It took years to build and mere weeks to take down: Demolition of the Metrodome has proceeded to the point that for all intents and purposes the former home of the Minnesota Twins is no more. Officials with the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority say that most of the Metrodome has been […]
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Outdoor NHL hockey at Target Field?
It’s no secret that the Minnesota Twins would love to host an outdoor NHL game at Target Field, and with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman touring the ballpark yesterday, it may be in the cards. Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold took Bettman out today to visit Target Field and TCF Bank Stadium, the outdoor home of […]
Tinker Field receives reprieve after community outrage
The demolition of Orlando’s Tinker Field is on hold, after politicos and community leaders expressed outrage that the historic facility was set to meet the wrecking ball with little notice. Mayor Buddy Dyer announced that plans to demolish the former home to spring training and Minor League Baseball in Orlando would be put on hold […]
Movement to save Tinker Field emerges
A movement to save historic Tinker Field, the longtime home of spring training in Orlando, is afoot, as preservationists want to see it declared a landmark, with accompanying protections. The call to preserve Tinker Field comes from Orlando’s Historic Preservation Board, which oversees the management of historic properties for the city. Last week Mayor Buddy […]
Historic Tinker Field to be torn down
Tinker Field, the historic Orlando ballpark where the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins trained for decades, will be torn down to make way for the Citrus Bowl expansion. The above photo shows the 91-year-old Tinker Field in the 1920s, when the orginal grandstand was built to house Cincinnati Reds spring training. (The Reds trained there […]
Metrodome roof deflated with no problems
The deflating of the Metrodome roof happened this morning with no issues, and the demolition of the former Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Golden Gophers ballpark will continue this week. You can see a time-lapse version of the roof-deflation video, which condenses a 35-minute process down to two minutes: The process was pretty low-tech: the electricity […]
Metrodome roof to be deflated Saturday
The seats are gone and the storage rooms cleaned, which means electricity to the Metrodome will be cut off Saturday, directly leading to the roof deflating. The Metrodome roof, a two-play synthetic-cloth covering, is kept up by air pressure. When the electricity is cut off, the roof will deflate — slowly. Even if all the […]
Ericson, Gill elected to MLB Groundskeepers Hall of Fame
Dick Ericson, retired from the Minnesota Twins, and the late Harry Gill, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers, are the 2014 inductees to the MLB Groundskeepers Hall of Fame. The honors come after a vote by the Association of Major League Baseball (MLB) Groundskeepers. To be considered for induction to the MLB Groundskeepers Hall of Fame, […]
Final days of Metrodome, Candlestick Park at hand
Two former Major League Baseball venues have dates with the wrecking ball early next year, as the Metrodome and Candlestick Park are set to come down after the 2013 NFL season. The San Francisco Giants played at Candlestick Park between 1960 and 2000. It was originally built for baseball, with a nice open design. It […]
Twins hold groundbreaking on spring-training upgrades; new renderings released
The Minnesota Twins held a groundbreaking today to mark the official beginning of renovations to Hammond Stadium and the Lee County Sports Complex, the team’s spring home. “Since 1991 the Twins and Lee County have enjoyed the model public-private partnership,” said Twins President Dave St. Peter. “Today’s groundbreaking signifies the evolution of the partnership as […]
2013 Promotions of the Year: Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Normally we select a single promotion to honor during awards season, but this year the Lehigh Valley IronPigs blew that model out of the water with a trio of noteworthy promotions. The team is the winner of the Best Promotions in the 2013 Ballpark Digest Annual Awards. “As we reviewed submissions for best promotions in […]
The Week That Was: Sept. 7-14, 2013
Attendance tallies, the temporary return of MLB to Montreal, Target Field improvements and new-ballpark news. The top stories of the week on Ballpark Digest, as measured by page views. On a related note: Ballpark Digest set a record for daily page views this past week, totaing 51,692 on Sept. 12. Thanks to each and every […]
Twins, Hennepin County planning major transit hub at Target Field
It’s billed as something comparable to Grand Central Terminal, as $79.3 million transit hub Target Field Station is set to open in 2014 next to Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins. Target Field was designed with transit in mind; when the ballpark opened, the lone light-rail transit line in the Twin Cities, the Hiawatha […]