John Kidde Writes

What’s that? Have you forgotten about the 1994 classic Little Big League? Allow me to remind you what it was all about.

A little boy inherits the Minnesota Twins from his deceased grandfather and then appoints himself the team manager. Was this the second little-kid-thrust-into-Major-League-Baseball movie in two years? Yes, yes, it was. I, for one, was more fond of Rookie of the Year because it had more humor, but Little Big League has a lot of heart.

I bring up the movie because I visited Minneapolis, and thankfully, the Twins were in town. Nearly 30 years after the movie, the Twins are no longer at the Metrodome. Since 2010, they have been playing at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.

It is relatively easy to reach the stadium from anywhere downtown. You can walk, drive, or, as I did, use a scooter. In my previous baseball posts, I’ve talked a lot about sightlines and views, and today will be no different.

I made a lap around the stadium to take it all in. Granted, a lot of area behind the first, third, and home plate areas is solid concrete, so I was staring at a giant wall and walking by VIP entrances and gates that would not have put me close to my seat or where I wanted to go.

After entering through the main gate and checking out the team store, I went to the Right Field Pavilion. That’s where the good stuff is. By “good stuff,” I mean beers, brats, and such. This is also a great spot to post up and watch batting practice.

After securing my food and beverage, I headed to my seat. Once again, I found this seat on the secondary market. Your mileage may vary on what seats are available. Since I had never been before, I wanted to sit down closer to the action. The next time I go, I will most likely sit further up…or maybe in the outfield. I am flexible.

These seats were prime, though. They were unobstructed and had a full view of the field and all of its corners. There doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house. The view beyond the stadium shows signs of the stretched-out Minneapolis metropolis. It’s just enough to remind you that you are in a downtown area.

The Target Center is right next door. It’s the home to the Lynx of the WNBA, the Timberwolves of the NBA, and the Wild of the NHL. The city has done a lot to get people downtown. It only needs the teams to produce to keep fans coming in.

Whenever I hear that a certain fanbase is not passionate about their team, I usually have to chime in and say that their owner most likely sucks. This is not me attacking Twins fans. The people I met were enthused and glued in on the action. Minneapolis is not a huge market. Twins fans are as passionate and knowledgeable as any other fan base. Hell, up until 2020, they had won more World Series titles in my lifetime than my Dodgers (two versus one). They need to spend their money wisely and have an active owner. This doesn’t mean they need the kid from Little Big League running things, but somebody who is passionate about the team and wants them to succeed in a competitive division.

The action on the field was not great for Twins fans. The Braves began piling on early, and before I could even finish my beer, it was 9-1 in favor of Atlanta.

Then the rain came.

This message flashed on the jumbotron, and given that I was already under the cover of the section overhead, I stayed in my seat.

This was a serious storm that blew through. It rained hard, the wind whipped, and the sky was lit up by pops of lightning.

Once the storm had cleared, the sky was lit in crimson orange. A rainbow even appeared over the jumbotron. The in-game announcers informed the stadium that the game would resume but not for another hour or so. The grounds crew was removing the tarp, but the infield was soaked, and other spots around the diamond would need to be addressed.

I did not have that kind of time. I had a hard out and needed to be in my bed because of an early report time the next day. Luckily, there were plenty of scooters around the stadium. I opened up the Lime app and scooted carefully back to my hotel.