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No more indoor baseball… except for Tuesday and maybe more if that goes well

Okay, that’s out of my system.
When I made plans to come home for the last regular season game in the Dome, I did not prepare for the contingency of a one game playoff with Detroit two days after the last scheduled game. And so, instead of being at the Dome again on Tuesday, tomorrow I get on a flight back to Boston and will have to settle for watching the game on Forrest’s big screen TV instead. Even Kent Hrbek mentioned it in his speech during the post-game ceremonies which were supposedly to close out the Twins tenure in the Dome. But, as Herbie put it, “you guys screwed up my speech. Now we have to come back on Tuesday and drink more beer. And I will be back and I will drink more beer.” Wish I could be there with him…

Jason Kubel hits his first 3-run homer of the game

But I was there today… and it was pretty incredible. I’d like to think that the folks at the Metrodome followed my example of bringing back the Homer Hanky magic yesterday as they were passed out to everyone attending today’s game. These weren’t new hankies, mind you, just leftovers from previous years. The ones we got were from 2004, but I saw some from 2006, 2003, and 2002 as well. And hey, old or not, they worked as the Twins put on quite the offensive show.
Jason Kubel hit two three run homeruns to put his RBI count over 100 and Delmon Young also had a pair of homers. Yesterday’s hero Michael Cuddyer had the fifth homerun of the game as the Twins cruised to victory 13-4. The only way it could have been better would have been a White Sox victory in Detroit so that the Twins could have clinched it today. In fact, one of the loudest cheers of the day happened when the scoreboard changed from 5-1 Tigers to 5-3 Tigers at the same moment that Matt Tolbert swung and missed. He’s probably never got such a round of applause for getting a strike before. My other favorite came during the “Don’t Stop Believing” sing-a-long, which got a chorus of boos during the “born and raised in South Detroit” line.

Kirby Puckett Jr. removes the last number in the countdown to outdoor baseball… ignoring the whole playoff thing.

After the game there was an hour long ceremony celebrating the top 10 Metrodome Moments and introducing the All-Metrodome team. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one tearing up during some of the Kirby tributes. Puckett’s homerun to win Game 6 of the 1991 World Series was selected as the number 1 moment. In somewhat of a surprise to me, the number 2 moment was one I was at — the spontaneous packed house of fans who showed up to welcome the players back after winning the American League Championship in Detroit in 1987. As Herbie put it, probably the craziest a ballpark has ever been without a game happening.
But for me, the top moment might just be being in the ballpark these past two days as the Twins did their part in mounting a comeback for the Central Division title. And yes, it’s the worst division in baseball and in any other division in the American League, the Twins would be in third place. But I don’t particularly care right now. Right now the season isn’t over and there’s a game on Tuesday to watch.
Plus, the Twins have this guy with the prettiest swing in baseball…

Joe Mauer swings: A Triptych
Set…	Swing…	Run!