Amid COVID Restrictions, Twins Announce Plans For 2021 Season Home Opener
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With more than 1 million Minnesotans now having completed their COVID vaccine series, and temperatures warming up as spring settles in, the Minnesota Twins are announcing their plans for the 2021 season's home opener.
Because of current COVID-19 restrictions, only 10,000 people are going to be allowed to attend the Thursday, April 8 matchup between the Twins and the Seattle Mariners. That being said, this is the first time fans have been allowed inside the stadium for a ballgame since the Twins' ALDS game against the New York Yankees, which was on Oct. 7, 2019.
That will be a span of almost 550 days.
As of Tuesday, the home opener as well as the other two games in the three-game series are sellouts.
The team plans to kick off the 30th anniversary of their 1991 World Series championship, still considered among the most dramatic championship series in the sport.
Former manager Ron Gardenhire, who was the third base coach who waved Dan Gladden home in the Twins' 1-0 Game 7 win in 1991, will throw out the first pitch.
The club will also pay tribute to educators and school employees with their ceremonial starting lineup, and will honor the legacy of former bench coach Mike Bell, who died from cancer last week at the age of 46, as well as broadcasters Sid Hartman and Tom Hanneman.
On the other side of the river, the St. Paul Saints plan to hold a watch party for the Twins' home opener at CHS Field, or as they say, "just 10.5 miles down the road."
The Saints say that concessions will be open, and they're opening up seating both in the stands as well as on the field. Click here for more information.
