near the end. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090515&content_id=4750462&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min

The grass is nearing installation at Target Field. Updated photos are on the Twins website as well. Interesting that they went with green seats rather than something like navy or red from the Twins color scheme.

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/ballpark/index.jsp

Also, I have to say, I looked at that sun study thing a while back and didn't think it was anything. I mean it's interesting, but didn't really tell me anything other than there will be sun and there will be shadows. I think it's cool that they did it, but I guess it wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. I viewed it again. Basically the same reaction. But I did have one observation: Does the sun really shine that little in October? We need to all move. Scott, make up your guest room.

It should be noted that in the Summer, Minneapolis gets about 1 hour more sunlight during the day than in Tampa. Just remember that in early July when it's 7:00 and you still need your sunglasses and hat.

I think we'll all manage somehow.

The lack of a dome should have tipped us all off earlier than this.

There's a tour bus leaving from Eau Claire on May 23rd. For 69 bucks you get a ride and a ticket to the Twins/Brewers game @ Target Field.

There's a tour bus leaving from Eau Claire on May 23rd. For 69 bucks you get a ride and a ticket to the Twins/Brewers game @ Target Field.

Also, at Miller Park you can bring in your own food, so I'm not going to pay $4 or more for a hotdog or anything else for that matter if I can help it. If anything, the fact that you can bring in your own food should rank Miller Park highly on the food scale.

http://www.twinkietown.com/2010/3/5/1359129/kfan-twins-mauer-signing-imminent?ref=yahoo

This weekend Mauer will be signed. Mark it down.

Speaking of big contracts, I hope the Brewers can keep Fielder. I don't care if it takes all their money, I'd rather watch Braun & Fielder hit 3 & 4 regardless of what the rest of the lineup looks like than to spread the salary around if that's what it comes to. I feel like in the winning season/playoff excitement of the last couple years that Brewers fans might be under appreciating that combo a little. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4964711

I am in total agreement with this. Sure it's a risk simply because of the large sum of money required to keep him, but you know what you have in Fielder. He's home grown, he hasn't had an off year yet, and he is still young. If the Brewers were ever going to take a risk on a big time contract, this would be the time. This has a very high potential payout, and the likelihood of bust seems very low. ... There is almost no downside to this.

Golic sounds off about Zito Plunking Fielder.


There's something about the fact that the game was actually over at this point (on their home field no less) that makes me wonder why this was ever such a big deal. If they did this in the 3rd inning or something, yeah, that would be a big deal. What's the difference between what the Brewers did in this game and what teams usually do for a walk-off homerun; usually they all gather around home plate and jump around mob the hitter. Is this really any different? It probably took about 2 minutes for someone to say "hey, the next time we have walk-off homerun at home, lets do this. Maybe it's because I'm a Brewer fan (which I freely admit might be part of it), but the fact that the game was over at this point makes this seem as innocent as anything good be to get offended or upset about.

I hope it's not Klement's that gets the new contract. Miller Park dogs are terrible. (I'd rather get the chicken strips and fries. They're a steal for ball park prices!)

It's interesting that Hormel won't be the company. It seems like the Twins have made effort to get a lot of local ties in, and Hormel is a Minnesota company. Not that I care, it's just what came to mind. So there must be a good reason for parting ways. I do enjoy the dome dog, but I think there will be plenty of good stuff. Those other sausages sound good and are made fresh right in the neighborhood.

http://www.twinkietown.com/2010/3/5/1359129/kfan-twins-mauer-signing-imminent?ref=yahoo

This weekend Mauer will be signed. Mark it down.

Jim Souhan: Is it time for Twins to ponder the unthinkable?
http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/87294197.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr&elr=KArksi8cyaiUqCP:iUiacyKUUs

http://www.twinkietown.com/2010/3/5/1359129/kfan-twins-mauer-signing-imminent?ref=yahoo

This weekend Mauer will be signed. Mark it down.

It makes me wonder if this could be a sign that the Brewers should pay out for Fielder. Any questions about Fielder's future health due to his size are probably even less than questions about Mauer's health for a couple of reason: 1) Mauer has been hurt in the past and has spent his share of time on the DL; and 2) Mauer is a catcher, and the reality is that catchers take a beating, and even the most durable catchers can get worn down or injured through no fault of their own other than just normal ware and tear. While fielder is a big guy, he hasn't gotten any bigger really since his rookie year and he hasn't been injured yet in his big league career. In fact, I believe that is one of if not the only player last season to play in every inning of every game for his team.

In summary, signing Fielder actually seems to make as much of not more sense to the Brewers as Mauer's signing did for the Twins.

Another Brewers post in the Target field thread.

I think there are some major factors you are ignoring in the Brewers resigning Fielder. He is not from Milwaukee, so there won't be any sort of hometwon discount like they may have been in Mauer's deal. I think the health concerns are valid and he is also represented by Scott Boras and we all know what that means. Good luck with that.

he is also represented by Scott Boras and we all know what that means.

The only numbers available are the size of the advertising slots on the board, so I had to do some scale assumptions of my own. No word yet on how big Miller Park's new scoreboard will be.

more rectangular, if that's correct.

Pretty sure it's not.

It really isn't anything.

I don't get the appeal of making a point to sit in a parking lot one tiny tiny bit.

So I just read a few the early posts on this thread, and the consensus at the time, even among the Twins faithful, was that the lack of Dome was "downright stupid". What are everyone's opinions now that they have experienced multiple games? (this isn't a "let's trash miller park" type of question. It is a legitimate question).

I meant your use of the phrase "more rectangular" was not correct. They are both equally rectangular (assuming they both have 90 degree corners)

It's a perfectly valid phrase used all the time in the "screen" world, and other places dimensions are involved. It's farther from being a square. It's less square. Don't be a dick.

I wasn't "looking for" anything. I didn't invent it, and it's a perfectly valid, perfectly clear, colloquial usage. (And not in the could care less vs couldn't care less "everyone knows what you mean" vein, more along the lines of the word "theory" having completely different definitions as a technical versus a colloquial term.)

Tickets go on sale mid-March, buy early and buy often. :) These new additions will be pretty cool, I'm glad they're already looking to improve it. I always thought it was a waste to have that big Mortenson Construction ad in right center. I understood why it was there, but glad it was only a one year deal. I wonder what other foods they'll add, I still never got a gelato!

Even Morneau Hate Target Field. He calls it "ridiculous", "impossible", and "difficult". I'll let you piece together the context.

I'll let you piece together the context.

Do you mean like any context? :)

I read that earlier. His new baby must be influencing him. Waa Waa. Maybe if he played more than half a season ever he could figure out Target Field.
We're not the Yankees, we don't need a tiny tiny field.

I hear Nick Punto requested the installation of a Slip 'n Slide down the first base line.