The Baseball Part

As a grad present (see forthcoming entry), my parents took me to see the Twins play the Mariners at Safeco Field. It was only the second Major League Baseball game I've seen outside the Metrodome and the first since my dad and I went to Wrigley Field when I was 13 years old. And I gotta say that Safeco Field is one of the most beautiful ballparks I've ever seen. The sightlines are awesome, it's nearly impossible to have a bad seat there...even up in the nosebleed section. Despite the fact that the dimensions are roughly the same as those at the Dome, there is a level of intimacy that is not prevalent in Minnesota. The players look so close and you can hear the crack of the bat without an echo. Of course tickets and food cost WAY more than Twins tickets, but that's (literally) the price you pay. And as if it couldn't get much better, the Twins won. Santana didn't pitch awesome, but Mauer was knocking the hide off the ball. Having now been to one of the new, old-style ballparks, I'm really excited about the new Twins stadium.