In the spring of 2011 I changed equipment at work. The last three years, the plane I flew had taken me to such MLB cities as Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland quite regularly. The plane I fly since then takes me to way more MLB cities. One of the first places was Minneapolis, where I got to take in a Twins game, at the new Target Field that was not even two seasons old yet.

I’m at the mercy of public transportation when I’m on the road, so to find out that the last stop on the Hiawatha Light Rail Line was Target Field was great news. I had started my rail ride at the Mall of America, the other end of the line based on direction of travel. They have a baseball event special that’s $4.00 return. The trip takes about 40min, and that’s the entire line.

Halfway along the rail trip the cars began to get packed with Twins fans. By the time we arrived at Target Field, it was a sardine can. What’s really cool is that the Target Field stop is Target Field. The train pulls into the outfield concourse and you are on the property.

I didn’t have a ticket, and didn’t see any scalpers, since I was on the property. Off to the box office I went to try my luck. The divisional Chicago White Sox were in town and the Twins were way out of any playoff contention so I’d assume there would be a lot of seats left. After the ticket official scanned the seats there were only a few field level seats left. I grabbed one for a whopping $60!
I always assume I may never be back to any park when I’m there for work, as destinations changes without notice. That said I normally by a field level ticket. I wish I would have studied the park layout before I showed up. I ended up with a ticket behind home plate, but three rows from the last row. In retrospect I could have bought a $20 outfield ticket and stood 15ft from my $60 seat. Oh well, my fault. As it turns out, being a really nice new stadium has season tickets for the Twins sold out. There is even a waiting list.

I entered the stadium through the field level outfield and headed up to the upper decks for my usual run around. Target has a really cool mezzanine level. It’s not club level, though there’s one of them too. Nationals Ballpark in Washington has the same sort of thing going on and I love them. Along first base line in the middle of the dugout on there mezzanine decks is where I’d want my season tickets.

The outfield is great. Some high unique seats in Center filed in contrast there are large patios with shallow bleacher seats. The park itself is very big. This is not PNC or Fenway. It felt like Yankee Stadium. Still even for its size, the fact that its a true ballpark makes it far more cozy than the Concrete monstrosity Rogers Center in Toronto or Old athlete rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The upper outfield also has a Budweiser restaurant / patio overlooking left field.

As the game began I took my seat. Since I was so far back, the over hang of the second level blocked my view of the score board, something I never considered. After a few mediocre innings I decided to grab some food. Lots of good Brats and Dogs to be had. The Food Network even sponsors a certain kind of sausage.

Around the top of the 7th I decided to head out for another stroll around the park. It was very busy and the outfield, as usual seemed to be the most fun part of the park. After the the top of the 9th I decided to leave and beat the rush to the train. Good idea. The lineups are long and the number of people exceeds the trains.

All in all I ally enjoyed Target Field putting up in my top 5 parks so far.