Notes From The Road: Minnesota
Things got a little interesting on getaway day from Chicago. As you all know, the game on Sunday in Chicago was cut short by rain. The team tried to make a quick exit since it was already late so the equipment was packed, players, staff and media went through security and off we went to the airport.
With a heavy downpour, the bus did something it normally doesn’t do, it pulled up right next to the stairs of the plane and we all sprinted up as quickly as we could so we could avoid being soaked for the duration of the flight. Once on board the plane, we sat and waited, and waited, and waited. Apparently, the equipment truck broke an axle on the way to the airport and didn’t make it. Another truck was called and the equipment was unloaded and loaded once again. An hour later, we finally got up in the air and made it to Minneapolis.
Arriving at close to 11 pm, the day was not done for the Fantasy Football enthusiasts. The team had their late night fantasy draft in a Minneapolis hotel and nobody was more excited by their team than Brendan Ryan.
Seattle Mariners Fantasy Football Draft Board
Charlie Furbush had the first overall pick and took Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers…pretty safe pick. The rest of the first round shook out like this:
- Charlie Furbush: Aaron Rodgers
- Chone Figgins: Arian Foster
- Dustin Ackley/Justin Smoak: Ray Rice
- Miguel Olivo: LeSean McCoy
- Brendan Ryan: Calvin Johnson
- Casper Wells: Tom Brady
- Tom Wilhelmsen: Cam Newton
- Shawn Kelley: Drew Brees
- Felix Hernandez: Chris Johnson
- Kevin Millwood: Matt Forte
Seattle Mariners Fantasy Football Draft
Who was the steal of the draft? Depends on who you ask. If you ask Brendan Ryan, that would be him taking Michael Vick in the 11th round. He also walked around gloating that his 12th round pick, Sebastian Janikowski, was going to beat teams by himself! We’ll see.
Michael Saunders said he might take the Fantasy Football plunge next year but added that if there was a Fantasy Hockey league, he’d run away with it.
THE KEVIN CREMIN OBLIGATORY DINNER PICTURE
Not quite sure which day Radio Producer/Engineer Kevin Cremin went to J.D. Hoyts Supper Club in Minneapolis, but he had quite a meal. J.D. Hoyt’s is located just two blocks away from Target Field in the heart of the booming historic warehouse district of Minneapolis — the perfect restaurant to visit before and after Twins home games this year.
Here’s a look at the Spaulding that Cremin ordered:
The Spaulding at JD Hoyt’s
On Tuesday, the ROOT Sports crew that included Jen Mueller (@_JenMueller), cameraman Kevin Vocht, producers Curtis Wilson and Minnesota native Ryan Shraber, along with Shannon Drayer (@ShannonDrayer) made the trip over to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here is a taste (pun definitely intended) of what was sampled at the fair.
Minnesota State Fair
TARGET FIELD IN MINNEAPOLIS
Target Field, which opened in 2010, has all the makings of a classic ballpark. While there are plenty of amenities that a new ballpark offers, the Twins organization did a great job of bringing forward the past. There are statues all around the ballpark and there are small banners that line a wall outside of the park that have the names of all the players from each season of the franchise’s history.
Here are a few history reminders that are sprinkled in around the ballpark:
Kirby Puckett
Harmon Killebrew
Twins Hall of Famers
After walking through history, fans get to walk through the Gate 34, the Kirby Puckett Gate in right field as they make their way to the field.
Gate 34: Kirby Puckett Gate
We hope you enjoyed reading and seeing a little bit from our trip to Minnesota. We’ll have more notes from the road on the club’s next trip to Texas and Toronto.
