The Metrodome is, well, it's real odd. The stadium has that baggie-tarp-whatever-the-heck-it-is right field wall, it's hollow, it's lonely and it's certainly not the best place in the world to watch a baseball game. And, for Minnesota's players, via Tom Powers at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, it's a pain coming back to it after spending the spring in Florida.Severe depression notwithstanding, for many of the players the worst part about the move north is switching from the natural grass to the artificial turf. The first week or so on the hard surface sends almost everyone running, or at least limping, to the medicine chest.Ugh. It's one thing to have to leave sunny Florida, for perhaps a still frozen-over city, (although it feels like 31 degrees today!) but it's quite another to basically relearn how to field ground balls all the while going through some pain when the season starts.
"It's not like here," shortstop Jason Bartlett said. "Your legs have got to get used to it. It takes a toll on my legs the first few days."
This is the newer turf installed in 2004, too. It's better than the previous rock-hard surface but still tough on the leg joints. And ground balls continue to shoot through the gaps.
Well, at least their new stadium looks pretty.
(Via Baseball Musings)
