Spring Training 2016: Questions/Info/Help/Etc

[Squirrel]

 

Planing on stopping in tomorrow morning at Hammond with my 4 year old son. Anyone in particular I should ask for that may be there tomorrow. I haven't met any other TD ers before.

PM Halsey and ask him when/where he'll be. He'll point out everyone to you.

[Loosey]

PM Halsey and ask him when/where he'll be. He'll point out everyone to you.

Thanks. I shot him a PM.

[Loosey]

If any other TDers are here. My son and I are here would be cool to meet you. My son is the crazy 4 yr old running sprints on the Astro turf bullpen.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

If any other TDers are here. My son and I are here would be cool to meet you. My son is the crazy 4 yr old running sprints on the Astro turf bullpen.

I'll be out there Friday morning, I'm the bad looking Zach Galifinakis impersonator.

[Halsey Hall]

 

If any other TDers are here. My son and I are here would be cool to meet you. My son is the crazy 4 yr old running sprints on the Astro turf bullpen.

Did your son have a little notebook?  Your wife blonde?  LOL, I do people watch too. 

 

[Loosey]

Did your son have a little notebook? Your wife blonde? LOL, I do people watch too.

My wife is blonde and had a baby with her, but my son didn't have a notebook that I'm aware of. He was pushing around my 8 month old's stroller for a while.

[Sarah]

Hey, no one has mentioned Sun Harvest Citrus - I loved that place. It's about a mile down the road from Hammond Stadium and it has free samples of different types of citrus, yummy smoothies, ice cream cones, etc. I also second the Thomas Edison estate, I thought that was really interesting - fun thing to do in the morning before the game. Hopefully I will be going down again one of these years, it's really great - enjoy! 

[Squirrel]

 

Hey, no one has mentioned Sun Harvest Citrus - I loved that place. It's about a mile down the road from Hammond Stadium and it has free samples of different types of citrus, yummy smoothies, ice cream cones, etc. I also second the Thomas Edison estate, I thought that was really interesting - fun thing to do in the morning before the game. Hopefully I will be going down again one of these years, it's really great - enjoy! 

I'm down in Fort Myers a lot, due to parents living there ... I make sure a key lime/chocolate twist cone from Sun Harvest is one visit I make each trip.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm officially flying into Tampa on the 11th.  It's about a 2 hour drive from Tampa to Fort Myers, so I'm hoping to be in town around lunch and catch that game

[TFelton]

On my way to Fort Myers today for home opener. Will be there 7 days watching the Twins. I've met Seth at a Target Field game but no one else yet. 13 yr old daughter along tonight and wife and 15 yr old boy join us tomorrow for Pirates game.

 

Couple flights from home to get there and it has been 5-6 years so real excited.

 

I will be the middle aged, out of shape, greying guy, wearing Twins apparel, like many others I guess...

 

TFelton

[Halsey Hall]

If you should be around Hammond on away day games, I'll look for you. There is still a lot to watch on those days.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

On my way to Fort Myers today for home opener. Will be there 7 days watching the Twins. I've met Seth at a Target Field game but no one else yet. 13 yr old daughter along tonight and wife and 15 yr old boy join us tomorrow for Pirates game.

Couple flights from home to get there and it has been 5-6 years so real excited.

I will be the middle aged, out of shape, greying guy, wearing Twins apparel, like many others I guess...

TFelton

Look forward to seeing ya down here.  I'll be on the backfields tomorrow from 9am til quitting time.  I'm pretty easy to spot, Zack Galifinakis lookalike with a yellow camera and red backpack.

[djvang]

We've been going to ST since 2002. We schedule it so we go to three games. We usually spend one day at the beach and have discovered it's much easier, faster and less nerve wracking to walk over the bridge than drive and look for parking.We park in a free lot off Main St. just before the big San Carlos bridge. It's less than a mile to the beach. And we discovered a great little place -Bonita Bill's Waterfront Cafe under the north end of the bridge.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Just a silly question, but does it make more sense to buy at the gate or buy online?

 

I'll be at Friday (baring flight issues) and Sunday's games.  Who's going to be around?

[dougkoebernick]

I'm hoping to possibly at one of those games - but I don't know the answer to your question. I'll be in Fort Myers starting Tuesday but unfortunately my family apparently doesn't realize that I should be going to Twins stuff every day so my goal is to get over there 2 or 3 times during our vacation.

Just a silly question, but does it make more sense to buy at the gate or buy online?

 

I'll be at Friday (baring flight issues) and Sunday's games.  Who's going to be around?

 

[dougkoebernick]

 

I might be able to go that week too.  I'll be in Tampa the next week, so I could probably convince my company to fly me down a bit early if I come up with my own lodging and transportation during that time. 

 

As for suggestions, my wife and I honey mooned on Sanibel Island.  Nice quite place to visit (though I'm guessing the spring is a bit busier than the fall is/was).  Most memorable restaurant for me was a place called the Hungry Heron.  It was a small hole in the wall if I remember right. They had a really delicious 3 cheese tortellini. That was 14 years ago, so perhaps my food tastes of changed, but that's the one place I still remember to this day and would probably go to again if I was back in town.

Are you going to make it down? I may have to check out that restaurant.

[Thrylos]

 

Just a silly question, but does it make more sense to buy at the gate or buy online?

 

I'll be at Friday (baring flight issues) and Sunday's games.  Who's going to be around?

 

Gate.  1000% (most of the time)

 

 

First of all, online charges you 2 fees for an additional $15 per ticket or so it seems.  Second, there are  tickets at the counter that for some reason are invisible online, so there is more selection.

 

Exception:  Red Sox and Yankees games.  Tend to sell out and the counter has sitting room only.

 

There is a third way to buy tickets:  Lots of scalpers in the parking lot will ask you if you need any for a surcharge.  Unless it is a full house and there are standing room only tickets and you mind that, it is not worth it.  For some reason the parking lot Twins' employees turn the other way about his disgrace...

[dougkoebernick]

Well, I just printed my boarding passes and will be flying out of KC tomorrow afternoon. I'll be there for six days and my goal is to get to see some Twins practices at least 2 or 3 times. I want to thank everyone who posted on this thread and I'm very hopeful I can meet Seth when he arrives later in the week so he can autograph the prospect book for me! Thanks everyone and go Twins!

[Squirrel]

Just a silly question, but does it make more sense to buy at the gate or buy online?

 

I'll be at Friday (baring flight issues) and Sunday's games.  Who's going to be around?

I might be at Friday's game. It depends on family issues, and then I might have to leave early. For just one you can buy at the gate, but I learned a good trick the other day. There are some drink rail seats on the 3rd and 1st base terraces that are first come first serve. Buy the least expensive seat then just head up there. Decent view of the field (check out my vantage point from Saturday's game in the game thread), it's in the shade and you get a nice breeze up there. The one caveat is you have to get there early to nab one. So for a game at 1, I'd get there around 11:30. Since I was on the 3rd base side Saturday, if I go on Friday, I thought I'd try the 1st base side.

[djvang]

Sun Harvest is great but extremely crowded after games. Free ice cream tickets when you order tickets online and have them mailed. We're going to games 8th, 9th & 11th. We get there at least two hours before game time to watch the workouts on the other fields. To avoid the $10 parking fee we park at a shopping center at Daniels & 6 Mile Cyprus and walk.

[Halsey Hall]

Away game today and those left behind started practice at 9:40. The minor leagues will be practicing every day now too. Good way to go down and watch the future. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I might be at Friday's game. It depends on family issues, and then I might have to leave early. For just one you can buy at the gate, but I learned a good trick the other day. There are some drink rail seats on the 3rd and 1st base terraces that are first come first serve. Buy the least expensive seat then just head up there. Decent view of the field (check out my vantage point from Saturday's game in the game thread), it's in the shade and you get a nice breeze up there. The one caveat is you have to get there early to nab one. So for a game at 1, I'd get there around 11:30. Since I was on the 3rd base side Saturday, if I go on Friday, I thought I'd try the 1st base side.

 

Good advice.  My flight lands in Tampa at 9:30, but between getting a car, my luggage, and stopping at TSA precheck, I doubt I'm at Hammond by 11:30.  Good advice for Sunday though. 

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Are you going to make it down? I may have to check out that restaurant.

 

Well, that was 14 years ago, and things have changed since then I'm sure (including my tastes)...   But yeah, I'll be around this weekend.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Just a silly question, but does it make more sense to buy at the gate or buy online?

 

I'll be at Friday (baring flight issues) and Sunday's games.  Who's going to be around?

I might see you around on Friday if you are there before game time, I'll be spending most of the time on the backfields with the minor leaguers. 

 

Personally, this close to games, I just get the cheapest at the gate and sit wherevers open OR if you are smooth enough get one of the players to leave you tickets for free.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I might see you around on Friday if you are there before game time, I'll be spending most of the time on the backfields with the minor leaguers. 

 

Personally, this close to games, I just get the cheapest at the gate and sit wherevers open OR if you are smooth enough get one of the players to leave you tickets for free.

 

Don't know much about schmoozing players, but I did hear that there's a chiropractor in the area that gives free sessions to TD members if you're nice enough

[Squirrel]

 

I might see you around on Friday if you are there before game time, I'll be spending most of the time on the backfields with the minor leaguers. 

 

Personally, this close to games, I just get the cheapest at the gate and sit wherevers open OR if you are smooth enough get one of the players to leave you tickets for free.

 

It's looking like I might be around on Friday. I'll come early and check out the minor league action before heading to the game. I'll be heading into the game early-ish, though, to try and get one of those terrace drink rail seats. Then I'll have to leave the game early to pick up my Dad.

[youngpadawan]

My wife and I are heading to the game tomorrow. Any pointers? Time to get there? Things to see?

[Squirrel]

My wife and I are heading to the game tomorrow. Any pointers? Time to get there? Things to see?

Depends on how much you want to watch other stuff going on. The minor leaguers are really in full swing practice mode now, so you can head down to those fields. If you haven't been to the stadium ever, or in the past couple of years, you may want to walk around the perimeter of the outfield and up to some of the new areas, like the terraces on the 1st and 3rd base sides. Personally, I like to be there 1.5-2 hrs ahead just to check out everything.

 

Parking fills up quickly, and traffic into the stadium can back up, so I would still plan on getting there an hour ahead. If your seats are in the sun, make sure you put on sunscreen.

[tellis205]

I would go hang out  at the minor league complex starting about 9:45 am.  Then I'd walk over and watch big league guys who aren't playing tomorrow take batting practice on the field next to the stadium.  Then I'd go into the stadium early and walk around the entire stadium soaking up all the sight lines so you'll know whether you want to sit there next time. Maybe a visit to the gift shop before getting some food and beverage before settling into your seat.  

[Bob Sacamento]

 

My wife and I are heading to the game tomorrow. Any pointers? Time to get there? Things to see?

Go early my young padawan! Traffic starts to get bad about an hour to hour and a half before the game. If you married another young padawan then a 930am arrival time is ideal.  If your mate is of the female persuasion, then the players tend to give more favorable attention.  

 

If the MLBers slow practice session is not to your liking head west towards the rest of the backfields where you have the chance of seeing Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves, Nick Gordon, and other lower level minor leaguers in action.  Here you really have a chance to see the future of the Twins and  interact with them in a more intimate basis.