Good riddance: White Sox won't miss trips to the Metrodome

Posted July 06, 2009 11:00 pm

By Marty Maciaszek

As owner of the Minnesota Twins, the late Carl Pohlad, shown in this 2005 photo, worked to get a new ballpark for his team. He did last January, and the Twins are leaving the Metrodome this year. Associated Press

White Sox fans probably won't shed any tears over their team's final trips to a place that has caused a lot of them through the years.

At least they'll be able to rest peacefully knowing the Sox won't get kicked around by the Twins in the Metrodome anymore.

No more of the bizarre bounces or other wacky happenings that have made the 27-year-old Metrodump a house of horrors for the Sox.

The Twins' fundamental soundness and scrappiness under Ron Gardenhire - along with the tasty M&M tandem of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in the heart of the lineup - has certainly had a lot to do with their success in Minneapolis this decade.

But at least it will be a little easier to stomach in the future when it happens under gray skies in the Twins' new outdoor Target Field instead of under a dingy, dirty white Teflon roof of the place bearing the name of former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.

On Friday, the Sox will make the first of their last three trips to their Metrodoom. Maybe these final nine games will inspire former Sox shortstop and manager Ozzie Guillen to provide some farewell tributes similar to the critiques he regularly gives Wrigley Field.

Few outsiders have expressed much fondness or seen much charm for all of the quirkiness inside a place that also is losing the University of Minnesota football as a tenant. The Vikings would like to join the Gophers and the Twins as those who have left the building.

Billy Martin once protested a game as New York Yankees manager after what normally would have been a bloop single became a ground-rule double when it bounced off the ridiculously spongy Super Turf in its early years.

Martin, who also managed the Twins and was never at a loss for words, called it a Little League park. The Yankees and Lou Piniella were victims of the first inside-the-Metrodome homer in 1982 when he stood with his arms outstretched and couldn't see Tom Brunansky's high fly to left dropping to the ground and bouncing to the fence.

"It stinks," Martin said. "It's a shame a great guy like HHH (Humphrey) has to be named after it."

Former major-league outfielder Fred Lynn said "it was the worst place ever." Former major-league player and manager Art Howe was among the many who suggested blowing up the Metrodome.

"I don't know how they lose a game here," Howe said in 1997 as the Athletics manager.

They didn't en route to 1987 and 1991 World Series titles when they had the homefield advantage in more ways than just hosting four of the seven games.

Current Rolling Meadows varsity baseball coach Jim Lindeman was a rookie first baseman-outfielder with the St. Louis Cardinals when they were outscored 33-12 in their 4 losses in the Metrodome to a 1987 Twins team that won just 85 regular-season games.

And, yes, the decibel levels of 125 reaching jet airplane proportions did make it nearly impossible to hear yourself think.

"It was the loudest place I had ever been in," Lindeman said. "You couldn't sit on the bench next to a teammate and have a conversation.

"During the World Series it was very exciting and very interesting. I think if they played four games in St. Louis we would have won the World Series.

"They were a totally different team in the Metrodome. The crowd played a factor. The light-colored roof."

But Lindeman's Metrodome memories aren't all negative.

"The intensity and the loudness the crowd produces, it was a blast," Lindeman said. "It definitely changed how they played, but I don't think it affected how we played that much."

The White Sox, especially players of recent vintage, probably wouldn't say the same.

No lead ever seems safe with Denny Hocking, Nick Punto or Mike Redmond dinking in hits before big boppers Kent Hrbek, Morneau or Jason Kubel hammered shots over the picturesque "baggie" in right field.

Kirby Puckett, Torii Hunter or Carlos Gomez always were making a rally-killing catch in the spacious outfield. The more powerful Sox usually seemed powerless against Frank Viola, Johan Santana, Brad Radke, Joe "Cy" Mays and closers Eddie Guardado and Joe Nathan.

Surely there will be a few more nightmares revisited in the final nine games such as last year's three-game, late-September sweep that nearly killed the White Sox' hopes of an AL Central title.

But maybe the most galling of all the Sox losses in the Metrodome came 25 years ago on a late-June Sunday afternoon. Richard Dotson was working on a shutout with a 2-0 lead, two runners on and one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Tim Teufel hit a blooper down the right-field line, and Harold Baines came racing in for what figured to be a single. The ball then bounded off the turf like a kid firing a Super Ball off a sidewalk and sailed over Baines' head and into the corner.

Teufel toured the bases with a ridiculous game-winning homer. Sox TV broadcasters Don Drysdale and Hawk Harrelson went on a postgame rant on why baseball shouldn't be played on the Twins' kind of turf.

"It just wasn't meant to be," Dotson told reporters after the loss.

White Sox fans would say the same about playing baseball in the Metrodome.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com

The Minnesota Gophers already have said goodbye to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis after 27 seasons there, and now the Twins are playing their final season there. Associated Press

After this season, the White Sox won't have to visit the bubble-roofed Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Twins are moving to Target Field, an outdoor stadium, next season. Associated Press

Metrodome memories As most White Sox fans know, the majority of Metrodome moments aren't all that pleasant. The first time the Sox played there typified the stomach-churning feelings usually produced as they nearly blew a 7-run lead and held on to win 8-7 on June 28, 1982. Daily Herald Sports Writer Marty Maciaszek offers this look at 10 memorable moments in what has often been a house of horrors for the Sox. Connect the dots (June 24, 1984) Richard Dotson was two outs from a shutout with two on when the Twins' Tim Teufel hit a blooper down the right-field line. Harold Baines charged in, but the ball hit in front of him and then bounded high over his head all the way to the corner for an inside-the-dome home run and a 3-2 victory. Walk-off clincher (Sept. 24, 2000) A Cleveland loss started the celebration in the dugout of a surprise AL Central title. Ironically, it really got rolling after obscure reliever Kevin Beirne gave up a 10th-inning homer to Matt Lawton as the Twins won 5-4. Gardy goes wild (July 31, 2008) A seventh-inning call against the Twins threw manager Ron Gardenhire in a rage where he threw his hat and kicked it and fans started throwing hats and objects on the field. Ozzie Guillen then called his team off the field until order was restored for the Sox, who then had a complete meltdown as Jason Kubel crushed a 3-run homer off Octavio Dotel in a wild 10-6 comeback win. Swept away (Sept. 23-25, 2008) Sox fans took no comfort in a 3-game lead on the Twins going into the three-game series. Their worst fears materialized as Javier Vazquez was bombed in the opener, there was no clutch hitting in 3-2 loss in the second game, and they blew a 6-1 lead as Alexi Casilla's game-winning single in the 10th completed the sweep and set off a wild celebration. A few days later the Sox were celebrating after a 1-0 AL Central playoff-game win home turf. Oh-no for Garcia (Aug. 23, 2005) One swing from Jacque Jones leading off the eighth inning turned Freddy Garcia's bid for history into a 1-hit, 1-0 loss. But the Sox showed their resilience by taking the last two of the series. Karko's grand tour (Aug. 30, 1990) Strong-armed Sox catcher Ron Karkovice was one of the least likely players to hit an inside-the-park-homer. But Karkovice took it to the extreme when he turned his line shot to left-center into a grand slam the hard way, and a 4-3 win. Big Frank's first big hurt (Aug. 28, 1990) A relatively uneventful 12-6 Sox loss saw Frank Thomas hit the first of his 521 career homers with a ninth-inning solo shot off Gary Wayne. Thomas also hit his 500th career homer at the Metrodome. Black Jack deals 20 (Aug. 22, 1993) Jack McDowell won his 20th game for the AL Central champs as he gave up 8 hits but kept the Twins off the board. It personified the righty's toughness as Frank Thomas provided the only run with a first-inning homer. Mark it down (July 19, 2000) A 38th-round draft pick made his first big-league start and second appearance for the AL Central-leading Sox. A 3-2 victory was a sign of success to come in the Metrodome for Mark Buehrle as he went 7 innings. He's currently 10-7 lifetime there. Three crazy eighths (Sept. 27-29, 2002) The Twins turned on the power at perfect times as they won three straight games on two-out, 2-run homers in the bottom of the eighth. Corey Koskie and Bobby Kielty hit tiebreaking blasts and Kielty erased a 1-run deficit that denied Buehrle his 20th victory. Sox all-time in the Metrodome: 87-107 (29-46 since 2001) Best seasons there: 5-1 (1993), 5-2 (1995) Worst seasons there: 1-8 (2008), 0-4 (1994) Chicago connection: The Metrodome architect is the Chicago-based firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which also designed the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower. Sources: Retrosheet.org; Wikipedia.

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