Field Crews Get Target Field Ready For Doubleheader
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's been a lousy April for outdoor baseball, and Monday was a perfect indication as Mother Nature prevented the Minnesota Twins from playing yet again.
The Twins will try to play a day/night split doubleheader against the Miami Marlins Tuesday. Officials postponed Monday's game due to the threat of rain that eventually would turn over to snow. It's the fourth Twins game this season that has been postponed, with three at Target Field and the other in Chicago.
The Twins must try to get in both games Tuesday because it's interleague play and they only have one other series with the Marlins scheduled. That's in Miami.
But before they can play Tuesday, there is a lot of snow to clear from the stands. First pitch in game one of the doubleheader is set for 1:10 p.m., while the second game, which is the makeup game, will start at about 7:10 p.m.
There is a lot of work to do to get the field ready before Tuesday's games, and field crews are not wasting any time. Crews got started early Tuesday morning clearing the April snow off the field. They also have to get as much snow as they can out of the stands so seats are dry for fans.
Since Target Field opened in 2010 the Twins have only called off eight games, three of them have been this season due to weather. The original game scheduled for a 12:10 start has been pushed back to 1:10 to give them time to clear off the field.
There was talk after the last postponement of the Twins moving their games back into the Metrodome in the event of bad weather, but the Twins say that's just not logistically possible. The Metrodome's field has been reconfigured, the seating doesn't match up with Target Field's sections.
That, and it's actually booked. This week, there will be high school and college baseball games there for teams who have had many games canceled due to the April snow.
