Twins Debut New Uniforms, Pack the House With Flo Rida

[Ted Schwerzler]

As the last team to unveil their City Connect uniform, the Minnesota Twins had plenty of pressure to get it right. It remains to be seen how the jersey will grow on fans, but Friday night served as an on-field introduction, and Flo Rida helped to pack the house.

 

Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

When Rocco Baldelli’s squad took the field on Friday night against the Oakland Athletics, they did so in a new alternate City Connect uniform. With a “Ripple Effect” premise, the hope was that Minnesota’s newest uniform would draw excitement from the fanbase. Although fan reviews were mixed, the Twins New Era Team store saw soaring sales.

Fans flocked to buy new jerseys as well as blasting through more than a handful of alternative merchandise, including a corduroy cap that has since gone out of stock. Seeing the threads on the field for the first time Friday, fans should only further gravitate towards the new offering. It wasn’t just an apparel change generating buzz though, as hip hop artist Flo Rida was able to bring out a crowd.

Over the years Minnesota has set up postgame concerts with acts such as Cole Swindell, Carly Pearce, and T-Pain. It’s hard to argue against the success of those aforementioned acts, and Swindell had plenty of fans pouring in late-game with jeans and cowboy hats just ready for a country concert in a new venue.

Although Flo Rida is relatively dated in terms of his immediate popularity, it was jarring to see how many fans stuck around for his postgame set. With one of baseball’s worst teams in town, Twins fans certainly couldn’t have been excited about the Oakland Athletics. Still, from the first pitch, Target Field was flush with a substantial crowd and that carried on throughout the game.

Despite Simeon Woods Richardson allowing a first inning grand slam to Shea Langeliers, the Twins knew they’d have an opportunity against this opposition if they kept clawing. As the innings progressed, a packed Target Field began to come alive, almost capturing the vibe of a playoff game. Max Kepler, who had earlier launched a game-tying three-run homer, came through with a walkoff to get the crowd roaring.

Moments later Flo Rida took the field on the makeshift stage that fans have seen for the previous concerts. Rather than emerging from the outfield, he walked out from the dugout and immediately got into it. He rocked the house with his hits like “Low.” “Wild Ones”, “Whistle”, and “Good Feeling.” After he hopped on the shoulders of a stage mate to make his way over to fans down the lines, he emerged back on stage to rock out with “My House.”

Playing for well over an hour, Flo Rida continued to bring the energy all night long. He then stuck around following his concert for over 45 minutes signing for fans and taking pictures. The announced crowd of 35,000 remained in full throat for what seemed like the whole night, and Target Field remained rocking for the hip hop show.

On a night in which the Twins were hoping to bring new threads in an exciting environment, a walkoff win with Dj Skee rocking the turntables got the people going, and Flo Rida rocked Minnesota’s house to make it a great Friday evening.

View full article

[Patzky]

We all want to know if they'll wear em for the rained out Saturday game? Sounds like a rainout is a good likelihood today too..

[Karbo]

My wife saw them and thought there was some kind of special event. I asked her why and she said "because the Twins are wearing pajamas". I had to laugh, and really agreed with her.

[Doctor Gast]

I prefer the old pinstripes. These City Connect uniforms are better than I expected, other City Connect uniforms have been pretty bad. I like them just as well as any non-stripe uniform.

[Blyleven2011]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I prefer the old pinstripes. These City Connect uniforms are better than I expected, other City Connect uniforms have been pretty bad. I like them just as well as any non-stripe uniform.

I too prefer the traditional old pinstripes , I'm not a fan of the city connect uni's but I do like this later one better than the cream colored twin cities  one , it references blue for water and yellow for sun and also is a represents the whole state of Minnesota  , Minnesota twins with MN on the left , twin cities uni's do not represent the state of Minnesota  ...

[TwinsDr2021]

Flo Rida put on a great show, after an awesome win. Plus he stayed on the field for a while so pretty much anybody that waited around got their picture taken with him. Great Night!