TARGET FIELD SET TO OPEN APRIL 12

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer

Outdoor baseball is tentatively set to return to Minneapolis on April 12 when the Minnesota Twins play their 2010 home opener against the Boston Red Sox.

The date was contained in a draft schedule for next season that recently was sent to teams and revealed Friday to The Associated Press. It was provided by a baseball official on condition of anonymity because Major League Baseball’s central office asked that the schedule not be made public before it is finalized later this year.

Minnesota is tentatively set to open the season on April 5 at the Los Angeles Angels.

This is the 28th and final season for the Twins at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Barring postseason play, the Twins play their final game there Oct. 4 against the Kansas City Royals.

Target Field, with open air and a capacity of about 40,000, is estimated to cost $535 million. It’s possible the Twins will play exhibition games there before the formal opener—most teams do when moving into a new stadium.

After Minneapolis, the next major league ballpark to open will be at Miami in 2012. Construction on the Marlins’ 37,000 capacity retractable-roof stadium began last week on the former site of the Orange Bowl, and a formal groundbreaking is scheduled for July 18.

After that, only the Oakland Athletics and possibly the Tampa Bay Rays are seeking new stadiums. In March, baseball commissioner Bud Selig appointed a committee to analyze the A’s hope to obtain a new ballpark in their current territory. That followed the club’s decision in February to scrap plans for a ballpark in Fremont.

While San Jose is interested in hosting the A’s, it is considered part of the San Francisco Giants’ territory.
Tampa Bay postponed a downtown waterfront ballpark proposal last year and is exploring various sites in its area for a possible stadium.