A warm Thursday afternoon, the walk toward Target Field feels easy and unhurried. The sun hits the glass buildings just right, bouncing light onto the sidewalks. The closer you get, the more it feels like everyone is headed to the same place, pulled in by the same quiet excitement.

On April 16, twelve Wildcat Chronicle students headed to a special tour around Target Field, where they were able to see what happens behind the scenes during a game.

Target Field is located in downtown Minneapolis and is home to the Minnesota Twins , who have played there since 2010. It also has one of the smallest footprints of any Major League Baseball stadium.

“We built our stadium on an eight-acre lot. It’s a 12-and-a-half-acre stadium. So we have a very, very small footprint for our state stadium,” tour guide Dale Wolpers said.

The Minnesota Twins became the Minnesota Twins in 1961. They originally wanted to be called the “Twin Cities,” but Major League Baseball did not allow it, since teams must be named after a single city. At the time, it was difficult to represent both cities, as the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints did not get along. After discussions with Major League Baseball, the team was officially named the Minnesota Twins in 1961.

“We called ourselves the Minnesota Twins and brought everybody together,” Wolpers said. “But here’s a cool thing. This is one of our logos. There’s a kind of a Nike swoosh there. Why didn’t we go with the Nike swoosh under everything? Because we want our team to win. It took our marketing department a year to come up with that. Those are the types of things that you have to think about,” Wolpers said.

During World War II, many men were drafted to war. To keep morale high, an all-girls baseball league was formed, as baseball is a major part of American culture. This league later inspired the movie A League of Their Own.

“This young lady right here told all the stories to Penny Marshall, who produced and directed the movie. The characters in the movie – Dottie, Kit, Pepper, all the way to Faye – were based on real players. But the cool thing is, you look at this, and then you look at the actors who played them – Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, Geena Davis, and Tom Hanks – and you can see the resemblance,” Wolpers said.

One of the favorite sculptures around Target Field is the “5278 Hits.” Since opening in 2010, the stadium has received 29 awards, including several for energy efficiency. Target Field uses a special steam energy system, where energy comes from burning garbage into steam that is pumped throughout the stadium.

“The ones in green are for being energy efficient—the most energy-efficient stadium in all of sports in the world. And we’re very, very proud of that,” Wolpers said.

Target Field is mainly known for baseball, but the sport is seasonal and doesn’t fill the entire calendar. To make full use of the space, they also host proms, weddings, and other special events throughout the year.

“There’s a whole bunch of areas like this. High schools will have their prom in here. We’ll have weddings and all that kind of stuff, because you can’t survive on just baseball alone this way,” Wolpers said.

Although weddings are set up a bit differently, they give guests a unique experience.

“We’ll have weddings at home plate. Their guests will sit here, and then they’ll go into the reception in there,” Wolpers said.

Target Field is one of 22 out of 30 Major League Baseball stadiums to have an open-air press box.

“This is an open-air press box. So on a night like tonight, if we had a ball game, all those windows would be open. So we get birds flying in here, all that kind of stuff. But also we get baseballs flying in here, because those of you who play baseball know that this is a classic foul-back area. In fact, sometimes the ball even makes a mark in the walls,” Wolpers said.

At Target Field, the Minnesota Twins celebrate their history through displays of retired numbers, honoring players such as Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Kirby Puckett, Bert Blyleven, Joe Mauer, Jim Kaat, and Jackie Robinson, whose number is retired across all of Major League Baseball. A “W” is also featured to honor the franchise’s origins as the Washington Senators before relocating in 1961. In addition, the area around the scoreboard highlights past pennant and championship seasons, with flags representing the team’s World Series and American League titles.

“To the left of the scoreboard, you see all of our pennants and championship seasons. Hopefully, knock on wood, we can put up 2026 up there,” Wolpers said.

Target Field also displays all of the Minnesota Twins players who have been in the All-Star Game, including Rod Carew, who was honored during the 2014 All-Star Game held at Target Field in Minneapolis.

“And in fact, now we’ll talk about that. These are all Minnesota Twins players who have been in the All-Star Game. That’s why they have those stars there,” Wolpers said.

Besides players, the stadium also features artists who have performed at Target Field, such as Prince and Bob Dylan, both of whom have performed there multiple times.

“Prince played all the time. It’s where Bob Dylan played a bunch, so it’s a tribute to them,” Wolpers said.

Target Field also showcases its accomplishments. Although replicas are displayed in cases, the original trophies are kept upstairs, including the 1987 and 1991 World Series championship trophies.

At the conclusion of the Target field tour, students walked away inspired, with a deeper appreciation for the many opportunities in journalism, especially after Wolpers powerful reminder: “Always remember: what’s your story?”

For senior Juliet Payton, who intends to study sports media in college, the tour was particularly insightful.

“I got a preview of what I want to spend my career doing,” Payton said. “The most memorable part of the tour was getting to walk onto the field, along with all the history we learned from our tour guide.”