New York Yankees 2, Minnesota Twins 4

Wednesday, May 2, 2001, 7:05 PM, Metrodome

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Well, all games can't be as great as the one we saw prior to this (April 29, against Baltimore). Actually, the game was great, but a few fans really mucked things up.

It was widely reported, and it's true, that former Twin Chuck Knoblauch had some stuff thrown at him. Must have been pennies and such because we couldn't see anything (until the hot dog).

Kevin and I got the best seats available, and they turned out to be in the lower deck a long way down the third base line, right by the Twins' bullpen (section 136). This is the part of the stadium where the seats actually face out toward center field. You must crane in order to see the infield. But it did mean that we had a great view of the rowdiness in the lower deck GA seats. And they were rowdy, but nowhere near what was reported.

It was a bad idea, to be sure. Offer deep discounts for student tickets, sell a lot of cheap beer and hot dogs for $1, and put an unpopular former Twin near the sea of drunken college kids. No one should have been surprised that a hot dog ended up out in left field.

But let's put this in perspective: According to a newspaper report the next day, there were 41,000 hot dogs sold at $1 apiece and exactly ONE ended up out on the field. That was not a reason to stop the game, and certainly not a reason for the Twins to forfeit the game.

The forfeit might not have even been an issue if Metrodome announcer Bob Casey hadn't mentioned it. He seemed to genuinely overreact to the situation, pleading with the fans to calm down, and it just made things worse.

Of course, as soon as he mentioned the word "forfeit," a few Yankees' fans in the crowd got an idea. There's no doubt that the last round of debris thrown on the field (during the second game delay) was launched by a hopeful Yankee fan in the upper deck behind us. Twins fans up there were ready to kill.

This, however, did not get reported, and that's probably for the best. It might have seemed like sour grapes after the way the sports media jumped all over the story.

Tom Kelly, gentle giant that he is, did his part in trying to keep the crowd quiet. He walked out into left field (right in front of us) and gestured for the crowd to settle down. Then, to the strains of some organ noodling, walked over to Knoblauch, talked for a bit, patted him on the ass, and headed back to the dugout. A very classy move, in a very embarrassing situation.

The Twins won the game, but it sure didn't feel like much of a victory.

For the first, time I ordered tickets from the Twins' web site. It was a simple process, and saved a lot of hassle at the stadium. The Will Call lines are substantially shorter than the purchase lines, so I got the tickets after waiting only a couple of minutes. This is definitely the easiest way to get tickets.

Parking was in the same lot we'd discovered the last time and seemed to work really well. We settled into a pattern of leaving one car at Bob and wending our way through the back streets between there and the dome until we come out virtually right where we want to park. Saves a lot of time and traffic hassle.

A bigger hassle came when we decided to get some hot dogs. Kevin scoped out the lines, and estimated that it would take an hour to get dogs. So we waited, and tried to time the dash to coincide with the lowest volume of people having the same idea. It didn't really work, and ultimately it took him about 45 minutes to get our two dogs and two sodas.

Just another thing to hate about the Metrodome, I guess. Not enough vending, long lines, untrained workers who are actually volunteers doing some sort of fundraising (seems to be a different group for each game). I don't object to that, but it goes a long way toward explaining why the Twins don't make much money on concessions. My question: is it just circumstances, or are they not trying really hard? After all, the more poorly they do on concession revenue, the better claim they have on needing a new ballpark. If that's the case, I'll take the long lines, and hope it works.

The weird play had to be in the bottom of the sixth when Torii Hunter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring a run. Not something you see very often.

But an even weirder play took place in the stands near us. A security guard decided to track down the beach ball which was being bounced all over the section. With a very stern look on his face he began following the ball's movements, trying to admonish people into giving the ball to him.

This went on for 15 minutes or more, but finally he got it. As he started up the stairs, he placed the ball under his arm, and before you knew it, some rowdy kid had slapped it out from under and tossed it up to be bounced once again. The guard gave up and trudged up the stairs with that same stern look on his face.

The fans in Minnesota aren't really baseball fans, that's for sure. Tonight proved that they have a long way to go in appreciating the game. Trades happen. And you have to let it go. Players move around, and the best revenge is to field a fine team in the absence of the superstar (see the 2001 Seattle Mariners). And even if the guy used to be your favorite, he still deserves respect. He still can play the game.

Worst of all, bad fan behavior reflects on the team within the league. You can bet that when the season is long over, this game will still be remembered. The next time Knoblauch is in town, the story will be retold. It may be one of the few things remembered about the 2001 Twins (barring the unlikely World Series championship). That's not right.