I often think of how I will answer the question "who were your favorite ballplayers to watch when you were a kid" when my daughter is old enough to follow baseball. I would tell her that Dave Nilsson, Jeromy Burnitz, and Fernando Vina were some of my earliest player memories from a decade Brewers fans would otherwise soon forget. As we watched Mike Trout make his Hall of Fame speech, I would tell her about Ken Griffey Jr. being the Trout of my era and all the times I got to see him play for the Reds. And I would also tell her about meeting Uncle Erik in college and our undeniable allegiance to two players: Chase Utley and Joe Mauer.
From Mauer's 2004 debut and for the next decade until chronic leg weakness eventually moved him to 1st base permanently, there was arguably no more complete catcher in all of baseball. He racked up 2123 hits, 923 RBI, 3 gold gloves, 5 silver sluggers, and a career .306 batting average. Not only was he the first AL catcher to ever win a batting title - he did it three times, including his 2009 MVP season with a mind-boggling .365/.444/.587 slash line. I'm not claiming to know Joe Mauer on a personal level, but I bet if you asked him what the most important thing was to him in all of his accomplishments, it would be that he was able to do all of this for one organization and his hometown club, the Twins. He was drafted #1 overall out of a St. Paul high school and instantly became the face of the city and the franchise, and he did not disappoint nor waver from his devotion to the Twins and the game. I don't think it is a coincidence that Erik and I gravitated to players like Utley and Mauer, two players who spent almost their entire careers with the same team and became incredibly inspiring leaders.
Seeing Mauer's number retired at Target Field on Saturday night brought back a lot of memories, and I'm sure Erik has hundreds more he could share. I remember all of the times I saw him play at the Metrodome when I was visiting Erik and how it seemed like he was just on another planet as a hitter. Other than maybe Pujols, I can't recall seeing a better hitter on a regular basis. In particular I remember seeing Mauer during his MVP season on a trip to see the Dome one final time before it closed and he homered over the baggie against the Brewers. The following season he would sign a huge contract to remain with Minnesota as they opened their new park, Target Field, and there could be no better ambassador and recipient of that. I remember his ridiculous commercials, his leadership on multiple World Baseball Classic rosters, and how I still loved watching his sweet left-handed swing even as his hair turned gray. Even as a fan who does not regularly follow the Twins, I felt a connection to him during all of the speeches and tribute videos, and it was a very emotional night. The pride he has in his community and the organization and the amount of love that the entire state of Minnesota has for this man was truly inspiring to watch and I felt honored to be a witness to that.
It was a humanizing night for me for a second reason. Megan and I attended the game with Megan's parents, and about midway thought the game, they took Molly home with them for a weeklong visit to Grandma & Grandpa's, by far the longest amount of time we have been apart from her since she was born. Between that and the Mauer ceremony, the game was a distant third. But they did pull out a 5-4 victory that we struggled to focus on. Kansas City jumped ahead in the first inning on a booming homerun by Jorge Soler, and added a couple more in the 5th inning to take a 4-1 lead. It was looking like the Royals would hang a rare loss on Jake Odorizzi, but the Twins tied it up in their half of the inning and eventually took the lead for good in the 6th on a CJ Cron double. The Major League leaders in homeruns also of course hit a couple of bombs on the evening, by Marwin Gonzalez and Max Kepler. Taylor Rogers worked around a couple of baserunners in the 9th to earn his 8th save.
After Megan's parents left with Molly, Megan and I explored a couple of newer areas of the ballpark we hadn't seen yet. The first was the new main entry gate plaza. Target Field is unique in the fact that it is built on one of the smallest parcels of land for a major league ballpark. It sits on under 9 acres when some parks can be 3 times that if you include parking. This means that there are extremely limited opportunities to gain usable space or increase the footprint of the stadium. They did this in an unique way by moving the main entry gate closer to the street to capture a new space inside the park. It makes for a more crowded sequence entering the park, but provides some much needed relief from the crowd inside and a nice area for children and photo opportunities. Another way the Twins repurposed some space is the Bat & Barrel Lounge just upstairs from that main gate. This used to be a private suite and office area and is now a bar and seating area open to all fans, including a nice balcony looking back towards the city skyline. It was very reminiscent of the area Erik and I sat in Cleveland last summer, or the Chop House in Atlanta. The Twins set the standard for social spaces and interaction areas when Target Field opened 10 years ago and continue to excel in this category despite the congestion, and this is a major reason this remains one of my top ballparks.Following the game, now childless, Megan and I wandered back to our downtown hotel, trying to remember what we would do in this situation before we were parents. We got a slice of late-night pie and stayed awake until nearly 11pm, and I considered that a small victory. If this weekend was any precedent for future Grandma & Grandpa Cruze weeks with Molly, I would welcome this every year.
(see post from my last visit to Target Field in June 2015)
STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/17/19:
Brewers 40-31, +1.0; 3 @ Padres, 4 v. Reds, 3 v. Mariners, 3 v. Pirates
Twins 47-23, +10.0; 3 v. Red Sox, 4 @ Royals, 3 v. Rays, 3 @ White Sox
2019 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 1
Peter - 7
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.