Future Twins Ballpark News - Metrodome
Metropolitan Stadium
Bloomington, Minnesota
Minnesota Vikings (NFL 1961-81)
Groundbreaking: June 20, 1955
First American Association game: April 24, 1956
First American League game: April 21, 1961
First NFL game: September 17, 1961
Last American League game: September 30, 1981
Last NFL game: December 20, 1981
Demolished: 1985
Surface: Natural grass
Baseball seating capacity: 18,200 (1956); 30,637 (1961); 40,000 (1964); 45,919 (1975)
Architect: Foster Dunwiddie
Construction: Johnson, Drake & Piper, Inc.; Kimmes Construction Company; Axel Ohman Company
Owner: Metropolitan Sports Commission
Cost: $4.5 million (1956)
Dimensions:
LF foul line: 329 (1961), 330 (1962), 344 (1965), 346 (1967), 330 (1975), 343 (1977)
Left center: 365 (1961); 360 (1966), 373 (1972), 350 (1975), 346 (1976), 360 (1977)
Deep left center: 402 (1961), 435 (1965), 430 (1968), 410 (1975), 406 (1976)
Center field: 412 (1961), 430 (1965), 425 (1968), 410 (1975), 402 (1977)
Deep right center: 402 (1961), 435 (1965), 430 (1968), 410 (1977)
Right center: 365 (1961), 373 (1968), 365 (1972), 370 (1977)
RF foul line: 329 (1961), 330 (1962)
Height of Fences:
Left field: 8 ft (1961), 12 ft (1964), 7 ft (1974), 12 ft (1977)
Center field: 8 ft
Right field: 8 ft (1961), 12 ft (1964), 8 ft (1970)
Right field corner: 5 ft
Hosted World Series: 1965
Hosted All-Star Game: 1965
Hosted NFL Championship game: 1970
Metropolitan Stadium's final baseball dimensions (right).
A 50's photo (below) of The Met, before the arrival of the Twins.
Only temporary bleachers extended from the main grandstand and past the bases.
The Met was constructed between June, 1955 and April, 1956. The 164-acre farmland site was purchased for $478,899 by the Baseball Committee of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, headed by Gerry Moore, then the Chamber's president. Bloomington was a long haul out Cedar Avenue from downtown Minneapolis. Contrary to the vague misconceptions that grew along with the park, it was not built to lure any specific major league baseball franchise to the Twin Cities. As early as 1952 Moore was simply interested in acquiring big league status for his community and he planted the same notion with Charlie Johnson, then the sports editor of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune.
Baseball was changing its face drastically during the 1950s. In April, 1953 the National League voted to transfer the Boston Braves to Milwaukee. That autumn the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles. There were rumblings out of New York that the Dodgers and Giants would be striking out for new territories. It was a good time to try and get a piece of the action.
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To build a park on land in Bloomington that wasn't yet purchased, the chamber created an organization called the Minute Men to raise the necessary $4.5 million in private capital. The Minute Men fell short. As of April, 1955 they had raised just $2.2 million. An investment house that promised to handle the remaining $2.3 million cut its bond offering to $1 million. To account for the additional $1.3 million, 50 Minneapolis businessmen put their markers out in the community and produced the dough.
Ground was broken on June 20, 1955, but not before a farmer named Paul Gerhardt, who had grown onions, melons and sweet corn on the 50-acre parcel he was selling to the committee, lined up his farm machinery as a barricade along what would become the first-base line. He hadn't been paid. And he didn't start up and motor off until he received his check for $122,000.
By September an outline of the park began to appear. About the only thing that slowed construction was an explosion and fire on Feb. 26, 1956, under the grandstand along the third-base line. But the stadium opened less than two months after the fire, on April 24, 1956, featuring the Minneapolis Millers - displaced from old Nicollet Park - and Wichita in an American Association season opener.
The very same civic boosterism that has become so prominent with the domed stadium was evident in 1956 as well. Newspapers called the opening "The Miracle of 78th Street." A record crowd for a Millers' opening, 18,366, turned out in 45-degree weather. They were introduced to only the barest stadium - the main three-decked grandstand was complete and wrapped from third base to first. But the continuation of the two decks along the right field line was not undertaken until 1961. There were just temporary bleachers along the third-base line and nothing in the reaches of the outfield except an unobstructed view of the adjoining agricultural institutions. That remained one of the Met's distinctions until the end: From no other big league park in America could a working farm field be seen.
In exchange for a reduction in their rent, the Vikings built the left field pavilion in time for the 1965 season when the Twins hosted the All Star game and later found themselves in the World Series against the Dodgers. But that is to rush the story. The history of the Met can easily be distinguished from the history of its tenants, the Twins, Vikings and Kicks, along with the Beatles and a variety of other one-shot artists.
For five seasons, while the Met was tinkered with and expanded, it was home almost exclusively to the Millers. There was always speculation that the Met would become home to the New York Giants, as the Millers were a Horace Stoneham property. But Stoneham deserted New York for San Francisco and it was only then that Minnesota began to woo Calvin Griffith out of Washington. Calvin wasn't making any dough in D.C. and therefore was a very good prospect for wooing. After five years of negotiations between the Minneapolis Baseball Committee and the Griffiths, the American League voted on Oct. 26, 1960, to award an expansion franchise to Los Angeles, move the Senators to Minnesota and replace the Senators with another expansion franchise.
The second, official Met opener then was April 21, 1961, when the new Twins hosted the new Washington Senators. On this occasion 24,606 clients turned out, with temperatures in the mid-50s and strong westerly winds. If dealing with weather was one of the excuses for dumping the Met, it is ironic that opening-day attendance increased at the end of the Met's tenure along with a general trend of warmer and warmer opening-day temperatures until a record in one department, 89 degrees, was set on April 22, 1980 and a record in the other, 42,658, was established on April 9, 1981.
Inconsistent and sometimes drastic weather at the Met was another distinction worth preserving, particularly for the Vikings. No other team in the National Football League developed such a legend of cold weather invincibility, a legend that faded into history after the Vikings moved into the Metrodome in 1982.
Admittedly, the Met was never a candidate for architectural citation, what with its extremely poor sight lines for football and soccer and the general rundown appearance it assumed in its dotage. But it's easy now to forget how unusual the Met was, at least in 1956. The stadium was of cantilever design, no posts, poles or pillars held anything up or obstructed any views. Extreme cantilever construction was considered innovative in 1956, when the Met was called the last word in baseball facilities.
The final baseball game ever played there was on Sept. 30, 1981. It was played in a light rain, a condition similar to that of the major league opener 21 seasons earlier. Between those rains an entire generation was introduced to professional sports at the Met. That it was all outdoors will stand as the Met's lone heritage.
by Joe Soucheray
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Notes, Facts and Features
The Minneapolis Millers moved to the Met from the team's old home, Nicollet Park.
Metropolitan Stadium's inaugural game on April 24, 1956, saw the Millers take on the Wichita Braves. 18,366 fans jammed the innovative 18,200-seat stadium and brave 45-degree weather. The Millers lost 5-3.
1961's arrival of the Twins saw the expansion of the grandstand's first two decks completely down the right field foul line. Curiosly, the third base grandstand was never expanded.
The left field pavilion was constructed in 1965 -- paid for by the Vikings in exchange for a rent reduction.
At the time, The Met's cantilever design was considered revolutionary (below), with no poles, or pillars to obstruct any views. Unlike most 20th and 21st century ballparks, which cantilever only a portion of a seating deck, Metropolitan Stadium's mezzanine and upper deck were completely cantilever supported. Every seat on those levels was on a projection built out from the main structure, which meant better sightlines, compared to a more "bowl-shaped" grandstand. In current ballparks, only modern Yankee Stadium features such an extreme cantilever design. It's strange to us that current stadium designers don't use extended cantilevers in their projects.
The team moving from Washington was originally to be called the Twin Cities Twins, and original logo and uniform designs reflected these plans. When Minnesota leaders persuaded Griffith to use the Minnesota Twins name, Griffith decided to keep the original designs, which is why Twins caps have a "TC" as the logo.
The Met had no roof of any kind covering its grandstands, leaving Vikings fans especially, out in the elements.
A bomb scare delayed the August 25, 1970 Twins-Red Sox game as 17,967 fans filed calmly into the outfield and parking lots.
The Met was one of the most poorly maintained park in the Majors. In 1981, the upper deck was condemmed: Broken railings overlooking the left field bleachers created a safety hazard.
Memorable Moments from Metropolitan Stadium:
September 2, 1958: Minneapolis approves a $9 million bond issue to expand Metropolitan Stadium to 41,000 seats. City alderman Byron Nelson predicts it is a "dead cinch" that Washington will move there.
April 12, 1965: In Minnesota, the Yankees drop their second straight 11th inning opener, as the Twins win 5-4. Twins starter Jim Kaat, stranded because of the ice and snow, is brought to Metropolitan Stadium by helicopter. Kaat is matched by Jim Bouton, who goes five innings, giving up two earned runs. Bob Allison's wind-blown fly ball in the 11th drops untouched for a three-base error by Hector Lopez, one of eight errors the two teams combine for. Cesar Tovar's 2-out single scores the winner off Pedro Ramos.
October 7, 1965: Jim Kaat gives Minnesota a 2-0 World Series lead by driving in two runs, defeating Sandy Koufax 5-1 at Metropolitan Stadium.
July 5, 1969: Minnesota regains the American League West lead behind the pitching of Jim Perry and a 13-1 rout of Oakland at Metropolitan Stadium.
August 24, 1981: In his first ML game, Kent Hrbek homers in the 12th inning to give the Twins a 3-2 win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The 21-year-old 1B grew up in Bloomington, MN, less than a mile from Metropolitan Stadium, and jumped directly to his hometown club from Class-A Visalia (California League), where he was hitting .380 with 27 home runs and 112 RBI.
September 30, 1981: In the last ML game at Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium, Kansas City clinches at least a tie for the American League West 2nd-half title with a 5-2 win over the Twins.
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Is this a hostipal or a ballpark? (below) Though innovative in seating deck design and construction, The Met left little to be desired in terms of ballpark architecture.
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