The Minnesota Twins have the third-most home wins in the AL and are leading their division by 6 1/2 games. But that isn't stopping them from finding faults — in their stadium, that is.
Players and coaches think that the brand new Target Field is too bright, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports. The new stadium, which was finished by the start of the 2010 season and cost an impressive $544 million, is furnished with a few accoutrements that Twins say they could do without when in the batter's box.
"There's a lot of light that reflects off that wall [beyond center field], maybe because of all the glass," hitting coach Joe Vavra said. "It has been borderline dangerous at some points. You can see some of the catchers having trouble catching the ball, and if the catcher can't catch it, I don't think you're going to be able to hit it."
Joe Mauer, the catcher who happens to be the reigning MVP of the American League, agrees.
"It gets pretty bright out there," Mauer confirmed to the Star-Tribune. "I don't want to make excuses, but there's been certain times of the game when I couldn't really see anything hitting. Those are usually the 3 o'clock games."
The likely culprits of these complaints are silver railings that line the stands and a massive, 46-foot white sign of Minnesota's original logo, both of which produce glare and shadows at home plate.
In theory, this would give the pitchers an unfair advantage, which would be reflected by poor hitting numbers for the 35-25 Twins at Target Field.
Statistics, however, demonstrate otherwise. As of June 7, the Twins had played 30 games on the road and at home. At home, the team batted .285, while it hit just .252 on the road. Also, the Twins hit 64 doubles, eight triples and 13 homers at Target Field, yet managed only 50 doubles, six triples and 35 home runs away from Minnesota.
Seems like, as a unit, the Twins are doing just fine at home.
Perhaps it's just the struggling Mauer who is finding fault with his new crib. After all, the vocal signal-caller is hitting better in every category away from Target Field than he is at home.
