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[AUDIO LOGO] GRETA CUNNINGHAM: And Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen joins us now from outside the Metrodome, where the crowds are gathering for game one against the Anaheim Angels. William, what's the atmosphere like outside of the Metrodome today?

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: Well, there's lots of people, mainly. Primarily, we got lots of people just kind of soaking up the atmosphere and drinking it all in, if you will, now that we're having playoff baseball here, but as they often do before home games, they closed off the street right in front of the Twins offices, the part of Chicago Avenue that's called Kirby Puckett Place.

And so that's a little bit like a State Fair street, actually. A lot of Radio stations and TV stations were broadcasting live from there, and there were all kinds of games going on, a good atmosphere. There were, of course, people decked out in their Twins hats and shirts with their Homer Hankies. The Homer Hanky Hospital is also here. It's a trailer that's been turned into a facility that can doctor up your Homer Hanky, and even have a surgeon there with a sewing machine and everything. So a lot of people are just in the mood for the playoffs and are celebrating all the festiveness here.

GRETA CUNNINGHAM: Homer Hanky Hospital. OK, I guess we have the Homer Hankies covered. What did team officials say at the pre-game press conference that just ended?

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: The manager, Ron Gardenhire, talked, and tomorrow's starting pitcher, Rick Reed also talked. They spoke about the challenges that they're going to face in playing against the Angels, one of which is just that the Angels are going to be more aggressive on the bases, more than the A's were, for example. The Angels like to use the bunt and hit and run and steal bases. And so Reed was saying it's going to put a premium on just keeping those guys off the bases in the first place because once they're on there, they tend to create a lot of headaches for the opposing team.

GRETA CUNNINGHAM: Any word on whether baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, will attend tonight's game? It's been a will he or won't he question throughout the day?

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: Well, that rumor, if not expectation, has been around that Bud Selig will be here at some of the games. Somebody asked Ron Gardenhire about that. And Gardenhire was actually rather magnanimous about the whole thing and he said the commissioner has tried to do what's good for baseball. Gardenhire said that he has no doubt that even Bud Selig, knows that Twin Cities are a good baseball town, but, of course, he acknowledged that this is a tough atmosphere for Bud Selig to enter into, given all of the things that were said about Minnesota and baseball over the past winter.

And Gardenhire said he hopes that Minnesota fans have some respect for Mr. Selig.

GRETA CUNNINGHAM: I think tough is an understatement, William. The Metrodome is known for being a noisy venue. What do you predict for tonight's noise level? What will the noise level be like?

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: I think it's probably going to be harder for them to get any louder than it's already been for the first couple of playoff games against the A's. And some of the players have said that the acoustics in the Metrodome are such that you can't hear yourself, even if it's half full. And so the difference between half full and completely full is just more of the same, and they don't really notice that much of a difference. We'll have to see.

The attendance record was broken in both of the games that were here against the A's. So if they can squeeze any more people in maybe they'll hit 56,000, but, like I say, the players say there's a limit to how noisy it'll be.

GRETA CUNNINGHAM: Now, what about you? Did you bring earplugs with you?

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: That's a good suggestion, actually. There are so many reporters here that there's a little press box overflow. And so I'm going to be out there in the crowd with everybody, so I'll probably wish I had them, but the answer is no, I don't have any.

GRETA CUNNINGHAM: All right. What about security? Is it tighter than it's been in the past?

WILLIAM WILCOXEN: There again, I think, I mean, the security is tight, no doubt about it, but to be honest with you, I don't really notice anything substantially different than the first round of the playoffs. I'm looking right now, for example, at the police dogs who are here and they search all of the containers that people want to bring in and will not let you bring many containers into the ballpark. But to be honest with you, I think it's pretty much the same that we've seen in recent weeks.

GRETA CUNNINGHAM: OK, well, Minnesota Public Radio's William Wilcoxen, thanks so much for that live report from the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. And once again, the game starts at 7:19 tonight at the Metrodome.

SPEAKER: Hi, Elliot.

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