Target Field: A proposal for "seat fillers" + The Lucky Spot

That is a photograph with a two-fold purpose. It comes from today's Twins game. We took it, shakily, with our Blackberry. The Star Tribune employs many skilled photographers to take pictures, and yet sometimes we still have the urge to use our own awful art. So it goes. In any event, the photo is an example of function over form. The same cannot be said for the best seats at Target Field. Even from this blurry shot -- and any time you watch on television -- you can tell the Champion's Club seats are usually, at best one-third to one-half full. RandBall media pal and occasional commenter Jason DeRusha explored this phenomenon a couple months back. He even got Twins spokesman Kevin Smith to say the very thing that we were thinking today.

Said Smith: "I said, 'We should have seat fillers.'" ... But "we're playing baseball games here not giving away Academy Awards. So I don't think it's going to happen."

Why not? We understand you don't want to give away the good seats to the same people for the entire game. But what about giving folks who purchase "standing room only" tickets a whirl through the seats for an inning at a time? At least to mostly fill in the middle two of the four sections that look so bad on TV. Take an inventory of available seating and hustle people in and out. It's win-win.

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The other reason for that picture? Photographic evidence that the Lucky Spot has struck again.Now, at this point the theory is not proven. It's a lot like our "lucky" black jack table at the Excalibur in Vegas. It's two-for-two, but two is only a coincidence. Three is a trend. That said, the first time we stood behind the wall in dead center, with one person between us and the wall, Denard Span hit three triples and the Twins routed the Tigers. We were there when the Twins took an early lead that day; we abandoned the spot to walk around and the Tigers came back; we returned and the Twins exploded for a huge inning. Stu can vouch for this. It was the same day and game that coincided with the Justin Bieber concert at Target Center. Stu yelled "Do it for Bieber!" at fellow Canadian Justin Morneau just before No. 33 delivered an RBI single.

In any event, we now know it's not Bieber that brings luck. It could just be the spot. When we arrived at the spot today, it was 0-0 in the bottom of the third, right in the middle of Delmon Young's at bat. On literally the next pitch, Delmon ripped an RBI double. A four-run inning ensued. Later, a person in front of us left, so we moved up to lean against the wall. Big mistake. Next thing we knew, Liriano was nibbling and the bases were full. So we calmly took a step back to the lucky spot. Boom, 1-2-3 double play.

THESE ARE THE FACTS.