The latest issue of the Sporting News ranks the major league baseball stadiums from first to 30th with the Metrodome at No. 29. Twins president Dave St. Peter hopes any listings of America’s best ballparks in 2010 and beyond will include Target Field.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is ranked very high nationally because of its unique design, intimacy of seating in the bowl and urban nature,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners.
Target Field will include a distinctive limestone exterior and contemporary roof canopy. St. Peter said about 60 percent of fans attending games will enter through the stadium’s outfield area.
Those elements and others, such as the small area upon which the stadium is being built, will make Target Field unlike any other ballpark. The facility will be the result of thorough planning and input by St. Peter and others with the organization. They have studied all the big league stadiums during the last several years.
“We took pieces of all of them,” he said. “It (Target Field) won’t be exactly like any of them.”
Because of what St. Peter refers to as their “small footprint,” or locations, San Francisco’s and Pittsburgh’s stadiums are most like Target Field in his opinion. Those ballparks made the Sporting News top five ranking that goes like this: Fenway Park, Boston; PNC Park, Pittsburgh; Wrigley Field, Chicago; Camden Yards, Baltimore; AT&T Park, San Francisco.
While Target Field will embrace fans with a great game day experience that includes public access to the ballpark, intimate sightlines, good eats and friendly service, St. Peter said there was another element that went into the planning that was important. The Twins took a “very inclusionary” approach with their leadership and department heads, encouraging input. The result will be that behind the scenes operations such as kitchens and lockerrooms will be highly functional and effective, according to St. Peter.