Field of Dreams

Friday night in Miesville, Minnesota: Home of the Mudhens.

Moonlight Graham would approve.

The Time Traveller’s Brother in Law

As I said to Bella in yesterday’s comment section. Perhaps all I needed to get hooked on a computer game was to find one appropriately pretentious enough. Which is why it’s not enough to just play Strat-o-matic baseball. No, I am playing the games using the major league teams from the 1909 baseball season. Oddly enough, having read several books about the dead ball era, like The Glory of Their Times, and Crazy 08, I am more familiar with the players from 1909 than I am with the current major leaguers. If that’s not pretentious, then I don’t understand the meaning of the word.

Which is all a lead in to saying that I spent my hour of free time last night playing games instead of writing a blog post. So today’s posting is going to be light on words, and heavy on pictures. I’m turning the dial of the Wayback Machine to 1909. It’s time to put on your bowler hats folks, we’re gong to the ball game.

Clark Griffith of the Washington Senators, taking batting practice in the stadium that would later bear his name.

Same vantage from Ebbets', looking out at the field. Back in the days when Brooklyn was rural.

The Red Sox, playing the White Sox in 1904 at South Side Park, Chicago

The Philadelphia Athletics, getting ready for their opening day game against the Highlanders (Yankees) at Hill Top Park in NYC.

George "Slats" McConnell, warming up before the game with Michael Cann. Even the nicknames in 1908 were awesome.

The 4th game of the 1912 World Series, between the NY Giants and the Boston Red Sox, at the Polo Grounds in NY.

Fred Snodgrass of the Giants, at the 1911 World Series

NY manager John McGraw, one of the finest cusser's in all of baseball, with catcher Chief Myers. Every player in MLB with a drop of Indian blood was called Chief back then.

Cincinnati's audaciously named "Palace of the Fans". A ball park that looked like an outdoor Opera House.

Speaking of architecturally significant ballparks, here's Shibe Park in Philadephia

Shibe Park, crowd milling about before 1914 World Series

Washington Park, Brooklyn New York. Flag Raising before game between the Buffalo Bisons, and Brooklyn Federals, of the upstart Federal League. 1914

White Sox vs. Cubs for the City Championship Series, at West Side Park in 1909

Smoky Joe Wood of the Red Sox, at Fenway. One of the greatest fastball pitchers of his day

League Park, Cleveland, Ohio. Back when the ballparks were made of wood, and the men were made of steel.

Boston vs. New York, at the Huntington, Avenue Grounds in Boston. For big games they would sell standing room tickets for the outfield, just to get more people in the gate.

and that’s enough for one day. All photos are from the Library of Congress. I’ve downloaded them over the years because, obviously. Click on them. Some of them have amazing detail.

Life after the Muckdogs?

OK, yeah, I know I said I was on hiatus, but I have been thinking about the pending move of the Muckdogs out of Batavia and what the future might hold. So I felt the need to post on it, since I have already posted several times on the subject.

Judging from the tone of some of the recent articles, and interviews with the staff of the Red Wings who are currently operating the ‘Dogs, it is becoming apparent that the Muckdog’s days are numbered. The trend within Minor League baseball has been to move small, Class A affiliates out of small towns and rural areas, and put them in suburbs of larger urban areas to reach a larger fanbase, sell more tickets, and consequently make more money. This trend began back in the 90’s when MLB placed new requirements on the minor league clubs that their stadiums meet certain minimum specs. The result of the rule was that many of the clubs in smaller towns were forced to either rebuild their stadiums, or move to an area with newer facilities. For a lot of these small towns the $ required to build new parks were just not feasible. Meanwhile, other towns scrambled to update their stadiums to keep their teams. (Batavia and Auburn are two examples of rebuilt stadiums from this time).

Out with the old...

In with the new.

As the years have progressed, the costs of owning and operating a minor league club have risen to the point that the small NY Penn league teams have struggled to keep their head above water. Gradually MLB woke up to the possibilities of milking more $$ out of their minor league system. The result has been a steady “corporatization” of minor league ball that has driven up the interest in owning and operating minor league clubs. This demand for minor league teams has resulted in the sale and move of many of the remaining small town teams. Last year it was Oneonta club that was sold and relocated to suburban Connecticut. Batavia seems to be the next in line with Auburn not far behind.

I have lamented this corporatization before, but in the last year have come to grudging acceptance of the fate. Economic trends like this do not change quickly. They move in like a tide, and recede only gradually. I can’t foresee it changing. The Muckdogs will be moved, this year, or next, or the year after. It is inevitable. So I began to think, what would life be like after the Muckdogs? Would Dwyer Stadium sit vacant, hosting only high school, and community college baseball, or is there future life in it yet? It’s a wonderful little facility, and it would be a shame to see a community asset like that go to waste. So I decided to do some investigation, and see what has become of the other towns that were once a part of the NY Penn league, but have lost their teams through the years.

So what has become of Oneonta, Geneva, Niagara Falls, Elmira, Little Falls, Watertown, Hornell, and the other 12 cities that once were home to NY Penn league franchises. The result surprised me. The New York Collegiate Baseball League has been around since 1978. (Who knew?) It is a summer wood bat league for collegiate baseball players to get a feel for the demands and style of minor league baseball while maintaining their amateur status. There are actually quite a few of these leagues in existence.

Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised me. Collegiate Summer baseball is about the only “minor” league baseball left in Minnesota and Wisconsin, aside from the Independent St. Paul Saints. Such classic minor league stadiums and cities as Eau Claire, Wisconsin have hosted Collegiate Summer teams in the Northwoods League since the mid 90’s. Collegiate Summer baseball has grown to fill in the void left by Minor League Baseball as the farm clubs have moved out of small cities and towns in rural areas as the operating costs of running a team are lower. Attendance seems to fall into the Mouckdog average of 1,400 / game, for communities of similar size. The quality of the baseball is surprisingly good, and many of the players in the Northwoods League have gone on to the majors.

So, will Batavia follow in the footsteps of Oneonta, Geneva, Niagara Falls, Elmira, Little Falls, Watertown, and Hornell, and make the jump from the NY Penn to the NYCBL? It’s an interesting thought, and an idea that excites me the more I think about it. Is there an ownership group out there that would step forward to bankroll the startup of a team? Could Batavia pull it off without missing a season? I see no reason why we couldn’t. B-town is every bit as capable of supporting a team as any of the towns mentioned above. Heck, Batavia is even more capable as it brings with it a more modern, and up to date facility than many of the towns that have NYCBL clubs.

Best of all, it wouldn’t take a million dollars to make it happen. Anyone out there willing to go in on putting an ownership group together drop me a line. I’m in.

Minneapolis Armory

Minneapolis Armory - Copyright Star Tribune

OK, I said I wasn’t posting this week, but I came across a great article in today’s Red Star Tribune on the history of the Minneapolis Armory. Since this is one of the few remaining “old time” sports stadiums left in the Twin Cities, I had hoped to eventually do a posting on it. Now I don’t have to! Enjoy…

Nicollet Park

In the spirit of equal opportunity, I would be remiss if I didn’t write a post about the long time home of the Minneapolis Millers. So as a follow up to my posting on the St. Paul Saints ballparks, here are some pictures, as well as a little story telling about the most beloved home of the Millers, old Nicollet Park.

As I mentioned in the previous posts, the Millers have been around in various forms since their founding in 1884, as part of the short lived Northwestern League. When the league folded the Millers were absorbed into the newly formed Western League. This version of the Millers lasted until 1891, when they folded. The name was resurrected in 1894 with the re-founding of the Western League by Ban Johnson and Charles Comiskey.

During these years the Millers kicked around to a lot of different places in town before finding a home at Athletic Park in 1889. Athletic Park was on the corner of Sixth Street and First Avenue North, behind the opulent West Hotel which opened in 1884. A location that is only a few blocks away from Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins. According the definitive historian of Minneapolis Baseball, Stew Thornley, Athletic Park was a tiny little bandbox of a place with outfield distances only 250 ft. at the foul lines.

The West Hotel - Corner of 5th and Hennepin

The Millers were evicted from this prime piece of real estate in mid season in 1896. As a result they moved to a residential area on the corner of Nicollet Ave. and Lake Street. This new field would become their home for the next 59 years, and the Millers opened it by winning the Western League pennant in their first season at Nicollet Park.

Opening Day at Nicollet Park - 1925

When the Western League made the jump into the majors in 1900, and renamed itself the American League, Minneapolis was one of the franchises that was abandoned. In 1902 the team was reborn as a charter member of the minor league American Association where it would remain until the Twins came to town.

Babe Ruth comes to town - 1924 exhibition

Another shot of The Babe at Nicollet Park

To my eyes, the park didn’t look like much. Just the prototypical square of grass, with wooden bleachers crammed inside of a city block, and a high right field fence to make up for the short distance. But to Minneapolitans, the place seems to be the one park that they are the most nostalgic for.

1945

1954

As for distinguishing features, the one that sticks out the most is the red tile roofed, English-Tudor style building that served as the entrance to the park. An odd choice of architectural style for a ball park, but one that fit well with the period houses in the neighborhood.

One of the last games - American Association Championship vs. Rochester Red Wings 1955

The park played host to many home & home double headers against the cross town Saints. By the late 40’s and 50’s the Millers were the AAA club of the NY Giants, and the Saints represented the rival Brooklyn Dodgers. These trolley series a a big part of local baseball lore.

1950's style "light rail"

Roy Campanella circles the bases for the rival Saints - 5/31/1948

Right field fence along Nicollet Ave. - Legend has it that home runs would break windows in the shops across the street, which explains the screen atop the wall

The park initially sat around 4,000 but would be expanded to 10,000 by 1911, and added onto several times over the years. By the 1950’s, the AAA Millers had outgrown the place and began searching for a place to build a new, modern stadium. A site was purchased in St. Louis Park, but opposition by the neighborhood prevented the team from breaking ground. Finally, local businessmen led a bond drive, to raise funds to build a stadium in suburban Bloomington and Metropolitan Stadium was born.

Demolition 1955

Such a sad picture

The Millers moved in for the 1956 season, but their days were numbered. The Met had been built with the purpose of luring a major league team to the Twin cities. After several failed attempts, the local business leaders finally convinced Calvin Griffith to move his Washington Senators franchise to town, the Met was expanded, and the Minnesota Twins were born. As stadiums go, the Met was a very functional place, but it lacked the charm of Nicollet Park. Few of the erector set stadiums of the 1950’s ever developed much of a following. The lone exception being the late County Stadium in Milwaukee, which I once had the great pleasure of catching a game at. But that’s a post for another time.

I think I had this erector set as a kid

Met Stadium dedication 1956

The Home of the Saints

Lexington Park 1916

As I said in a previous post, the St. Paul Saints baseball club have been around in various incarnations since the 1880’s. As early as 1884 they were a part of the major league “Union Association” which lasted just one year before disbanding. They reappeared as a minor league team in the Western League in 1894, and almost made the jump to the American League. But history would pass them by, and they would remain as a founding member of the Minor League version of the American Association in 1900.

Throughout their existence they played in several different parks around St. Paul. Their first home in 1884 was the Fort Street grounds, located near what is now West 7th Street and St. Clair Avenue. From 1888 to 1892, the minor league version of the Saints played across the river from downtown St. Paul, in a park on State Street. When Charles Comiskey moved his Western League incarnation of the Saints into St. Paul, they played their games at the Dale and Aurora Grounds, also known as “Comiskey Park”. This wooden ball park was built by Comiskey between Dale and St. Albans street, and Aurora and Fuller Avenues. The neighbors in the area weren’t too happy about games being played on Sunday, and by 1897 the Saints had moved again to Lexington Park, at the corner of Lexington and University Ave., the place that would be their home for almost 60 years, with the exception of stint from 1902 to 1909 when they played their weekday games at a tiny little park known as the Pillbox, near the State Capitol.

Lexington Park was located on the southwest corner of University and Lexington Ave. Like most wooden parks at the time, Lexington Park burned in 1908, and again in 1915. After 1915 it was rebuilt in the configuration it would remain in for another 40 years. The one shown in these pictures.

Lexington Park 1930

Putting up lights 1937

Opening Day 1948

The park would receive lights in 1937 for night baseball, and grow in little increments, but for the most part it remained unchanged until the Saints left in 1956. By the mid 50’s St. Paul was the AAA franchise of the mighty Brooklyn Dodgers, and their crosstown rivals the Millers were the franchise of the NY Giants. This only served to increase the rivalry.

1948

Lexington Park 1954

nearing the end 1956

As both cities began to lobby for a major league franchise, first the Millers and then the Saints broke ground for new, modern facilities that could be expanded to accommodate a major league team. The Saints opened their new park, Midway Stadium, in 1956. It was located on the east side of Snelling Avenue, between the railroad tracks near what is now Energy Park drive.

Midway Stadium – Opening Day 1957

Opening Day 1957

The park seated a little over 10,000, and was built with the intention to expand it for accommodating a major league team. It opened on Thursday, April 25, 1957.

As the 50’s came to a close, both Minneapolis and St. Paul were trying to obtain a franchise in the soon to be formed Continental League, a planned 3rd major league being planned to start play in 1961. A franchise was granted to Minneapolis-St. Paul, and disputes began about whether the team would play at Midway Stadium, or the Millers new Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington. Ultimately it didn’t matter. The Continental League folded before it began, when the American League announced it would move the Washington franchise to Minnesota, and replace them with an expansion franchise in D.C. (Senators), and add an expansion team in Los Angeles (Angels). The National League also announced the addition of expansion teams in New York (Mets) and Houston (Colt .45’s).

Metropolitan Stadium was chosen by Calvin Griffith as the new home for his Washington Senators, and renamed them the Minnesota Twins. As a result both the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints would disband. Midway Stadium continued to play host to local high school and college baseball and football games until 1981 when it was finally torn down. A concrete new stadium was built on the west side of Snelling Ave. , to serve the same purpose. Originally called Municipal Stadium, it was later renamed Midway Stadium, and became the home of the new St. Paul Saints independent minor league baseball team in 1993.

The story of the new Saints is well know, and several books have been written about how “Rebel” baseball in the early 1990’s gave new life to minor league baseball, and led to a renaissance of outdoor ballparks springing up all over the country. I moved to town the same year as the Saints return, and enjoyed many warm summer evenings in the mid 90’s drinking Pig’s Eye beer, and watching ball while the Twins struggled to fill out the sterile dome.

Since that time the Twins have enjoyed a renaissance of their own, and despite lobbying for a new Twins Stadium, and later a new Saints stadium on the riverfront in downtown St. Paul, the inelegant concrete bunker that is new Midway Stadium remains the home of baseball in St. Paul.

The new old Midway Stadium

still not a bad place to spend a summer evening

Twin town baseball

Minnie and Paul

I’ve always loved this old Twins logo. Drawn in 1960 by Ray Barton for a reported $15, this logo has seen a rebirth at the new ballpark. The “Two Guys” are known as Minnie and Paul, and they represent more than just a pair of Twins. They also honor the history of professional baseball in the twin cities, which dates back to the 1800’s. Like all 19th century histories things get a little hazy where “pre-modern” baseball leagues are concerned. This is just one of the many reasons that the sport of baseball is so ripe for fiction and fantasy. Its beginnings are so obscure, and mystical that the sport lends itself well to legends and mysteries.

The Major Leagues as we know them really didn’t exist until the beginning of the 1900’s. Before that, there was a series of professional leagues that existed, overlapped, and interbred into what we now know as the American and National Leagues. While the current National League traces its roots back to 1876, when it was founded to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the American League wasn’t founded until 1901.

What became the American League, was initially a minor league known as the ‘Western League”. The Western League was founded in 1885, as a collection of minor league teams in the Midwest. As a native New Yorker, it always strikes me as odd that back then the Midwest was really considered to be “The West”. I guess back then the days of teepees and buffalo on the great plains were still fresh in everyone’s mind.

Minnesota’s connection to the Western League began with the founding of the Minneapolis Millers. In 1894 the Twin Cities became home to two franchises when none other than Charles Comiskey bought the Sioux City franchise, and moved them to St. Paul and christened them the Saints. The bitter rivalry between Minneapolis and St. Paul was immediate and lasting. Having cross town clubs playing in the same league made for great newspaper sales, and civic pride, and would eventually create some difficulty when the Major League finally did return in 1961.

In 1899 the National League decided to cut back from 12 to 8 teams, and disbanded its franchises in Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington. The Western League saw its opportunity and quickly expanded into those cities to fill the void. But Minnesota’s chance at the major leagues would have to wait for another 60 years. The league elected to abandon Minneapolis for larger eastern markets, and Charles Comiskey relocated his St. Paul club to Chicago, and the Chicago White Stockings were born. As a Twins fan, this is yet another reason to hate the Whities.

While the major leagues had left both of the Twin Towns behind, baseball never really left. Both the Saints and the Millers were reborn in minor league forms into the new American Association, and the rivalry continued. It is this rivalry that is represented by the “two guys” standing in the logo, shaking hands across the river. For when locals began angling for a major league team in the 1950’s there was much debate over where to locate the team. A peace accord was reached when Clark Griffith decided to move his Washington Senators team to Minnesota, and both the Saints and the Millers were disbanded. The new team was named Minnesota, rather than Minneapolis or St. Paul, to appease fans on both sides of the river. They would play their games in Bloomington, in an expanded version of the Millers new Metropolitan Stadium which had been built in 1956. The Saints new field in St. Paul, the 3 year old Midway Stadium, would sit vacant, and eventually be torn down in 1981.

The Met in 1965

Of course, the Twins would eventually leave the erector set of Metropolitan Stadium for the marshmallow roofed confines of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and now the glorious jewel box we call Target Field. But there is much more to the history of ballparks in Minneapolis-St. Paul than those three parks.

Dome on the Range

Coming soon. A short illustrated history of the Saints and Millers ball parks.

Target Field

Ghost runner on Third

I asked Justin Morneau for his autograph. Funny, he looks so much older on TV.

Well, last night was our first ever trip to the new ball park, and I have to say I’m impressed. They managed to build a sweet little bandbox of a stadium, and didn’t muck it up with too many little gee gaws, and contrived gingerbread to make it look like something it’s not. It’s a modern park through and through, but with classic lines. The little quirks it does have, like the outfield upper deck shaped left a wedge of cheese, are driven by the available space they had to work with. Which is why those old parks like Ebbets had asymmetrical features in the first place. Only the right field overhang came across as “trying a little to hard” to be different.

Say hello to Minnie and Paul

20 Prospect Jr. and I drove down early to see the Tigers take batting practice. It’s only about a 15 minute drive from our house to the park. We parked about a 10 minute walk away from the park and paid $3. I can tell I’m getting old when this is one of the highlights of going to a game. Before you know it I’ll be writing posts about the cost of a gallon of gasoline, and complaining about my bursitis.

Don't say they didn't warn you.

Alas, no baseballs were hit into our section during bp, and 20 Prospect Jr. was greatly disappointed. But not for long. His school buddies were there for the game too so he got to hang with them during bp calling out in vain for the Tigers players to toss them a ball.  Then there was dinner to be had so we made our rounds of the stadium and checked out the concessions. Despite the ample hype about the food, 90% of the stands still sell the same krep they served at the Metrodome. They do have a lot of little specialty carts, and stands, but the lines for the Kramarczyk sausage was predictably long. So we passed on Hungarian and Polish Sausage and followed a tip from a friend, and bought the natural casing hot dogs from a vendor in a red & white striped shirt. At $4.50, it was a heck of a deal, and I was very happy to find a real hot dog in Minnesota even if it was steamed, and not char broiled as all good hots should be.

Play Ball!

We returned to our seats in plenty of time for the first pitch, and right on cue, the first drops of rain began to fall. It was disorienting. After 20 years in the dome there was this strange liquid falling out of the sky, and we were sore afraid.

What are those strange gray things overhead? It doesn't look like a teflon tarp.

Not to worry though, I’m over 40 now which means I bring rain poncho’s to outdoor events. Fashion be damned, middle age has its privileges. I think the boy was mortified to see his old man pull out the blue hefty bags hoping his friends wouldn’t see him.

and then the clouds parted...

But the rain didn’t last long, and by the end of the 2nd inning the sun had returned and the wind had died down. Time to kick back and enjoy the game. The only trouble I had was actually watching the game. There’s just so much for the eye to take in it was tough to keep focused on the strike count. Funny, I never had that issue in the dome.

Right field concourse, looking out towards the plaza

That brings up another inevitable part of a new ball park. It’s gone from being a game to being a scene. There were a lot of folks there that didn’t quite get the concept of attending a sporting event. Little things like STAY IN YOUR BLEEPING SEAT UNTIL A BREAK IN THE ACTION, and DON”T DECIDE THAT A FULL COUNT WITH THE BASES LOADED IS THE RIGHT TIME TO GET UP AND GO TO THE JOHN.
Not that it bothered me.
Much.

If you're over the age of 12 and you don't know who these guys are, you probably shouldn't be here.

Still, that’s a small price to pay, and in 2 years when the novelty has worn off we will be back to the regulars again. Oh, and lest I forget there was a game to be played.

is there any better way to spend a pleasant evening?

Results are here.

Twins – Win – Twins – Win – Twins – Win

The plaza at night

On Target

Tonight’s the night. 20 Prospect Jr. and I will be making our first visit to Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins. I plan to bring along the camera, and hope to post my impressions of the inside of the place later this week. Game time temp should be in the upper 60’s with an outside chance at a thunderstorm. I guess we’ll test that personal commitment to outdoor baseball right away.

It should be an interesting experience. So far I have only seen the outside of the stadium. That is, I have seen as much of the outside as can be seen. It’s kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees. The stadium is wedged into a block of land, between two major access roads for downtown on the North and South, and a Parking ramp, and the County Garbage burner on the East and West. I can’t say it’s a prime piece of property.

When it was announced that this would be the location of the new stadium, I think everyone in town thought “there’s no way you can fit a ball park on that site”. The land was previously occupied by a parking lot. Before the stadium was approved, the Twins had been haggling with the State for money to build a new ballpark for the better part of a decade. Lot’s of proposals were floated over the years.

There was the downtown stadium on the St. Paul Riverfront…

Twins Stadium Proposal - St. Paul, MN - Copyright HOK Sports

There was the riverside Stadium in the historic Milling District…

Twins Stadium Proposal - Mpls. Milling District - Copyright HOK Sports

The "Train Shed" retractable roof proposal - Copyright HOK Sports & ballparks.com

And there were various blue sky proposals to put it on the same site as the metrodome, and/or in a suburb.

The "Worlds Largest Quonset Hut" proposal - Copyright HOK Sports

The Twins were adamant that the stadium needed to be downtown. And by downtown, they meant “Downtown Minneapolis”. I am still perplexed how they ended up at this site though, in an industrial part of town usually designated for garbage burners, homeless shelters, and other less desirable businesses.

Computer Rendering - Copyright Minnesota Ballpark Authority

Of course, they aren’t advertising it as being in the Industrial Near Northside. Instead they are touting it as being in the “Warehouse District”, which I suppose it is in the sense that it sits on the very edge of the warehouse district. This is a neighborhood of warehouses that grew up around the old Union Train Station on the northern edge of downtown, back in the day when people made products, and needed such things as inventory. The train station closed, and was torn down years ago, and the empty warehouses became home to artists, bohemians, and others seeking low rent, and high ceilings. Since the early 90’s it’s been on the rise with new condo’s, and restaurants, and the like. Rich folks are always willing to drop big money to live in the brick and wooden hulks of old warehouses, which is kind of odd when you think of it.

We don’t build warehouses anymore. Now we have “distibution centers” and they are usually giant metal barns along the interstate outside of town. So where will the Yuppies of 2050 choose to live? Abandoned Malls? No, too suburban. My guess is that by 2050 when our oil has run out and the automobile is defunct, all those gray concrete parking ramps will become the “Loft Condominiums” of the next generation of hipsters.

But I’m digressing…

The new park is hard to actually see, except from the west, looking across the expanse of low, one story industrial buildings. Approaching the park from the North, or East, you are right up against it before you have a chance to see it. Because of the size of the lot, there was no room for a setback, so the stadium sits right up against the sidewalk on three sides, and against the parking ramp on the other. The architects really had to work hard to fit the park into the site. In the end, they ran the train tracks for the new commuter train right under the ball park to save space.

It’s kind of unique in that sense, compared to some of the more suburban parks like Miller Park in Milwaukee, and Citizens Bank Field in Philadelphia, with their wide expanses of parking lots surrounding them. It also differs from other downtown parks, that were built into their sites with some setback, and open on one side for signature views, like PNC Park in Pittsburgh, or Camden Yards in Baltimore. I guess in that sense, Target Field comes across as a little less contrived, and is more like the old parks that sat right on the block in their neighborhoods, like Fenway Park, Wrigley, and Ebbets Field, although those parks were built within living, breathing neighborhoods, and not industrial zones. Who knows, in 30 years the neighborhood around it may completely change. Or it could end up sitting on the same unchanged parcel of land, as the wasteland around the Metrodome that never did get developed the way the city envisioned it.

Metrodome Aerial View

Hey! Drop the Puck!

Greatest. Mascot. Ever.

One of the many endearing quirks about my adopted home state of Minnesota, is the annual Minnesota Boys State High School Hockey Tournament, which begins today in St. Paul. Having grown up in Western New York, it has always struck me as odd that a high school state championship tournament would not only be televised in a major television market, but sell out a 16,000 seat arena for 3 straight days. Whenever a Batavia or ND basketball squad made the state tournament back home, the best we could hope for was radio coverage on WBTA.

Hockey at the St. Paul Civic Center

My first experience of the Hockey tournament was in 1993, my first year living in Minnesota. I was between projects with ABB, and hanging out for the week at my apartment in St. Paul, when I stumbled across the daytime TV coverage of the tournament one afternoon. I’d been nursing a cold, and was pretty much confined to the couch, so any alternative to daytime television was a godsend. So I spent the week watching hour after hour of coverage. It was just so damn Norman Rockwell-esque. The pimply-faced boys being introduced before the game with a TV closeup, the perky cheerleaders on figure skates (another strange Minnesota thing), the team captains reciting the MN High School Sportsmanship Code over the PA before the game, the play by play call of Wally Shaver, and the color commentary of Lou Nanne, I was hooked. That year, Bloomington-Jefferson steamrolled their way to the Class 1 title to finish the year 28-0, and the storied Golden Bears of Eveleth-Gilbert won in Double Overtime over Lake of the Woods.
Each year since I have always tried to make time to watch the games, much to the dismay of Mrs. 20 Prospect who fails to understand the Hockey cult. I have been blessed to have been knocked down with the flu on a few occasions during the week of the tournament. But mostly, I have had to pick and choose my games around the TV viewing habits of Mrs. 20P.

The St. Paul Civic Center

As the great Vintage Minnesota Hockey site details, the tournament has a long and storied history, and has been played in several historic locations, but is most closely associated with the St. Paul Civic Center. The Civic Center was a classic 1970’s arena. Huge open bowl seating, stretching a mile from the ice, narrow hallways and few amenities. Opening on January 1st, 1973 as the home of the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints, it was notable for it’s clear plexi-glass boards, the result of a seating quirk in the multi-purpose facility that placed the first row of seats on the same level as the ice, but way back from the boards.

MN Fighting Saints Program cover showing clear boards

The Fighting Saints were notorious for living up to their nickname, as Glen Sonmor filled the squad with a team of goons, as was the style in the mid 70’s. In fact, the real life “Hanson Brothers” played hockey for the Fighting Saints. SO did the infamous Bill Goldthorpe, (the real life inspiration for Ogie Ogelthorpe in the movie Slapshot) when he was signed for a playoff series in 1975.

Yes Virginia, there really were Hanson brothers

Jeff Carlson - 1975

The Fighting Saints came and went, and the arena become host for college and high school hockey tournaments, circuses, and rock concerts. Eventually, when the NorthStars left town for Dallas, an AHL club named the Moose moved into the Civic Center for a few years until an NHL expansion franchise was granted to Minnesota. The Civic Center was torn down in 1998 to make way for the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

The Taj Mahal of Hockey

So the tradition continues. At 11am today the puck will drop on the 65th edition of the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament, as the Carlson’s Alma Mater, Virginia, take on Hermantown. The “Big” schools take to the ice tomorrow when the “hoosier-esque” Rosseau Rams take on the Edina Cake Eaters Hornets. I think I feel a cold coming on.

(All photos copyright VintageMinnesotaHockey.com)