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My original schedule when planning my baseball trip was to spend 4 days in Vegas at the end of it. This was partly because JetBlue doesn’t fly out of Santa Barbara, so I was using Vegas as my start and end points for the JetBlue all-you-can-jet pass. I got a room at the MGM, and was intending to just play a lot of poker at the end of the trip. That plan changed when the Twins beat the Royals on the last day of the season, to stay tied with the Tigers for the AL Central division lead. That forced a “regular season” playoff game to decide the division winner. It would be the last regular season game ever played at the Metrodome, as the Twins were getting a new stadium for 2010, and I had never been there. I had to go.
Getting a ticket was the easy part. As soon as they went on sale, several of my friends in the area were online refreshing the page to try to get them. Tim eventually got through, and got one for me. Now I just had to figure out how to get there. I was still in Seattle, and had a scheduled flight to Vegas (my last JetBlue AYCJ flight) the next morning. After some searching, I found a USAir flight from Vegas to Minneapolis that gave me two hours to get from the airport to the dome. Plenty of time, I was told. The city’s light rail went right from one to the other. Booked. Monday I flew from Seattle to Vegas, got checked in, played a little poker, and went to bed. Tuesday, I headed back to McCarran for the second day in a row, to fly to Minneapolis. All I brought with me were the clothes I was wearing and my camera bag. The rest of my stuff stayed in my room, somewhere in this building.
My flight was delayed 2 hours, due to weather in Minneapolis. Not good. Quite a few people on the flight were heading to the game, and were unhappy. Finally, after what seemed like forever, we took off and eventually landed in Minnesota. I rushed across the airport to the light rail, and headed for the Metrodome. The game started when I was a few stops away. Tim was able to come down and give me my ticket through one of the gates, and I got inside, having missed just the first inning. Not much had happened, and the score was still tied at zero. I met Eric for the first time after getting to my seat.
The rest of the game was incredible. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the 3rd. The Twins took a 4-3 lead in the 7th. The Tigers tied it up in the 8th. Both teams scored a run in the 10th, and the Twins almost won it then but had the winning run thrown out at the plate. Finally, the Twins got a run in the 12th to win and move on to the playoffs. It was just a ridiculous game, especially considering the situation.
After the game, I went out for drinks with Eric and Chad, after walking what seemed like 12 miles from the dome to find the place. Crashed the night on Chad’s couch, and then it was off to the airport again bright and early in the morning. I was at McCarran for my third day in a row when I got back to Vegas. Played some poker, got some sleep, and then Thursday it was back to the airport again for the fourth day to head back to Santa Barbara.
This was the end of my baseball trip. I did go to a bunch of Dodgers and Angels playoff games the next week, though.
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That 12 mile walk was my fault. Sucks getting turned around in your former hometown… That said, it was great to finally meet at what was probably the best baseball game I’ve every seen in person.
Cool shots! I love the shot of Mauer blocking the plate and the wide shot of the stadium. Glad I could help you witness such an awesome game. Like BloodyP said, the best game I’ve ever seen in person. Now, when you coming to see Target field? Coming for the Summit?