An Ode To The Dome. Sort Of.

I will be in attendance at the last baseball game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on Sunday. I almost feel that I have to be there. I figure that I've seen well over 100 games in the place since 1982. I remember watching the first official game against Seattle on TV as a 9th-grader, thinking that the Dome was the absolute coolest place I had ever seen. It took about two years of watching balls get lost in the roof and bounce around like ping pong balls on fake turf to realize that the Dome may NOT be the coolest place I had ever seen.

The game of baseball never seemed quite real in the Dome. I remember a game against Chicago in 1984 in which the Twins won because a ball bounced OVER Harold Baines' head for inside the park 3-run home run. Dave Kingman, of course, hit a ball through one of the holes in the roof that never came down - ground rule double. David Ortiz hit what would have been a 500-foot home run but it hit a speaker and bounced down for a single. Just last week, Jase and I attended a Twins-Tigers game at the Dome and the Twins won only because a Detroit outfielder lost a ball in the roof in the 8th inning. I was conflicted over that. I actually lived in fear in 1987 and 1991 that a World Series game, or the Series itself, would be decided by a ball getting lost in the Dome roof. Thankfully, it never happened.

And then there is the baggy. The right field fence actually looks like a huge lawn or leaf bag. I hate that. I guess they couldn't put up a real fence because of the vampire-seats that needed to be pulled down for football every so often. When a ball hit off of that wall, it didn't seem real. Near that fake baggy was a sort of tunnel that was used to house crap. Batting cage nets, four wheelers that TC the Bear rides on the field, etc. They used to have a giant blow-up Land O' Lakes milk bottle in there. I hated that. But nothing was as bad as the sign they used to post that proclaimed - "The Metrodome. We Like It Here."

No we don't.

That would be like me putting a sign on top of my old '79 Chevy Chevette that read - "My Chevette - I like this shitty car."


With that said, I had some fun times in that place. After all, the Twins won two World Championships in the Dome. I never attended any of those games, but I will cherish the experience of those championship runs in 1987 and 1991 my whole life. I will never forget the spontaneous gathering at the Dome when the Twins returned to town after beating Detroit to win the American League crown in 1987. The Twins were brought into the Dome and were expecting about 10,000 fans to show up. Instead, 50,000 people showed up to cheer the Twins. Gary Gaetti and his wife cried (see picture - nice hair). My roommates and I watched this unfold on TV at our house in Eau Claire because we were attending the University of Leinenkugels at the time. I think I may have shed a tear on that night (beer-influenced, no doubt).

All three of my kids attended their first MLB baseball game at the Metrodome. I saw Cal Ripkin's 3000th hit with my oldest son (then 5 years old) at the Dome. I attended Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett's retirement shin-digs at the Dome. And, sadly, I attended Kirby Puckett's public funeral at the Dome. I must say that have had some great times with countless friends and my family in that place. I attended a game once in the 80's with Pedo, Jim and Cubby at the Dome and almost got interviewed on WCCO radio while sitting in the crowd. Unfortunately, the reporter spent too much time with Cubby while he explained that he was attending the game while in town from "Anchorage, Alaska."

That is why I feel I need to be there on Sunday. With my kids. Even though the Metrodome was a big, puffy piece of crap, what took place in there was a big part of my life. Fortunately, it is time to open up a new chapter of my baseball viewing life next year at Target Field - an actual "ballpark." It will be the third "home" stadium in which I've been lucky enough to attend Twins games (The Met, Dome and Target Field). I have to admit that I'll kind of miss the Metrodome, though.

Kind of like I sort of miss that old piece of shit Chevy Chevette.

Jeff