Take me in to the ballgame

Twins fans chilled out, literally and figuratively, before Monday's home opener. The driving snow didn't drive away tailgaters, but the Dome got plenty of love.

By BILL WARD, Star Tribune

Last update: April 1, 2008 - 12:11 AM

If not for the fat white flakes blowing by the crowd's frosted faces, it could have been the Midway at the State Fair.

Well before the Metrodome gates opened for Monday's Minnesota Twins season opener, fans had gathered outside, watching March go out like a lion.

Rob Winter of Eagan munched on an ear of corn, ignoring the globs of snow landing on it. "It beats the rain," said Winter. "You can play a little bit and not get wet."

His son Peter, 9, stood nearby, beaming. "My ears are cold, but I'm OK," he said. "It's the Opening Day."

More like Snowpening Day, as a spring storm dumped nearly 5 inches of wet, heavy snow by the time Livan Hernandez delivered the first pitch to the visiting Los Angeles Angels. But it wasn't enough to deter the shivering throng from reveling in this annual ritual of renewal.

"I forgot my shorts," bellowed one young fan in a crowd near Gate H.

"I've been going to openers since second grade, and I never remember anything like this," said Brian Bischof, 40, of Lakeville, standing with two of his sons outside a packed Metro Baseball tent at Washington and Chicago Avenues S.

Ready to party

Bischof's contingent was the largest, and least rowdy, of the tailgating groups spread throughout the lot.

A group of St. Cloud State students, for example, was on its fourth parking lot of the day. "Grainger Industrial is the best," said Beth Perry of Apple Valley, pointing across the street. "They let us go to the bathroom all day. We wrecked their floor with our muddy feet."

Nearby, a contingent from Blaine was working on its sixth bundle of firewood in a barrel, having arrived at 10 a.m. "We weren't going to let any snow stop us," proclaimed E.J. Wirtz, sporting a Joe Mauer jersey and a perpetual grin. "There's nothing better than Twins fans tailgating in the snow. If it snows when the new stadium opens, we'll be out here at 9 a.m."

Fans of a roof

That new stadium opens in 2010, when the Twins home opener will be outdoors -- weather permitting. (The Twins had several games snowed out at old Met Stadium, including the 1962 opener and a May 2, 1976, game.)

"Are you sure you don't want to build us a roof?" asked one of the St. Cloud State group, Brian Beissler of Inver Grove Heights. "I tell you what, if I win the lottery, I'll build a roof."

Back near the Dome, the crowd had scurried inside to see the boys of summer, leaving a few dozen vendors and Twins employees shivering alone.

"It's been very slow," said Gordy Cherveny, sporting an umbrella even though he was inside the Twins information booth. "All they want to do is get inside. They don't need me."

After the Twins' 3-2 win, fans had to brush snow off their cars, a task more commonly required of Vikings fans, and snowball fights broke out on the streets. And one fan traded in his ball cap.

"At nine this morning, he was digging the Santa hat out of storage," said Kathy Evgen of Vadnais Heights, as she walked with her husband, Mark.

"With the Twins victory,'' he said, "it's almost like Christmas."

Bill Ward • 612-673-7643

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