Twins' Denard Span warms to Minnesota's great outdoors

Denard Span was raised in Tampa, Fla. He endured the coldest winter of his years there and then more of the same after reporting in February to Twins spring training 125 miles to the south in Fort Myers.

"I thought it was God's way of getting us ready to play outdoor baseball in Minnesota," Span said. "I was nervous as could be about how cold it was going to be here in April. I had my ninja outfit ready to go."

Span broke in with the Twins in 2008 and played mostly in right field as Michael Cuddyer went through a series of injuries. He might have run down more balls per game than any right fielder in Twins history.

He was a fixture at the top of the order and led the Twins in plate appearances (676) last season. He was a daily presence in either left or center for five months. He returned to right field some for the stretch drive, when Cuddyer moved to first base to replace an injured Justin Morneau.

Span batted .311 and led the team with 97 runs scored. The Twins were impressed enough both to trade Carlos Gomez and give Span a five-year contract for $16.5 million this spring.

It was official: He was the Twins center fielder and leadoff hitter for the long term. The only trepidation remaining for the 26-year-old was the possibility of losing a limb to frostbite on the first homestand in Target Field.

"I still can't believe it," he said. "It was colder in spring training than it was here today."

Twins starter Carl Pavano weaved his way around a pair of hits, then Span opened the home first with a walk off Boston lefty Jon Lester. He worked his way around to score on Cuddyer's broken-bat single.

Span walked off Lester again in the fourth and stole second. He scored on Joe Mauer's single that hit a corner of second base and devoured shortstop Marco Scutaro.

Span singled, stole second and went to third on Orlando Hudson's roller in the sixth. He stayed there when Mauer shocked the home fans by striking out on a Scott Atchinson breaking ball. Mauer eventually finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI.

"Three hits ... that's about right," Span said. "He might have 80 more of those in this park this season."

The roaming that Span did in center field was an interesting aspect of what took place in this unfamiliar park on Monday. He hauled in four fly balls and Victor Martinez's smashed liner.

"Here, you can take your eye off it, run to a spot, and pick up the ball again. In that way, it's like every other outdoor ballpark."

Span said one fly ball did fool him: Mike Cameron's rip off reliever Brian Duensing in the seventh.

"Cameron's ball ... it seemed like he got it all," Span said. "I was running to the fence. The ball was up there, high, and the wind seemed to catch it and the ball almost came straight down. That's why I reached over my shoulder to catch it."

Span had a similar experience in right-center field when the Cardinals were in town 10 days earlier for an exhibition. Albert Pujols admired what he thought was a home run, the wind caused the ball to parachute and Span made a sprinting catch at the back of the warning track.

"Three games [two exhibitions] don't tell us anything about how this park is going to play," Span said. "So far, a couple of balls have died in the wind, but that could change when the weather gets warmer."

"I'm not going to forget where we're playing," Span said. "I'm keeping my ninja outfit nearby."