Talking Baseball

I just bought a ticket to a Twins post-season playoff game. It cost me the whopping amount of $81.50, but I think it will be well worth it to experience the excitement of attending a packed Target Field stadium to watch the Central Division Champs play their wild-card opponents.

This is the first time I’ve attended a Twins playoff game since the early 2000s when I saw them play in the old Metrodome with my friend Don. I think tickets went for $20.00 back then, and I had to stand in line for a couple of hours to purchase my ticket. This time, everything was done online electronically.

Thinking about attending this upcoming play-off game reminded me how excited I was back in 1987 when the Twins won the World Series for the first time ever. And they did it again in 1991. In 1987, I remember watching the final World Series game in the Metrodome on TV with my friend Mike. After the Twins had won, we both went outside his apartment complex, and witnessed the ecstatic crowd mob downtown Minneapolis. People were high-fiving each other on the streets around the Metrodome. Some got up on top of cars to cheer on their team. It was the first time a major-league Twin Cities’ team had ever won something this big. The Vikings had made it to the Superbowl four times, but lost each time. The Northstars had reached the Stanley Cup only once, but lost. And the Timberwolves hardly ever made it to the playoffs.

I remember my biggest Twins hero of that time was their outstanding center fielder Kirby Puckett. During the 6th game of the 1991 World Series, he not only made a spectacular catch in center field to rob Atlanta of a home run, but also hit a homerun himself. During that game, I was riding a city bus. The driver had the game on, and everybody cheered when Puckett made that catch and hit the homerun that secured the victory. I also remember some of those other players that lifted the Twins to victory in both 1987 and 1991 – hitters like Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek, Greg Gagne, and Dan Gladden, as well as pitchers like Juan Berenguer, Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven, and Jeff Reardon, not to mention team manager Tom Kelly.

So, as I anticipate attending another Twins playoff game, I’m re-experiencing these old feelings of excitement and exhilaration. I wonder how far the Twins will get in the playoffs this time. It would be great if they made it to another World Series, but I don’t want to hedge my bets or jinx the team. I remember that after they had become world champs in 1987, the whole city of Minneapolis erupted in a huge celebration. Everywhere you looked, there were reminders of the team’s success. Confetti streamed down from the buildings on Nicollet Mall where there was a parade of cars that carried the conquering heroes. The top of the IDS Tower was lit up with the letters – TWINS -- in big caps. Yes, it was surely a unique time to remember. And, who knows, it may even happen again this year.