Twins announce plans for Opening Day 2022, presented by your local Northland Ford Dealers

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN – Baseball is back a week from today, and the Minnesota Twins have officially announced plans for Opening Day 2022 at Target Field presented by Your Local Northland Ford Dealers, with first pitch against the Seattle Mariners set for 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, April 7. Opening Day tickets starting at $15 remain available for purchase at twinsbaseball.com, by calling 612-33-TWINS or 1-800-33-TWINS, or in-person at the Target Field Ticket Office.

The Twins will welcome the return of our game, and the club’s first opener without restrictions since 2019, with a full, exciting day of festivities that honors a pair of Cooperstown legends, shines a spotlight on the 2022 team and celebrates those who truly make baseball great and Target Field home – the fans. Among the many highlights are:

• Breakfast on the Plaza Returns: For the first time since 2019, the Twins’ Opening Day tradition of “Breakfast on the Plaza” is back as fans are invited to drive, walk or bike down 7th Street (adjacent to the Twins Clubhouse Store) between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m. and grab a free ballpark breakfast. Complimentary food and beverages will be available, courtesy of Twins partners Sheboygan Sausage Company, Caribou Coffee, Unilever, Pearson’s, Pepsi, Pan-O-Gold Baking Company and Bally Sports North. DJ Mad Mardigan will be spinning live on Target Plaza, while fans will also be able to take photos, win prizes (including tickets to Opening Weekend) and hear live cut-ins from News Talk 830 WCCO.

• Open the Gates!: Twins legends Tony Oliva (Gate #6) and Kent Hrbek (Gate #14) will open their namesake ballpark entrances at 1:00 p.m., while franchise icons Tom Kelly (Gate #3) and Jim Kaat (Gate #29), along with Kirby Puckett Jr. and Catherine Puckett (Gate #34), respectively, will also officially open the Target Field gates and welcome fans home for the 2022 season. Twins Season Ticket Holders entering via the Season Ticket Holder gate near Target Field Station will be greeted by select players from the Twins’ 2022 Opening Day roster.

• Opening Weekend Jackets: The first 10,000 fans in attendance throughout Opening Weekend (April 7, 9 and 10) will receive a Twins Jacket courtesy of Your Local Northland Ford Dealers.

• Countdown to Cooperstown: 108 days (and 95 Twins games) before their July 24 induction, Twins legends and 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame electees Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva will begin their “Countdown to Cooperstown” presented by Coordinated Business Systems. “Kitty” and “Tony O,” teammates in Minnesota from 1962-73, will be feted with a videoboard presentation before throwing out Opening Day’s ceremonial first pitches to a pair of fellow Twins Hall of Famers – Kaat to Tom Kelly and Oliva to Kent Hrbek. The Twins, along with Coordinated Business Systems owners Jim and Donna Oricchio, will also unveil a Countdown to Cooperstown counter inside Gate 34; the board will be changed following the fifth inning of each home game leading up to induction day, with a Twins Season Ticket Holder doing the honors on Opening Day.

• National Anthem: As the Twins invite fans to join in the excitement of a new season, the organization is celebrating not just the return of baseball, but also the resilience and collective strength of our community. Since 1931, Shiloh Temple International Ministries has been a community hub; over the last two-plus years, guided by the leadership of Bishop Richard and Pastor Bettye Howell, Shiloh has met multiple crises head-on, providing those in North Minneapolis with everything from COVID testing and vaccinations to a safe space in the aftermath of social injustice. In honor of these ongoing efforts, and in celebration of a new year, the 15-member Shiloh Temple International Ministries Choir will sing the National Anthem on Opening Day at Target Field.

A complete rundown of scheduled events as part of the Minnesota Twins 2022 Opening Day presented by Your Local Northland Ford Dealers:

Pregame Ceremonies (in order):

• Joining in the Opening Day spirit, a multitude of local buildings will be lit in Twins colors, including Target Plaza South, the IDS Building, the Lowry Avenue Bridge and the 35W Bridge.

• Fans are invited to join the Twins for Breakfast on the Plaza (6:00 to 9:00 a.m.) and drive, walk or bike down 7th Street to grab a free ballpark breakfast, enter to win Twins-themed prizes and hear live music from DJ Mad Mardigan, along with cut-ins from News Talk 830 WCCO.

• Target Field will be officially opened for the 2022 season at 1:00 p.m. by current Twins players (Twins Season Ticket Holder Gate near Target Field Station) and legends Tony Oliva (Gate #6), Kent Hrbek (Gate #14), Tom Kelly (Gate #3) and Jim Kaat (Gate #29), along with Kirby Puckett Jr. and Catherine Puckett (Gate #34). The first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a Twins Jacket courtesy of Your Local Northland Ford Dealers.

• Families can enjoy all the fun of the Target Bullseye Fan Zone located just inside Gate 34.

• Both teams will be introduced along the foul lines, with fireworks accompanying the Twins’ Opening Day starting lineup.

• An In Memoriam video and moment of silence will pay tribute to those whom we have lost this past offseason.

• 94-year-old World War II veteran, Technician 5th Grade Arnold Skow, and his son, Randall (a Vietnam Era veteran) will raise the American flag inside Gate 34 as part of the Salute to America presented by Thomson Reuters. Arnold joined the Army at the age of 18 and served with the Engineer Corps in the Aleutian Islands, while Randall joined the Army at 19 years old and deployed to Korea and Japan as an optical lab specialist.

• Returning to the field on Opening Day for the first time since 2019, Twins Season Ticket Holders will unfurl a second, giant American flag.

• The National Anthem will be sung by North Minneapolis’ Shiloh Temple International Ministries Choir.

• A flyover will feature “Miss Mitchell,” a World War II-era North American B-25J Mitchell based out of the Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing in St. Paul. “Miss Mitchell” served in the 310th Bomb Group, 57th Bomb Wing of the 12th Air Force in North Africa and Italy, completing more than 130 missions with no crew fatalities.

• In celebration of the return of baseball, the first of 162 regular season games in 2022 and the first Opening Day at Target Field without restrictions since 2019, a special “Thank You, Fans” video will honor Twins fans – the heart and soul of baseball, and the ones who turn a building into a ballpark.

• The ceremonial first pitches will be thrown by Twins icons and 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame electees Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva, caught by Twins Hall of Famers Tom Kelly (Kaat) and Kent Hrbek (Oliva).

In-Game Elements Will Include:

• Following the last out of the fifth inning, a Twins Season Ticket Holder will turn the first number on the giant counter and officially begin the “Countdown to Cooperstown” presented by Coordinated Business Systems. The countdown will conclude on Sunday, July 24 when Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva are inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

• “God Bless America” will be performed by Army Sergeant First Class Ben Hanson.

• Twins fans will lead Target Field in a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Tickets Available

Season, group, Twins Pass (at $49 per month through April 6) and single-game tickets (starting at $15) for Opening Day and the remainder of the Twins’ 2022 regular season home schedule at Target Field are available via twinsbaseball.com, by calling 612-33-TWINS or 1-800-33-TWINS, or in-person at the Target Field Ticket Office.