Click here to see the photos I took of the Twins celebration
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Last night I had the rare pleasure of going to cover the Twins game for kare11.com. I hadn't been to a cover a Twins game since 2007 so that alone was a treat for me. But I got much more than I bargained for in last night's game.
It was decided late Monday that I would go and cover the game in case the Twins won to clinch the AL Central title. I have covered hundreds of games before so I didn't think it was a big deal at all. But last night's game was one that I won't forget for a long time.
I watched most of the game from the football press box which was fine. The football press box is basically in right field. The game was zipping along and by the 5th inning when the Twins were losing 3-1, I had a strange feeling that I was in for a long night. I'm not sure why I felt that way but I did. KARE photographer Jonathan Malat even told me that the game would go 12 innings with a Twins win. I scoffed thinking there was no way this game would go that long.
Armed with KARE sports reporter Dave Schwartz and Jonathan, I went down to the tunnel right behind the Tigers' bullpen at the top of the ninth. We figured if something was going to happen, we should be ready to run out onto the field. That was about 7:30 p.m. But of course, the ninth inning came and went.
The tenth inning was exciting as both teams scored another run but after standing for over an hour in the tunnel my legs started to ache and I wondered where I could go and sit down for a little bit. Also, from where we were, I couldn't see anything on the field because I'm too short and there were too many people in front of us. Usually, I was able to ask people around me what was happening but I couldn't really see anything,
By the bottom of the 12th inning, I was really getting tired and antsy, which is a horrible combination. But when the final moments of the game came along, my adrenaline kicked in and I found myself running onto the field with all the other media to capture the moment. I don't remember much about that moment but what I do remember is the crowd in the Metrodome was absolutely deafening. At one point, I even stopped running and just stood there on the turf looking around at the crowd to take in the moment and I was amazed. What an incredible rush that was.
The champagne celebration was great too. I had been with the Twins for several previous champagne celebrations, but this one seemed different. This team is different. They are driven and ready to face the Yankees.
Oh, and by the way, I still have no idea how the game ended. All I know is that the Twins won.
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