Jay Ettinger

Robby Incmikoski: All right, Jay Ettinger, a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan who loves this team and loves sports as much as anybody I know. Can you just answer—first thing I want to ask you real quick: when they found out Target Field was being built, after spending 30-something years in the Metrodome, what was the reaction around town, and how much excitement did that generate for the fans?

Jay: I think it was a tremendous amount—just to be outdoors again. I think the Dome sounded like a great idea until it became a reality, right? But then you’re stuck inside this very sterile environment. It definitely did not have the modern feel that other indoor stadiums have, like U.S. Bank for football. People were just excited to get back to the elements. Yeah, the Dome was nice for a bit, and we made some of the best memories this town has inside that building, but it got really stale. Even though it was loud, it had no amenities; you just didn’t get the smells, the aromas, the fresh air, the blue sky—it was all missing. So it kind of dulled your senses being inside that dome, and going back outside for baseball brought everything back.

People still crave going to the stadium and hanging out—it’s just a different vibe for so many reasons. It also really helped the neighborhood. I live in the North Loop, which basically came to life because of Target Field. The North Loop, 14 years ago, was nothing, and now it’s the most popular residential spot in the city. The ballpark had an amazing effect.

Robby Incmikoski: Okay, so let me ask you this—sorry, go ahead, Jay. April 12, 2010, I worked that game; I was there as the Twins TV reporter. A really special day, one of the favorite days I’ve ever experienced in my entire career. What was that like for a fan, and how do you describe the vibe around the ballpark that day?

Jay: It was pretty electric. You had Mauer coming off, I believe, an MVP season the year before, so there was excitement about that. But for me, it was fun because they had a couple of exhibition games against the Cardinals about ten days before the stadium opened—like a Spring Training-type thing. I don’t know if you remember that, Robby, but they played the Cardinals twice, and I went to one of those games.

So I’d already been in the stadium and seen it, but certainly not for regular-season baseball. Opening Day is always incredibly special, but in a way, that excitement was building for a couple of weeks. I think they even had a college game there before the exhibition games. I didn’t go to that, but anyway, some fans had already been exposed to the stadium by the time April 12 came.

But like I said—listen, if I turn my camera now—none of this in the North Loop was here before, and it’s all because of Target Field. I can’t stress that enough.

Robby Incmikoski: Yeah, no doubt about it. That year, the team won the American League Central, won 94 games, got stopped by the Yankees in the playoffs. People in Minnesota—what they call Twins Territory, basically Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas—had been craving outdoor baseball, and they also had a great team that year. Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Cuddyer—just a solid team. Denard Span leading off. They had so many good players on that ’10 team. So what did having a good team and that new stadium do for that summer and that city?

Jay: It made the city come to life. Downtown was already a happenin’ place, but it took it to another level that’s hard to describe. That’s what hurts more now about some of the challenges we’ve faced these last few years, but it’s coming back, and the Twins are helping with that. You can just feel it on a game day. It’s in the air.

I’m telling you, I’m standing in a neighborhood that basically did not exist except for old industrial warehouses before the stadium was built. It literally owes itself to Target Field—it really does. I can’t stress that enough.

Robby Incmikoski: In your opinion, you look at the Minnie and Paul sign in center field, the floor from the old Minneapolis Lakers venue in the Town Ball Tavern, the fact that they used local construction workers to hold the flag that first day. There are so many Minnesota connections in that ballpark. How special is it to see the fabric of Minnesota illustrated in there from a native Minnesotan’s perspective?

Jay: It’s the most Minnesota thing of all. That’s how Minnesota is. We take pride in ourselves. Dan Barreiro—he’s a local radio personality—talks about how we feel like “fly-over country” sometimes. We can feel disrespected, so we love it when something is so obviously ours. There’s so much about it that’s locally connected. A lot of athletes who come here for a year end up making their home here, because it’s just a special place. Aside from winter, we always say, “Thank God for winter, or everyone would want to live here,” because we’ve got the lakes, a good education system, all that.

It’s kind of a well-kept secret, and we sort of like it that way.

Robby Incmikoski: Jay, some fans want to go to every ballpark but can’t for various reasons—financial, travel, health, whatever. If somebody’s going to Target Field for the first time, what would you tell them to expect?

Jay: I’d say it’s a ballpark, not just some stadium trying to generate revenue at every turn. It’s a real ballpark. I’ve heard Pittsburgh is somewhat similar—I haven’t been there yet, but I’ve heard the same. There’s something about it. And I’m a season ticket holder for the Timberwolves, used to have for the Wild, and for the Vikings, but baseball is different. Families come out.

People make a weekend of it because it’s a three-game series. They come down from all over Twins Territory—Dakotas, Iowa, even Winnipeg. They spend the weekend. The stadium has so many different things to experience, different bars and restaurants, but you’re not overwhelmed. The focus is still on baseball.

Robby Incmikoski: One last thing, kind of peeling back the layers a bit—what do you think, personally, makes the game of baseball so special for a fan stepping into a ballpark? Why is it so cool?

Jay: Well, I sit in the Champions Club, so my experience is different than when I was six years old. But you don’t see the kind of interaction with fans in other sports—players tossing baseballs to kids before the game, signing autographs, kids showing up early. You have better access to the players in baseball, I guess. And, as you said, all our other sports teams here are indoors now, so you don’t get to use all your senses. There’s just something about smelling the air at a baseball game.

I remember in the old Met Stadium, you’d walk in and smell cigar smoke, cigarette smoke. As a kid, I loved that smell of a cigar in the ballpark because it reminded me of my grandpa. Some of my fondest memories are walking into a baseball stadium with him. When we had football outside, that was great too, but now it’s indoors, and it’s nice—just different, a bit sterile. Baseball is outside, so it feels more real.

Kyle Fager: Jay, that was great—summarizing the connection with the community, and refreshing to hear about a ballpark that’s primarily a ballpark.

Jay: Listen, I will say one more thing. When the Twins are winning, all the politics, all the divisiveness—everything goes by the wayside. You look at 1987 and 1991, when we won the World Series: it didn’t matter your socioeconomic status, gender—people just loved everyone. We felt that again last year in the playoffs, just winning that Wild Card round. The positivity is off the charts.

I hope Target Field brings more positivity and memories that bring this community together, because it’s certainly done a lot for this neighborhood.

Robby Incmikoski: Jay, that’s exactly the perspective we want. Only a fan can give it. Joe Mauer can’t, Morneau can’t—guys like that played. So this is perfect.

Jay: Yeah, yeah.

Robby Incmikoski: All right. I don’t have anything else.

Jay: Great. If you need anything else, just let me know.

Robby Incmikoski: I’ll see if I need more. I’m trying to talk to Clyde, the historian, and get Mauer, Morneau, Clyde, you, and a few others for the Target Field chapter. That’s the plan.

Jay: Yeah, those guys know everything—where the bodies are buried.

Robby Incmikoski: Exactly. All right, thanks, Jay—appreciate you. We’ll talk soon.