Written By Sam Ekstrom
Much like the month of Spring Training games that precede it, Opening Day is a chance to enjoy a baseball game in a vacuum. Such was the case Monday as the scuffling Twins debuted at Target Field for their first of 81 home games – a drudgery of a campaign that, by the end, will likely have fans asking for a merciful conclusion. Especially after the ugly late innings of a 12-3 defeat.
For a few hours, however, as the sun shone on Target Field, the baseball season didn’t feel like a 162-game punishment. The Twins’ home opener was fun for awhile, if only for the anticipation and the pre-game festivities. Sixty-five degree weather, blues skies, a sellout crowd and, most of all, an opportunity to feel nostalgic.
“It never gets old, as far as starting a new season,” said new manager Paul Molitor, “whether it was our openers in Detroit, Chicago, and now of course here at home, so it’s just you get into your yearly routine … but there’s something about Opening Day that kind of kicks off what you’re trying to accomplish; that’s when goals start to get, hopefully, fulfilled.”
For perhaps the only time this season, the lines at Target Field were hundreds deep just to get in the doors for 1 p.m. batting practice. The atmosphere was lively, a welcome sight in a ballpark that’s grown accustomed to uninhabited upper deck sections during cold April games. While the game itself pitted two teams going in polar opposite directions, there was a clean-slate feel to the proceedings – almost as if nothing mattered before this game, and nothing would matter after it. At minimum, it was a chance to enjoy a hot dog, sip a beer and welcome back a local legend.
Torii Hunter, back for a second go-round in Minnesota, triggered many fond memories as he reminisced about Twins teams of a bygone era during his pregame press conference with the media. “I looked at some paintings on the wall … all the players I played with and the players before who mentored me. Kirby and Rick Aguilera and Jacque [Jones] and [Corey] Koskie and [David] Ortiz — before he was Big Papi. Just looking at all those things and on the walls while walking through the home clubhouse,” Hunter said before having a new thought: “That’s the best clubhouse I’ve ever seen.”
Hunter spent a decade playing in the dingy Metrodome, where the clubhouse was antiquated and shabby, but the teams were competitive, winning four division titles under his watch. The former center fielder – converted to a right fielder – now plays his home games in glitzy Target Field which, for all its bells and whistles, has never seen a postseason win.
But in the spirit of what Opening Day needs to be about – particularly when you’re staring another 90-loss season in the face – Hunter’s homecoming was soaked with pre-game optimism. A video tribute with the predictable Diddy “I’m Coming Home” accompaniment. An introduction using the voice of late, great PA announcer Bob Casey. A loud and uproarious standing ovation during his first plate appearance. It was the baseball remix of the return of Kevin Garnett, who, of course, threw out the game’s first pitch – an off-speed strike into the mitt of Mr. Hunter himself.
“You still try to focus and say, ‘Alright, put it out of your mind,’” said Hunter of the emotional festivities, “I’m trying to help this team win and get some things going … but emotions are kinda going crazy.”
As for the game – because, unfortunately, one was played – the Twins got to look across to the opposing dugout at a team that resembles what they used to be. Now a flawless 7-0, the Royals appear to be a reincarnated version of the Twins circa 2002: spectacular defensively, strike-throwing, opportunistic with runners in scoring position. Basically, everything the Twins haven’t been through seven games of the season. Minnesota committed two errors in the nine-run loss. Their bullpen imploded shortly after their starter allowed the floodgates to open. Even Hunter failed to live up to the moment with a critical outfield misplay in the sixth inning. “You’ve got to lead by example, you’ve got to play your game, and today I did a terrible job of that,” he said.
In 2002, the Twins were coming off a promising campaign that had people believing their time had come. Those Twins started the season off with a victory over, you guessed it, the Kansas City Royals. Thirteen years later, the roles seem to be reversed with all the hype, all the aspirations, on the opposing side of the diamond with the defending American League champions.
There is no World Series ‘loser’s hangover’ in Kansas City, a location Hunter said he contemplated heading in free agency. After mowing through the White Sox and Angels in their first two series, the Royals went to work on the Twins Monday and gave fans the chance to reminisce about better times – when blowout wins at the Royals’ expense were routine. That was one of three sources of nostalgia Monday afternoon. The first was outdoor baseball, which transcends outfield misplays, fumbled grounders and six-run innings. The second was Torii Hunter, who has returned in the flesh, but is thus far a shell of his former self with a .130 batting average.
As for the third? Well, it’s safe to say that any of the 40,123 patrons attending Monday’s massacre had a mood that is generally mirrored by this article: a carefree beginning, a turn for the worst in the middle, and a harsh reality manifested in the end. If Twins homers want to see the old version of their baseball squad, they’ll have to start watching the Kansas City Royals.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket Sunday mornings from 8-10 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.” Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.