Thanks to the arrogance of the public and the government in Minnesota not wanting to build a new ballpark, MLB is wanting to contract the Minnesota Twins. We'll know Tuesday on what happens. Minnesota Twins Forever!!!!!!!!!
Very sad situation going on in Minnesota. I hope things can be worked out. Minnesota is a great baseball town, and has been for a long time.
arrogance??? is it truly arrogant to say no to using public dollars for a baseball park for millionaires while unemployment creeps up and our economy moves into a recession?? are you kidding??? i have voted for referendums here passing arenas, stadiums and ballparks. but if that vote were today, i'd have a helluva hard time voting yes, despite the fact i LOVE my Rockets and 'stros! i am sad to see that the twins are on the way out. i rooted for them and loved Kirby Puckett as a kid. i agree that florida and tampa are probably next...and probably should be next. of course they're not gonna announce anything until after next season because they don't want them officially labelled as lame-duck teams. so we go to 28 teams next year....how about going back to two 7-team divisions in each league?? after 162 games you should know who the best teams are without extra rounds of playoffs. then to 26 teams the next year perhaps....so then you're stuck dividing 13 teams in each league. the best solution is to cut two more teams after that and go down to a 24 team MLB..12 team leagues...2 six team divisions. how about the royals and the angels next??
The Twins have always been one of my favorite teams. I always like Rod Carew, Kent Hrbek and then Kirby. It will truly be a sad day if they are removed. And if they are taking away 2 why not Montreal and one of the Florida teams?
4chuckie -- my understanding is that the ownership groups of the twins and expos have been most vocal to MLB that they want to be bought out immediately. but don't worry, the marlins are next. how bad was the tampa expansion?? can anyone think of any of the other major sports expanding and the retracting the same team so quickly (assuming that the d-rays are on the way out relatively soon, too)?? will anyone even remember them??
The Seattle Pilots were "born" in 1969. In 1970 they became the Milwaukee Brewers. It'll be hard to beat that record.
The people in Minnesota even said no to paying for JUST the land, infrastructure and tax relief. All of that is not even paying for half of the new ballpark. The owner even offered to pay for half of the ballpark and the public and government still said no. That's arrogance to me.
Cristian Guzman would look really good in an Astros uni. Really sad that Minnesota has to go, but on the upside, if this is the end, they ended over .500. As for retraction, it'd make more sense anyway to retract one NL, and one AL. As for the other team..Expos or Marlins anyone? I wouldn't be surprised if Anaheim or Tampa Bay is retracted, and the Marlins move into their area, as Disney wants out of baseball, and Tampa Bay....well Tampa Bay is just sad.
It will be really sad if the Twins go instead of Montreal or Tampa Bay. I will never forget the 91 series. I wasnt a huge Twins fan but I really hated the Braves! Kirby and Co. need to step in and save them.
Over here in Australia we had an Super League team (www.nrl.com.au) set up out of nothing, play well and then shut down at the end of that season (about 10 months). However it wasnt a normal time in the sports history...it was as the sport faught a war with itself (Long story, thank god everything is fine now). One thing I can say is when a team is cut, if the fans are passionate enough and they keep the issue burning, they will get their team back later down the track. Its always sad when a team is shut down. However it must be said that all of the clubs Ive heard talked about when it comes to contraction are terrible side that are run by pathetic owners. One question....wernt the Marlins a decent team a few years ago and then they sold off every single good player they had? Also the Tampa Devil Rays were one of thoes expension sides you just knew were going to fail....much in the same way the Grizzlies went. You just looked at them and there was nothing about them that would make you want to support them. I wonder if the NBA will think about cutting a few sides that are not making the grade. I think the NBAPA would kick up to much of a fuss for it to happen, but a few sides cut from the NBA could make for a stronger competition.
Saturday, November 3 Executives trying to buy Twins from Pohlad -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS -- A group of Twin Cities executives is rallying to save the Minnesota Twins. The group is trying to assemble a new offer to buy the team and hopes to persuade Twins owner Carl Pohlad to delay his decision on whether to sell the franchise back to Major League Baseball, which would then discontinue the team, the Star Tribune reported Saturday. Joining efforts are Jim Campbell, chairman of Wells Fargo Bank of Minnesota; Paul Grangaard, a top executive of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray; Vance Opperman, the former chief executive of West Publishing; and attorney Michael Ciresi, among others. "I don't want to believe that Carl Pohlad and his family would take the $250 million and run," Ciresi said Friday, using the figure that has been rumored as the offer from other team owners. "He owes more to this community than that. He stepped up to the plate in 1984 to buy the Twins." However, according to media reports, baseball owners could vote as early as Tuesday, which would mean that Ciresi and the others need Pohlad to agree to a delay. "In order for us to do anything, two things have to happen: they (Major League Baseball) have to put off that vote, and business and political leaders in Minnesota need to come to the forefront," said Ciresi, who is chairman of the Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi law firm. "I'm willing to spend as much time as necessary and do whatever legwork is necessary. This community and state will support baseball with a competitive team on the field." The Associated Press was unable to reach Pohlad for comment Saturday. Ciresi told the Star Tribune that the group has a shot at raising acquisition financing over time. However, the group does not plan an offer near the $200 million-plus the Pohlads believe they can get from their fellow owners. Forbes magazine valued the franchise at $99 million earlier this year. And only last month, Pohlad's son, Jim, 48, said the family intended to keep the Twins, despite a lack of success in getting the Legislature to help finance a new stadium. Campbell of Wells Fargo, who has headed a group of business executives trying to raise private funds to build a Minneapolis ballpark, thought he had assurances from baseball's commissioner, Bud Selig, that it would be another year before contraction would become a real threat. "Major League Baseball has not met us halfway," Campbell said. "It's so confusing and depressing and disappointing. It's exactly the way it shouldn't have worked out." The business community reflects the general public and is split on the issue, said Duane Benson, chief executive of the Minnesota Business Partnership, which represents the state's 100 largest businesses. "The polls pretty much reflect our membership (of chief executives). A third don't care. A third say we have to have the Twins and a third say, 'No way.' You can get a majority, but you don't have the passion for the general population to rally around this." Grangaard, who regularly attends Twins games with his children, said a local acquisition will work only if the Pohlads, Selig, Gov. Jesse Ventura -- who has opposed public financing of a stadium -- and lawmakers work together. "Bud Selig should have shown more leadership and resolved this by now," Grangaard said. "We can get something done only if the state and the Pohlads are willing to make concessions to an outside group that they won't make to each other currently."
really, north star?? arrogance?? that' s not how i would define arrogance, i guess. ultimately i might say it's short-sighted...some might say it's stupid. but arrogance?? i don't think so. i would say that it's arrogant for a millionaire to ask taxpayers in the midst of a recession to build him a new facility so he can make money by increasing ticket prices in that newly approved facility....and then threatening to move or sell his team off to be dissolved by MLB if they don't comply. That is arrogance.
I guess the constant whining from the Twins for going on seven years now wasn't enough of a wake-up call. Now that they've essentially ignored the pleas for all this time, groups now complain that they don't have enough time to save the team? They had plenty of time to save the Twins and they chose not to. Can't really blame MLB at this point for maybe finally doing something (assuming they do actually dissolve the Twins, which I still don't think they'll do).
MadMax, I am not saying that new taxes should be used to build new stadiums for the Twins, Vikings, and U of M football. Resources like tourist tax, gambling/lottery funds, cigarette/alcohol/tobacco tax, or food tax should be used to build new stadiums for the Twins, Vikings, and U of M football. The government and the public still says no. The people in Minnesota are morons.
If you use existing taxes to pay for stadiums then how do you fund the programs that those taxes are paying for now?
You just don't. I care less about other programs. All I care about is saving the Vikings and the Twins.
So, in other words, to heck with schools, police, firemen, wildlife, social service, etc? In additon, the people of Minnesota have yet to say yes or no to any type of public support for a new Twins and/or Vikings stadium. In the 10 years I have lived here, I have yet to see it on a ballot.
As long as another domed stadium or a stadium with fake grass is eliminated from baseball, it's fine with me...
