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SPEAKER: The Minnesota Twins play their 2002 home opener tonight at the Metrodome. At times during the offseason, it appeared there might never be another opener for the Twins, but plans to eliminate the team from the League are on hold for the time being. Now, Twins fans are hoping for a new stadium and looking forward to a baseball season in which their team looks like a playoff contender. 20 years ago, it was quite the opposite. The 1982 Twins were a terrible team, but they were about to play their first season in a brand new Metrodome.

On the Eve of the home opener that year, Minnesota Public Radio's Gary Eichten described a scene that must have thrilled Metrodome supporters.

GARY EICHTEN: Well, tonight it's the real thing. The Minnesota Twins 1982 opener. And while many baseball openers around the country were snowed out today, the word here in Minnesota is play ball. Twins are playing Seattle tonight under the Metrodome. Muriel Humphrey Brown will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and a capacity crowd is expected.

SPEAKER: Before the first game, Twins player Jesus Vega was asked what the players thought of the Metrodome.

JESUS VEGA: Most of the players, it's going to be like it. It's going to be warm all the time. It's going to be no more cold weather here.

SPEAKER: Minnesota speaker of the house Harry Sieben was one of many politicians on hand for that historic first game.

HARRY SIEBEN: I think it's beautiful. I'm as surprised as most people in Minnesota are that it's built on time, on the money for the price that was appropriated, the money that was appropriated, and I'm just delighted. I think it's a great public facility and named after a great public servant.

SPEAKER: For many fans, coming to downtown Minneapolis for baseball instead of suburban Bloomington was an adjustment. The biggest concern before the first game was parking and potential traffic gridlock. Reporter Lee Axtell talked to some fans who were taking no chances.

LEE AXTELL: How far away did you guys park?

FAN: About a mile.

LEE AXTELL: About a mile. You're kidding.

FAN: No.

FAN: Nice walk, though.

FAN: I think the traffic coming out will be the bad spot.

SPEAKER: At Metropolitan Stadium, pre-game tailgating parties in the parking lot were a big attraction for fans, but Metropolitan sports facilities executive Director Don Poss made it clear that those days were over.

DON POSS: Tailgating is dead as far as I'm concerned, and good riddance. Tailgating will take place in restaurants and bars and places like that. Tailgating was something that was done at the Met for a variety of reasons, but there won't be tailgating of any significance here and I don't mind it passing.

SPEAKER: One of the fans who had missed tailgating was Julian Empson, who led the failed effort to save Metropolitan Stadium. In the days before the first game at the Metrodome, he was planning his own season opening celebration.

JULIAN EMPSON: Opening day is always one of the first rite of spring, and it's a day that you cut out from work, take that comp time or sick time and you pack it up and you head outside and hang out in the ballpark. Well, we decided that since you can't have spring inside, that we're giving people an opportunity to join us Tuesday afternoon at Metropolitan Stadium. We're going to be doing some tailgating, and maybe the last time we see the structure standing as it's due, I guess, to be torn down this year.

SPEAKER: Metropolitan stadium would soon be torn down and eventually replaced by the Mall of America. Meanwhile, as the Metrodome was opening, Charles Krusell, former President of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, talked about potential development in the area around the dome.

CHARLES KRUSELL: The land that seems to be the most desirable is the land around and including the Milwaukee Depot site, and there are a number of developers who are interested in that proposal. And at the moment, there's some competition about who the developer is going to be, but it looks very promising for the future.