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The Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton shows off a new home uniform, featuring a new font and brighter colors. The team unveiled the new uniforms in Nov. 2022.
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Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the opening day of the season for the Twins, the Minnesota Wild and the Timberwolves.
Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score magazine and the cohost of 10,000 Takes sports talk show. Eric is the other host of 10,000 Takes and is also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio show Eye on Football.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[GENTLE GUITAR STRUMMING] CATHY WURZER: It's Thursday, that means it's time for sports. Our sports guys are with us-- Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson. Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes Sports Talk Show on radio and TV. Eric is the other host of 10,000 Takes, and he's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football. Oh my gosh, you guys, let's see. Well, happy first day of baseball to you both.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, opening day, one of my favorite days of the year.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah! It's kind of-- it's--
ERIC NELSON: Play ball!
CATHY WURZER: It's kind of fun! Not here, Eric, we don't want to play ball outside right now. It's kind of cold.
ERIC NELSON: Oh, that's coming.
CATHY WURZER: I know.
ERIC NELSON: That's coming.
CATHY WURZER: I know.
ERIC NELSON: You got to toughen up, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: I know, I should, I should, I should. OK, so the Twins are opening the season this afternoon, right, Wally? In Kansas City?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Correct. 3:10 first pitch against the Royals. New rules, new season. New pitcher for the Twins on the mound-- Pablo Lopez, who they acquired via free agency-- or actually via trade for Luis Arraez. He will be the starting pitcher for the Twins today.
And of course the new rules are in effect. The most notable that I think if you turn on a baseball game, will be the pitch clock, which has speeded up preseason games. So faster games, but if faster games is something that you want, apparently fans aren't buying into that.
Because right now, tickets are aplenty, and tickets are going fairly cheap. As a matter of fact, the cost to go to the Twins home opener, which is one week from today-- so let's hope that the snow that supposedly is coming in tonight and tomorrow does not hang around for another week.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, wow.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: We're looking at temps in the low 40s by the way next week. So--
CATHY WURZER: I know.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Bundle up if you're going. So here's the deal. Currently in Major League Baseball, the Twins have the second lowest opening day experience. So you're counting tickets, parking, a couple of beers, a couple of sodas, a couple of hot dogs.
So if you bring a family of four, the cost to go to a Twins game-- on the cheap side-- is $90.55. So that's for a family of four-- not horrible, right? Unless you are a Boston red Sox fan. Those same four items for you would cost you $235.41.
[HOST GASPS]
CATHY WURZER: What? No!
WALLY LANGFELLOW: To go to Fenway Park.
CATHY WURZER: But they're a better team though.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yes and no.
CATHY WURZER: Yes and no.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Just-- yeah, Fenway is a little smaller. You know, there's a lot of mystique going to Fenway. By the way, the Dodgers, they're right behind them-- $229.70 if you want to bring your family of four to a Dodgers game. So there's good and bad with it. We shall see. I get excited by opening day so it'll be fun to watch baseball that counts starting today.
CATHY WURZER: Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, I'm going to expound on what Wally said. There's more good news out there in Twins territory if you want to get into the ballpark at a bargain rate. All right, the Twins home opener, weather permitting, is a week from today against Houston. Tickets are actually on the secondary market-- affordable for that. The last time I checked, they were right around $14, $15, not including fees. Beware of fees if you're going to buy tickets through Stubhub or Vivid or Ticketmaster, et cetera.
But here's where it gets interesting-- and remember, the Houston Astros are the World Series champs. They're the best team in Major League Baseball. If you want to go on Saturday, April 8, at Target Field-- trendy Target Field, as I call it-- you can get in for $7 not including the fees. Then Easter Sunday, as low as $5.
The White Sox then come in on Monday, April 10, Tuesday, April 11, and Wednesday, April 12. Tickets for those games are $3, $3, and $4 on the secondary market. So what I'm saying is, if you're on a budget and you want to bring your kids or your significant other to Target Field and see a game, now is the time.
You may have to bundle up. It's going to be chilly, but crowds are not going to be huge. In fact, I'm going to say this. You have a good chance of getting a foul ball.
CATHY WURZER: Wow! That is pretty cheap, I have to say. Jeez! I, as you guys know, I love hockey. So let's talk about the Gophers, the frozen four in Tampa. Hmm, we'll see what happens with Boston U.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, they play Boston University. That is actually one week from today as well. And the Gophers-- it was announced today-- have two players in the final three for the Hobey Baker Award. Now that hasn't happened in hockey for 15 years, where two players from the same team are the finalists.
So there are three finalists and two of them are Gophers-- Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies. So it's good to know we've got a couple of Gophers. So we got a two out of three chance, a 66%-- 66.666% chance of getting the Hobey this year.
CATHY WURZER: Good. Speaking of hockey, Eric, Minnesota Wild.
ERIC NELSON: Yes. The Wild were playing at elevation 5,280 last night-- that's Denver, Colorado in the altitude. And boy, they look good. They've got a 4-2 win against Colorado, the defending Stanley Cup champs. Minnesota is on top of the central division in the NHL. Frederick Gaudreau had two shorthand goals last night for the Wild.
And boy, Minnesota, Cathy, has been fire on ice recently. The Wild are 16, 1, and 4 in their last 21 games. And they outshot the Avalanche-- well, they actually were outshot by the Avalanche 44-29 last night, but it did not matter because Filip Gustavsson was outstanding in goal. And he and Marc-André Fleury have been a tag team tandem in the nets. And they both-- after a shaky start early, they both have settled down they're playing great in the nets.
And remember, they're doing this without Kirill Kaprizov, their superstar. And next up for Minnesota, a game at Vegas on Saturday. And then they host Vegas in Saint Paul on Monday night.
CATHY WURZER: Say, before you guys go, NCAA Final Four. Did I see something about-- with the last name of Dutcher, that familiar name Dutcher?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes.
ERIC NELSON: Brian Dutcher is Jim's son. Jim used to coach at the University of Minnesota--
CATHY WURZER: Ooh, yeah.
ERIC NELSON: Guided them to a Big 10 title in 1982. And he was a candidate for the Gopher job a couple of years ago that went to Ben Johnson. He's the head coach at San Diego State, and he's got his team in the Final Four, which will be played in Houston.
CATHY WURZER: What do you guys think of what you've seen so far with the Final Four?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Uh, boy. Well--
[CHUCKLES]
CATHY WURZER: Briefly, briefly.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, we don't have a number one seed in. So it's kind of been a crapshoot this year. So if you do the bracket thing--
CATHY WURZER: Yeah.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: --you probably tore them up weeks ago like I did.
[LAUGHTER]
CATHY WURZER: With that, gentlemen, we shall leave you and wish you a good weekend. Thank you so much.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Talk to you later. Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson. Wally's the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes Sports Talk Show. Eric's the other host of 10,000 Takes. He's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, opening day, one of my favorite days of the year.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah! It's kind of-- it's--
ERIC NELSON: Play ball!
CATHY WURZER: It's kind of fun! Not here, Eric, we don't want to play ball outside right now. It's kind of cold.
ERIC NELSON: Oh, that's coming.
CATHY WURZER: I know.
ERIC NELSON: That's coming.
CATHY WURZER: I know.
ERIC NELSON: You got to toughen up, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: I know, I should, I should, I should. OK, so the Twins are opening the season this afternoon, right, Wally? In Kansas City?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Correct. 3:10 first pitch against the Royals. New rules, new season. New pitcher for the Twins on the mound-- Pablo Lopez, who they acquired via free agency-- or actually via trade for Luis Arraez. He will be the starting pitcher for the Twins today.
And of course the new rules are in effect. The most notable that I think if you turn on a baseball game, will be the pitch clock, which has speeded up preseason games. So faster games, but if faster games is something that you want, apparently fans aren't buying into that.
Because right now, tickets are aplenty, and tickets are going fairly cheap. As a matter of fact, the cost to go to the Twins home opener, which is one week from today-- so let's hope that the snow that supposedly is coming in tonight and tomorrow does not hang around for another week.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, wow.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: We're looking at temps in the low 40s by the way next week. So--
CATHY WURZER: I know.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Bundle up if you're going. So here's the deal. Currently in Major League Baseball, the Twins have the second lowest opening day experience. So you're counting tickets, parking, a couple of beers, a couple of sodas, a couple of hot dogs.
So if you bring a family of four, the cost to go to a Twins game-- on the cheap side-- is $90.55. So that's for a family of four-- not horrible, right? Unless you are a Boston red Sox fan. Those same four items for you would cost you $235.41.
[HOST GASPS]
CATHY WURZER: What? No!
WALLY LANGFELLOW: To go to Fenway Park.
CATHY WURZER: But they're a better team though.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yes and no.
CATHY WURZER: Yes and no.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Just-- yeah, Fenway is a little smaller. You know, there's a lot of mystique going to Fenway. By the way, the Dodgers, they're right behind them-- $229.70 if you want to bring your family of four to a Dodgers game. So there's good and bad with it. We shall see. I get excited by opening day so it'll be fun to watch baseball that counts starting today.
CATHY WURZER: Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, I'm going to expound on what Wally said. There's more good news out there in Twins territory if you want to get into the ballpark at a bargain rate. All right, the Twins home opener, weather permitting, is a week from today against Houston. Tickets are actually on the secondary market-- affordable for that. The last time I checked, they were right around $14, $15, not including fees. Beware of fees if you're going to buy tickets through Stubhub or Vivid or Ticketmaster, et cetera.
But here's where it gets interesting-- and remember, the Houston Astros are the World Series champs. They're the best team in Major League Baseball. If you want to go on Saturday, April 8, at Target Field-- trendy Target Field, as I call it-- you can get in for $7 not including the fees. Then Easter Sunday, as low as $5.
The White Sox then come in on Monday, April 10, Tuesday, April 11, and Wednesday, April 12. Tickets for those games are $3, $3, and $4 on the secondary market. So what I'm saying is, if you're on a budget and you want to bring your kids or your significant other to Target Field and see a game, now is the time.
You may have to bundle up. It's going to be chilly, but crowds are not going to be huge. In fact, I'm going to say this. You have a good chance of getting a foul ball.
CATHY WURZER: Wow! That is pretty cheap, I have to say. Jeez! I, as you guys know, I love hockey. So let's talk about the Gophers, the frozen four in Tampa. Hmm, we'll see what happens with Boston U.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, they play Boston University. That is actually one week from today as well. And the Gophers-- it was announced today-- have two players in the final three for the Hobey Baker Award. Now that hasn't happened in hockey for 15 years, where two players from the same team are the finalists.
So there are three finalists and two of them are Gophers-- Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies. So it's good to know we've got a couple of Gophers. So we got a two out of three chance, a 66%-- 66.666% chance of getting the Hobey this year.
CATHY WURZER: Good. Speaking of hockey, Eric, Minnesota Wild.
ERIC NELSON: Yes. The Wild were playing at elevation 5,280 last night-- that's Denver, Colorado in the altitude. And boy, they look good. They've got a 4-2 win against Colorado, the defending Stanley Cup champs. Minnesota is on top of the central division in the NHL. Frederick Gaudreau had two shorthand goals last night for the Wild.
And boy, Minnesota, Cathy, has been fire on ice recently. The Wild are 16, 1, and 4 in their last 21 games. And they outshot the Avalanche-- well, they actually were outshot by the Avalanche 44-29 last night, but it did not matter because Filip Gustavsson was outstanding in goal. And he and Marc-André Fleury have been a tag team tandem in the nets. And they both-- after a shaky start early, they both have settled down they're playing great in the nets.
And remember, they're doing this without Kirill Kaprizov, their superstar. And next up for Minnesota, a game at Vegas on Saturday. And then they host Vegas in Saint Paul on Monday night.
CATHY WURZER: Say, before you guys go, NCAA Final Four. Did I see something about-- with the last name of Dutcher, that familiar name Dutcher?
ERIC NELSON: Yeah.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes.
ERIC NELSON: Brian Dutcher is Jim's son. Jim used to coach at the University of Minnesota--
CATHY WURZER: Ooh, yeah.
ERIC NELSON: Guided them to a Big 10 title in 1982. And he was a candidate for the Gopher job a couple of years ago that went to Ben Johnson. He's the head coach at San Diego State, and he's got his team in the Final Four, which will be played in Houston.
CATHY WURZER: What do you guys think of what you've seen so far with the Final Four?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Uh, boy. Well--
[CHUCKLES]
CATHY WURZER: Briefly, briefly.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, we don't have a number one seed in. So it's kind of been a crapshoot this year. So if you do the bracket thing--
CATHY WURZER: Yeah.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: --you probably tore them up weeks ago like I did.
[LAUGHTER]
CATHY WURZER: With that, gentlemen, we shall leave you and wish you a good weekend. Thank you so much.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Talk to you later. Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson. Wally's the founder of Minnesota Score Magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes Sports Talk Show. Eric's the other host of 10,000 Takes. He's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football.
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