– by Bob Showers (2009)
REVIEWED BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher
At first glance, this just looks like a coffee table-size book full of a lot of photos.
It is coffee table-size and it does include over 700 photos. Yet, there’s much more to “The Twins at the Met” by Bob Showers.
After the Senators relocated from Washington, DC to Minnesota following the 1960 season and changed their nickname to the Twins, they hosted approximately 1,700 ballgames from 1961-81 at Metropolitan Stadium (“The Met”) in Bloomington, MN – before moving to the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (The Met also served as home to the NFL Minnesota Vikings during the same 21-year period.)
The Met opened in 1956 and was home to the minor league American Association’s Minneapolis Millers for five seasons before the arrival of the Twins. (The Millers had been located in the city of Minneapolis for 60 years before moving about 10 miles down the road to the then more rural area of the Met.)
The 268 pages of “The Twins at the Met” rekindle many memories for those who attended major league contests at the stadium. But it also provides non-Twins fans with a glimpse of baseball life during the 1960s and ’70s in Minnesota.
Loaded with history and nostalgia, the book is probably the most complete pictorial record of the Twins’ home park as there will ever be. Although it can seem a bit overwhelming at first, fortunately you can read and look at it section-by-section at your own pace.
Most of the text is in the form of quotes from players, coaches, managers and front-office personnel. For instance, the history of Metropolitan Stadium is told by 16 individuals over 46 pages near the beginning of the book.
Then there’s 140 pages of stories about various aspects of the stadium, the team, the game itself and personalities such as owner Calvin Griffith, various managers from Cookie Lavagetto and Sam Mele to Billy Martin to Frank Quilici and Gene Mauch. For instance, Hall-of-Famer Harmon Killebrew gives insights into why he ended his career with the Kansas City Royals, instead of the Twins. While fellow Cooperstowner, Rod Carew, touches on his relationship with the sometimes controversial Griffith.
Over 260 players toiled for the Twins while they called the Met their home. Of these, 250-plus are shown A-to-Z (Glenn Adams to Jerry Zimmerman) in the chapter called “Your Minnesota Twins.” There’s also a year-by-year rundown and a brief focus called “While the Twins Were Away.” (While playing out of town, historic concerts took place at the stadium by the Beatles in 1965 and the Eagles in 1978, with the Eagles concert attracting a crowd of 65,000 – the largest in Metropolitan Stadium history.)
Some of the most memorable baseball events taking place at the Met included: Baseball’s 1965 All-Star game (the N.L. won 6-5); the 1965 World Series (the Twins lost to the Dodgers in seven games); the 1969 and 1970 A.L. playoffs (The Orioles bested the Twins both years); Harmon Killebrew’s 500th home run in 1971; Rod Carew’s historic 1977 season when he flirted with the .400 mark (he ended up hitting .388); plus Carew’s and Tony Oliva’s combined 10 batting titles in the 15-year period between 1964-78.
In addition, to Killebrew and Carew (both enshrined in Cooperstown), other stars that made the Met their home for at least part of their careers were: Hall-of-Famers Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva; plus Luis Tiant, Jim Perry, Jerry Koosman, Camilo Pascual, Jim Lemon, Graig Nettles, 1965 A.L. MVP Zoilo Versalles and Kent Hrbek.
To sum up, Bob Showers’ overview of major league baseball in “The Twins at the Met” is the type of book you can peruse over and over again … reliving memories or learning history in a fun way.
Perhaps Twins’ southpaw Jim Kaat said it best: “To me, the Met was like a good old country ballpark.”
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