The Twins are likely to play exhibition baseball at the new Target Field before opening the stadium for regular season games in 2010. Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners that specifics about first events in the stadium won’t be decided until next summer. Amateur baseball in March or April could be part of the plan, too.
St. Peter said the sod for the new field will be laid in August. He said that’s earlier than need be but the Twins are working to keep everything with the new stadium on schedule or ahead.
The annual TwinsFest will be January 23-25 in the Metrodome with attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 expected, St. Peter said. With the Twins lease ending next year, it’s not certain where TwinsFest in 2010 and beyond will be held. The fan festival attractions will include the baseball hall of fame plaques of former Twins Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield, according to the Twins website.
St. Peter said Michael Cuddyer is “our regular right fielder” and he couldn’t explain why last fall the team’s website listed the former third baseman among the infielders other than to say manager Ron Gardenhire is “not our webmaster.”
Former Twins broadcaster Ted Robinson will provide play-by-play on tomorrow’s Minnesota-Louisville basketball game from Glendale, Arizona. The game begins at 1 p.m. Minneapolis time on Fox Sports Net.
Gopher coach Tubby Smith has a 4-6 record against Louisville coach Rick Pitino who was his boss when both worked at Kentucky. The Gophers, 9-0, are one of 13 undefeated college teams. Louisville, ranked No. 9 in the country, is 7-1.
The second cup in the State of Hockey Greats coffee mug series will be given to all fans tonight at Xcel Energy Center. The mug features coaches Herb Brooks, Lou Nanne, Doug Woog and Jacques Lemaire.
New York Islanders wing Richard Park returns to the Xcel Energy Center tonight for only the sixth time since 2003-04. Park had 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points in 216 games for the Wild from 2001-2004.
The Wild’s Marian Gaborik was activated off injured reserve Wednesday and played his first game since October 14 at Atlanta. He had a goal and assist in a 3-2 loss to Calgary, the Wild’s sixth straight defeat. The Wild are 221-180-87 all-time with him in the lineup and 47-56 -13 without him.