Saturday, September 4, 2004
MetroDome, Minneapolis, MN
Photos Taken By: Seth Stohs and Heather Stohs
TWINS 4, ROYALS 3
Heather and I took a bunch of pictures from this game. As you know, I have taken other pictures of Twins players at games or at the Autograph Party. I am a huge fan of the Twins prospects and was happy to see a Twins lineup that included Jason Kubel, Lew Ford, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Terry Tiffee. Even Jesse Crain pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Our tickets were along the 3B line, in the 9th row of the Upper Deck. Using my sister's camera, we were actually able to get some great pictures. Here is a visual look at the game through the lens cap.
Jason Kubel led off the bottom of the first inning for the Twins...
...with a double to left center field for his first major league hit.
With one out and Kubel still on 2B, Lew Ford drew a walk. In the game, he had two walks, a single and was hit by a pitch.
With two runners on, Justin Morneau stepped to the plate and took the first pitch for a ball. I gave the camera to my sister, and...
the man swings so hard, that the camera could not fully focus... however, Heather was quite proud of capturing the swing that gave the Twins a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning. It led to something that Twins fans hope to (and should) see a lot for the next 10-15 years...
... A Justin Morneau Home Run Trot.
Another Twins prospect I was looking forward to seeing in person was Terry Tiffee.
Tiffee had two singles in the game, including this one, which deflected off the Royals' pitcher's head. (oh, we will have more pictures of Tiffee a little later.)
And so far, Tiffee has even played well at 3B, at least making the routing plays.
Hard-throwing relief pitching prospect Jesse Crain came in for the 7th inning.
And got the Royals out 1-2-3.
Torii Hunter and Shannon Stewart got a day off. Twins fans should drool about a day when Lew Ford and Jason Kubel patrol the Twins OF as they did on Saturday!
Alright, let's skip ahead to the bottom of the 9th. We got there because JC Romero came in with an inherited runner on 3B, and immediately through a wild pitch, allowing the game-tying run to score.
Terry Tiffee led off the inning. It was his first right-handed at bat of the day. Facing Dennys Reyes, Tiffee got a slider and hit a line drive to left field. When it was hit, Heather immediately jumped up and I watched the ball in flight yelling "Get out of Here."! When the ball landed safely 10 rows into the left field bleachers, I too jumped up! Tiffee Rounded the bases and cautiously prepared for:
Tiffee approaching home plate with the game-winning run and a jaunt threw baseball's version of The Spanking Machine. That's right... Win the game for your team, round the bases, and get beat up! I am guessing Tiffee didn't even mind. It was also his very first big league homer.
Tiffee did survive, and the Twins had their win!
It was a fun game. It was also a very quick game, played in just 2 hours and 18 minutes. That was good for the Metrodome grounds crew, as they had to tear down the baggy in right field, get rid of the pitching mound, pull down the bleachers from right field, and generally turn the baseball field into a football field. That night, the Minnesota Gophers played their first football game of a year, a non-conference game against the Toledo Rockets. The Gophers won 63-21. Following that game, the grounds crew had to get the football field back into baseball shape for the Twins 1:00 game on Sunday!
Any thoughts? E-mail me.