The Legends Club is very nice. You get an at-seat service throughout the game, although I didn't actually use it. The seats are very comfortable too. I was actually in the wheelchair row at the back of section L. This is much better than being in a normal row, because they don't have fixed seating - they just put free-standing seats out with a lot of gap between them, so there's plenty of space. Also, you're right next to the door into the club area, so you can pop in quickly whenever you like, without disturbing anybody else. I only had a helmet sundae to eat this evening, so now have a mini Twins helmet to add to my collection.
This was the finale of a series with the Twins looking for a sweep. Scott Baker was going for the Twins against Justin Verlander for the Tigers. Verlander really does throw it hard, although he had to throw a lot of pitches early and was almost knocked out of the game. Baker lasted only two innings himself, leaving with pain in his arm, which is a worry for the Twins.
This is the inaugural season for Target Field, and it is an impressive building - in my opinion, more impressive than the new Yankee Stadium. It's not built from traditional red bricks, but from locally obtained limestone. The yellow stone look gives the stadium a very classy look. This is complemented with the old-style scoreboard - but done electronically. The big scoreboard screen in left centre looks great (as does the one in Yankee Stadium), but this stadium has a view of the downtown skyline. The yellow and green colour style contrasts nicely with the teams dark blue colours with red & white splashes. Any other team looking at having a new stadium would do well to see what the Twins have here - it really is beautiful.
The atmosphere here was totally different to how it was in New York. The crowd were into the game in a big way. The stadium was full, and it did get noisy - and there was a pre-season Vikings game going on on the other side of downtown, which didn't hit the attendance at all. The two teams traded runs through the game, although it looked like the Twins had finally secured a decisive 4-run advantage late in the game until the Tigers staged a come back, led by two solo homers from Raburn & Inge (both pinch-hitting). The Twins hit back to take the lead again, but the Tigers tied it in the 9th taking us to extra innings. The evening was beginning to cool off by this point, as we passed 10pm. The Tigers finally scored a run in the top of the 11th inning to take a 9-8 lead, only for the Twins to take advantage of sloppy Detroit fielding in the bottom of the 11th to scrape it back again. The game finally ended just before midnight when Detroit's closer Valverde shut down the Twins in the bottom of the 13th, after Detroit had scored once in the top of the 13th. It was quite chilly by this point - but a welcome change from New York.
Another game, another ejection too! Joe West, the 2nd base umpire and crew chief, had an action-packed game. Two blown calls, and one that was very close but that which went against the home team. It was the second blown call that brought Twins manager Ron Gardenhire out to argue, to lots of cheers from the crowd. A lot of in-the-face shouting and finger pointing then ensued, until West ejected him, at which point the crowd cheered him even louder as the argument continued. Eventually, he made his way back to the dugout, kicking at the grass, the dirt, and still shouting, but he went and sat down in the dugout again. The umpires reminded him that he had to leave the dugout and return to the clubhouse after being ejected, which set him off again, throwing things out of the dugout, including a ball and a towel, before finally leaving.
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