As the Great Midwestern Road Trip nears an end for the Twins, I thought it’d be fun to open a thread for fans to share their impressions from the road, from the parking lots, or from the ballparks themselves.

Earlier this month, we put together a package previewing Twins trips to Wrigley Field, Miller Park, Busch Stadium and Kauffman Stadium. The idea was to give fans a user’s guide for each stop.

We received a lot of feedback and encouraged people to e-mail us with pictures. (Photo insert is Dave Wenthold, of Bloomington, who made each stop with his wife, including this one at Busch Stadium.)

La Velle and I get to split these trips for the Star Tribune. And what’s a ballwriter to do when he’s not covering a game? Go to other ballparks, of course. I expanded my own Midwestern Road Trip with a stop at the College World Series in Omaha, and took in a Madison Mallards (Northwoods League) game on Saturday. Some quick thoughts:

Rosenblatt Stadium
On Father’s Day Weekend, my dad and I made the easy drive to Omaha — six hours from my house, 4 1/2 from his place in Mankato — for the Friday night showdown between Arizona State and Texas. I’ve been a huge fan of the CWS since my Little League days and have been back many times. It really bums me out that next year will be the final year in Rosenblatt Stadium, with the 2011 event scheduled for a new facility in downtown Omaha.

Sitting in the grandstand on the third-base side this time, we were treated to a very memorable game. A tight pitcher’s duel, it was tied 2-2 heading into ninth, when ASU scored the go-ahead run. But Texas hit two home runs in the bottom of the ninth to win it, advancing to the championship series.

If you love baseball and can get past the ping of the aluminum bats, you owe it to yourself to make a Rosenblatt pilgrimage next year. I get tired of the sensory overload in most big league ballparks these days (screaming announcers, blaring music, meaningless mascots, bush-league promotions), but the Omaha folks get it. They know this is a big stage, and they let the game sell itself. Between innings at a big league game, someone is usually screaming at you to BUY THIS! Or WATCH THAT! Between innings in Omaha, they play organ music — sweet organ music — as the players go through their warm-ups. On nights like that, I find joy in the subtleties. Following the players’ mannerisms, for example, as the ball is thrown around the horn. (Does the shortstop give a nonchalant flip to the second baseman? Or is he all-business, with a snappy throw and a “We’ll-show-you” point of his glove?)

Warner Park (a.k.a. “The Duck Pond”)
OK, I’m not always a purist. Baseball makes for a good social event, too. We threw my cousin, Brian, a bachelor party on Saturday in Madison, Wis., and took in a Mallards game from one of the Duck Blinds. We had two picnic tables directly behind the right-field wall, almost touching the foul pole. It’s all-you-can-eat — brats, burgers, pulled-pork. And all-you-can-drink — beer, beer, beer, beer and (rumor had it) soda.

I must confess I had little interest in the baseball subtleties on this night. Instead of watching warm-ups, I watched the Mallards mascot prepare to zip-line from right field with the game ball. I missed an inning to buy a goofy yellow, 10-gallon hat that we forced onto the groom’s head for pictures. As for the actual game, I wasn’t even sure who won until checking the box score later on the computer. (Madison 19, Brainerd 8.)

But the Northwoods League is no joke. Alumni include Pat Neshek (Wisconsin 2000), Curtis Granderson (Mankato 2001), Juan Pierre (Manitowoc 1996), George Sherrill (Kenosha 1997-98), Ryan Spilborghs (Madison 2001) and Andre Ethier (Rochester 2002). The league is growing to rival the Cape Cod League, as another stop for collegiate players to swing wood bats in the summer, tuning up for pro careers. Madison announced an average attendance of more than 6,000 per game last season, with St. Cloud at 1,794, Duluth 1,378, Rochester 1,358, Mankato 1,205 and Alexandria 1,119.

Indeed, you don’t have to wait for Target Field to see baseball thrive outside the Metrodome. Whether it’s another big league park, the Midwest League, the Northern League, the Northwoods League or local amateur ball (I could go on and on about the delightful little park in Osceola, Wis., where my wife and I used to watch our nephew play) the Great Midwestern Road Trip continues.

Got a favorite story from the road? Share it below.

An interesting new book was waiting for me in the office this week, “Minnesotans in Baseball,” edited by Stew Thornley. There are chapters on well-known Minnesota baseball figures such as Paul Molitor, Kent Hrbek, Jack Morris, Dave Winfield and Joe Mauer and numerous others with lesser-known stories such as Charles Albert (Chief) Bender, Johnny Blanchard, Blix Donnelly and Dick Siebert.

The book is a collaborative effort by the Halsey Hall Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). The Star Tribune’s Joel Rippel contributed chapters on Hrbek, Mauer, Greg Olson and Robb Quinlan.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Jean Ann Havlish, who grew up in St. Paul, practicing alongside Jerry Kindall and Jim Rantz, before finding her own niche with the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was later depicted in the film, “A League of the Their Own.”

(*) I caught the end of Zack Greinke’s latest masterpiece last night, and wondered what impact he had on what looked like a robust attendance. The attendance was 21,843, and in today’s KC Star, Joe Posnanski estimates that there were about 10,000 more people in the renovated ballpark because of Greinke. Zack Mania is now officially in swing, Posnanski writes.

(*) Tonight, the Twins will face Tigers righthander Rick Porcello, the youngest player in the American League at 20 years and four months. He is 1-3 with a 6.23 ERA, but his seven-inning, one-run effort against Seattle on April 19 speaks to his potential. According to Fan Graphs, 74 percent of Porcello’s pitches this year have been fastballs, averaging 92.2 mph, with 14 percent curve balls (76.3 mph) and 11 percent change-ups (82 mph).

FORT MYERS, FLA. — Randy Ruiz and Tommy Watkins each hit home runs, as the Twins defeated Concordia University 7-5 on Tuesday in a six-inning tussle at the Lee County Sports Complex.

Kevin Mulvey pitched two scoreless innings for the Twins, and Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn tossed two scoreless innings for Concordia.

The Golden Bears struck for four runs in the third inning against Twins reliever Philip Humber, who gave up a two-run homer to junior catcher Chris Herbert and a two-run double to senior third baseman Jake Waldman.

The Twins trailed 5-2 before making their comeback.

My computer crashed Thursday night, and a story I’d been working on for Sunday went with it.

I called our IT support desk at 9:14 (Eastern). By 10, our newsroom’s computer guru, Dan Barnes, had put my mind at ease. He got a replacement laptop ready and put it on the first flight to Fort Myers yesterday.

I picked it up at the Northwest baggage claim at noon and finished the story in time for our early Sunday editions, which hit the newstand today.

Anyway, just writing this to explain the blogging hiatus. La Velle had us covered on news, and today, Souhan is in the house. This is the first full-squad workout. In a few minutes, we’ll be watching the new infield perform the team’s Good Morning America drill. Can’t wait to watch.

FORT MYERS — Regular readers of this blog have heard me complain a few times about certain aspects of the job. The occasional travel snafu. The stress of competition. Time spent away from family.

But the sun is setting here at Hammond Stadium, and all I can do is stare at this field. George Toma has been out grooming the infield for hours. I think he’s done for the day, but who could be sure?

The Twins won’t even play a Grapefruit League game here for another week. But George is out there every day, from dawn until dusk, working on that field.

Sometimes, he’ll drop his rake and pick up a tiny rock, throwing it to the side. His three-word motto is, “And then some.” As in, do the job, and then some. I think he takes longer breaks now than he used to, but he still outworks everyone here.

I’m no Marlin Levinson (the Star Tribune photographer down here with us, sending those amazing shots back to the paper). I took this photo with my phone and just discovered that I can e-mail it to myself and then input it into the blog. (Randball has been doing this since he could walk.)

Not sure if the camera phone does it justice, but that is about the greenest green I can imagine. You’ll note the bigger batter’s eye in center field. They have about doubled the size this year. I’m assuming they’ll screw up that outfield wall soon enough with advertisements, but it sure looks sweet without them.

During the day, they are putting fresh coats of paint on walls here. The faded old seats have been replaced with new ones, forest green.

Anyway, for these six weeks of spring training, this is generally the view from my press box “office.” I hate how that sounds. As a Minnesotan, I have a hard time rubbing any of this in to the folks back home, slogging through winter. Consider this a quick postcard from Fort Myers. And yes, Mom & Dad, I’m having fun.