The Minnesota Ballpark Crawl
Todd Swank's Diary Entry for June 1, 2025
We spent one action-packed weekend bouncing between two of Minnesota’s finest ballparks—without watching a single pitch. It started Thursday night at Target Field, where Thrivent gave us a full tour, hot dogs, and the rare chance to stand on the field like we owned the place.
We’re not big baseball fans, but a behind-the-scenes Target Field tour sounded fun. I faked enthusiasm to the mascot like a pro—it’s all in the eyes and delivering a confident look like you’ve got season tickets and strong opinions about bullpen depth.
Some parts of the tour were surprisingly fascinating—like learning Target Field has nearly 15 miles of beer tubing pumping cold brews from massive keg rooms to fans across the stadium. It’s basically the ballpark’s circulatory system—with way more foam.
Since the Twins are in season, their locker room was off-limits—but we did get to tour the visitor’s digs. It had plenty of space, nice leather chairs, and just enough “you’re only here for three nights, don’t unpack” energy to keep it humbling.
We got to explore the press room, broadcast booths, dugouts, and even step onto the field—just not the grass. Apparently, that was a step too far. Seems a little fussy for turf that’s about to be spit on and stomped by 20 guys in cleats.
On Saturday, we kicked off summer the best way we know how—by hitting GrillFest at CHS Field with the Korkowskis. No baseball, just sunshine, endless samples, and enough booze and burgers to make us forget the field normally hosts professional athletes.
Back in the day, GrillFest used to teach you how to sear a steak without setting your deck on fire. Now it’s more like a pregame for a Jimmy Buffett concert. The grills are gone, the booze is flowing, and if you can operate tongs, you're probably overqualified. It should probably be rebranded to BoozeFest.
Videos of the Week
@toddswank Nickeil Alexander-Walker with the 3! Assist from Antman. Let’s go Timberwolves! #wolvesin7 #minnesota #timberwolves #nba ♬ Bring Em Out - Instrumental - Instrumental Icons
@toddswank My friends aren’t big dancers so I used Kling AI to fix that! #klingai #partyrock #dance #grillfest #aivideo ♬ original sound - Todd Swank
@toddswank We had the opportunity to visit Target Field last night. Then a fireball came out of nowhere and exploded near second base. Great ballpark. Would absolutely visit again. #FireballFromTheSky #TargetField #BaseballChaos #AIvideo #KlingAI #GenerativeAI #TwinsBaseball ♬ SUPA GOOD!!! (from Dog Man) - Yung Gravy
@toddswank Last time it was a meteor. This time, a humpback whale breached so close I’m pretty sure I felt the splash. AI or not… I’m still drying off. #WhaleBreach #HumpbackWhale #OceanMoment #KlingAI #AIvideo #SplashZone #GenerativeAI #WildEncounters ♬ In USA - Glow City
