My wife and I just got back from a whirlwind tour of the Twinkies new stadium and Indy to see friends and feel the vibe of the Final Four. Man o' man what a week!

Since there's too much to tell in one blog I thought I'd focus on first things first.

When I found out my hero Albert Pujols (aka Puj) was coming to the Twin Cities to play a little exhibition ball against the Twinks I had to make it happen come hell or high-water.

Don't know about you, but it's such a treat to have a baseball hero again in my advancing age. I think my wife was getting a bit jealous cuz I had to get a different camera angle on the Puj every time he came up to bat. Who doesn't want a different angle on their hero?

No, my wife's hero from her Cleveland Indian days, Jim Bob Thome (now a Twink), sat out the game....... but was visible in the dugout.

Also, while we were there we hooked up with my bro Sid and his fiance Dolly to check out their season seats. Pretty sweet seats as well.

My personal take (aka, for what it's worth) on the new Target Field.

Pros: For the following reasons the new facility is about ten times the ballpark that the Dome was: Great sight lines. Bright crisp clear scoreboard(s). Flower boxes for catching home run balls (nifty idea. got to see it in action as well). The Plaza area is great for gathering and catching batting practice dingers. Overhead heaters (brilliant and God knows we need it). More and better food availability. Wider halls and walk-ways. Love the steel wind art curtain covering the parking ramp. Easy entrance to all levels. Beautiful entrance to Target Field. Last but not least, the overhanging skyline in the outfield. Nice joint all around.

Cons: Hard to find the access routes to get down once you get up. Missing a beer garden in center field. In all of it's goodness it's still not as good as Cleveland's ball park and I swear I'm not saying that since my wife's from Ohio :)

See pix below for all the moods of Puj.

If you've been able to suffer this far into the pix, text, opinions and hero worship you are truly worthy of a trivia freebie. What's the name of the patient in the childhood game Operation? This baby is worth an easy 6 pts.