On Saturday, May 22nd, the four guys who once lived together at "The Silo" in Robbinsdale, MN were reunited at the Twins-Brewers game at Target Field. In order to fully appreciate this reunion, some background information on the attendees has been added to this edition of my "Prattle".
-Note: click on enclosed photos to enlarge them.
Reunion Attendees - Background Information....
-Attendees: Steve Hinrichs (Stork), Steve Rasske (Rask), Jay Durbin (how come he doesn't have a nick name?) and me (Palmer)......reunited at Target Field on May 22, 2010....see picture below...
-"The Silo": the name given to the two-story, square, block house that Stork once owned in the early 1980's
-Connections / Roommates: College and high school friends who decided to live together in "The Silo." from 1981 to 1983. (Rask, Jay and Stork all went to college in Eau Claire)
-Roles when living together: Stork (Dad), Rask (Mom), Jay and me (Kids)
-Responsibilities: Stork took care of the house, Rask bought groceries and cooked, Jay and I laid on the couch in our "fart sacks" and watched TV.
-Notable quirks: Stork's eating habits, Jay's adherence to saving energy, Rask's sleep issues and my loose sphincter.
-Notable Party: Hosted party and an outing to the Twins-Brewers game at the Metrodome in 1982..... approximately 85 people attended a pre-game and post-game party in the backyard of "The Silo".....95% of the people were Brewers fans....all those Eau Claire college friends.....(do you think this group liked to drink beer?)....I was one of the few Twins fans in the group....the highlight of the party was having a Minneapolis MTC bus take the entire group to and from the game.....two very wild and memorable bus rides.....(very understanding neighbors and a friendly police force were required).....see the collage of pictures from that memorable party below (click once on the picture and then a second time in order to see each photo enlarged....glad to see no one has aged.....how about my "gap"?
Highlights of the Reunion
-It was only fitting that this "Silo" reunion was held at another Twins-Brewers game.... a mere 28 years from the last time we attended a Twins-Brewers game together....however, this time 50 other wild and crazy people weren't there to join in on the fun ...... and no MTC bus was required.
-Weather forecast for the day was 82 and sunny....supposed to be a beautiful day for a ballgame.... the actual weather around noon on Saturday was 50's and thunderstorms.....nice forecast!.....fortunately the storm passed and it was a beautiful day by the time the game started 3:10 pm.......(I called the hit off on Paul Douglas).
-Stork provided the MTC bus service from the northern suburbs....a much quieter ride than the one in 1982.
-Rask wanted to beat the system (parking, traffic, ramp fees, etc) so he parked by the dome and took the train to Target Field.....he wanted to feel like a true "urban boy"....(I think the truth was that he thought the Twins still played at the dome)........fortunately a Good Samaritan helped him come up with enough quarters to fill the parking meter...... all the dimes and nickels that he thought he could use in the meter would now have to be used to buy beer at the game.
-The pre-game "Palmer Walking Tour" was required because Jay and Rask had never been to Target Field.....Rask got the weak knees when we reached one of the many tour stops.....the long climb to the seat considered to be the farthest from home plate (upper deck in center field) had Rask wobbling.....it is a tish steep up there.......watching Rask slowly walk down the stairs sideways with both hands on the rail was the highlight of the tour.
-The tour was timed perfectly as we sat down in our seats just as the Twins ran out onto the field.....gorgeous day....sun drenched stadium...full house.......it was like there was no weather.....didn't feel hot...didn't feel cold.... didn't feel any wind...... a perfect day!!
-Historic day at Target Field....biggest crowd in history....39,152....(yes, I know Target Field's history is less than 2 months but it's still a record)....first time they sold standing room only seats......a good contingent of Brewers fans are in the house.....where did they get their tickets?.....I want the name of every Twins fan who dumped their tickets to Brewers fans. (don't know what I would do if I got the names.....I just like talking tough).
-Jay's new found passion for umpiring caused him to be more interested in watching the umpires than watching the game.....the home plate umpire provided Jay with a lesson on how to call a hitter out on a called third strike.... violently twist your body away from home plate....then simultaneously mimic the motion of a very frustrated guy trying to start a chain saw that doesn't work.....I'm sure Jay has been in front of the mirror practicing ever since...(kind of like his jazzercise days).
-Jay also really enjoyed "Kiss Cam" on the huge jumbotron......
-In my effort to help Jay with his umpiring skills, I splatter beer on a couple of people in front of us....so embarrassing.....couldn't resist demonstrating how to get that damn chain saw started........
-The game evolved into what ESPN now calls an....."An Instant Classic".....(amazing how ESPN has changed my vocabulary)......big comeback by the Brewers in the 9th.....12 inning game....4 hours and 45 minutes long.....huge drama.....clutch hits........great catches.........key double plays.....big strike outs.......boisterous crowd for both teams......and a Twins win!!...
-4 hours and 45 minutes of baseball of course tested our boy Rask and his occasional need for immediate sleep......after the game Rask confessed that he did take a quick nap in a bathroom stall during the 11th inning....it was good to know that nothing had changed during the last 28 years......(Rask's two most notable sleep stories from the 80's....falling asleep while biking and when drinking a beer).
-Rask returned from his nap and enjoyed the bottom of the 11th inning.....doesn't he look refreshed?....as you can see not every fan stuck it out for the full game.....Stork and Rask took advantage of the open seats in our row....
-As tradition demands, we had to stay in our seats until an usher came and told us that "we were kicked out".......our patience was tested for the very first time.....no usher came to kick us out......after 4 hours and 45 minutes we wanted out....NOW!......eventually we begged an usher to kick us out....it was now after 8:30 and the game started at 3:10....what a day... the Twins actually provided us with a 2 for 1 happy hour special in that we got to see a day game and a night game.
-On the way to the post game party the Silo crew take time to pay homage to Harmon Killebrew....my boyhood hero....a nice lady takes our picture and emails me this photo....there are still good people out there...
-The post game party was held at Smalley's 87 in downtown Minneapolis (only 535 steps from Target Field).....fortunately we found 4 stools at the bar, "bellied up" and let the party come to us....good people watching.....everything from watching a "get a room" couple sitting at the bar next to us to seeing a very drunk woman trying to walk through the bar....classic drunken stagger....very entertaining and sad at the same time....she eventually had to be hauled away by the bar staff.
-Eventually the boys managed to completely fill their "fun bags" and the reunion came to close......Stork's MTC bus service delivered Rask to his car (yes, the Good Samaritan had given him enough quarters for the meter) and brought Jay and me home safely.....an added bonus on the trip back to Maple Grove was when Stork turned his MTC bus into a Tour bus....brought us to the old Stand Up Frank's bar in north Minneapolis....now renamed Donnie Dirk's Zombie Den (nice name)......didn't dare go in.......fortunately no stray bullets hit us.
-After a long and very eventful day, Stork dropped me off at my house at 11:11....the perfect end to the perfect day.
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