A dome full of memories

The Twins play Detroit on Tuesday for the chance to take on the Yankees in the Divisional Playoffs. The game will be played at the Metrodome tomorrow afternoon in what hopefully is NOT the last time they play under the Teflon covered stadium. Yesterday got me thinking of the games I have seen the Twins play there. With the help of baseball-reference.com I was able to track down the box scores for every game I ever went to.

April 28th - 1988: My first game at the Dome was a class trip I went on when the defending World Series champion Twins took on the lowly Baltimore Orioles. I remember very little from the game itself except for the fact that my distant cousin Fred Lynn, who prior to Ichiro in 2001 was the first player to ever win ROY and MVP in the same year, was not in the starting lineup for the Orioles. The Twins ended up winning the game 4-2, prolonging the Orioles season beginning losing streak to a mind-boggling 21 games.

July 29th - 1990: My baseball team was in the Twin Cities for a tournament and we got to watch the Twins take on the Oakland A's. My dad chaperoned a group of us to the game. Jose Canseco and Felix Jose hit bombs in the game, but the Twins ended up taking the game in 6-5 extra innings. My dad got half-lost in downtown Minneapolis after the game, but we made it back to our hotel safely.

July 27th - 1991: In the middle of what would be the Twins second World Series winning team in 5 years the Twins took on the Milwaukee Brewers, which at the time was a heated battle between division rivals. This was the major league debut of Denny Neagle, who had a few decent years after being dealt from the Twins, but perhaps is better known for being caught with hookers, driving while drunk, and possibly being on steroids. The Twins ended up winning in exciting fashion when Dan Gladden hit a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 10th. I remember this well because Gladden's homer hit the foul netting down the left field line.

August 11th, 1992: My dad took me down to the Dome to see the Twins take on one of my baseball idols Nolan Ryan. Coincidentally, this was also opening day for the Mall of America in Bloomington, which actually sits on the ground where the old Met Stadium was. You can still stand at home plate while eating a cotton candy and taking in the goings-on of Snoopy's Knotts Berry Farm, or whatever the fuck it's called now. Inexplicably, my dad and I decided to go to the mall despite the fact that we both pretty much hate malls. I don't remember much from our time at the mall except one of the sporting goods stores was using live mannequins. Nolan pitched well, but the Twins ended up winning 3-2 behind John Smiley's complete game.

June 27th, 1998: My dad, brother, and I couldn't resist making the trek down to the Twin Cities to see Mark McSteriod play in the middle of his record-breaking-syringe-filled-with-juice-injected-into-his-ass season. The three of us went to some shitty bar near the Dome and ate pizza while my brother and I each pounded 3 Leine's like they were going out of style. The Twins took the loss 7-2 as McGwire launched an andro-aided bomb into the left field seats.

April 28th 2001: 13 years to the date of my first Metrodome experience was my last as the Twins took on the Baltimore Orioles again. The Twins took it on the chin 5-2 courtesy of the Orioles. Sluggers Brooke Fordyce (BAL) and Tom Prince (MIN) hit homer in this otherwise uneventful loss for the Twins. This was Tom Kelly's final season managing as he took a young Twins team back into the picture. The nucleus of this team would lead the Twins to AL Central Championships in 4 out of the next 5 seasons. Here's to the Twins winning their 5 Central crown tomorrow.

Dear Lord

I have hardly been watching the NBA playoffs at all being that the T-wolves didn't make it, but I had the pleasure of watching most of the 4th quarter and both overtimes of the Pistons/Cavs game. Lebron James scored the last 25 points for his team and they are now one game away from the finals. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

While I am on the topic of sports, the Minnesota Twins seem to be in the midst of turning the season around a la 2006, and the Brewers seem to be seriously fading....a la 2006. I sincerely hope the Brewers take the NL central, but they aren't looking that good lately. I would sell my soul to see a Twins-Brewers world series, and would donate my left nut to get a ticket to that game. Could you imagine?

Massive Nights

Here is your obligatory grainy cell phone picture of The Hold Steady performing last night at the Miramar in Milwaukee. I believe this was taken during the opening song "Stuck Between Stations," a personal favorite of mine. My GF and I were positioned stage right when the show began, the view was great but it sounded like shit and we moved after the first few songs. The concert was pretty awesome despite the fact that it got ridiculously hot towards the end and the staff at the Miramar did nothing (i.e. open the front doors) to cool it down. Before the show began, there were about 5 or 6 beers placed on the stage where each member of the band would be standing. To top it off there was a bottle of Jameson on an amp. Frontman Craig Finn took at least a few swigs during their set, and it seemed as though he had taken several before the band took the stage. It didn't seem like the band actually drank much of the beer and I guess it is probably kind of hard to drink a beer and play an instrument at the same time as they both require use of one's hands. I can excuse them for not being able to chug beers and rip away on a guitar at the same time, but I can't excuse the fact that the beer they were given (and presumably requested) was Budweiser. Right in front of our Miller-loving eyes. This is Milwaukee for f*** sake! Have a High Life or a Pabst. Shit, if you really wanted to show that you were down, you would polish off some Cream City Pale Ale or an Eastside Dark. Despite the poor choice of beer, The Hold Steady rocked ass. The band ripped through an impressive set that included most of the songs off of Boys and Girls in America, plus selected "classics" like Stevie Nix, Cattle and Creeping Things, Your Little Hoodrat Friend, Modesto is Not That Sweet, etc. Finn also managed to get booed for talking about the Minnesota Twins. It was pretty funny, and I love that a band that has received so much acclaim from the Indie (and mainstream) music press doesn't give a shit about being perceived as uncool for liking baseball. I think it was hard to grow up in Minnesota in the 80s and not develop a serious love for the Twins, I know I did and I relish it. I could give a shit about the Vikings or the Twolves, and don't even get me started about the North Stars (Norm Green, the offer to eat my shit still stands), but don't mess with my Twins. Whom, btw, are in Milwaukee this weekend. GO TWINS!