News
Jays reflect on Metrodome
Players and coaches alike won't miss ballpark
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
04/16/09 8:45 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS -- The reaction is universal. The Blue Jays' players and coaches smirk a little, trying to contain the slight laugh they want to release when asked the question. Is there anything they will miss about the Metrodome?"I won't say I'll miss this place," shortstop John McDonald said with a smile. "But there are a lot of things I'll remember about it."
That was a fitting summation of the overall feeling within the visitor's clubhouse at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the teflon-covered ballpark that sits at the corner of Fourth Street and Kirby Puckett Place. On Thursday night, the Blue Jays headed to the stadium for the last time, closing out a four-game series with the Twins.
It's a stadium that has given opposing players fits since the first day it opened during the 1982 season.
Toronto first base coach Dwayne Murphy was with the Oakland A's the year Minnesota moved to its new domed home. He got his initial look at the ballpark on April 13 that year -- 10 days after it opened -- and was impressed at first. That quickly changed when Murphy realized how easily fly balls disappeared against the white roof.
"After you played in it one game, you really didn't want to play in it again," Murphy said. "You'd lose too many balls and too many games were decided by lost balls. The top was really white and clean. Now, it's dirty and you can see the ball a little better, but it's still tough sometimes to find the ball."
There are plenty of other aspects that have the Blue Jays looking forward to moving to the other side of downtown Minneapolis to play inside Target Field next season. Toronto's players have been forced to squeeze inside a claustrophic clubhouse, the tunnel outside the room is narrow and the team has to head down a long flight of stairs to reach the dugout.
"You don't ever want to forget anything in that locker room," said Blue Jays first baseman Kevin Millar. "You have 5,000 steps to run up and down and by that time you might miss half an inning."
Millar recalled having to walk up the stairs behind Nomar Garciaparra during their days with the Red Sox, laughing at the memory.
"He'd go step by step by step," Millar said. "That's a long walk."
The memories of the Metrodome -- home to the NFL's Minnesota Vikings as well -- aren't all bad, though.
Rookie left fielder Travis Snider, making his first and last trip ever to the dome this series, will always remember the first multi-homer game of his career. On Monday, Snider belted two balls into the upper deck high above right field, the second handing Toronto an 8-6 lead in the eighth inning.
"Those are the ones that you really remember," Snider said. "So, for me, that's going to rank high in my first year here. From a hitter's standpoint, it's a great place to play."
In 1991, the Blue Jays opened the American League Championship series against the Twins at the Metrodome, splitting the first two games in the ballpark before winning the set in five. That sent Toronto to its the first of its second consecutive World Series titles.
A different type of memory jumped out for Jays center fielder Vernon Wells. He recalled a game on July 28, 2002, when a young Twins left-hander named Johan Santana -- now the ace of the Mets' staff -- shut Toronto down for eight innings, holding them to two hits.
"I remember Santana striking out 13 that day," Wells said. "It was early on in his career, when you didn't really know who he was. That was interesting. It kind of happened in a heartbeat."
For Millar, who played for the St. Paul Saints in the independent North League in 1993, heading to the Twins' home for games was a special occasion early in his professional career.
"The only thing is I remember is when I played for the Saints, it used to be fun coming to play in the dome," Millar said. "These guys were always screaming for outdoor baseball, but it was cool for me seeing the dome."
That doesn't mean Millar will necessarily miss the ballpark.
"It's an old dome," he said. "You think of the Vikings. But, as far as the baseball, there's not a whole lot you're going to miss."
McDonald fondly reminisced about the first ground ball he ever gloved as a big league shortstop. On July 8, 1999, with the Indians holding a 9-2 lead over the Twins in the bottom of the ninth inning, Cleveland pulled Omar Vizquel from the game and sent McDonald to short as a defensive replacement.
Minnesota's Jacque Jones chopped a pitch to McDonald, who scooped up the ball and relayed it to second baseman Roberto Alomar for a game-ending double play.
"I'm always going to remember those things about being here," McDonald said. "The building itself? Maybe not so much. But, you have to keep it in perspective. It's the big leagues and you're going to play the Minnesota Twins and all their history.
"But we'll look forward to playing in the new building, with the newer amenities that ballparks have."
When the Metrodome opened, it didn't have the type of luxuries that are now standard in new stadiums. Back in 1982, though, that was how many ballparks were and Murphy said players were still excited to see the new dome.
"It was a new stadium," Murphy said. "You couldn't wait to see the new stadium or play in the new stadium. You'd get that same feeling. You walked in and you were like, 'Oh, OK, nice ballpark.' You just didn't realize what was getting ready to happen in the game.
"It was state-of-the-art back then. The locker rooms are small now and it's just new ballparks are made totally different now. The facilities that are in them, back then they didn't have facilities in them like batting cages and stuff like that. That was the way stadiums were at that time."
Asked if he had any fond memories of the Metrodome, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston chuckled.
"No, not really," he said. "I'm not going to miss it. But, hey, we've had some good times in here, too. We always have some fans that come down here. They'll come to the new place, too."
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
