Own a seat from Twins' former stadium for $65 (plus: bizarre Metrodome moments)
The Minnesota Twins haven't called the Metrodome home since 2009. This Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings will be moving out of the 31-year-old Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, too.
Twins fans with (or without) fond memories at the 'dome can now buy a piece of history. Maybe someone you know saw Minnesota-native Jack Morris' shutout Game 7 to take the World Series in 1991 from one of the stadium's folding chairs? Hmm?
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority signed an agreement Friday with a firm that will salvage up to 20,000 of the indoor stadium's 65,000 blue plastic seats, reports the Pioneer Press.
Specific seats need to be tracked down and will run at $85.70 each. If just any seat will do, it's $64.20. A spokesperson for the MSFA said nonprofits will be able to purchase seats for $40. Around 500 individuals and 70 groups have already inquired about seats.
Bible study groups: get together and buy some cool new seats! Deal alert!
Alas, let's fondly remember one of baseball's completely indoor stadiums before it's demolished with several bizarre clips and images:
1. This documentary aired prior to the 1987 ALCS and suggested the Twins Homerdome boasted an unfair advantage.
[Courtesy: TheSportsDaddy]
2. In 2010, a blog proposed (in MS Paint artwork) that the dome should be converted into the world's largest aquarium. Lots of room for activities. Minneapolis did not give enough credit to the awesome-ness of this idea.
3. Twins legend Kirby Puckett got his own figurine, as many of the greats do. Fellow players questioned the likeness of plastic Puckett to the real thing. Puckett died unexpectedly from a stroke in 2006, eight days before his 46th birthday.
[Courtesy: Courtside Tweets]
4. The Twins had already vacated the Metrodome when the roof collapsed due to the weight of snow in 2010. It's weird, because Minnesota isn't known for winter weather...
[Courtesy: AP]
5. Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade appeared at the Metrodome in 2003 and made his first highly-publicized mark on the game.
His triple-double, the fourth in NCAA tournament history, helped send Marquette to the NCAA's Final Four over No. 1 Kentucky in an 83-69 win. Marquette finished the season as AP-ranked No. 6, the best finale since 1976-77, and Wade elected to enter the NBA draft before his senior year.
[Courtesy: crowbubba]
6. On May 6, 1984, the dome's roof provided little visibility (as it would, over its next 25 years serving as a baseball stadium). A towering pop up from A's Dave Kingman went way, way, way up, and never came back down. There's an outer space joke in here somewhere, but we'll save it for the Astrodome demolition post.
[Courtesy: The Herald-Journal]