But when their best-of-five playoff series resumes with Game 2 against the Yankees tonight, they will walk into a different Yankee Stadium, a dramatically lit, foreboding place where angry faces scream from shadows in the chilled night.
More than any early afternoon game in late September played in front of a late-arriving crowd, tonight's game will give the Twins the full impact of the Yankee Stadium aura and mystique in the postseason: a night game in October, the cold white glare of the stadium lights, 50,000 wrathful, obnoxious fans looking for a beer or a fight.
"We definitely felt that," Twins infielder Chris Gomez said of his 1998 San Diego Padres team that was swept by the Yankees in the World Series. "I'm not going to say it's intimidating. But when we had our game (Tuesday) changed to a day game, I said that's fine."
Gomez said he and outfielder Michael Cuddyer, who was on the Twins' playoff roster last season, talked Tuesday about a less-imposing atmosphere for Game1 than expected. For Gomez, who experienced only the night games there in '98, the difference was day and night.
Oakland fans show up
OAKLAND - Steve Schott smiled as he surveyed thousands of eager fans pouring into the Coliseum for the Athletics' division series opener against the Red Sox.
"Now this is a playoff crowd," the A's owner said.
Oakland expected a huge fan contingent for its first two home games, and the bay area didn't disappoint. The team even opened the huge bank of seats - dubbed Mount Davis, after Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis - that usually sit empty atop the outfield stands.
The expected sellout crowd was a sharp contrast to last season, when the A's struggled to draw fans to their first two division series games. Both were afternoon games against the Twins - hardly a draw to compare to an evening matchup with Pedro Martinez and the Red Sox, who have a healthy following in California.
