I never even got to be in the Hormel Row of Fame. The Metrodome was demolished, of course, to make way for U. The Gophers, if you remember, used to share The Dome with the Twins back in the day. The boys in maroon and gold finally got to play their first game at the new place last Friday.
Excited for some indoor baseball! There are actual windows, and maybe some actual sunlight during the day. Any ball that hits above the line is a home run. Now this? On the holy grounds of the Metrodome?
To paraphrase Piers Morgan, I want dead. There are other things lacking at US Bank Stadium—most noticeably, dirt.
Nick Punto is probably rolling in his grave. Bank Stadium! The roof had snow melting ducts to prevent a collapse. However, the roof has collapsed four times due to snow, the last in December causing the Vikings game to be postponed and moved.
Named after former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, the H. Metrodome opened on April 3, It was the third dome stadium to open. Approximately 48, blue seats circled the entire stadium for baseball. Making up the right field wall of the Metrodome was 7, retractable seats that allowed for the conversion from baseball to football.
Teufel ended up with a game-winning, three-run inside-the-park home run. Different types of artificial turf have been installed since then and the problem has lessened. Despite the complaints about the Metrodome, its tenure as the home of the Twins and Vikings has exceeded that of Metropolitan Stadium and has been the site of a number of significant events in baseball and football:.
The Twins won that World Series, against the St. They reached that mark on a home run by Claudell Washington at the Metrodome on April 20, Ripken also played in his 2,th consecutive game at the Metrodome August 1, College, high-school, and other amateur teams frequently use the Metrodome for games. The Minnesota Gophers schedule many of their early-season games for the Metrodome and sometimes during poor weather have shifted games from Siebert Field, their normal home, to the Metrodome.
Amateur teams have often taken the field after Twins games, sometimes playing into the early hours of the next day. Besides the Vikings and Gophers, the Metrodome has hosted many small-college and high-school football games. In , less than a week after the Twins won the World Series, record snowfalls hit the area.
Football fields across Minnesota were covered with snow, and, over the next few weeks, 73 high-school games were relocated to the Metrodome. The Metrodome has hosted many basketball games, including two National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four tournaments, in and The Minnesota Timberwolves used the Metrodome as their home during their inaugural season of , as a new arena was being built for them.
The Timberwolves set an NBA attendance record during their season in the Metrodome, although, as the Twins had done to sell enough tickets to reach the 3-million mark in , the Timberwolves orchestrated a sales blitz of deeply discounted tickets in order to reach the level needed to break the previous record. The cause of fly balls being lost in the roof has often been attributed to the roof being white, which causes a white ball to blend into it.
However, the ball actually shows up as a dark spot to a fielder looking up at it with the translucent roof as a background. During the day, this dark spot was easier to pick up as the translucent roof remained light.
At night, however, the roof darkened and tracking fly balls became a treacherous activity. The stadium commission eventually installed lights that illuminated the roof at night, which ameliorated the problem but did not totally eliminate it. The ball went through a vent hole in the roof, and, by the ground rules of the Metrodome, Kingman was awarded a double. Another myth concerns the only postponement to date at the Metrodome.
The first time this happened was in November of , before the Metrodome opened. The Twins had a game scheduled against the California Angels at the Metrodome on Thursday night that was postponed because of the storm.
Late Thursday evening, a chunk of ice tore a foot gap in the roof of the Metrodome, causing it to deflate. The roof collapse is often given as the reason for the postponement. The Angels had taken an overnight flight from California and arrived over the Twin Cities at about on Thursday morning.
The plane was unable to land and was diverted to Chicago, where the Angels spent the day. The roof was quickly repaired and re-inflated, and the Angels arrived in Minnesota in time for the Friday night game to be played.
A roof breach that did affect a game occurred on Saturday night, April 26, In the top of the ninth inning, a storm ripped a hole in the roof, causing fans in the upper deck in right field to get wet as water poured through.
High winds also caused the light bars to sway and the game was delayed as fans were evacuated from the seating area. The ticket buyout, an attempt to keep the Twins from exercising an escape clause in the Metrodome lease, is well remembered. Four years later, a ticket buyout on a smaller scale was used to help the Twins reach a milestone.
In , the Twins were on their way to setting a new American League attendance record, which was 2,,, set by the California Angels in However, the Twins also had a chance to become the first American League team to reach 3 million in attendance.
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