Another Sunday, another baseball game

Today we went to the second of our games, this time in Minneapolis. Target Field is beautiful, and our seats were wonderful, again right behind home plate. And, our hotel was in a perfect location this week, only a 10 minute walk from the ballpark. 

 The game was very exciting, with the Twins blowing a three run lead in the top of the 9th, and then coming back to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, and win in the bottom of the 10th. Lots of scoring, which is always more fun than a pitchers’ duel. 

One huge complaint, though. I have been going to sports events since I was young. I remember the Dodgers in the 60s, UCLA Basketball with Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the late 60s, the Mariners in 1995 in the Kingdome, and the Seahawks in their current stadium, and I have never heard it as loud as it was today in Target Field. I know baseball is trying to attract younger, hipper crowds, but this was ridiculous. Every second of the game, other than when the pitcher was actually making a pitch, was loud organ music, or hugely loud exhortations to “Clap your hands,” or “make noise” or bizarre sound effects. It was so loud that at times my ears actually hurt. How about just enjoying the game, which was exciting enough on its own. I’m not sure why the Target Field’s powers-that-be felt it was necessary. It was not that way in Cincinnati last week, and I will be interested to see if the ballparks in St. Louis and Denver are as noisy. 

 On our way to the ballpark, we noticed a restaurant, Fhima's (named after its chef) which looked interesting, so we decided to try it for dinner. The menu was Mediterranean, but the main attraction was the incredible art-deco interior. We asked the waiter about the history, and he sent the maitre d’ over to give us the story. 

Apparently, it had been a jazz club in the 20s (probably a speakeasy), which fell on hard times during the depression. So, they turned it into a “soup kitchen,” except they kept the format as a restaurant so the poor people could maintain some dignity. And it remained that way until the 70s. Then, it was going to be torn down to make way for a civic center, so it was packed up, tile for tile, chandelier for chandelier, mirror for mirror, and reconstructed in its current location. 

Not only is it in the theater district of Minneapolis, but it is next to the Target Center. A lot of its business came from its proximity to the theater, but also from a contract it had to provide food for the boxes at Minnesota Timberwolves games. Needless to say, the pandemic was not helpful, but they have stayed afloat and are looking forward to happier times. We were glad to be able to help. 

We have one more day in the Twin Cities. There is so much to do here still, that we will have to plan our time carefully.