TCAnelle

Some time after the All-Star break, I was pondering how the Twins could fit all of their quality major league position players on the active roster. A few weeks later, baseball immortals Mark Contreras and Caleb Hamilton were on the big club. Fast forward to a crucial five-game series in Cleveland and the Twins were starting Bailey Ober, Josh Winder (both coming off injuries) and having Louie Varland make his second major league start and Jake Cave and Gilberto Celestino were considered regular starters. The season unraveled quickly and now the Twins look likely to finish below .500 and in third place in the weak AL Central. How did it happen? I have several answers--there have been enduring issues all year exacerbated by a rash of injuries, most of them season-ending. 
Offense underperformed almost all year. Going back to the start of the season, after a rocky first couple of weeks, the Twins offense was sufficient to win a lot of game despite never scoring runs commensurate with their underlying numbers. Right now, the Twins are 18th in runs scored despite being 11th in OPS and 12th in homers. They have often been futile with runners in scoring position and they have been a terrible running bases as a team. I have seen many posters state that the team is terrible at fundamentals. I would submit that all teams draw their fans ire for not advancing runners and "beating the shift". Part of these problems is the way the Twins are built. They lack team speed and their is a lot of swing and miss in their collective game. With the changes made to limit homers, the Twins (IMHO) have suffered disproportionately. 
Pitching regressed after overperforming early. The Twins seized first place in late April and held on to the top spot for most of the season bolstered by a pitching staff that performed better than expected. Despite seemingly having at least one and usually two or more guys in their rotation that were locks to go no more than five innings, they won a lot of games and obvious weaknesses at the back end of the bullpen were not evident in the win-loss record. Things unraveled here in slow motion. The failure of anyone but Jhoan Duran in late innings cost games (particularly to Cleveland). The extra innings assigned to the bullpen showed the lack of depth that so many short starts demanded. Back to statistics--the Twins currently are right in the middle of total runs allowed stats. Underlying stats (WHIP, Opponents BA and OPS and BB and K numbers) come out slightly below the mean. I think team defense has been slightly better than average, which has helped keep runs allowed acceptable. 
Injuries (oh my!). The Twins lead the AL in total man-games on the Injured List. They went into the season with one player slated to miss time, so it isn't like there were a bunch of players already on the IL. Some of the injuries could be expected and put on the front office. The Twins obtained several pitchers with injury issues and this season have come up snake eyes with most of them missing significant time. 
There have been plenty of position player injuries as well. Regular players Ryan Jeffers, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler have all missed significant portions of the season. Carlos Correa also missed over 20 games with COVID and a badly bruised finger. We all know Buxton hasn't made it through a season without spending time on the IL. The other guys would figure to be healthier than they have this year. 
Dick Bremer characterized the Twins as developing a "slow leak" from June through August. The leak has been accelerated in the month of September and injuries are a factor in that. That said, even without the injuries, the Twins' flaws probably were too big to win the division. The club exhausted their depth and seeing Jermaine Palacios, Mark Contreras, Caleb Hamilton, Sandy Leon, Aaron Sanchez, and (second half) Devin Smeltzer "perform" in key situations just shows that the Twins have scraped bottom.
I think some roster turnover is necessary. Among the position players, they need more guys who make contact, are better base runners and who have more speed. They need more left-right balance in corner outfielders. The front office needs to adjust their focus and bring in more durable players. It should be noted that the position players they brought in (Urshela, Sanchez and Correa) have been basically healthy. The problem has been with the pitchers. 
I think there is too much talent to tear it down. If the club fails to compete next year, it is probably time to try something else, starting at the top. It won't be easy to win the Central next year, but there needs to be significant progress and better health.
 
 
 

I finally gave up on finding my 2009 pictures of Busch Stadium and finished the NL Central write up. I've made my peace with not finishing the 30 active stadiums this year, so writing about visiting baseball is still the best option until I can go see it again. And without further whining, here's the next division...
 
 

National League Central


Chicago Cubs
 
Wrigley Field
 


 
What if I told you if you would watch a club volleyball tournament with friends in the Dells for two days you’d get to go to the Twins at Cubs to finish out the weekend? What do you do? Well, of course you go watch volleyball and then go watch the Twins. In 2009, when I saw the Twins would finally be in Chicago for the first time since 2001, I knew I had to go. I checked in with old friends who are Cub fans only to discover they were booked for a volleyball tournament in the Dells. Some schedule shuffling ensued, Cubs tickets were acquired, and next thing I know I’m cheering for volleyball then listening to Joe Nathan get the save in the second game of the series as I’m driving past Mt Olympus on the way to Chicago. The Twins were 32-32 after the Saturday win and were three games back of the Tigers after the Pirates and Zach Duke had beaten them 9-3.
My friends lived in St Charles, so we left from there on Sunday morning for a 1PM game. Fortunately, I wasn’t driving and didn’t have to figure out parking. I’m not sure it’s any easier now, but in 2009 we ended up parking in some guy’s alley driveway. I don’t remember what we paid, but our car wasn’t blocked in so I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. We walked past the McDonalds near Wrigley which I think is gone now, or at least the surface lot parking is, and even they were selling spots in their lot. Wrigleyville on a Sunday afternoon in 2009 was nuts. I can’t fathom what it must have been like for a night playoff game in 2016. We made our way into the stadium... and well… it was before the rehab and enhancements. The bathrooms weren’t very good. The concession stands were limited. I don’t remember it smelling as bad as Oakland, but there was a scent I would describe as less than pleasant in the concourse. I didn’t take pictures then like I do now. I wish I had so I could validate the memories.
We made our way to the seats. We were in the lower level on the 3rd base side under the upper deck so we did have a couple of beams to look around. The field itself was lovely. I’d never been to a park with plants lining the outfield wall. The manual scoreboard in center field was novel. Once the game began, I realized how much data I wasn’t getting because Wrigley just didn’t have the same number of screens and boards, even compared to the Metrodome.
 


 
Nick Punto bunted for a hit in the top of the 2nd allowing Gomez to score (don’t tell Parker). Scott Baker would give the run right back in the bottom of the 2nd and another run in the bottom of the 4th. Carlos Gomez hit a solo homer off Ted Lilly in the top of the 6th to tie the game. He probably bat-flipped and annoyed someone, but I only remember cheering. The game remained tied until Jesse Crain and an unfortunate series of hits and an IBB lead to a walk-off single by Ryan Theriot. Twins lost 3-2.
The Twins still won the series, but my one and only game at Wrigley was a Twins loss. And I got in “trouble” for eating ketchup on my hot dog. I eat mustard on them now, please hold the pitchforks. I’d like to go back now and see the updates they’ve made, especially to give it a fair comparison to Fenway which has done a very nice job of keeping the history and yet having decent restrooms. I didn’t make it there for the Twins in 2018. Maybe next time.
 
 
Cincinnati Reds
 
Great American Ballpark
 


 
In July of 2016, life took me to Cincinnati while the Reds were in town, so it was time to get another ballpark off my list. Great American Ballpark sits right on the Ohio River on the edge of downtown Cincinnati. The state line with Kentucky is a few feet into the river, so in theory, a hitter could launch a ball into the next state and it not be hyperbole. To get to the ballpark you can either go by land via Johnny Bench or Pete Rose Way or if you have a boat or live on the Kentucky side you can take a river boat shuttle from the Hooters in Newport, Kentucky. Taking a boat to take a boat to a baseball game was a first for me.
 


 
GABP is faithful to the team name and had all red seats so the green grass of the field is quite a contrast. Red seats also help hide attendance issues. The announced attendance for the game that Sunday afternoon was 23,085 (GABP capacity 42,319), but as we all know that’s tickets sold, not bodies in the seats. The team was 34-58 at that point in the season so it’s not terribly surprising attendance was light. GABP opened in 2003, but it felt more than seven years older than Target Field. Scouts Alley was a bar/tunnel area with exclusive access from the Scout Seats around home plate. It’s since been remodeled which is good, because it was dark and had limited amenities compared to other club areas I’ve been in. The main concourses have a good selection of food and there’s a bar with a huge list of beers. The most remarkable thing about the ballpark is location, location, location. It’s all fine, but the position on the river with access by boat in a city that has a huge boating community is really the most remarkable thing about the park.
The game was against the Brewers and was an eight hit pitchers’ duel between Zach Davies and Dan Straily. I did get to see a Joey-from-Canada hit in the bottom of the 4th so the game wasn’t a total bust. The Reds would finally break the 0-0 tie with a walk-off passed ball by Jonathan Lucroy that allowed Billy Hamilton to score. Reds win 1-0.
 
Milwaukee Brewers
 
County Stadium
 


 
I happened to take a couple of pictures with a film camera during my visit to County Stadium or I honestly wouldn’t have recalled the date I was there. I remembered who I was with. I’d started babysitting for a family in high school. They moved around after I was in college, but we’d stayed in touch and they were going to be in Milwaukee to visit family. I missed the kids, so I booked a ticket to see them. We ended up going to a Brewers game, my one and only game at County Stadium.
The Brewers were still in the American League in 1997, but it would be their last year without forcing their fans to watch the crime of making pitchers bat. They were also in the midst of building the airplane hangar that would eventually be known as Miller Park, I mean American Family Field.
 


 
I honestly don’t remember much about the park other than the posts for the upper deck near our seats and a long walk to where we parked thanks to construction starting on Miller Park. The box score tells me the Mariners won 6-5 and the Brewer’s Jeromy Burnitz hit a homer so Bernie Brewer must have taken the slide down to his beer mug (when it still got to be a beer mug). If I’d had to testify in court without Baseball Reference to check the details, I’d have been in trouble. The family would eventually move back to the Chicago area and one of the kids would play volleyball in the Wisconsin Dells before I got to see Wrigley Field for the first time (see above). The kids are grown now and County Stadium was demolished in 2001. Time flies.
 
Miller Park (soon to be American Family Field)
 


 
Oh, Miller Park… What can I say about an airplane hangar masquerading as a baseball stadium? I never made it to Miller Park in the Metrodome years, but starting in 2012 I had to travel to Wisconsin and Illinois for work, so it was finally time. The Twins were slated to be in Milwaukee in July that year. I plotted out my work meetings and managed to squeeze in my first trip to see the Beloit Snappers, the Twins low A affiliate at the time, spend a few days working, visit my niece and nephew, and get to a couple of Twins games at Miller Park.
I will admit I’m not much of a tailgater and that likely colors my impression of Miller Park. The stadium is about 5 miles from downtown has miles and miles of parking that fills with tailgaters, especially for weekend games. By the time I visited Miller, we’d had two full seasons at Target Field in downtown within walking distance of restaurants and bars. Miller Park felt like it was out on an island. The clamshell retractable roof gives the building an odd look since it doesn’t blend with the brick walls of the main structure. Once you’re inside, even when the clamshell roof is open, you never quite feel like you’re outside since the support structure for the roof is stationary. They also partially close it to manipulate the shadows so it feels even less like you’re outside when that happens. The field itself is nice and there are decent views from most seats. There are seats directly over the bullpens where fans can share their appreciation of the relief pitchers… probably. In County Stadium, Bernie Brewer lived in a chalet and slid into a beer stein. With the move to Miller Park, Bernie was made more kid friendly by having him live in a dugout and slide into a “home” platform. Yes, it’s lame, and yes, it’s ironic in a ballpark named after a beer company, but that’s changing next season.
 


 
Ultimately, Miller is fine. It won’t have any rain outs. There’s always plenty of parking. But, it’s just not special for me beyond being the place where my niece and nephew saw their first MLB game. I got to see plenty of offense on Friday night as the Twins won 11-3. Scott Diamond was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA after the game and would go one to have his best season in the majors. On Saturday, with my niece and nephew in attendance, the Twins would need six pitchers for an 11 inning 5-4 win. The kids were troopers and made it through the almost four-hour long game. Thankfully, Trevor Plouffe hit a homer off Manny Para in the top of the 11th or that might not have been the case.
I fortunately skipped the Sunday game. It was a 16-4 mess of a loss where Jason Marquis gave up eight runs in 1.2 innings to start the game and Jeff Gray allowed five while recording zero outs in the 7th. Drew Butera got the 8th for his MLB pitching debut. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out one… Carlos Gomez, because of course he did.
 
 
Pittsburgh Pirates
 
PNC Park
 


 
I’d been to Pittsburgh in 2003 for work and was fortunate enough to see Mario Lemieux play in the old Igloo back then, but didn’t get to PNC. By 2018, I was actively trying to get to all 30 active stadiums. I still needed PNC and Camden Yards in Baltimore. When the Twins 2018 schedule came out and they started the season in those two cities, I put the vacation days on the calendar.
It was snowing upon arrival in Pittsburgh on April 1, 2018. April Fools! Or not… The next morning and 4 inches later, I was watching the grounds crew shovel the field via the hotel TV. It was the home opener for the Pirates so they were doing everything they could to get the game in on time. The temp was supposed to be in the low 40s at game time so I grabbed my blankets and parka and headed downtown. For those who haven’t been to Pittsburgh, downtown sits at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which meet at Pittsburgh's Point State Park to form the Ohio River. Three rivers surrounding a downtown means there are lots of bridges. And there’s a funicular!!! The Duquesne Incline takes you up Mt. Washington on the south side and gives you a great view of the city and the many bridges.
 


Near the ballpark is the Roberto Clemente Bridge which leads across the Allegheny from downtown. It’s closed to traffic for games depending on game time and becomes a pedestrian bridge. The center field gate is on the other side of the bridge. The lower concourse of the ballpark has a few different levels so you can’t walk the circle without stairs or elevators, but you can walk the full circle. The upper concourse spans foul pole to foul pole around home. With no high outfield stands, the view remains unobstructed. The view of the bridge and the skyline from inside the ballpark easily gives PNC the best view in MLB. Yes, St Louis has the arch and Oracle has the bay, but neither beats PNC in my view. They have a few unique food items like the pulled pork pierogie hoagie. The mascot race is between different flavor pierogies. Onion won the race for the second game. I missed which one won the race for the first game.
I sat along the third base line for the first game a few rows up from the dugout. The view is still good, but the batter’s eye wall blocks part of the bridge and you can’t read the ivy “PIRATES” in center field as well as you can upstairs. I did have a great view of Lance Lynn giving up a first inning grand slam. The Twins would make some noise in the 6th, but would go on to lose 5-4.
For the second game it was supposed to be cold and probably snow again so I went with a ticket in their version of the Legend’s Club. The PBC Level has a few pool tables, several bar and food areas, and some nice leather chairs in front of TVs when you’ve had too much of the cold and snow. The Twins offense showed up for 7 runs. Jake Odorizzi exited after two walks in the 5th, but Taylor Rogers, Hildenberger, and Addison Reed kept the Pirates off the board until Fernando Rodney came in for the 9th, ate some snow, and closed out the Twins’ 7-3 win. Pictures from the two games are posted on Flickr.
 
 
St. Louis Cardinals
 
Busch Stadium 2.0
 


 
This picture is not from the June 2009 games when I first visited the new Busch Stadium. I’ve given up on ever finding them. Either I didn’t take any or they’ve been lost to a crashed hard drive at some point. This picture is from a drive by of the stadium in December of 2012.
It was definitely cooler when I took the picture than the Saturday day game in St Louis on the 27th of June, 2009. The box score shows the temperature at time of game was only 92, but it would rise to 99 after the noon start along with a heat index into the 100s. Family from Missouri and Illinois was supposed to be going to the game with me and my cousin was brining her boys to the game for the first MLB game ever, so of course the heat was the worst it would be all summer. Our seats were in one of the upper levels, but the canopy for the top level isn’t very wide and the orientation of the stadium means that the sun is pretty unrelenting during day games. We finally got shade in the later innings so fortunately, the boys didn’t melt and neither did their friends or my aunt and uncle. The game was terrible for the Twins. Kevin Slowey only went three innings and allowed five runs. Four of the five runs came on two separate two-run homers from a much younger Albert Pujols. My cousin’s boys were thrilled. St. Louis native Bobby Keppel went four innings in the heat after Slowey was done. The boys didn’t really care that Keppel was a local guy. They also probably don’t remember that Keppel appeared in 37 games for the Twins in 2009, most importantly in the top of the 12th inning of Game 163 and forever cementing his name in Twins Trivia history as the winning pitcher. Despite the Cardinals using SEVEN pitchers to get through the game, the only offense the Twins mustered was off Todd Wellemeyer in the top of the second. The Cards would go on to win 5-3.
The weather broke a bit for Sunday’s game plus it started an hour later. My college friends I went with were smart enough to bring partially frozen water bottles and we got shade sooner. Liriano was the starter. He went seven innings and allowed only two runs. Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer in the top of the 1st. Joe Nathan got his 19th save of the year. The Twins won 6-2 in 2:50. A good time was had by all, except for the whole pitchers batting thing.
My memories of the stadium aren’t very complete. I remember the arch and the old courthouse dome that can be seen from the stadium. I remember plenty of brick and polished concrete. I remember the old Busch scoreboard that hangs in one of the concourses. I don’t remember any food options that are unique. It was too hot to eat anything. Old Busch had been torn down by then, but the space that’s now a ballpark village area with Cardinals Nation and other restaurants and bars was just an asphalt parking lot in 2009. There’s also a Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum in that space now, so if the timing works out for me to go the next time the Twins are in St Louis, I’ll have something new to see. And maybe take a few pictures that won’t be lost since everything now gets backed up to the cloud.
 
 
TCAnelle’s NL Central Rankings:
PNC Park
Busch Stadium 2.0
Wrigley Field
Great American Ballpark
Miller Park/American Family Field
County Stadium

I finally gave up on finding my 2009 pictures of Busch Stadium and finished the NL Central write up. I've made my peace with not finishing the 30 active stadiums this year, so writing about visiting baseball is still the best option until I can go see it again. And without further whining, here's the next division...
 
 

National League Central


Chicago Cubs
 
Wrigley Field
 


 
What if I told you if you would watch a club volleyball tournament with friends in the Dells for two days you’d get to go to the Twins at Cubs to finish out the weekend? What do you do? Well, of course you go watch volleyball and then go watch the Twins. In 2009, when I saw the Twins would finally be in Chicago for the first time since 2001, I knew I had to go. I checked in with old friends who are Cub fans only to discover they were booked for a volleyball tournament in the Dells. Some schedule shuffling ensued, Cubs tickets were acquired, and next thing I know I’m cheering for volleyball then listening to Joe Nathan get the save in the second game of the series as I’m driving past Mt Olympus on the way to Chicago. The Twins were 32-32 after the Saturday win and were three games back of the Tigers after the Pirates and Zach Duke had beaten them 9-3.
My friends lived in St Charles, so we left from there on Sunday morning for a 1PM game. Fortunately, I wasn’t driving and didn’t have to figure out parking. I’m not sure it’s any easier now, but in 2009 we ended up parking in some guy’s alley driveway. I don’t remember what we paid, but our car wasn’t blocked in so I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. We walked past the McDonalds near Wrigley which I think is gone now, or at least the surface lot parking is, and even they were selling spots in their lot. Wrigleyville on a Sunday afternoon in 2009 was nuts. I can’t fathom what it must have been like for a night playoff game in 2016. We made our way into the stadium... and well… it was before the rehab and enhancements. The bathrooms weren’t very good. The concession stands were limited. I don’t remember it smelling as bad as Oakland, but there was a scent I would describe as less than pleasant in the concourse. I didn’t take pictures then like I do now. I wish I had so I could validate the memories.
We made our way to the seats. We were in the lower level on the 3rd base side under the upper deck so we did have a couple of beams to look around. The field itself was lovely. I’d never been to a park with plants lining the outfield wall. The manual scoreboard in center field was novel. Once the game began, I realized how much data I wasn’t getting because Wrigley just didn’t have the same number of screens and boards, even compared to the Metrodome.
 


 
Nick Punto bunted for a hit in the top of the 2nd allowing Gomez to score (don’t tell Parker). Scott Baker would give the run right back in the bottom of the 2nd and another run in the bottom of the 4th. Carlos Gomez hit a solo homer off Ted Lilly in the top of the 6th to tie the game. He probably bat-flipped and annoyed someone, but I only remember cheering. The game remained tied until Jesse Crain and an unfortunate series of hits and an IBB lead to a walk-off single by Ryan Theriot. Twins lost 3-2.
The Twins still won the series, but my one and only game at Wrigley was a Twins loss. And I got in “trouble” for eating ketchup on my hot dog. I eat mustard on them now, please hold the pitchforks. I’d like to go back now and see the updates they’ve made, especially to give it a fair comparison to Fenway which has done a very nice job of keeping the history and yet having decent restrooms. I didn’t make it there for the Twins in 2018. Maybe next time.
 
 
Cincinnati Reds
 
Great American Ballpark
 


 
In July of 2016, life took me to Cincinnati while the Reds were in town, so it was time to get another ballpark off my list. Great American Ballpark sits right on the Ohio River on the edge of downtown Cincinnati. The state line with Kentucky is a few feet into the river, so in theory, a hitter could launch a ball into the next state and it not be hyperbole. To get to the ballpark you can either go by land via Johnny Bench or Pete Rose Way or if you have a boat or live on the Kentucky side you can take a river boat shuttle from the Hooters in Newport, Kentucky. Taking a boat to take a boat to a baseball game was a first for me.
 


 
GABP is faithful to the team name and had all red seats so the green grass of the field is quite a contrast. Red seats also help hide attendance issues. The announced attendance for the game that Sunday afternoon was 23,085 (GABP capacity 42,319), but as we all know that’s tickets sold, not bodies in the seats. The team was 34-58 at that point in the season so it’s not terribly surprising attendance was light. GABP opened in 2003, but it felt more than seven years older than Target Field. Scouts Alley was a bar/tunnel area with exclusive access from the Scout Seats around home plate. It’s since been remodeled which is good, because it was dark and had limited amenities compared to other club areas I’ve been in. The main concourses have a good selection of food and there’s a bar with a huge list of beers. The most remarkable thing about the ballpark is location, location, location. It’s all fine, but the position on the river with access by boat in a city that has a huge boating community is really the most remarkable thing about the park.
The game was against the Brewers and was an eight hit pitchers’ duel between Zach Davies and Dan Straily. I did get to see a Joey-from-Canada hit in the bottom of the 4th so the game wasn’t a total bust. The Reds would finally break the 0-0 tie with a walk-off passed ball by Jonathan Lucroy that allowed Billy Hamilton to score. Reds win 1-0.
 
Milwaukee Brewers
 
County Stadium
 


 
I happened to take a couple of pictures with a film camera during my visit to County Stadium or I honestly wouldn’t have recalled the date I was there. I remembered who I was with. I’d started babysitting for a family in high school. They moved around after I was in college, but we’d stayed in touch and they were going to be in Milwaukee to visit family. I missed the kids, so I booked a ticket to see them. We ended up going to a Brewers game, my one and only game at County Stadium.
The Brewers were still in the American League in 1997, but it would be their last year without forcing their fans to watch the crime of making pitchers bat. They were also in the midst of building the airplane hangar that would eventually be known as Miller Park, I mean American Family Field.
 


 
I honestly don’t remember much about the park other than the posts for the upper deck near our seats and a long walk to where we parked thanks to construction starting on Miller Park. The box score tells me the Mariners won 6-5 and the Brewer’s Jeromy Burnitz hit a homer so Bernie Brewer must have taken the slide down to his beer mug (when it still got to be a beer mug). If I’d had to testify in court without Baseball Reference to check the details, I’d have been in trouble. The family would eventually move back to the Chicago area and one of the kids would play volleyball in the Wisconsin Dells before I got to see Wrigley Field for the first time (see above). The kids are grown now and County Stadium was demolished in 2001. Time flies.
 
Miller Park (soon to be American Family Field)
 


 
Oh, Miller Park… What can I say about an airplane hangar masquerading as a baseball stadium? I never made it to Miller Park in the Metrodome years, but starting in 2012 I had to travel to Wisconsin and Illinois for work, so it was finally time. The Twins were slated to be in Milwaukee in July that year. I plotted out my work meetings and managed to squeeze in my first trip to see the Beloit Snappers, the Twins low A affiliate at the time, spend a few days working, visit my niece and nephew, and get to a couple of Twins games at Miller Park.
I will admit I’m not much of a tailgater and that likely colors my impression of Miller Park. The stadium is about 5 miles from downtown has miles and miles of parking that fills with tailgaters, especially for weekend games. By the time I visited Miller, we’d had two full seasons at Target Field in downtown within walking distance of restaurants and bars. Miller Park felt like it was out on an island. The clamshell retractable roof gives the building an odd look since it doesn’t blend with the brick walls of the main structure. Once you’re inside, even when the clamshell roof is open, you never quite feel like you’re outside since the support structure for the roof is stationary. They also partially close it to manipulate the shadows so it feels even less like you’re outside when that happens. The field itself is nice and there are decent views from most seats. There are seats directly over the bullpens where fans can share their appreciation of the relief pitchers… probably. In County Stadium, Bernie Brewer lived in a chalet and slid into a beer stein. With the move to Miller Park, Bernie was made more kid friendly by having him live in a dugout and slide into a “home” platform. Yes, it’s lame, and yes, it’s ironic in a ballpark named after a beer company, but that’s changing next season.
 


 
Ultimately, Miller is fine. It won’t have any rain outs. There’s always plenty of parking. But, it’s just not special for me beyond being the place where my niece and nephew saw their first MLB game. I got to see plenty of offense on Friday night as the Twins won 11-3. Scott Diamond was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA after the game and would go one to have his best season in the majors. On Saturday, with my niece and nephew in attendance, the Twins would need six pitchers for an 11 inning 5-4 win. The kids were troopers and made it through the almost four-hour long game. Thankfully, Trevor Plouffe hit a homer off Manny Para in the top of the 11th or that might not have been the case.
I fortunately skipped the Sunday game. It was a 16-4 mess of a loss where Jason Marquis gave up eight runs in 1.2 innings to start the game and Jeff Gray allowed five while recording zero outs in the 7th. Drew Butera got the 8th for his MLB pitching debut. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out one… Carlos Gomez, because of course he did.
 
 
Pittsburgh Pirates
 
PNC Park
 


 
I’d been to Pittsburgh in 2003 for work and was fortunate enough to see Mario Lemieux play in the old Igloo back then, but didn’t get to PNC. By 2018, I was actively trying to get to all 30 active stadiums. I still needed PNC and Camden Yards in Baltimore. When the Twins 2018 schedule came out and they started the season in those two cities, I put the vacation days on the calendar.
It was snowing upon arrival in Pittsburgh on April 1, 2018. April Fools! Or not… The next morning and 4 inches later, I was watching the grounds crew shovel the field via the hotel TV. It was the home opener for the Pirates so they were doing everything they could to get the game in on time. The temp was supposed to be in the low 40s at game time so I grabbed my blankets and parka and headed downtown. For those who haven’t been to Pittsburgh, downtown sits at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which meet at Pittsburgh's Point State Park to form the Ohio River. Three rivers surrounding a downtown means there are lots of bridges. And there’s a funicular!!! The Duquesne Incline takes you up Mt. Washington on the south side and gives you a great view of the city and the many bridges.
 


Near the ballpark is the Roberto Clemente Bridge which leads across the Allegheny from downtown. It’s closed to traffic for games depending on game time and becomes a pedestrian bridge. The center field gate is on the other side of the bridge. The lower concourse of the ballpark has a few different levels so you can’t walk the circle without stairs or elevators, but you can walk the full circle. The upper concourse spans foul pole to foul pole around home. With no high outfield stands, the view remains unobstructed. The view of the bridge and the skyline from inside the ballpark easily gives PNC the best view in MLB. Yes, St Louis has the arch and Oracle has the bay, but neither beats PNC in my view. They have a few unique food items like the pulled pork pierogie hoagie. The mascot race is between different flavor pierogies. Onion won the race for the second game. I missed which one won the race for the first game.
I sat along the third base line for the first game a few rows up from the dugout. The view is still good, but the batter’s eye wall blocks part of the bridge and you can’t read the ivy “PIRATES” in center field as well as you can upstairs. I did have a great view of Lance Lynn giving up a first inning grand slam. The Twins would make some noise in the 6th, but would go on to lose 5-4.
For the second game it was supposed to be cold and probably snow again so I went with a ticket in their version of the Legend’s Club. The PBC Level has a few pool tables, several bar and food areas, and some nice leather chairs in front of TVs when you’ve had too much of the cold and snow. The Twins offense showed up for 7 runs. Jake Odorizzi exited after two walks in the 5th, but Taylor Rogers, Hildenberger, and Addison Reed kept the Pirates off the board until Fernando Rodney came in for the 9th, ate some snow, and closed out the Twins’ 7-3 win. Pictures from the two games are posted on Flickr.
 
 
St. Louis Cardinals
 
Busch Stadium 2.0
 


 
This picture is not from the June 2009 games when I first visited the new Busch Stadium. I’ve given up on ever finding them. Either I didn’t take any or they’ve been lost to a crashed hard drive at some point. This picture is from a drive by of the stadium in December of 2012.
It was definitely cooler when I took the picture than the Saturday day game in St Louis on the 27th of June, 2009. The box score shows the temperature at time of game was only 92, but it would rise to 99 after the noon start along with a heat index into the 100s. Family from Missouri and Illinois was supposed to be going to the game with me and my cousin was brining her boys to the game for the first MLB game ever, so of course the heat was the worst it would be all summer. Our seats were in one of the upper levels, but the canopy for the top level isn’t very wide and the orientation of the stadium means that the sun is pretty unrelenting during day games. We finally got shade in the later innings so fortunately, the boys didn’t melt and neither did their friends or my aunt and uncle. The game was terrible for the Twins. Kevin Slowey only went three innings and allowed five runs. Four of the five runs came on two separate two-run homers from a much younger Albert Pujols. My cousin’s boys were thrilled. St. Louis native Bobby Keppel went four innings in the heat after Slowey was done. The boys didn’t really care that Keppel was a local guy. They also probably don’t remember that Keppel appeared in 37 games for the Twins in 2009, most importantly in the top of the 12th inning of Game 163 and forever cementing his name in Twins Trivia history as the winning pitcher. Despite the Cardinals using SEVEN pitchers to get through the game, the only offense the Twins mustered was off Todd Wellemeyer in the top of the second. The Cards would go on to win 5-3.
The weather broke a bit for Sunday’s game plus it started an hour later. My college friends I went with were smart enough to bring partially frozen water bottles and we got shade sooner. Liriano was the starter. He went seven innings and allowed only two runs. Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer in the top of the 1st. Joe Nathan got his 19th save of the year. The Twins won 6-2 in 2:50. A good time was had by all, except for the whole pitchers batting thing.
My memories of the stadium aren’t very complete. I remember the arch and the old courthouse dome that can be seen from the stadium. I remember plenty of brick and polished concrete. I remember the old Busch scoreboard that hangs in one of the concourses. I don’t remember any food options that are unique. It was too hot to eat anything. Old Busch had been torn down by then, but the space that’s now a ballpark village area with Cardinals Nation and other restaurants and bars was just an asphalt parking lot in 2009. There’s also a Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum in that space now, so if the timing works out for me to go the next time the Twins are in St Louis, I’ll have something new to see. And maybe take a few pictures that won’t be lost since everything now gets backed up to the cloud.
 
 
TCAnelle’s NL Central Rankings:
PNC Park
Busch Stadium 2.0
Wrigley Field
Great American Ballpark
Miller Park/American Family Field
County Stadium

According to my mother, my first word was “go.” I’m not sure I buy it, but if it’s true it certainly explains my predilection for travel. My first MLB game was in 1987 and after moving to Minnesota in 1998, I fell in love with the game. It was almost inevitable my love of baseball and travel would intersect, although I’m not sure when I started intentionally marking off stadiums. Before the season was suspended from the virus, I’d planned to close out seeing all 30 active stadiums in September 2020 when the Twins visit the San Diego Padres. The new Rangers stadium is also in limbo for July. Everyone needs to keep washing their hands and maintaining proper social distance so I can get back to flying and hanging out with 30,000 people on a nightly basis. In the meantime, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and finally finish my write up my experience at each stadium.

National League East


Atlanta Braves
 
Turner Field
 


 
My first visit was June 6, 2006 Washington Nationals at the Braves. It was a work trip and a group decided to go see a game. Former Twin Matthew LeCroy was playing for the Nationals at the time. Future Twin Jon Rauch also appeared for the Nationals.
I would later be back in Atlanta the summer of 2011 for a work project and attend multiple games, including an August 12, 2011 game when they retired Bobby Cox’s number. I have a Dan Uggla bobblehead from that summer too. It’s only selling on ebay for around $20 eight years later so guess I won’t be retiring early with that gem. The Chipper Jones bobblehead from the same series is going for $36 so if you rate it by hits per dollar, Chipper is a better deal.
Turner was fine and close to the airport and downtown which was convenient for me as a visiting fan in those days. But the concourses weren’t open and it hadn’t been maintained all that well by 2011. There weren’t many premium areas either. The Braves closed it five years later and moved to the suburbs where the money was. Trivia tidbit – If you look closely you can spy Turner, now known as Georgia State Stadium, in episodes of IFC’s Brockmire.
 
SunTrust Park (now Truist)
 


By the time SunTrust was built, I was consciously trying to get to all active stadiums, but hadn’t managed to find a time to get back to Atlanta when the Braves were in town. Fortunately a work trip to Atlanta popped up in August of 2018 while the Braves were hosting the Rockies. If they’re going to force me to watch pitchers bat, at least I didn’t have to spring for the plane ticket. The stadium is new and fine and in the middle of a new and fine manufactured village. Parking is not great or cheap, it’s still hot and humid in Georgia, and they didn’t put a roof on it, but there are plenty of premium areas so if you have the money you can get some AC. It has a really nice kids’ area and picnic tables around the concourses so it’s a family friendly park if you can afford the tickets. Pics and more on Twitter. Since I was there in 2018, they’ve unfortunately changed the name to Truist Park.
 
Miami Marlins
 
Marlins Park
 


I’ve been to Florida a zillion times and I’ve seen probably a hundred baseball games there, but until the 2017 All Star Game, they’d all been spring training or MiLB. The Twins were headed to Houston after the ASG break and Royce Lewis was in Fort Myers at GCL so I decided to get two stadiums off my list and squeeze in some MiLB with a Miami-Fort Myers-Houston trip.
My first impression of Marlins Park was it looks like a spaceship from the highway. I made it into town in time for the home run derby and saw the ASG the next night. It was July in Miami so the roof was closed both days, mercifully. Inside the stadium isn’t particularly remarkable, but the bobblehead collection is pretty cool and it was the first time I’d encountered signing up for designated driver via iPad. The home run whirligig was still inside in 2017. I’m still not sure if it was hideous or awesome, but it was at least unique. For the actual ASG, my seat happened to be in front of the auxiliary press box which meant I got to hear all the announcements to the visiting press. The AL won 2-1, I took a couple hundred pictures, and then spent an afternoon on South Beach before heading to Fort Myers.
 
New York Mets
 
Citi Field
 


I’d been to the newest Yankee Stadium a couple of times and once saw Shea Stadium from a cab, but hadn’t made it to Citi Field despite being in New York City several times over the years. When I saw the Twins on the schedule early in 2019 with a weekend series before in Philadelphia, the trip practically planned itself. I took Amtrak into the city and then made my way out to an Airbnb in Flushing about a mile from the field.
The first game was rain delayed, but fortunately I’d managed to accidentally buy a ticket with access to a couple of the clubs. None that included free food of course, but it was cold and rainy so I was happy to have a warm dry place to hang out after doing a lap around the concourse. There are some weird areas in the outfield from them moving in the fences. The views from the seats are OK, but there’s a dead space between the seats and the wall which makes the area just seem awkward. The condiment carts were exceptional and put Target Field’s to shame. The batter’s eye has an apple that pops up if the Mets hit a homer. The game ended as a 14-8 Twins win and we got to see the apple a few times.
The weather had cleared for the second game and I was able to walk the mile to the field. You pass an area that an usher told me used to be a big chop shop area. He said the discussion lately has been about moving the vast parking to the east side so hotels could be built with Manhattan views. The stadium is close to the tennis complex that hosts the US Open so there’s definitely a market for more hotels with better access to transit near the field and tennis complex. With better weather I made my way out to a deck where you can watch flights come and go at LGA. I’d seen Citi Field from planes a few times so it was fun to be on the other side. Game two ended in a Twins loss 9-6 where Twins pitching allowed TEN walks so I finished the game in the Delta Sky360 Club and watched the Islanders play the Penguins. Here’s the Flickr album if you’re interested.
 
Philadelphia Phillies
 
Citizens Bank Park
 


When the 2019 Twins schedule came out with an April weekend series in Philadelphia with the Mets next, I knew it was time to get both off my list. I flew in later Friday night, but not in time for what turned out to be a terrible, rainy, cold game where Jake Odorizzi went 0.2 and gave up five runs.
Fortunately, the sun came out on Saturday morning and, after doing the Rocky stairs at the art museum, I headed to the ballpark on a warm April day. Citizen’s Bank Park sits south of downtown in the middle of parking lots that serve the football field, hockey arena, and baseball field. It’s a great feature if you’re driving, but isn’t as convenient if you’re a walker, so I arrived by Lyft. I like brick and Citizen’s Bank Park has plenty of it. They also have trees in the batter’s eye. The bullpens are tiered, which always reminds me of the 2010 game where Drew Butera caught Jim Thome’s homer in the bullpen in a crazy game where the Twins won 13-10 in 11 innings. Out behind left field you can get the Federal Donuts chicken sandwich. There’s no donut involved, but the sandwich is good. I made my way to my right field seat near Bryce Harper for the Saturday game and watched the Phanatic take its laps on its four wheeler. MAX! and La Tortuga had back-to-back homers in the 3rd then and the Twins won 6-3.
I opted for a seat in the CBP equivalent of the Legend’s Club for the Sunday game. It has whole walls covered in baseballs. The security guy I talked to says it's like 17-18K baseballs. I didn’t count them so we’ll have to take his word. They've been up since at least 2010 as far as he remembered. The game started out well with a MAX! lead-off homer but the bats went silent and Berrios was human and the Twins lost 2-1. Pictures on Flickr.
 
Washington Nationals
 
Nationals Park
 


A family trip took me to Washington, DC in October of 2019. I didn’t get to pick the dates so no option to make sure we’d be there during baseball so I needed a little cooperation from the Nationals. I’d done the math and new they needed to make the NLCS for us to have a chance to see them… and THEY DID! And of course went on to win the 2019 World Series.
There were four of us who decided to make the trip to the game. Believe it or not the tickets for game four were cheaper than a trip back to DC would have been. We picked the outfield right under the scoreboard. Not my usual infield choice, but the price was right and the view was pretty good. We took the Metro to the game. As you come out of the stop for the ballpark, there are restaurants, bars, and condos. I’m not sure what was there before, but the area looks new and was hopping on a playoff game night. The main entrance on the metro side has two large parking garages on either side with large silver baseballs on each side. One garage is the path of a pitch and the other is the path of a homer.
Unfortunately, other than the baseballs and nice area across the street by the Anacostia River, the rest of the outside is rather non-descript. They have some history stuff leading up to the homeplate gate which includes the Senators years that are actually the Twins’. Inside the park is pretty standard with open concourses, middle tier club level with suites above it, and the requisite Budweiser party roof/loft/deck in center field.
We got to see the Presidents race, sing Baby Shark with the crowd as Gerardo Parra stepped up to bat, and cheer when Brian Dozier entered as part of a double switch. The Nationals scored seven in the bottom of the first. It would be all the offense from them we’d see and all they’d need. They went on to win 7-4, sweeping the Cardinals in four games to advance to the World Series. It was amazing to be in that environment, despite the beer thrown over our section when the game was over. We really need to have a winning playoff game at Target Field. Pictures and some terrible video work on Flickr.
 
Except for Turner Field, the visits to the National League East stadiums came later in my trek to see all parks. I managed to see the Twins at the Mets and Phillies, but the most fun was watching the Nationals win the NLCS. My favorite stadium in this division is a tough choice between Citi Field and Citizens Bank, but the edge goes to Citizens Bank.
 
TCAnelle’s NL East Rankings:
Citizens Bank Park
Citi Field
Nationals Park
SunTrust Park
Marlins Park
Turner Field

Despite my one-more-year campaign Joe Mauer decided to retire after the 2018 season. After the surprise appearance as a catcher in the final 2018 season game, he packed up all his gear after it had been authenticated and handed the bag to the Twins curator, Clyde Doepner, so it could be shared with fans. Clyde hadn't decided quite what to do with the bag until he found out there would be a special white-glove tour with Joe auctioned off for Twinsfest. He decided to have Joe unpack the bag and take the group through what each item was and talk about his career. We didn't know this when we bid on the tour and I suspect had folks known, it would have gone higher.
 
This flickr album has all the photos with detailed descriptions. I wasn't supposed to video anything but recorded a few before I was scolded. The lady next to me took a bunch more so if you know her, you can hear more. I recommend looking at the album on a laptop or a tablet since the descriptions are more easily viewed on a full size browser. They explain many of the markings in or on his equipment and give the details he shared about each piece. The bat and batting gloves are from his 2000th hit. I was at Target Field that night so it was special to get to hold them. He talked through how he chose his bats and explained how he listened to the sound a bat makes when tapped on the barrel. The higher the pitch the better. The 2000th hit bat had a pretty high pitch.
 
After holding the bat and lowering it to tap his shoes, as we've seen him do thousands of times, he explained the pre-at bat ritual of raking the dirt with his cleats then tapping his shoes. It was so he was able to see precisely where his feet went during a plate appearance. It gave him an immediate visual clue if something was off. He also raked the dirt in front of home place as a catcher to prevent a bad hop on a ball in the dirt. Same for the semi-circles while waiting on batters at first base. His process was all about doing every little thing he could to prevent as many 1-in-a-1000 events that might negatively impact his ability to make the play or get a hit.
 
Joe has given some less than engaging post game interviews over the years, but he talked with ease Friday night and seems to be genuinely at peace with deciding to retire. I'm still in denial he won't take the field on opening day, but really enjoyed the hour hearing him talk about baseball. I'm so going to miss watching him play.

Despite my one-more-year campaign Joe Mauer decided to retire after the 2018 season. After the surprise appearance as a catcher in the final 2018 season game, he packed up all his gear after it had been authenticated and handed the bag to the Twins curator, Clyde Doepner, so it could be shared with fans. Clyde hadn't decided quite what to do with the bag until he found out there would be a special white-glove tour with Joe auctioned off for Twinsfest. He decided to have Joe unpack the bag and take the group through what each item was and talk about his career. We didn't know this when we bid on the tour and I suspect had folks known, it would have gone higher.
 
This flickr album has all the photos with detailed descriptions. I wasn't supposed to video anything but recorded a few before I was scolded. The lady next to me took a bunch more so if you know her, you can hear more. I recommend looking at the album on a laptop or a tablet since the descriptions are more easily viewed on a full size browser. They explain many of the markings in or on his equipment and give the details he shared about each piece. The bat and batting gloves are from his 2000th hit. I was at Target Field that night so it was special to get to hold them. He talked through how he chose his bats and explained how he listened to the sound a bat makes when tapped on the barrel. The higher the pitch the better. The 2000th hit bat had a pretty high pitch.
 
After holding the bat and lowering it to tap his shoes, as we've seen him do thousands of times, he explained the pre-at bat ritual of raking the dirt with his cleats then tapping his shoes. It was so he was able to see precisely where his feet went during a plate appearance. It gave him an immediate visual clue if something was off. He also raked the dirt in front of home place as a catcher to prevent a bad hop on a ball in the dirt. Same for the semi-circles while waiting on batters at first base. His process was all about doing every little thing he could to prevent as many 1-in-a-1000 events that might negatively impact his ability to make the play or get a hit.
 
Joe has given some less than engaging post game interviews over the years, but he talked with ease Friday night and seems to be genuinely at peace with deciding to retire. I'm still in denial he won't take the field on opening day, but really enjoyed the hour hearing him talk about baseball. I'm so going to miss watching him play.