The undoubted highlight of last week’s early MLB games was the opening series at the Minnesota Twins’ new ballpark: Target Field.  A 2-1 series win over the Boston Red Sox was the perfect way to start, although even an 0-3 sweep would not have dampened the enthusiasm of the fans getting acquainted with their new home.

Target Field has been many long years in the making.  The protracted and often fractious process of gaining approval for the ballpark put in doubt the very future of MLB in Minnesota.  Some thought that an agreement would never be reached, so walking into Target Field for the first time must have been both a source of great joy and relief.

Watching from afar, the sheer beauty of the new ballpark was striking, which is no surprise.  All new stadiums have that ‘just made’ sheen that can’t help but impress and considering the money that gets spent on them, $545m (£355m) in this case, anything less than a spectacular design would be a serve disappointment.  It has all the hallmarks of the ‘retro ballparks’ that we’ve come to expect in recent years and is as far removed from the Twins’ old home, the indoor Metrodome, as you can get. 

However, while nowhere near the dullness of the ‘cookie cutter’ era, the allure of the ‘retro’ template led by Camden Yards is starting to drift a little into repetition.  I’m sure the Mets’ Citi Field is a great facility for fans and players alike, but it doesn’t have a unique look to it.  Mets fans have complained that the ballpark doesn’t have the team’s identity at its heart.  The scoreboard is dominated by a Citi Field sign and without looking at the the uniforms and replica jerseys in the crowd, you wouldn’t immediately know who plays there.

That’s not a charge you could level at Target Field. 

The sponsor’s branding understandably takes a prominent position, but not at the expense of Twins regalia, such as the large Twins logo above the video screen and the “Minnie and Paul Shaking Hands” logo that harks back to the teams’ arrival in Minnesota back in 1961.  There’s a special quality about Target Field, one that was immediately apparent to everyone involved in the opener on Monday.

The broadcast began with a wonderful opening montage, where images from the Twins’ past and present were accompanied by a poem read by Twins broadcaster Dick Bremer.  “This timeless tradition, served best with the sun” was a line that tempted fate, but thankfully the weather was on the Twins’ side.  Fans wearing short sleeves stood in the hazy sunshine as Carl Pavano took the sign from Joe Mauer and threw the first pitch.  The ball was caught by Mauer and carefully thrown to one side as a memento, a pattern that would be repeated numerous times throughout the game.  It’s a good job that the previously frugal Twins front office have loosened the purse strings this year otherwise their baseball budget would have been blown in one day.

A new ballpark creates plenty of opportunities to get your name in the record books and the Red Sox’s lead-off hitter Marco Scutaro did his best to get as many ‘Target Field firsts’ as possible.  He got the first hit, then made the first stolen base attempt, only to be the first person picked off and therefore the first person to make an out.  As for the Twins, Orlando Hudson got the first hit, Denard Span got the first run, Michael Cuddyer got the first RBI and Jason Kubel launched the first home run as Minnesota went on to win 5-2.

Everyone was in a celebratory mood, including Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven up in the commentary box.  Food was being delivered to the pair virtually as soon as Pavano started pitching, with the arrival of cake a few innings later making them so happy that they started laughing. It was that sort of day.

From a TV viewer’s point of view, Target Field has left tradition behind by opting for a centre field main camera angle rather than the standard ‘to one side’ view.  You get a much better view of the strikezone this way, although it doesn’t have quite the picturesque quality of the one we’ve become accustomed to.  The camera angle could be referred to as the ‘Marmite shot’, if they had Marmite in the States, as fans either love it or hate it.

That’s the only thing likely to cause a divergence of opinion on Target Field though. With a very competitive team and a beautiful ballpark to watch them in, it must be good to be a Twins fan right now.

A Silva Lining?

While current Twins are enjoying their new digs, a former teammate is enjoying a mini-renaissance in Chicago.

You know your stock is low when your team is prepared to pay somone else $9m and take on another team’s problem child to get you off their books.  The Mariners traded Carlos Silva to the Cubs over the offseason and his new team was mainly concerned about getting rid of Milton Bradley rather than who they got in return.  Little was expected of Silva (well, little positive at least), but he performed well in his season debut against the Reds and followed that up in a day game at Wrigley on Friday against the Astros, earning his first win while pitching seven strong innings.

Mind you, he didn’t help his cause much at the plate.

Alfonso Soriano led off the fifth with a single and someone in the crowd decided to give manager Lou Piniella some advice.  “How ’bout a bunt, Lou?” he kept shouting, an idea that was rightly disregarded at the time (commentator Len Kasper explained the foolishness of playing for one run when the score is 1-2 in the fifth), but was adopted soon after when the siutation changed to runners on first and second with one out and Silva in the batter’s box.  Unfortunately, Silva’s bunting ability didn’t match his new-found success on the mound.  He bunted the ball straight back to pitcher Felipe Paulino who threw to third for one out before the ball was fired across the diamond to first base.  You expected it to be a close play, only for Silva to be out by about 30 feet.

Replays showed ‘Snail’s pace’ Silva shuffling along the first-base line, before trying to claim ‘catcher interference’ to mask the embarrassment of his lack of effort.  Pineilla was not impressed, but he can’t complain too much as Silva being in that position in the first place was more than the Cubs would have bargained for prior to the season starting.  Let’s see how start number three goes.

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This week’s early MLB games (all times are in BST)

We’re a bit light on early games this working week, with none on Tuesday and Friday and only seven combined over the other three days. Still, there are some promising games on the schedule, namely Zack Greinke’s attempt to kick-start his season against the Blue Jays, an intriuging match-up between superstar CC Sabathia and the unheralded Dallas Braden (who has been excellent in his first two starts this year) and Ubaldo Jimenez’s first appearance following his magical no-hitter.

Monday 19 April

16.05. Tampa Bay at Boston (Jeff Niemann – John Lackey)

Tuesday 20 April

No early games

Wednesday 21 April

17.37. Kansas City at Toronto (Zack Greinke – Shaun Marcum)
23.35. San Francisco at San Diego (Todd Wellemeyer – Jon Garland)

Thursday 22 April

17.35. Milwaukee at Pittsburgh (Randy Wolf – Daniel McCutchen)
18.10. Cleveland at Minnesota (Mitch Talbot – Scott Baker)
20.35. NY Yankees at Oakland (CC Sabathia – Dallas Braden)
21.35. Colorado at Washington (Ubaldo Jimenez – Livan Hernandez)

Friday 23 April

No early games

All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, At Bat with Gameday Audio and MLB.tv), while ESPN America’s MLB schedule can be found here. A complete schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.