Detroit Tigers 2, Minnesota Twins 3

Saturday, June 30, 2001, 6:05 PM, Metrodome

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This game was for the whole family: Birthday Bud, Arlis, Chris, Cyri, Max and Unborn.

When Bud was agreeable to seeing a game for his birthday, I checked out and purchased the Dairy Queen Family Pack, offered for every Saturday game. And what a deal it is!

Start with 4 lower GA tickets ($40 value), 4 Dome Dogs ($14 value), 4 sodas ($12 value), parking pass ($3 value), DQ coupon, and free Twins Magazine ($4 value). That's $73 worth of stuff for $34! I added two tickets to the package at $10 apiece, but it still was nearly half price!

Plus, saving the hassle of finding parking was worth way more than the $3 actually saved. In fact, the ramp was about one block from the stadium, and Chris new of an entrance not normally used, so we breezed in with no troubles and got a fine space.

We did, of course, have to sit way the heck out in left field, but being GA made it easier for Cyri to get an aisle seat for, well, pregnancy reasons. After several stabs, we finally settled on seats out in section 140, just outside the foul pole. Not bad, all things considered.

I got my Dome Dog early and was long finished by the time the festivities began. And on this day, the festivities were especially fabulous.

Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the 1991 World Champion Twins brought back all the excitement of that season, with many familiar players (and a few I'd completely forgotten about). No less than three of the six players whose numbers have been retired (Oliva, Puckett, and Hrbek) were in attendance, along with a host of other great players. There's something special about seeing those guys whose faces hang so large out in center field. Knowing that Kirby is on his way to Cooperstown makes it that much more memorable.

They took a lap around the field in trucks, then gathered on the infield. Bob Casey announced every single player, and there were a couple of speeches. Then all the starters from Game 7 took their respective positions out on the field, and the 2001 Twins ran out to meet them. Very nice touch.

Jack Morris through out the first pitch to Brian Harper, the battery from that legendary game 7 of the World Series. Unfortunately, the pitch bounced a good five feet in front of the plate. It's a lesson: whatever you excel at today, you may not be able to touch in ten years. Every rookie pitcher should consider it, along with all the rest of us in our various vocations.

It was especially great to see Tom Kelly, along with the majority of his 1991 coaching staff, still active. It must have been a weird shift to go from preparing for a game, to celebrating a championship team from a decade ago, to getting back and coaching a game. Continuity is important in baseball, and it was great to see that there really has been some continuity through all of the lean years. The coaching staff has always been great -- one of the greatest in the majors. And while it was great to see them celebrating, it was even better to have them in the dugout!

But I was not just remembering the 1991 Twins. After all, here I was with most of my family, sitting out in left field to watch a game. It wasn't the Met, but when my mom picked up a pencil and started scoring the game, it all came back to me. In fact, I always keep score because she always kept score. (I didn't realize I'd stopped until Kevin and I got to Chicago, so I started up again right away.)

Thankfully, these Twins didn't disappoint, and the game was very exciting. It was also very short (under 2:30), which was a blessing for Cyri and Unborn.

The Star-Spangled Banner proved memorable as the singer skipped the sharps. We thought the first time ("dawn's early light") might have just been nerves, and we all looked at each other giggling. But when the second ("perilous fight") and third ("was still there") came out the same, we were really laughing. In all, one of the worst renditions I've heard at the Metrodome.

The weird play had to be when Guzman broke from third in an attempt to steal home! He was tagged out easily, and I've been puzzled ever since. Did he think he could know the ball out of the catcher's mitt with his slide? Or maybe just elude the tag by sliding toward the mound and tapping the plate with his hand? Or maybe just hoped it would be such a surprise that there'd be no play? Was it just a hit-and-run play that went bust? None of the coverage mentions anything, and it was scored officially as "caught stealing." That he would even try it makes for great baseball.

No question that these Twins have moxie, and a lot of chemistry. Torii Hunter seems to have a magical glove, and more than a few players seem to have magical bats. Of course, it is the 2001 Tigers -- hardly a match for some of the past Detroit teams. Still the Twins played well, and won convincingly.

Beyond that, it was a great day with family, celebrating a birthday, and reliving some treasured old memories.

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