Love Letters: Metrodome will be missed

1. Very nice reaction to last week's farewell or good riddance (take your pick) column to the end of baseball in the Metrodome.

2. Reminder, as you should know by now, it's called "Love Letters" as a sort of tribute to an old column by the same name in the sports section of one of the newspapers I grew up reading, the Detroit Free Press.

3. Tune in next week, when the letters turn from "love" to a decidedly uncharitable tone on a variety of subjects.

•  Miller: The Sequel

Now, the envelopes, please. ...

From: Nancy

Thanks for the great article on the Metrodome. I have never enjoyed a Thursday afternoon at work as much as I just did. You made it sound like magic! Thanks.

You sure it wasn't simply that you skipped the usual yogurt and fruit in favor of a cheeseburger instead, Nancy?

From: Bryan M.

I just wanted to say thanks for the great tribute you wrote for the Metrodome. Even though we are excited to get outdoor baseball, the stories you shared of the old bubble pointed out all the great things I'm going to miss about the place. Let's hope for one more October push and hopefully a World Series game on my birthday. That would be a perfect ending in my book. Thanks again.

Hey Bryan, I helped spice up Nancy's lunch. Your birthday? Anything is possible.

From: Scott V.

As a person who went to the first exhibition game against the Reds and is going to the last regular-season game against the Royals, you've done an excellent job in capturing why we have such a strong love/hate relationship with this goofy place. If you've ever listened to Bob Dylan at the Dome, it made Yoko Ono sound GREAT!

I don't doubt it. But wasn't that because she was with the Plastic Ono Band? I figure that must have blended in perfectly in the plastic Dome!

From: Tim H.

Great story -- lots of memories ... sitting outside the press box in the old Dome ... who could forget Brad Radke's 20-game effort in the 90's. The test will be if the Twinkies can beat the ChiSox without the Dome. ... A new beginning.

I hear they're even going to put flannel blankets over the bases so the feet don't freeze.

From: Gil

Great article on the Metrodome. Lot's of funny stories. Enjoyed it very much.

It wasn't so funny to ex-St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog or Atlanta's Bobby Cox as they were losing World Series in that place, was it?

From: Jeff M.

What a wonderful, wonderful column on the Metrodome.

I'm getting a lump in my throat here people.

From: Steven D.

I'm 32 years old. I'm a Phillies fan to the core, but when you're a kid you have other teams you love for various reasons. Kirby and the Twins were my team. Plus the Phils were terrible in the mid-late 80's. Loved, them, loved them, loved them. Great, great article that brought me back to my days as a kid again. And it was wonderful thinking of some of my favorite baseball memories with some of my favorite baseball players of all-time. Even if the Metrodome was a dump. So thanks.

See, just when you get out of that dump, it sucks you back in!

From: Ray N.

You nailed it. The Dome will be missed. I just hope they keep it because amateur baseball and D1-D3 colleges in Minnesota, northern Iowa and western Wisconsin need it desperately.

Not to mention the folks who run the Home and Garden Shows.

From: Mike J.

That was a fantastic article on the Dome. Brought back a flood of great memories! Keep up the great work! It's nice to have someone write about teams, venues, etc. that are not the East Coast!!! Kudos!

Yeah, but did you read my Yankee Stadium column at last year's All-Star Game?

From: Patrick H.

Best memory in the Humpty Dump: Morris vs. Smoltz. Worst memory: Nebraska 84, Minnesota 13, September 17, 1983.

No wonder the Gophers scurried out of there this year into what looks to be a beautiful new on-campus football stadium that, incidentally, hosts its first regular season game this Saturday against Air Force.

From: Jeff B.

Scott, GREAT article about the Dome. If I recall correctly, you worked in the Cities for a while, right? Thanks for reminding me of all the great memories and quirks of my childhood stadium. I will miss it and I'm glad you gave it the publicity it deserves. Oh ... and don't forget that the Packers fans HATE the Dome. Cheers!

Guilty as charged. And the way I figure it, the White Sox and Packers are probably the two leading haters of the Dome, right?

From: Derek R.

Thanks for the article on the Metrodome Scott. Ugly as it is, it is ours, and while it won't be missed, it will always be revered. Still the only stadium in the world to host the World Series, Final Four, Super Bowl and MLB All-Star game.

Love it! It took you only seven words to employ what essentially is the Metrodome's motto: "Ugly as it is, it is ours."

From: Bryan

Scott: Nice article, but Tommy Herr never went back to the Cards after being traded to the Twins in 1988 ... Thank you for the Bob Casey audio link. Awesome!

Yeah, you're right. I think Whitey meant he talked with Herr a few years later, not when Herr came back to the Cards. Glad you enjoyed the audio clip of Bob "No Smoking in the Metrodome" Casey. He was an entertaining guy.