Cold Beer - Guaranteed

I’ve sold beer on Christmas and New Years Eve before. I’ve driven through a blizzard to get to the Dome for a football game, but tonight was a first…

Vending while it snowed…

It was definitely the coldest game in Target Field’s brief history; 40 degrees at game time and a 17 mph breeze blowing in from left field. It was cold at first, but once I got moving it wasn’t so bad. I also wore additional clothing tonight. I had 2 long sleeve shirts on, a pair of thermal socks and 1 glove. (Yes, 1 glove... It is impossible to open a plastic bottle of beer with cotton gloves on, so I only used it on my “money hand”.) It started snowing in the 2^nd inning and continued throughout the rest of the game. Not hard, but it was noticeable.

Fans tolerated the weather much better than they tolerated Liriano’s pitching performance in the first 3 innings. In between the 4^th and 5^th innings the musical selection was Jingle Bell Rock. There were other holiday selections played during the game, and most everyone sang along. It was a bit odd listening to thousands of people singing Christmas Carols on April 27^th, but it is outdoor baseball and fans seemed to be enjoying the novelty of the weather.

Santa Claus was there, he was actually sitting next to a guy in a gorilla suit. They looked like Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi from the set of “Trading Places”. I’m sure they were a lot warmer than the 3 guys without shirts by the dugout on the third base side.

I guess it could’ve been worse. Talking to Ron Coomer down by the dugout in the 3^rd inning, I asked him what the coldest game he ever played in was. He told me about an April game in Detroit where the entire warning track around the field was completely frozen solid and covered in ice. They played through it.

Tonight, more people were standing up in the concourse by the overhead heaters than in their seats. Actually, at one point in the seventh inning I counted exactly 5 fans in section 332. (Glad I wasn’t assigned there.)

Twins fans bought less than they normally would, and hot chocolate was in high demand. I heard one soda vendor shout, “Ice Cold Killebrew Root Beer HERE!” and thought to myself, someone in his advertising department should be fired.

I even left out the words “Ice” and “Cold” when advertising beer tonight. The temperature of my product was really irrelevant, and people didn’t need to be reminded of anything cold.

Tomorrow is a double header to make up for last night’s rainout. Weather conditions look to improve throughout the day.

Merry Christmas everyone.