Let’s be direct about the announcement to name the new baseball stadium Target Field. The naming rights provide a bold face entry into the Minnesota Twins’ revenue budget. It also furthers Target Corporation’s name and identity in its hometown.
However, I doubt that the Target Field name wins a popularity contest with Twins fans. A Star Tribune online poll on Monday was showing respondents disapproving 57 to 42 percent.
There’s no baseball connection to the name and Target Field isn’t exactly a charming nameplate either. Awhile back this space suggested Wheaties Field. Wheaties, the long time hometown product and breakfast of champions, has a special image and even sponsored Minneapolis Millers baseball years ago.
Instead, I suppose, we’ll hear the stadium referred to by some as “Discount Field.” That’s not a feel good phrase but it’s an easy wisecrack from those who have described the nearby Target Center as the “Discount Center.”
An ongoing criticism of the Twins’ management is not spending enough money to acquire talent. A potential coupon clipping reputation at Target Field will be new material for the cynics.
I will take the Target Field name over the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome nameplate. The tribute to the former vice president of the United States is fine but Metrodome is part of the overdone tradition that included Metropolitan Stadium and the Metropolitan Sports Center.
Metro? Clever, eh?
Give me a name like Memorial Stadium, the former home of Golden Gopher football that was a tribute to University students and workers who served in World War I. The old Millers’ stadium, Nicollet Park, was spot on as well, although it could have been Wheaties Field.