The Twins have become savvy over the past quarter-century when it comes to giveaways to the customers for the home opener. On Monday, they offered 40,000 dark blue hoodies with Twins emblazoned across the front.
Those were purchased in bulk and delivered at a cost of $175,000, and were quite an upgrade on what was handed out in the 1990 opener at the Metrodome.
On that night, the Twins gave away printed material for a credit card company. Midway through the game, fans were distracted by the ease with which the Twins were defeating the Angels by an eventual score of 13-1.
An aeronautical expert in the upper deck turned his placard into a paper airplane. There was a cheer when the plane made it to the Dome's turf, and soon the announced audience of 37,975 had hundreds of those projectiles flying under the Teflon sky.
Monday, the sky was a splendid blue and the temperature was just right — nice enough in the sun to feel warmth, cool enough in the shade to be comfortable in the new hoodie.
This was the sixth opener since the return of outdoor baseball, and the crowd was counted at an overcapacity 40,123. In less than three hours, the Twins lost 12-3 to Kansas City, and demonstrated the disparaging remarks aimed at them during the season-opening road trip might have been overly kind.
There was nothing given away to float on the brisk wind and toward the field, so the attendees responded to this abomination with jeers, boos and catcalls.
Yes, there were enough misplays by the home team that all three were required.
