Curtain call

The sportswriter Frank Graham once wrote of surly Yankee outfielder Bob Meusel, who became friendly at the end of his career, "He's learning to say hello when it's time to say goodbye."

The Twins reversed that sentiment with our black-sheep stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The franchise bosses intended to say goodbye Sunday; the Dome and the current edition of the team countered with "See you again, real soon."

The Twins' brass planned a grand finale for Sunday, Oct. 4. They flew in their greatest ballplayers and choreographed a sentimental postgame ceremony to honor a building they couldn't wait to leave.

To paraphrase another writer of note: Reports of the Dome's death -- and that of this year's Twins team -- were greatly exaggerated.

"I wrote this speech thinking this was going to be it; it's not 'it,'" said Minnesota native Kent Hrbek after the game, pointing to the 2009 Twins as the crowd roared. "You guys went and screwed up my whole speech. We've got to come back here on Tuesday and drink some more beer."

Playing before a sellout crowd that could not know until Saturday night that the Twins' last scheduled regular-season game in the Metrodome would be so meaningful, the Twins on Sunday bludgeoned the Kansas City Royals 13-4 to force a one-game tiebreaker for the American League Central Division title at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Detroit at the Dome.

The crowd reached decibels remindful of 1987 and '91 when Jason Kubel and Delmon Young hit two home runs each. With many of them waving vintage Homer Hankies, the fans also offered ovations when the Chicago White Sox, playing in Detroit, had their rallies chronicled on the Dome's out-of-town scoreboard. "I was glad when that game went final," said Twins first baseman Michael Cuddyer, who also homered. "Because then I could concentrate on our game."

Last year, Cuddyer created T-shirts that read: "162+," meaning he wanted the Twins to make the playoffs. Instead, the Twins lost Game 163, 1-0 in Chicago. "I burned those shirts," he said. "I hope everyone else did, too."

Cuddyer knows a Game 163 victory will extend the baseball life of a stadium they found as frumpy and comfortable as an old, misshapen sweater. "When we needed a win, where did we go?" Hrbek said. "To the Dome."

Outfielder Denard Span called the atmosphere this weekend "so electric, I wanted to put on the shoulder pads and helmet and hit somebody. It was surreal."

Span also said that the Tigers "choked" while allowing the Twins' historic comeback from seven games behind on Sept. 6.

The Twins have won four in a row and 16 of 20. They will vacate the Dome for a day to allow the Vikings and Packers to play Monday Night Football in a game centering on Brett Favre. "He's trying to take the Dome over, but this Dome belongs to the Twins, not the Vikings," Span said. "Have the Vikings won a Super Bowl in this Dome? Anywhere? OK, then, this is our Dome. At least for a little while longer."

"We could always count on this place because of the fans, and the stupid roof over our heads," Hrbek said. "We had a lot of fun here."

The scoreboard flashed to a camera shot of Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva and Rod Carew in hardhats at Target Field. They raised a Twins flag, the Minnesota state flag and the stars and stripes, then emcee Dick Bremer introduced the man who would take down the No. 1 that, however prematurely or incorrectly, represented the last game in the Dome.

The man was Kirby Puckett Jr., the son of the late, great former Twin, the other half of Kirby & Hrbie.

"I've been, honestly, a little nervous with all these guys around the last few days," Span said. "We wanted to show these guys that we could play the right way, too. I wanted to make those guys proud."

Those guys were thrilled to have their farewell party upstaged. "We're going to come back Tuesday," Hrbek said, "and watch the magic of this place continue."