Fred Friedman: A Baseball Lifer’s Betrayal
I’ve put my money where my mouth is. I’ve bought Twins tickets for decades. My taxes also helped pay for Target Field — along with three other Minneapolis stadiums: the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center for the Timberwolves, and the University of Minnesota’s football stadium.
Baseball fans come in all stripes.
Some take in the occasional game. Others watch on TV or listen on the radio, whether once in a while or every single night. Some — because of age or disability — live in care facilities and count their daily access to Twins games as more important than the quality of the meals or the number of visitors they get.
And then there are the ones who choose to spend real discretionary money on going to many games each year. That’s me.
I’m no corporate sponsor. I can’t afford a full-season package. But I spend about $1,000 a year on a partial plan, take my wife, and invite friends — some of whom couldn’t otherwise afford a ticket, let alone the transportation or the parking lot holdups.
I haven’t bought ballpark food in more than 40 years, and I’ve been to over 30 Major League parks. I’m a baseball lifer. I know my stats, old school and new. I’ve been to Cooperstown more than half a dozen times. I’m old enough to have seen Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson, Henry Aaron and Willie Mays. My parents first met at Wrigley Field in 1933.
I’ve put my money where my mouth is. I’ve bought Twins tickets for decades. My taxes also helped pay for Target Field — along with three other Minneapolis stadiums: the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center for the Timberwolves, and the University of Minnesota’s football stadium. All four were publicly financed and sit within walking distance of each other.
And yet the Twins have betrayed us.
They lobbied for Target Field by warning politicians and downtown business leaders that without it, the team might leave or be “contracted.” They pointed to cities — St. Louis, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Montreal, Baltimore, Oakland, San Diego — where losing a pro team proved politically deadly. The promise was clear: more ticket sales would mean more free agents, more wins, more competitiveness.
Now? The Pohlads bought the Twins for $44 million. They’re selling for somewhere between $1.5 and $2 billion, depending on which billionaire wants a new toy — and the guaranteed profits that come with it. Some owners want to win and make money. Others just want more money. The Pohlads have shown where they stand.
This is the same ownership group that has failed for years to develop enough run producers — and now trades away its best relief pitchers for unproven, inexpensive arms. The same group that cut a deal with Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, paying him $33 million to take Carlos Correa off our hands.
Think about that. You can’t claim Correa is a clutch, team-leading cornerstone with plenty left in the tank — and also pay another team $33 million to take him. Houston is basically saying: “We got the guy to lead us to the World Series — and we fleeced you.”
Manager Rocco Baldelli, a decent family man, can only say so much about “remaining competitive.” But it’s worse when team president Derek Falvey insists this was not a salary dump.
I’m all for making money. But you have to sell a product worth buying. Take my money, take my time — just don’t try to sell me a fantasy. Baseball fans know better.
Fred Friedman is a retired Chief Public Defender in Duluth and longtime Minnesota Duluth criminology professor. A hearty Twins fan, he has attended games in more than 30 Major League ballparks.
