Photos: Fans fill Target Field with their likenesses — and a little levity — during pandemic

Large cutouts of babies and pets are placed in seats
Minnesota Twins staff members Sean Johnson (left) and Brian Maloney install 2.5-foot cutouts of faces in section 122 at Target Field on Thursday. For $80 (or $40 for season ticket holders), fans can submit photos of themselves to be displayed in lower level seats. The deadline for submission is Sunday, August 16, at 11:59 p.m.
Christine T. Nguyen | MPR News

You'll see a lot of babies and dogs in the stands at Target Field Friday, when the Twins take on the Kansas City Royals. Well, their likenesses at least. 

Team staff spent Wednesday and Thursday installing 2,200 enlarged photo cutouts submitted by fans — many of them featuring kids and pets.

“In a normal year I’d be planning for giveaways and theme nights and activating with fans in the building, but this year it’s been a little different,” said Mitch Retelny, senior manager of promotions and special events for the Twins.

Now he and his colleagues are helping plastic, 2.5-foot big heads to their seats and fastening them there with zip ties. They’ll stay there through the season, helping this pandemic baseball season feel a little less lonely, if not a bit more bizarre.

Fans can continue to submit photos for a fee through Sunday. At the end of the season, the Twins will make the cutouts available to fans who want them as keepsakes.

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