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Twins Near Season
Ticket Record
The
Minnesota Twins have exceeded the 10,000 mark in season tickets for only
the second time in franchise history and are close to breaking the
record set in 1993, according to team president Dave St. Peter.
He told Sports Headliners yesterday that counting full and partial
season tickets the Twins have sold about 10,500 tickets. The record of
10,700 was established in 1993 following World Series championships in
1992 and 1987.
The
Twins’ new ballpark and status among the better teams in baseball has
sent interest to near record levels. “We’re pushing to have a season
ticket base north of 15,000 by the time we go in the new ballpark in
2010. …Hopefully, we can push it close to 17,000 to 20,000,” St. Peter
said.
He’s
projecting three game attendance of 110,000 to 120,000 for the Red Sox
series starting tonight at the Metrodome. The largest crowd is likely
to be for Saturday night’s game, probably more than 40,000 but not
necessarily capacity (46,632).
Cover
boy Daisuke Matsuzaka won’t pitch in the series, having started
last night in the Red Sox game against Seattle. St. Peter was asked if
Matsuzaka would have pushed a game here to a sellout.
“I
think there would be some impact,” St. Peter said. “Whether it would go
to sellout, I am a little bit skeptical of that. I think some of the
mania has subsided a bit. He’s got hit around a little bit.”
The
rookie right hander’s record is 3-2 with a 5.45 ERA. Although no one
is ready to hand him the Cy Young award, fans would like to see him
pitch here. Of course, many customers would like the American
League schedule to bring the Red Sox and Yankees to town more than once
per season, too. The Yankees made their only appearance here last
month.
Are
the Twins pushing for a change from the league’s unbalanced schedule
that will bring these teams here more than once per season every year?
“One of these years we’ll get the Yankees twice (the White Sox do this
season),” St. Peter said. “We’ll rotate around. …Be careful of what you
ask for. From a competitive standpoint, I don’t want to play the
Yankees and Red Sox more than once. I appreciate the fan (interest)
piece of it. …You asked the question if we’re actively lobbying baseball
(for a schedule change) and the answer is no.”
St.
Peter highly values the quality of competition and rivalries in the AL
Central. He said schedules build rivalries and rivalries sell tickets.
“My sense is the best teams in baseball are in the American League
Central and the beauty of that is we get to play those teams 18 times,”
St. Peter said. “The true test of this will be look at what our
attendance will be the following week for the White Sox and Tigers (May
8-13).
“There are tremendous rivalries being developed here between (the)
Twins-White Sox, the Twins (and) the Tigers, the Twins (and) the
Indians. …We saw that last year as demonstrated by what happened the
second half of the season against both the White Sox and the Tigers. …”
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“My sense is the best teams in baseball
are in the American League Central and the beauty of that is we get to
play those teams 18 times.”
Dave St. Peter, Twins president
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins
Dave St. Peter
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Draft Expert: Vikings Get Top Grade
Count
Randy
Taylor among those impressed with the Vikings’ draft last weekend.
He thinks the team’s decision makers such as vice president of
player personnel Rick Spielman pulled off one of the best drafts
in the NFL. “I
don’t think there’s any question it’s an A (letter grade),” Taylor told
Sports Headliners.
Taylor is the Gophers’ director of football operations. For the past
five years he worked for Taylor Scouting Services and Scout.com as the
Director of NFL Experts. He is knowledgeable about many players drafted
through the NFL’s seven rounds last Saturday and Sunday.
Taylor talked with enthusiasm about the Vikings’ choices in rounds one,
two and three, running back Adrian Peterson of Oklahoma, wide
receiver Sidney Rice of South Carolina and corner back Marcus
McCauley of Fresno State. “Adrian Peterson is a guy that is so
talented; (if) he stays healthy he’s a dominant player,” Taylor said.
“Rice I think has great upside and McCauley, those three guys are all
first round possible guys. …”
Taylor said Rice is an “explosive” player and a “heck of a prospect.”
McCauley’s size (about 6-1, 203), physical style and ability to run
meant he “could have been a first round draft choice,” Taylor said.
“Another guy I really like is (linebacker) Rufus Alexander from
Oklahoma. …I thought he could be a first day draft choice,” Taylor said.
“He slipped all the way to the sixth round.”
That,
of course, raises the question as to why players like Rice, McCauley and
Alexander (he was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year) weren’t
chosen earlier. The short answer is time will tell. The longer
response is draft order can be impacted by what other teams need and
sometimes teams see real or imagined issues with players and others may
see those issues differently.
Taylor was asked about players from throughout the draft that may
surprise, guys who might eventually emerge as higher valued selections
than they are now. “I still kind of think the old Ohio State quarterback
(Troy Smith) could perform better than a lot of people have given
him credit for. I think a lot of people put too much weight on his last
game (national championship against Florida).
“Ted
Ginn, Jr. (Ohio State) to me is a talent guy and the jury is still out on whether
he’s worth the ninth pick (by Miami) in the draft. He can run and add
something to a football team that can change a game. Ted Ginn may win a
couple of games for them that a solid first round draft choice may not.
….So those are two guys who took a lot of heat for different reasons and
I would guess those guys will out perform what people think of them.”
Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy and led the Buckeyes to a No. 1
ranking, waited until the fifth round to be selected by Baltimore.
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Adrian Peterson
“I still kind of think the old Ohio
State quarterback (Troy Smith) could perform better than a lot of people
have given him credit for."
Randy Taylor of the Gophers
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Worth Noting
Miami
had an eye-opening pick in the sixth round, selecting 350-pound fullback
Reagan Mauia of Hawaii.
The
possibility of sending steam from the nearby Hennepin County Garbage
Incinerator to the new Twins stadium to provide heat for the seats is
being studied, according to team president Dave St. Peter.
Curlin
and Street Sense are distinct favorites to win tomorrow’s
Kentucky Derby. The event is a people watching extravaganza with lots
of celebrities. Will former Kentucky coach and now Gopher boss Tubby
Smith be in attendance? Fans locally can watch the derby and
live racing during opening day tomorrow at Canterbury Park.
Gopher football coach Tim Brewster
will have three camps in June at the University of Minnesota:
individual skills camp, June 10-12; youth camp, June 13-15; kicking
camp, June 18-19. More information at
www.brewsterball.com
Although contracts aren’t signed, it’s expected that the WCCO Radio team
of Dave Lee, Dave Mona and Darrell Thompson will be
back to cover Gopher football games starting in September.
Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, an extraordinary
writer, has an inspiring column on former Gopher Tony Dungy in
the April 30 issue of the magazine. Reilly describes how Dungy
befriended an Iowa truck driver who lost his 19-year-old son in a
motorcycle accident.
College Sporting News, Inc. has named Kirby Carr
of Bethel University and Hailey Harren of Gustavus Adolphus
College as its male and female honorees for this year's CSN Senior
Student-Athlete Award from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference. Carr, a biology major from Fergus Falls, was cited for his
excellence in football and baseball. Harren, a political
Science/Financial Economics major from Cold Spring, is a two-time MIAC
cross country champion and a two-time NCAA regional champ.
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Dave Mona
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