The quiet 1950s gave way to a burst of excitement, development and change thereafter. Makes me almost wonder if the placid '50s was rather desirable. Minnesota did not have big league sports yet. And can you imagine life without it now? I was born in 1955 when the best we could do with baseball was the Minneapolis Millers. They left Nicollet Park after the 1955 season.
You would think the red carpet would be put out for a major league team. And it seemed big league ball teased us for a rather lengthy time. We were teased with the suggestion that the Giants might come here. I have read also that the Cleveland Indians flirted with us. Minnesota history would look quite different if either of those teams had come. Willie Mays! The guy had played for the Minneapolis Millers. He might have avoided the erratic winds of Candlestick Park and come here to play at our new place.
The new place was outside of the actual "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Seems quaint that any accommodation for the new big league team had to walk the tightrope to please St. Paul as well as Minneapolis. Can't we assume that Minneapolis is the more established "big city?" That was my impression as I was growing up.
Yes, St. Paul had the state capitol. I don't know why St. Paul felt it had to be in the "race" with Minneapolis. Life was quite nice in both places, wasn't it? Our eventual big league team had a logo that went out of its way to promote the parity and comity of the two cities. You're probably aware: the two guys in uniform shaking hands "across the river." Yes, it's a team that represents both Minneapolis and St. Paul.
But in reality, the Minnesota Twins represented all of Minnesota.
Minnesotans went out of their way to plan trips to the big city environs, specifically to the outskirts in the suburb of Bloomington. The Twins made Bloomington a household name as far as cities were concerned. And I remember the first time my family made its trek from "greater Minnesota" to finally see a Twins game. I assure you that nothing could thrill a young boy more.
I was ten years old. The Twins beat Baltimore and how lucky could I be: Harmon Killebrew hit two home runs! Al Worthington made one of his classic appearances from the bullpen. He rode in from the bullpen in a shiny red convertible! I just can't forget such things.
Metropolitan Stadium looked like a castle amid the fairly barren surroundings. Amazing how we'd park amidst a "sea" of cars in the expansive lot. Better memorize where you parked. You'd note a nearby sign and use it for orientation. Long before car "fobs." Vehicles of early 1960s vintage when Detroit was king. Trade your car every four years, the CW was. Frankly we suspected "planned obsolescence."
A boy would find it breathtaking to see the ballfield with the players warming up. There they were! Not just pictures in the newspaper or names in a boxscore! Real people! We knew they were, but we'd take a moment to feel stunned. They were total celebrities to us. I remember noticing Rich Rollins' red hair right away.
Welcome Cubans
We saw the players of color that our owner was so good for signing, I presume not out of benevolence. Calvin Griffith was quite the practical guy and he scouted Cuba well. Someone joked that the "TC" on the Twins cap stood for "too many Cubans." I'll take that as a light-hearted comment and not mean-spirited.
I'll remind that most boys from greater Minnesota were from "white bread" communities. Maybe Jackie Robinson and other early pioneers had to endure abuse, pretty serious at times. But in Minnesota, I can verify that my generation of the original Twins fans loved the players of color along with all the others. Never was heard a racial epithet, at least from my experience.
The Twins' first year of 1961 was exciting enough. It had to be, because of the novelty. Met Stadium was already in its sixth year as the home for a baseball team. I have always wondered what it was like when the Millers called it home. How much more low-key (or depressing) was it? I mean, Met Stadium was built with the idea of attracting the bigs. Most definitely fulfilled its mission. It's hard to believe, really, that it took until 1961.
Breaking out
The '62 Twins would be remembered better if there had been a post-season playoff format that let us in. There was one pennant-winner in each league. No one else qualified for post-season. There must have been reasons for that. I just don't know what they were.
I guess it's also hard to understand how we didn't get big league ball until 1961. The baseball owners were of course shrewd businessmen. The West Coast had to wait a long time for big league baseball. I guess air travel had to develop to a certain point. The West Coast had the "Pacific Coast League" that historians say had a caliber very close to the bigs. You could enjoy the California climate too! The Giants flirted with Minnesota but they of course ended up in California. Then the Angels came along to put California in the American League too. The "singing cowboy" Gene Autry was behind the Angels.
In Minnesota we avoided the trials that would have come with an "expansion team." And would Minnesotans have had the patience to support the extended losing ways of an expansion team? Look at the 1962 Mets in New York of all places - should have been marketing gold. Sad how the original Mets became a poster child for futility. It didn't have to be that bad, did it?
Legend has it that the Mets wanted to bring in some of the familiar New York names of the 1950s. I guess the braintrust felt that was the key for drawing fans? It proved to be futile for competitiveness. I am happy that Richie Ashburn managed a .300 season in '62 with the Mets. But I doubt he took any pleasure in it.
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| Maestro with the glove |
Minnesota in 1962 was collectively ecstatic about the Twins. And the player voted team MVP was none other than Vic Power! A player of color from Puerto Rico. Known for flashy glove work around first base. He often completed his catches with a showman-like "sweep" of the glove! He was considered key for helping our young infield that included Rollins, Zoilo Versalles and Bernie Allen. He was later quoted saying those young guys "made some interesting throws." We loved all of them.
Power should have been promoted to the Yankees in the 1950s. But the Yankees were looking for a "pioneer Negro" with a less-flashy personality, I mean a real humble (subservient) personality. Elston Howard ended up being that player. I'm not knocking him. He filled the shoes.
Minnesota would of course go on to win the pennant in 1965! Just the fifth year of the franchise here! The team of course came here from Washington D.C.
Fans my age remember the seasons after 1965 being rather anticlimactic, depressing really. We may have won the West Division in 1969 and 1970. The enthusiasm was solid in 1969, but then in '70, after manager Billy Martin was fired, enthusiasm faded. We overreacted to the firing. Strange to reflect on. Society was going through a lot of turmoil around 1970. The Vietnam war was a very dark cloud.
It's odd that the Twins would not win another pennant after 1965, not until 1987 with a whole new generation of players. Baltimore rose up to frustrate us. They got Frank Robinson in a trade for 1966, and what a coup that was. He won the triple crown. The Twins got older, slowed down and were not infused with sufficient younger players.
But I sure enjoy the memories of 1962 and Vic Power along with the '65 edition. And just remember: no Twins at all before 1961! They came along in time for boomers!
I guess most important, the Cuban missile crisis did not spell doom for all of us! Play ball!
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| A "sea" of cars in the Met's parking lot, remember? In days before the "fobs." |
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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