The Dirty Diaper

First and foremost, I am a huge baseball fan. I love everything about the sport. But the April 22 Minneapolis Star Tribune, columnist Sid Hartman left out some important information in his completely biased support for a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins and Twins owner Carl Pohlad.

For baseball statisticians, consider these facts:

Since 1991, 18 teams have opened new parks in the Major Leagues. While 15 of those teams have made the playoffs, only nine have made it to a World Series, and only four have won the crown: the White Sox (2005), the Marlins (2003), the Diamondbacks (2001), and the Braves (1995).

If you compare yearly payrolls for each of these teams, the average increase between the year the park opened for a particular team and 2006 is roughly 30%. But, of those 18 teams, three clubs have actually reduced their payroll since their ballpark opened: the Marlins, the Phillies, and the Pirates. The Reds have a 2006 payroll only 1.5 million dollars higher than their payroll in 2003, the year they opened Citizens Bank Ballpark. It took the Chicago White Sox 15 years and an almost 80% increase in team salary to bring home a championship.

Are the fans of Minnesota prepared to wait 15 years?

Even though a new ballpark generates more revenue, it is up to the owner to spend the money on the team. There is no law that requires an owner to allocate any percentage of revenue to team payroll. This is where the “business” of baseball comes to play. What is more important to a team owner: Fat pockets or championships?

On April 26, 2006 the Minnesota House of Representatives voted 76-55 to approve a bill allowing a $522 million ballpark to be built in downtown Minneapolis. The Twins would fork over $130 million, while the residents of Hennepin County would pay the rest, about $390 million or about 75 percent.

Recently a story popped up that questioned the Pohlad family’s political contributions to members of the Minnesota state government. The Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Republican Steve Sviggum, is quoted as saying, "There is absolutely no connection to Mr. Pohlad's contribution to Governor Pawlenty or the Democratic caucus or Steve Sviggum or wherever." No connection? Really? Then what is Pohlad’s reason for donating the money? Speaker Sviggum voted in favor of the ballpark bill. According to an Associated Press article, Governor Tim Pawlenty “opposed Twins plans as a state legislator but has been supportive as governor.”

Hartman goes on to throw two House members under the bus. One of them, Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, voted against the bill, an action that “…might have led the Twins to leave the Twin Cities,” according to Hartman.

"My district is 72 percent against the Hennepin County bill," Lenczewski is quoted as saying Thursday night, April 27^th, the day after the bill was passed.

I’m not sure who represents Mr. Hartman in the House, but it is the responsibility of a House representative to “represent” the voice of his or her constituents. If the people don’t want a ballpark, he or she votes “no.” I hope Ms. Lenczewski remains a member of the House for a long time. She seems to be good at her job.

By the way, earlier in the day when the bill was passed, a small clause was struck down that would have required the team to change their name from the Minnesota Twins to the Hennepin County Twins. Since Hennepin County residents are paying most of the bill for the ballpark, I think they have the right to name the team what they want. Remember, the fans pay the salaries, not the owner. And as long as you’re willing to cough up top dollar for tickets, the owner is willing to keep it.

Hartman writes that Pohlad has “made it clear that once he knows a ballpark is guaranteed he will be more than willing to spend money to put a winning team on the field…In fact, you could see Pohlad spending some money to improve the team this year once a ballpark becomes a reality.”

I can’t. If Pohlad wanted to spend money on the team, he would have during the off-season. He would not need a new ballpark to do it. If he wanted to spend "some money," how much is “some?”

The State of Minnesota has allowed Pohlad to continually threaten that he will take his team and go elsewhere if he is not given a new ballpark for his team, and finally the State caved. The revenue won’t start pouring in until the ballpark is built, so you have to wonder where he’ll get the money to spend for the next three to five years while the park is under construction. Perhaps from the same pocket he dug in to “donate” to House members.

Based on the bill, it looks like Pohlad has $130 million sitting around. If he took that and added it to the Twins 2006 payroll, the Twins would have the 2^nd highest payroll in Major League Baseball at $193,396,000, only about $1.2 million behind the Yankees.

If Carl Pohlad wants to win championships, he should give less money to legislators and more to his team and, ultimately, the fans. Maybe it’s easier to ask Mr. Hartman to publish a column only a few days before the vote on the bill, just enough time to let the true Twins fans call their House representatives.

Hartman finishes his amazingly one-sided argument by claiming that if the bill fails the Senate, fans can rest assured that, “by the end of the 2007 season Major League Baseball will buy the Twins just like it bought the Montreal franchise and moved it to Washington, D.C. And there are people in Las Vegas who are ready to welcome the Twins there.”

Maybe Hartman will go with them. He'll be their number one fan.

Resources:
Sid Hartman’s article: http://www.startribune.com/507/story/387539.html

The State of Minnesota Journal of the House, April 26, 2006: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cco/journals/2005-06/J0426096.htm

Story on MN House passing bill:

http://wcco.com/sports/local_story_116194546.html

Story on Pohlad's poltical contributions:

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/14509243.htm