Our Stadium Adventures: Safeco Field

My wife's sister and her family lived in Seattle for a few years up until this past summer, so we have had the opportunity to take in a couple of Mariners games as well as a tour of Safeco Field.  First of all, if you've never been to Seattle, put it on your list of future vacation sites.  I haven't been to that many different cities in the US, but Seattle is definitely one of my favorites so far.  From Pike's Market, to the Space Needle, to the original Starbucks, and Underground Seattle, there are so many cool aspects of Seattle that I would go back again even without family there anymore.

Our Stadium Adventures: Target Field

My wife and I (mostly me) have this lifetime goal of being able to visit all 30 baseball stadiums - or at least one from each city/team.  One of my favorite parts about the game of baseball, the thing that separates baseball from many other sports, is that each stadium is special and unique.  Each stadium has its own history, sights, smells, and quirks.  We have been married now almost 3 years, and we have had the privilege of watching at least one game at 8 different stadiums so far: Metrodome, Target Field, Miller Park, US Cellular Field, Wrigley Field, Comerica Park, Rogers Centre, and Safeco Field.  I thought it would be cool just to share a few pictures  and stories from our experiences at each ballpark.

In addition to going to a game, we've also had the opportunity to take two ballpark tours - one at Target Field, and one at Safeco Field.  Since this is, after all, a site dedicated to the Twins, let's start out with our newest gem: Target Field.  Last season we took in the Friday night game against the White Sox on 1991 World Series Reunion Weekend, followed by a Target Field Tour Saturday morning.

The Book on Jamey Carroll

Newcomers are always a little intriguing around this time of the year - especially after a disappointing season like 2011.  This year Josh Willingham, Joel Zumaya, Ryan Doumit, Jason Marquis, and Jamey Carroll bear the newcomer flag into Target Field.  With the shortstop position being such a desperate need after the fail that was Tsuyoshi Nishioka last season, Carroll is the one the Twins chose to jump out of the free agent pile and save the day this spring.  Not knowing a whole lot about our new shortstop, I decided to dive in and see who exactly we are getting to shore up the 2012 middle infield.

Starting in CF for the Minnesota Twins...

Two of my favorite current Minnesota Twins are Denard Span and Ben Revere.  I've been a huge fan of Span since the day he stepped onto that Metrodome turf, and what's not to like about Revere?  With the departures of Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and Jason Repko; the addition of Josh Willingham; and the seemingly complete return to health of Denard Span this spring; there has obviously been an enormous shake-up across the entire outfield looking ahead to 2012.  Manager Ron Gardenhire has basically already named Denard Span his starting center fielder for opening day, but I like I'm sure many of you Twins fans would question that move if he indeed is in CF against the Orioles April 6th.

Who is Jared Burton?

Yesterday, in LEN3's live chat, he answered a question about right handed relievers.  He mentioned the usual guys, Carlos Gutierrez, Alex Burnett, Joel Zumaya; but then he finished his answer by saying, "Watch out for Burton."  Maybe I missed something this off-season while I was stressing over the 3-13 Vikings, the drowning-by-the-day Wild, or the injury plagued Team Tubby.  Maybe I missed something this off-season while obsessing over my new favorite point guard throwing alley-oops to whoever will go get them down at Target Center.  When I read that answer, I said to myself, "self, who the heck is Burton?"