Anaheim Angels 4, Minnesota Twins 5

Sunday, September 2, 2001, 1:05 PM, Metrodome

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This game was just to catch up a bit after missing most of this homestand for other activities. Since I had the afternoon free, I just parked at a meter on Chicago Avenue (2 blocks from the stadium), popped in $2.50 worth of quarters (good for five hours, these meters are enforced every day) and bought a ticket in section 227 right at the ticket booth.

I did not, of course, sit in the specified seat. I just grabbed a place where I could have the seats around me, including one in front to hang my leg over. So when the foul ball was caught a few rows in front of me, it occurred to me to check my ticket. Sure enough, the ball hit the exact seat I was supposed to be sitting in. Oh well...

Since I was on my own, the radio came with, and I settled in to what was more or less a pitcher's duel for eight innings. Rick Reed looked great again (just as he did on August 22 -- I'm beginning to feel like a good luck charm for him, because he's stunk on every outing that I didn't attend in person). The Twins secured a 4-0 lead which never actually felt all that secure, and sure enough the Angels rallied in the ninth off our meager bullpen to tie the game.

I immediately had fantasies about a ninth-inning homerun to settle things once and for all, but that's not very likely, right? Denny Hocking proved otherwise, for another of the most exciting finishes (and emotional roller coasters) I've ever experienced. There's something about the 2001 Minnesota Twins that tells me things aren't over yet.

The weird play could have been when David Ortiz was intentionally walked by Ramon Ortiz after Corey Koskie stole second with a count to Ortiz of 3-1 (both Koskie and Ortiz later scored, Ortiz on a wild throw to first by Ortiz). But instead, the weird play may have been when two Twins, Jacque Jones and Corey Koskie, started toward the dugout after the second out in the sixth inning. Even John Gordon caught it, and the players were laughing pretty hard as they actually came in a few minutes later.

Once again, there was a big pile-on at home plate as Hocking scored the winning run, looking every bit like a playoff victory, though it sounds like Hocking got his nose broken in the celebration.

Then a weird thing happened. The game was over, the teams had long left the field, and the crowd (17,352) hung around just cheering. Nobody left their seats, and our voices filled the place up just like on that night in 1987 when the World Series-bound Twins returned to town. I stayed and cheered, too, and traded exclamations of amazement with a fellow a few rows in front of me. I've just NEVER seen that happen at the Metrodome. Ah, baseball.

With this game, the Twins are back to .500 in games I've seen this season (9-9). I'm still hoping that the games Vic and I see in Chicago mean something, and after a win like this, it feels like they might.