MINNEAPOLIS — After a year away from the Metrodome, TwinsFest is back home.
TwinsFest, a three-day annual event that allows fans to meet more than 60 former, current and future Minnesota Twins, begins Friday at the Metrodome. Last year's event was held at the National Sports Center Blaine after the Dome's roof collapsed from heavy snowfall in December of 2010.
But it makes its return to the site of the team's two World Series victories in 1987 and 1991.
"Clearly, it's a facility that we have a lot of history in as an organization — 2012 is the 25th anniversary of the 1987 World Championship," said Twins president Dave St. Peter. "It's a facility that our fans and certainly our organization is quite familiar with."
This year's TwinsFest kicks off Friday from 4-9:30 p.m. Doors open at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Fans can still buy discounted tickets until 5 p.m. CT on Thursday. Tickets purchased in advanced are $9 for adults and $5 for children. At the door, those prices jump to $15 and $8, respectively.
All proceeds from the event go to the Twins Community Fund. St. Peter expects 30,000-35,000 fans to attend this year's TwinsFest throughout the three-day period and said ticket sales are ahead of where they were two years ago, the last time the event was held at the Metrodome.
One new feature at this year's TwinsFest will be the Hall of Fame plaque of former Twins pitcher and current broadcaster Bert Blyleven, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last year.
"Fans that maybe didn't get to Cooperstown this year for Bert's induction will have a chance to see that plaque up close," St. Peter said of Blyleven, who spent 11 of his 22 big league seasons with Minnesota.
Fans can look forward to several other activities at this weekend's TwinsFest, including silent and live auctions, a baseball skills area, and the Upper Midwest's largest baseball collectible show. One of the biggest highlights for fans every year is the autograph stations, which allows fans to meet their favorite players and have an item signed (for a cost).
Due to high demand, however, stars Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will only sign autographs for a select number of fans, who will be chosen in a random drawing.
"We've changed the system this year to go to much more of a random draw relative to the ability to get autographs from the Mauers and the Morneaus of the world," St. Peter said. "We try to do it as fair as possible. It's always a case where demand exceeds supply. TwinsFest is a great event. Autographs are just one piece of it. There's a lot of other aspects where fans have the chance to interact with players."
For a complete list of players and autograph restrictions, or to purchase tickets, go to twinsbaseball.com.
The weekend of TwinsFest means the season is inching closer. Spring training begins in less than a month, and Minnesota's annual fan festival signals the beginning of the new season. With so many players in town, the team also has a chance to take care of some housekeeping issues before they head to Fort Myers, Fla., next month.
"This event is really built into the offseason clock for the front office and certainly for our players and coaches. We use it as a chance not only to get our players in for the event but also to conduct physicals," St. Peter said. "We actually get that done here and it really commences the start of spring training for a lot of guys in terms of they report directly to Fort Myers, many guys do immediately after TwinsFest."
