Some thoughts from last night's game, or whatever there was of it ... *We attended in our normal split season ticket seats up in Section 323. These are hardly among the most expensive tickets in the building; in fact, at $12/game, they are among the cheapest. So far, though, we have been not only pleased with the view for the value, but also with this fact: when it rains, we do not get wet. In fact, many of the cheaper seats in the ballpark are underneath overhangs (left field third deck not withstanding), while the best seats in the house are exposed to the elements. Surely this was done out of necessity and not design, but it is nice to see the Proletariat catch a break for a change.
*In retrospect, there sure seemed to be a concerted effort to get the minimum five innings in to make the game official -- which allowed the Twins to tell Tuesday customers they were out of luck. As Joe C. noted today, MLB rules state that any game that goes five innings is not subject to a rain check or refund. That means only people who have tickets for today's game can see the completion of yesterday's game. So, in essence, yesterday's customers paid for five innings (many of which were rain-soaked), while today's customers, if they can make it by 4 p.m., are in line to see at least 13 innings. Sure, those are the breaks. But it was pouring rain for about 2-3 innings while they played on last night, only to come to an abrupt halt immediately after 5 innings without (at least from our viewpoint) a real change in the weather. To make matters worse, the rain dissipated soon after the game was suspended at around 10 p.m.. Even though the ballpark had emptied quite a bit by then, surely some diehards who stuck around would have liked to see the game finish -- especially since they will not have that luxury today unless they have tickets once again.
*The plus side: The Twins did a nice job of trying to entertain fans during the delay. The "All-By-Myself Cam," featuring soaked fans sitting all alone while that slow and melodic song played in the background, was fun (shaky picture by us). So, too, were the live cut-ins of games between Texas/K.C. and Detroit/Seattle showed on the huge video board. The Twins were armed with all sorts of rain-themed songs, though our friend Taco was disappointed Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song" did not make the cut. Also, we were there when the squirrel got on the field during the game, almost ran over Brendan Harris, tried to take his job, then spent an inning or so trying to escape via the outfield wall. Aside from Scott Baker, the squirrel was last night's MVP.
*Bottom line: If that was one of just a few Twins games we were attending this year -- or if it was our first Target Field experience -- we might have been ticked at the way the five innings played out, even if we were entertained in the interim and understood things can be unpredictable now. Rain is a way of life at the ballpark these days; how it is handled will go a long way toward determining whether it's tolerable (and even entertaining) or a frustrating disruption.
