By Tom Powers
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Contrary to popular belief, you really can put lipstick on a pig.
The St. Paul Saints will take that as a compliment. Especially since mascot Pablo Pigasso looked particularly fetching in his new surroundings Thursday night. The Saints’ venue in Lowertown is a major improvement. Fortunately, the game-day experience hasn’t changed much.
We knew they were leaving old Midway Stadium behind for this $63 million ballpark. But some of us wondered what else they might leaving behind. What happens if you take the circus out from under the big top and move it to Augusta National? Or to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club? Do the jugglers become haughty? Do the clowns develop an attitude? Do the elephants start prancing?
As it turns out, the answer is an emphatic “No!” The Saints remain appropriately irreverent at CHS Field.
They still are entrenched in that strange, kitschy parallel universe that coexists simultaneously with major league affiliated baseball. A player or two occasionally might shift from one dimension to the other, but mostly life goes on happily as the two entities scoff at each other’s approach.
CHS is gorgeous, with views of the St. Paul skyline behind home plate and, well, massive road-construction equipment beyond the outfield fences. This being Minnesota, the latter likely will disappear before the next blood moon. I’ve heard some say that CHS Field is so beautiful that it’s a shame there is no Triple-A farm team ensconced there. But that would be a disaster. There’s plenty of buttoned-down baseball to be seen elsewhere - places where the business of baseball intrudes upon the fun of baseball.
Hey, the Saints respect the game. Everything else is eligible to be lampooned. Many Saints fans still treasure their Randy Moss hood ornaments. And the annual Zombie Baseball Crawl remains a highlight. Plus, it’s interesting when the all-male grounds crew dons skirts, halter tops and wigs and, uh, drags the infield.
Now, the players and staff will tell you that, at the end of the day, it’s all about baseball. And to them it is.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman fills in as first base coach in the first inning for the Saints in the St. Paul’s Saint’s home opener at CHS Field
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman fills in as first base coach in the first inning for the Saints in the St. Paul’s Saint’s home opener at CHS Field in St. Paul on Thursday, May 21, 2015. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
But to most of the happy campers in the stands, the baseball being played is much like the mariachi band that stops by your table during dinner. It enhances the experience. What the Saints really are serving up is fun.
It’s about singalongs and fiery batons and poking fun at of the rest of the world, particularly the part that takes itself too seriously. And as owner Mike Veeck works the crowd, blowing kisses and chatting up the patrons, it strikes me that there is something very proletariat about this new ballpark by the Farmers’ Market.
It’s a brat and a beer crowd looking to let off a little steam. Maybe the brats are served with fancier napkins and the emphasis is on craft beers at the new place. But the core of it, the soul of it, remains the same. People show up willing to be entertained, one way or another.
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of all of this is that there was a civility involved in the creation of this place. Just the fact that the ballpark was born of civic pride (primarily) and not extortion gives it a little different vibe. There is a camaraderie, an unspoken acknowledgement of a shared, pleasant experience.
It’s like going to a ballgame but not being limited to going to a ballgame. Anything might happen. It might be corny or hokey or it might be brilliant. It’s usually fun. And as Veeck is fond of saying: Fun is good. It’s even better when it all unfolds in a really cool ballpark on a nice evening in St. Paul.
