Doubleheader
by John Loomis
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Doubleheader is a series of images by John Loomis that document the transformation of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from a baseball field to a football field. John explains:
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is home field for the Twins, Vikings, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, as well as dozens of other local youth and high school sporting events and Minneapolis community activities. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006, the stadium hosted three important athletic events (two Twins vs. White Sox games that sealed the baseball playoff race, and a Minnesota vs. Michigan college football showdown) all within 29 hours. In between all of that action, with the Twin Cities Marathon surrounding the M (as the dome is referred to), the grounds crew worked through the day and night transforming the 60-million-cubic-foot multi-use arena back and forth between baseball field and football stadium.
Just over 3 hours after the game-ending ground out in the Twins vs. White Sox game, a 17-man crew broke down, dug up, transported, cleaned up, painted, installed, and finished the athletic metamorphosis before the kick-off of the Gophers vs. Wolverines match-up with the Little Brown Jug at stake. In addition to #1-ranked Michigan's win, the final stats for the weekend included: 40 hits, 15 runs, 3 errors, 42 points, 142,206 paid attendees, 26.2 miles, 8,182 runners, and the Twins winning the AL Central division by a single game.
Project photographed for ESPN the Magazine.