Tuesday was a sad day for baseball.
Bud Selig announced that for the first time since1899, there will, in fact, be a contraction of two MLB teams before the beginning of next season. The two teams haven’t been named yet, but it seems probable that the teams will be some combination of the Montreal Expos, the Florida Marlins, or the Minnesota Twins.
This ruling is sad for baseball, but as a Twins fan, this is a sad day for me.
Thanks to Carl Pohlad and his desire to dump this team off and, more importantly, add more cushion to his wallet, MLB baseball could be gone from the state of Minnesota.
One of the reasons the Twins are a likely candidate for contraction is the little matter of the stadium that the Twins have been begging for for years. With the matter unresolved and government backing not probable, the Twins could leave the Metrodome and Minnesota when their lease is up at the end of next season. Because of this, Selig could justify disposing of the team altogether.
To combat this risk, Clark Griffith, Calvin Griffith’s son, is putting together a group that is going to attempt to buy the team from Pohlad — and take the team without the promise of a new stadium.
Great, right? Not so much.
If Griffith’s group buys the team, the value of the Twins will be around $100-150 million. If the MLB buys the Twins from Pohlad, he will get around $250 million. So now the question is whether or not $100 million more in his pocket is worth the price of being known as “the man who ended baseball in Minnesota” for the rest of his life.
And right now, it looks like that title might be OK for him. According to unnamed MLB owners, Pohlad is requesting that his team be contracted.
And don’t expect Selig to argue with this request. If this is a financial decision, just think what ridding the Midwest of the Twins would do for Selig’s Brewers’ market. With no competition from the Twins, Milwaukee would control baseball interest in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas.
But before Selig starts counting the money he’ll collect after his commissioner days are over, the decision must still be made. The talk around Minnesota is that the team’s gone, but there are others who don’t think the Twins will be one of the two teams selected — putting the Expos, Marlins and Devil Rays ahead of Minnesota in the list of teams to be demolished.
Even so, the thought of not having the Twins in Minnesota is hard to imagine. Will it still be ok to celebrate an MLB victory with a Twinkie? Will Kirby Puckett have to do air conditioner commercials like Kent Hrbek has resorted to? And what about Paul Molitor? After filling the heads of Minnesotans with visions of Molly managing the Twins only a few weeks ago, the more probable outcome is that the St. Paul native will now become the hitting coach for the Brewers. And adding more insult to injury, that coaching position could turn into a managing position in years to come — for Milwaukee.
Good or not, the Twins are a part of Minnesota. Fans of the Twinkies still hold on to memories from the 1987 and 1991 World Series, and believe it or not, those memories are enough to keep the belief that someday another championship will come our way. But if the team doesn’t exist, that dream is obviously gone.
But then again, this wouldn’t be the first time Minnesota has had to deal with the loss of a sports team. The North Stars were a devastating loss back in the day. Then the Moose left (they were a hockey team, too). And the Timberwolves weren’t around forever — we didn't have a basketball team for years after the Lakers left.
But the Twins were a team you could depend on to be around. The threats of them leaving existed for years, but I always knew the good ol’ Twinkies would still be there when spring training opened up.
Now, with this threat a likely possibility, I am preparing myself for the reality of not having a baseball team anymore.
Who knows, maybe I’ll just divert all of my loyalties to the St. Paul Saints. At least they’ll be here in the spring.
