Target Field, the MN Twins new ballpark is an amazing place to be. It truly surpasses any ballpark I have been.

In my life, I have been to both Chicago ballparks, Milwaukee Memorial, Milwaukee Miller park (tour), Fenway, Camden yards, Dodger stadium, that old SF park, Padre hole of old and the Metrodome. Speckle in a few college and town ball-ballparks and I’ve definitely seen a number of facilities.

Enough qualifications, enough posturing.

So what makes Target Field so special?

Is it the enormous HD screens and scoreboards? The gorgeous MN limestone that facades the structure? The historic treatments that preserve the 50 year history of the team? The statues of MN greats that adorn each gate or the too-many championship-season banners that blow in left field, more than were ever supposed to blow for this small-market, small budget team? Or is it perhaps the most significant of all, the return of outdoor baseball? For anyone who’s been to the Metrodome for baseball, it was a tolerated experience - you know what I mean.

It’s none of these. Instead, it’s the new era of social gaming.

Everywhere you look you see people in their seats, and if not, they’re standing, talking, socializing - all facing the field and all truly into the game, as a unified fan. The concourse is open air and open towards the field. When you leave your seat, you do not leave the game. Instead, you’re walking, interacting and in near-constant view of the field.

The concourse and deck railings that web through the park are solid with people at the rails, sometimes 3 to 4 deep. These socialites are not killing time, their not oblivious to the game at hand, they’re truly into the game, the experience and the new social experiment.

I have never been to a ballpark, stadium or concert hall that so captured the social aspects of humankind. In today’s society, as we become more disconnected and isolated, a game at Target Field is a literal slap in the social face that leaves the fan stunned and wanting more.

I wish that I was the one who designed this masterpiece.

- SD, 2010