Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 05, 2009
Pohlad Passes

Carl Pohlad died today, Monday:

When Pohlad paid Calvin Griffith $38 million for the Twins in 1984, he was widely credited for saving baseball in Minnesota. With the purchase, he inherited a promising group of young players including Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek and future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

"I live and die by every pitch," Pohlad once told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I want so badly for them to win. ... If it isn't competitive and you don't have a team with character, it won't be any fun."

Minnesota won World Series championships in 1987 and 1991, triumphing in tense seven-game showdowns against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves. Fans filled the Metrodome, waving Homer Hankies, but the ballpark, built inexpensively to open in 1982, quickly became shunned by many for its stuffy, artificial atmosphere.

Revenue streams were also limited, which hurt the Twins' ability to keep up with bigger-spending teams in bigger media markets.

Pohlad never went out of his way to help the team with his own money, however. Injections of cash could have helped keep some stars in town. Having paid $38 million for the team, Forbes valued the Twins at $328 million last year. Pohlad could have used some of that equity to keep Santana around, for example, rather than just the yearly revenue the Twins produced.

Still, Carl does get credit for hiring good baseball people who brought two World Championships to the Twin Cities and have kept the team highly competitive in this decade.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.


Posted by David Pinto at 07:04 PM | Deaths | TrackBack (0)
Comments

To a man worth $ 2.5 billion, having to pay $ 125 million of the estimated $ 520 million cost of the new stadium probably contributed to his demise.

Posted by: Bob Tufts at January 5, 2009 07:44 PM

Don't forget that he tried to have his own team 'contracted' to save himself some money. That deserves a mention in his obituary too.

Posted by: Peder at January 5, 2009 09:01 PM

And one of his institutions loaned the Brewers money in potential violation of MLB rules...

http://www2.jsonline.com/sports/brew/jan02/11147.asp

Posted by: Bob Tufts at January 5, 2009 09:18 PM

He was a criminal who robbed innocent taxpayers. That's the only way he should be remembered.

Posted by: Kristen at January 5, 2009 09:42 PM
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