The Minnesota Twins opened their second home stadium on April 6, 1982, with an 11-7 loss to the Seattle Mariners before a sellout crowd of 52,279.
At the time it was the largest crowd to see a baseball game in Minnesota. The largest capacity ever at Metropolitan Stadium was 45,919. The current record is 55,900 for Game Two of the 2002 ALCS vs. the Oakland Athletics.
The first hit in the stadium was also the first home run as Dave Engle homered with two out in the bottom of the first. Roy Smalley followed with the first double, but Kent Hrbek was retired to end the inning.
Gary Gaetti would be the first player credited with a triple at the Metrodome, although it actually came as he was thrown out at the plate as he attempted to stretch his hit into an inside-the-park home run.
Gaetti would later homer twice in the game, both off Mariners’ starter Floyd Bannister, a three-run homer in the first; and a solo shot in the seventh. Gaetti also singled for a four-hit performance.
Engle and Hrbek each had two hits for the Twins. Jim Haler had three hits for Seattle and four other players had one hit apiece.
Bannister was the winning pitcher, striking out 10 in 7.2 innings. Pete Redfern started and took the loss for Minnesota, lasting five innings.
Seattle 003 111 401 – 11 14 0
Minnesota 100 300 120 - 7 11 2
ATTENDANCE: 52,279
Metrodome provides shelter
Six scheduled openers were postponed the day the Twins and Mariners opened the season.
The Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York Yankees, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh all had games called off. And games for the following days were called off as there was bad weather throughout the east.
The White Sox and Blue Jays, who were snowed out in Detroit, arranged to play two practice games in the Metrodome. One was played before the Twins-Mariners game on Wednesday and another after the Thursday game.
Twins owner Calvin Griffith suggested that the teams each pay a $5,000 rental fee to secure the space. They accepted and rolled into the Metrodome at dawn.
However, Toronto’s equipment arrived two hours late, which delayed the first pitch and forced the teams to hurry into their uniforms, sharing a single locker room. Meanwhile, an umpire was pulled from his day job at Northern States Power to call balls and strikes. No spectators were allowed in the stadium.
Chicago owner Jerry Reinsdorf was reportedly losing $500,000 by not hosting his regularly scheduled season opener and now he was paying an additional $5,000 for his team to extend their exhibition schedule against Toronto instead. He figured the trip alone would cost $25,000.
Griffith saw the humor in it.
“I’ve been giggling all day,” he told Sports Illustrated. “The Red Sox went back to Florida because the weather is so terrible in Boston, the Brewers are practicing in the Houston Astrodome, the Yankees are snowed out and the White Sox and Blue Jays are going to have practice games here.”
Metrodome firsts
DATE: Tuesday, April 6, 1982
TWINS STARTING PITCHER: Pete Redfern
MARINERS STARTING PITCHER: Floyd Bannister
FIRST BATTER: Julio Cruz, Seattle, struck out
FIRST HIT: Dave Engle, Minnesota, home run
FIRST RUN: Dave Engle, Minnesota
FIRST RBI: Dave Engle, Minnesota
FIRST HOME RUN: Dave Engle, Minnesota vs. Floyd Bannister, Seattle, first inning
On that date
No. 1 TV show: M*A*S*H, CBS
No. 1 Movie: Porky's
No. 1 song: I Love Rock 'N Roll, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
No. 1 book: The Parsifal Mosaic, Robert Ludlum
Governor of Minnesota: Al Quie
U.S. President: Ronald Reagan
Significant news story: NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905 lifted off from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, carrying the Space Shuttle Columbia on its third orbital test mission.
We are the champions
Here are the reigning champions in each sport on April 6, 1982.
Super Bowl: San Francisco 49ers
World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers
NBA: Boston Celtics
NHL: New York Islanders
College football: Clemson
College basketball: North Carolina
Masters: Tom Watson
Daytona 500: Bobby Allison
Indy 500: Bobby Unser