seen your stadium

i have lived in the twin cities for almost 30 years, and in that time, i've been to the st. paul saints' stadium(s) four times. only three of those times were to see a baseball game - twice at their current ballpark (chs field in downtown st. paul) and once at their old home, midway stadium. 

that game at midway, in 2003, happened to feature minnie minoso leading off for the saints, making him the first player to appear in a professional baseball game in seven different decades. it was also lucky charms hat giveaway night, brought to you by local conglomerate, general mills.

a few months ago, i came across a card from the 2014 saint paul saints team set that featured midway (as it was in its final season), and i bought it as quickly as i could

here's the back

i've added it to my "stadiums i've seen games in" collection. i've mentioned being at that game with minoso in the lineup a couple of times . i thought that my dad might have some pictures of minoso from the game, but i haven't seen or found any. maybe some will turn up at some point.

the other time i went to midway stadium was for what turned out to be the final event held at the facility twelve years ago yesterday. 

the replacements, or at least original members paul westerberg (a noted twins fan) and tommy stinson, had reunited and this was their final hometown concert. the post title is a nod to their song "seen your video" which they did not play, but it was still a fantastic show - much different than the drunken show i saw the band play back in 1989 - and i was so happy that i had gone. they were my favorite band and probably still are today, although there are others that have always been around the top of that list as well. show openers lucero and the hold steady were great, too, with this being the second or third time i had seen the hold steady live.

in other stadium on card related news, i picked up a few more ticket stub cards from 2009 topps ticket to stardom. here's a chad billingsley ticket stub card

featuring a 2008 dodger game stub showcasing dodger stadium and one of its many parking lots. the dodgers were celebrating 50 years in los angeles with a variety of player accomplishments and events on their tickets, and this stub actually notes that the club was the first to have 3,000,000 fans attend during a single season

i am happy to say that i am a part of that number! here's the back:

i've been to dodger stadium a couple of times for non-baseball related activities. in the 1990s, i saw u2 perform during the zoo tv tour, and i also saw eric clapton and elton john when they toured together. for the clapton/john show, we were on the field and i took the opportunity to wander around the field and scoop up some dirt from the infield where guys like jim gilliam, jim lefebvre, davey lopes, and steve sax played. i still have that dirt in a film cannister.

i added another billingsley card, but this time it goes in my steve garvey collection rather than the dodger collection. see if you can figure out why

it's the same number, but obviously a different stub.

garvey had a pretty good season in 1974.

another card i bought is jake peavy's dual relic/ticket stub card

which also features a garvey stub from a different game. here's the back:

the last of these cards i bought is a todd helton card. i'll show the back first

it's another big ticket stub card, but instead of featuring the stadium or garvey, it has ron cey on it

and that's how a colorado rockies card made it into my dodger collection.

with the rangers having a new stadium (and the a's about to) since the last time stadiums got their own cards, i am hoping that topps does another round of stadium-themed cards. stay tuned, i guess.