Baseball Brunch: Bizarre, Rich Legacy at Metrodome as Twins Depart

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Johan Santana had never seen the Metrodome before the Twins took him from Single-A in the Rule 5 draft.

"When I first got there," Santana told FanHouse, "my first impression was, 'How can you play baseball in a place like this?'

"I came from Single-A and from Venezuela, and we don't have any of that stuff. ... I couldn't figure it out. How could this thing [the roof] be up in the air? And then it feels like you're in a bubble. And then you play baseball."

Yes they did. The Twins won two World Series in that bubble, but unless they rally to make the playoffs, they will say goodbye to the Metrodome this week.

Open-air Target Field opens next April.

The Twins say about all they'll miss about the Metrodome is the guarantee of no rainouts (or snowouts).

Kent Hrbek -- who grew up in Bloomington and attended games outdoors at old Metropolitan Stadium -- went 2-for-4 in the April 6, 1982, regular season opener at the dome.

He said he has "so many good memories" there. But, "after playing the game there and becoming a fan again," he said, "it's a horrible place to see a baseball game."

It's not just the artificial turf. Or the noise level. And the seats that don't point the right way for baseball.

"Playing inside is not fun," former Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said. "It's not baseball."

In Minnesota, summer doesn't last very long -- and it's gorgeous. Who wants to spend it indoors?

"I just came back from five days in Canada," Jack Morris, who grew up across the river in St. Paul and pitched one of the most memorable games in Metrodome history (Game 7 of the 1991 World Series), said earlier this month. "I saw over 200 bald eagles. Believe me, what God creates is so much better than anything man can create, it's unbelievable."

Said closer Joe Nathan: "When you walk through the doors when it's a nice day out, it kind of deflates you.

"You get nice days, you see this place like half-empty and you wonder why. It's because it's nice out. People are outside."

But the Twins might lose their home-field advantage when they go outdoors.

Visiting teams, especially those in the AL Central, hated coming to the Metrodome so much they sometimes seemed psyched out.

"This ballpark is an advantage," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "just because people hate coming in here so much that maybe it intimidates them a little bit.

"But there's been an advantage in here. I guarantee it. We've had teams that can play on this [turf] and play in here and irritate the crap out of people, so that's been kind of fun."

Plus fly balls lost in the those 10 acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass overhead and the strange bounces off the turf and speakers hanging overhead and the "baggie" in right field.

In 1984, Dave Kingman hit a fly ball so high it went into one of the holes in the roof and stayed there.

Double.

"Especially during day games," said Aaron Rowand, who visited often with the White Sox in 2001-05, "if you try to go back on the ball and take your eye off it to run to a spot, and try to look back up and find it, it's real tough.

"I remember once somebody hit [a fly], it was going foul, it bounced off [a speaker], came back in and one of the infielders caught it."

There have been other subtle advantages. Some accused the Twins of manipulating the air conditioning, but Hunter said that once fans started leaving in the seventh inning, the opening of doors created a swirling wind current that carried balls out to right-center field. A "napkin" -- makeshift weather vane -- near the home on-deck circle would let the Twins know when to hit to right.

In the 1987 and '91 World Series, the Metrodome's advantage was mostly fans, packed houses making noise intensified by the roof.

"It's the most intimidating home field of any team, any sport that I've ever seen or been around," Oakland general manager Billy Beane, who played for the Twins and had A's teams lose in Minneapolis in the playoffs, told FanHouse's Jeff Fletcher. "As a player, as a GM, as a fan of other sports, from what I hear Saturday night in Baton Rouge is supposed to be pretty tough, but I'd put the Metrodome up there. If you had one of those tournaments for most intimidating it would be LSU and the Metrodome in the final, and I'm going with the Metrodome.

"There is nothing like the Metrodome. There is nothing that is even close."

The Twins' winning percentage since 1982 is 100 points higher at home than on the road. Of the teams that have been in existence since 1982, only Houston and Texas have had a larger advantage at home.

Metrodome Mosts
Stat	Twins	Visitors
Hits	K. Puckett (1,269)	C. Ripken (123)
HR	K. Hrbek (138)	J. Thome (28)
Wins	B. Radke (85)	Mussina/Clemens (10)
Saves	J. Nathan (123)	Montgomery/Jones (18)

Even so, the Metrodome won't be missed by the Twins.

"It wasn't really a baseball stadium," said Hrbek, who played more games at the Metrodome than anyone but the late Kirby Puckett. "It was a football stadium, and they decided to put a baseball park in there."

Said Gardenhire: "We can't wait to get outside and have our own field and not share it with anybody."

Twins catcher Joe Mauer, who grew up in St. Paul, played his first football game in the Metrodome, as a fifth-grader, and never saw an outdoor big-league baseball game until he played in one.

"I think it's more a football stadium than anything," he said. "I have a lot of great memories here ... but I'm really looking forward to getting outside and playing outside."

Target Field, not far from the Metrodome in the Warehouse District, will seat 40,000 and cost $412 million (about six times what the Metrodome cost).

"It's typical Minnesota," said Mariners infielder Jack Hannahan, who grew up across the river in St. Paul, attended the University of Minnesota (which plays its home baseball games in the Metrodome) and still has a "Homer Hanky" from the 1991 World Series.

"It took them forever to do it, and once they finally did it, they didn't do it right. If it would have had a retractable dome, like what Safeco [Field in Seattle] has, it would have been perfect. It didn't work out, it didn't work out. But anything they'll build will be successful in Minnestota because the fans are so good."

"It's the most intimidating home field of any team, any sport that I've ever seen or been around. ... There is nothing like the Metrodome"
-- Billy Beane University of Minnesota baseball and the Vikings will continue to play in the Metrodome; Gophers football opened its new on-campus stadium this year.

A large numeral beyond left field in the Metrodome indicates how many Twins games are left there. Then a series of banners reads, "Countdown to outdoor baseball," "Countdown to farmer-tanned vendors," "Countdown to mustard-flavored lip balm," "Countdown to ch-ch-ch-chhhhh (the sound of sprinklers on natural grass), "Countdown to skyline sunsets," "Countdown to real grass stains," "Countdown to starry nights."

The team itself is counting down to when it has a decent-sized clubhouse, it doesn't have to store equipment in the hallway and it won't have to share a weight room and batting cage that are on the other side of the stadium.

"If I play next year," Seattle's Mike Sweeney said, "and it's April and I go to Minnesota and its 25 degrees, I'll miss the Metrodome big time.

"But the stadium is outdated and it's cool to move on to a new place. We just might need to pack some more [long] sleeves."

Overheard and Understood

• Angels ace John Lackey, an impending free agent, has told people he is seeking a $100 million contract. And a major league source said the Angels have no intention of meeting that demand. Who would -- even despite Lackey's dependability over the years? There have been five nine-figure deals for pitchers; Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton didn't produce over the entire lengths of their deals, Barry Zito looks similar and the jury is still out on CC Sabathia and Santana.

Chart of the Week
Colorado's Seth Smith is 17-for-35 as a pinch hitter. In the past 35 years, just four players have batted .500 in the pinch (minimum 20 at-bats):
Player	Team	Average
Bruce Boisclair	'76 Mets	.571 (12-21)
Kevin Seitzer	'91 Royals	.550 (11-20)
Alex Arias	'99 Phillies	.545 (12-22)
Willie McGee	'92 Giants	.524 (11-21)
Seth Smith	'09 Rockies	.486 (17-35)
Source: STATS LLC

• Washington plans to talk with Bob Melvin about its managerial position soon after the season ends. Melvin and general manager Mike Rizzo worked together in Arizona. Bobby Valentine's name has also come up as a Nationals candidate, and there is talk that those interviewed for the Washington GM job were asked directly about Valentine, an indication that he has been in the team's sights for a while.

• Are we in a golden age of second basemen? For the first time ever, five second basemen -- Dan Uggla, Aaron Hill, Chase Utley, Jose Lopez and Ian Kinsler -- have 25-homer seasons in the same year. Then there's Brian Roberts (55 doubles), Robinson Cano ( .321 average and .519 slugging percentage,), Dustin Pedroia (110 runs scored and .297 average) and Brandon Phillips (20 homers, 95 RBI). Only Roberts and Utley are in their 30s.

• A scout who has examined the Diamondbacks system said it is severely lacking in top prospects, and he cited three factors: some of the top young players in the organization are already in the majors; Arizona gave up prospects in the deal for Dan Haren; and a couple of bad drafts in a row. In contrasting the depth of two systems, the scout said the Giants "have 20 guys like" Diamondbacks lefty Daniel Schlereth.

• Texas' Elvis Andrus is the fourth-youngest player to steal 30 bases in a season after Rickey Henderson, Ty Cobb and Claudell Washington.

• The Red Sox face a tough decision on how much to play catcher Jason Varitek in the postseason. He looks terrible at the plate (.167 with 20 RBI in 156 at-bats since June 30) and in the field. About all manager Terry Francona can cite is intangibles: "There was a reason they put that 'C' (for captain) on his chest. And even through disappointment and a little bit of a reduced role, he still exhibits a lot of leadership."

• With the Angels, Phillies and Cardinals having closer issues, we wondered: how much does a closer matter in the postseason. Conventional wisdom says a lot, since the competition is better, the games are closer, and each loss is so significant. Well, according to STATS LLC, since the three-tiered playoffs began in 1995, there has been an average of one save opportunity every 2.89 postseason games. Over the same span, save opportunities have been MORE frequent in the regular season -- an average of one save opportunity every 2.68 regular-season games. And the save percentage is about the same, 67.0 in the regular season and 67.2 in the postseason.

Still, we suspect that closers do matter, because of the importance of every game and the psychological effect of a blown save.

• Seattle could be the second team ever to win 85 games the year after losing 100. The 1989 Orioles were 87-75 after going 54-107 the previous season.

• Arizona vice president for player personnel Jerry DiPoto didn't get the Washington GM job, but if San Diego decides to promote long-time general manager Kevin Towers to a position such as team president, DiPoto would have a shot at becoming Padres GM.

• The possible Game 1 matchup in one American League Division Series is Sabathia and Justin Verlander. They have faced off six times, their teams splitting the games (two this year between the Yankees and Tigers and the other four between Cleveland and Detroit). In the six games, Sabathia has gone 3-3 with a 5.13 ERA while Verlander has gone 3-2 with a 3.26 ERA.

• An AL executive who recently saw St. Louis' John Smoltz in person said, "His stuff is really, really good. I guess Boston must be really good not to need that guy." The minuses, according to the executive: Smoltz's "command is not what it used to be" and he "labors," throwing a lot of sliders.

• Some suspect Chad Billingsley's struggles for the Dodgers -- 3-6 with a 5.40 ERA since the All-Star break -- come from not getting along with catcher Russell Martin.

• Derek Jeter, 35, is the oldest regular shortstop with a 200-hit season.

• They aren't the most indicative statistics, but the Dodgers could become the first team since the 1946 Cardinals to lead the NL in club batting average, ERA and fielding percentage.