Rain and snow will not put a damper on this year's Twins home opener, staff says
The mix of wind, rain, snow and slush is adding an extra opening day challenge for the crews preparing for Thursday's Twins home opener.
"Opening day prep... we've had that going on since February," said Matt Hodson with the Minnesota Twins. "It's a special day, it's a baseball holiday."
But prep for the home opener came with a surprise from the skies.
"The heating system we have melted all the snow away from the outfield," Hodson said.
The Twins' ground crews are dealing with a wide range of weather.
"The rain throws a little bit of a wrench into plans, but nothing too much... Larry and the grounds crew are the best in baseball and they've been prepared," Hodson said.
Hodson also said that Wednesday's rain actually helped remove that snow from wet seats, and that they've worked to make Target Field "all season enjoyable."
If you have tickets to the game or if you're planning on snagging some, each of the stadium's over 38,000 seats will be dry by the power of Mother Nature or the Twins' staff themselves.
"We're gonna be bumping right next to a sellout. We're looking at 38,000 — we still have some available, so go to Twins.com," Hodson said.
An entire off-season coming down to hours of hard work down to the deadline.
"When those gates open at 1 o'clock and you see fans walk in for the first time with smiles, it's absolutely worth it," Hodson said. "Twins fans are some of the best in baseball, they know that opening day is a special occasion, whether you're coming in at 6-0, 2-4 or anything in between.
The first pitch of Thursday's home opener is at 3:10 p.m.
