Memories of the Metrodome

Or what we thought was the final game at the Dome. Final regular-season game it turned out to be.

I am a collector of sports stuff from inaugural games, final games, etc. Back in April, I perused eBay for a ticket from the "Final Dome Opener," and am still on my quest to find one, even though I wasn't there. But one fellow eBayer emailed me and said "I'd be willing to sell you tickets to the last game, and you can keep the tickets as souvenirs."

So, he did. We settled on a fair price, which he informed me was about the cheapest I'd find them. So, I was one of 51,400 fans present at the Dome on October 4, 2009.
It truly was a great game. Even though it wasn't the "final" game, it was still exciting and felt very much like 1987. Here are just some of my thoughts on the final regular-season game at the Dome.

Being amongst that many fans is a Twins experience I've had maybe once. I was at the Dome in 1987 awaiting the team's arrival with 55,000 fans. This was after the Twins beat Detroit and was on their way home for the World Series.

The crowd was electric. I was up in Section 232 Row 19 with my brother. We'd been planning this outing for months. It dawned on me in the bottom of the 3rd inning, that my dad and I sat in Section 232 for the first Twins game I ever went to back in 1986.

I don't know how the Vikings cope with sellout crowds in the claustrophobic concourses at the Dome. And the Vikes draw 15,000 more than the Twins did on Sunday. It took quite some time to get to the concession stands; and if you wanted to go to the restroom...forget it.

We had a gentleman in our section who really made it a fun night. He bought out two vendors' supply. Early on in the game, he bought one vendor's supply of cotton candy, and just threw bags of whipped sugar to folks in Sec. 232, and even one in Sec. 233. Later on, he did the same to the Cracker Jack vendor, and distributed Cracker Jack in the same manner. One comment that came from a fan above us, "When's the beer coming?"

You couldn't ask for a more fitting regular-season finale. Twins 13 Royals 4. Incidentally, the final game at Met Stadium in 1981 was also against the Royals. Apparently, only 16,000 showed up for that game. And, a tie-breaker playoff game to boot. Considering the Twins lost their inaugural home opener at the Dome in 1982, and went on to have an abysmal 60-102 record, it only seemed fitting to close the place out with a playoff appearance.

Surprisingly, only about 30,000 stayed for the post-game ceremony. My brother and I were going to stay until the very end. The ceremony was terrific. Seeing all the old "Dome-era" players on the field was really something. Emotions started to rise, goosebumps and lumps in the throat formed when radio announcer John Gordon, who was the ceremony's emcee announced, "There is only one member of the All Metrodome Team who is not with us." That of course being Kirby Puckett, who died in 2006. They even played an old tape of the Twins' original PA announcer Bob Casey (who also passed away several years ago) calling out the infamous announcement, "Batting third, center-fielder, number 34, Kirbeeeeeee Puckett!"

And, the number one moment in the Top 100 Metrodome Moments countdown, which they've done live at the games all season, was the now infamous home run by Puckett in game six, with Jack Buck's call, "and we'll see ya, tomorrow night." Also, beginning last season, a countdown placard over in left field counted down from 162 (2 home seasons of 81 games each, also a full Major League season). I went to TwinsFest this year, when the placard was at 81. And, seeing the final number come off the sign was exciting. The sign reads "Countdown to Outdoor Baseball." Under the number one, was a bulls-eye, the logo for the Twins' new ballpark naming sponsor, Target.

There was also a video presentation live from Target Field where other Twins greats, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva raised Twins flags at the ballpark site.

Kent Hrbek made some comments about the game - including the fact that it was not going to be the last of the last games at the Dome. "You guys screwed up my whole speech," he said. But, even with the "stupid roof" as he called it, there were great memories at the Metrodome. In preparing the crowd for the tie-breaker game, Hrbek said, "It gives us a chance to drink some more beer!"

Who knows how much longer the Dome will last for the Twins. Already, the Vikings are re-doing signage outside the stadium, with large pictures of Vikings players above the gates, and all across the top of the stadium, purple banners; some of which bear the stadium's new moniker: Mall of America Field. There is very little evidence remaining outside of the stadium that a baseball team ever played there.

The only negative of the day, on my way out, the tickets I used to get inside the stadium, fell out of my program as I went through the revolving door.