FINISH LINE: Right on Target

More than four hours before the first pitch was thrown Monday at Target Field, the Minnesota Twins’ beautiful new downtown home, Justin Anderson stood outside the stadium waiting for the unveiling of a statue of Twins great Kirby Puckett.

Decked out in a white suit with Puckett’s number 34 on the back, Anderson couldn’t contain himself as he described the addition to the downtown skyline.

“Simply awesome,” he said, looking toward the $545 million limestone-clad ballpark. “This is a whole lot better than the Metrodome.”

His friend, Britta Dwyer, nodded in agreement.

“The pictures,” she said. “The place even makes your pictures look better.”

It helps when you have a bluish sky and a cluster of skyscrapers in your viewfinder. After playing indoors at the Metrodome since 1982, the Twins are playing on grass and in fresh northern, roofless air.

Karen Moehring, who was with her husband, David, for the home opener, said she was just fine not having a roof over their heads up in the fourth deck. She needn’t have worried on Monday: The game-time temperature was 65 degrees with a light wind.

“You deal with the weather in Minnesota,” she said. “That’s part of the deal.”

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