Congratulations to your 2019 American Association Champions @StPaulSaints
Thanks for a great season
That would be our new GM Bill Guerin throwing out the first pitch in Lowertown tonight
Still a little bitter that Saint Paul lost the original 612 to Minneapolis
MK’s friend in the wild
Perfect early morning round down at Sand Creek (and I shot an 87)
Magic lights the way
It’s been a mentally exhausting “off” week, but there is now new music from @lydializamusic on the good headphones
I’m a bad alumni
Whatever will be, will be. The future is ours to see…
- Baby Hold On
I’m such a sucker for British ensemble dramas
Still my favorite pasta
Day after day, alone on a hill. The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still…
- The Fool on the Hill
Ed-die! Ed-die!
Old and older
These seats are kinda cool
Louie’s Fruity Flip
Your Northern Division Champs!!
Summer is extended in Lowertown for at least one more night
Definitely not CHS Field
World’s Best
I’m in the pocket just like Grady Tate, got supplies of beats so you don’t have to wait. ‘Cause I’m the master blaster, drinking up the Shasta…
- Professor Booty
Made it just in time for first pitch
Home opener
Made in Milaca
Football tomorrow, but baseball tonight
Longest round of the year
New menu day @SaintDinette – tried all the cheeses
Worth the wait
The Austrians are invading
Minnesota PSA: the bugs down by the river tonight are bonkers
My bike commute this morning put my 2019 mileage total ahead of 2018 – thank you @HennepinHC!
Royal Golf Club
Come Pitch Your Tent
50 years of plundering
Thank you @mnstatefair for another great year – went four times, will be sad tomorrow and can’t wait for 2020
God bless Rick Nielsen
That state fair life
Favorite new food in years
Old school for day #4 at the fair – actually got a great spot in the Como lot
If you were playing near me tonight at the casino, chances are good you did well (while I did not)
Mom would’ve been 75 today – miss her tons ❤️
Sundays in Highland
The new kids in town
Love this crew
My first bonus regular season of Saints baseball ends on this beautiful night
The art building never disappoints
Is there a better music video than Sabotage?
Hall & Oates @ Grandstand
She’ll only come out at night, the lean and hungry type. Nothing is new, I’ve seen her here before…
- Maneater
Make your own caption
Creepy Wizard of Oz
New corn booth, still solid
The breakfast waffle
Got to throw the peanuts!
Saints Honorary Media Member
The Saint Paul Saints have always been the masters of promotion. When they posted a link to a “Media Member for the Day” event, I grabbed the August 27th game against the Chicago Dogs and patiently waited. With only a handful of regular season games left, tonight was the night. I walked across the street from our house and picked up my pass from the box office, entered the VIP/Media entrance on Broadway and walked up to my perch behind home plate.
Working in an NFL stadium, our press box is only in use ten days a year (unless there is a Minneapolis Miracle). The Saints play fifty home games in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, plus the potential for best-of-five divisional and championship match-ups. With seven games left in the 2019 season, the Saints have a record of 59-34 and are 1.5 games back of Fargo-Moorhead, who clinched a playoff spot last night.
If they make the post-season, this will be the second year in a row. We went to all of the playoff games last year and were really surprised at how few people attended. The Saints lead the league in regular season attendance – in fact, they have double the attendance of the next closest team this year (363,109 versus 167,131 for Winnipeg). CHS Field (built in 2015 for $64.7 million by Ryan Companies) officially holds 7,210 fans, but the Saints average 8,069 people per game. My guess is that the huge corporate outing business that drives attendance during the year just isn’t there for the playoff games. If the Saints do make it to back-to-back playoffs, the dates this year would be:
- Divisional Playoff Games: 9/4, 9/5, 9/7 (9/8 & 9/9, if necessary)
- Championship Games: 9/11, 9/12, 9/14 (9/15 & 9/16, if necessary)
The division winner gets to choose which games they will host, with one team hosting the first two games and the other team hosting Game 3, as well as the final two games if they end up being needed.
So how does this press box compare to ours? The Vikings have spaces for 175 people in the main seating area and I would say you could squeeze in about six people at CHS. We both have high-speed WiFi and wired data ports available, a friendly press box announcer that reports stats as they happen and complimentary food and beverages. The press box at CHS sits between the TV broadcast booth on one side and the event production booth on the other. Of course, this is also where the peanuts get thrown down during the seventh inning stretch (looking forward to that).
Nothing against the Saints, but they really get caught up in the overall decline of local journalism. I can understand no Star Tribune or TV representation, but where is the Pioneer Press? Aside from the occasional Shooter mention, I don’t think you can even find a box score in the hometown paper. John Shipley did write a story during the All-Star festivities, but that was likely just because Joe Mauer and a bunch of Vikings played in the charity softball game.
Aside from that issue, the Saints definitely produce a great product in the crowded Twin Cities sports market. As a guy who grew up in Saint Paul going to games at Midway Stadium, the organization will always hold a special place in the history of the city. The new City of Baseball museum along the third base line is really well done and is a great addition to the building. CHS Field truly is a beautiful facility and GM Derek Sharrer runs a great operation.
Thanks for letting me visit!
Get to play a little compare and contrast between our press box and the @StPaulSaints tonight
Ed Sheeran’s Divide Tour: two-and-a-half years, 255 performances, 8.9 million tickets, $775.6 million gross
Happy dog on Dog Day
First day of college
Is it raining?
