Twins Would Like a Little Fresh Air

The Minnesota Twins want to play in the great outdoors again--and soon.

The Twins have asked major league baseball for permission to play three games against Texas next month at a temporary, 25,000-seat outdoor stadium near the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.

“The entire project is geared at generating excitement for Twins baseball and for the notion of playing outdoor baseball,” said Dave St. Peter, the team’s senior vice president of business affairs.

“We think it would be a fun thing to energize our fan base.”

The plan is to construct a ballpark in Bloomington that would be ready for the Rangers’ visit Sept. 18-20.

The shift would require the approval of major league baseball, the players’ union, the Rangers and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns and operates the Metrodome.

The Twins, who moved into the Dome in 1982, realize it’s a long shot.

“The worst thing they can do is say no,” St. Peter said. “But we’re going to go for it.”

Said baseball spokesman Pat Courtney: “We’re looking into it.”

While playing at an alternate site is not unique, it is rare.

In 1996, the Oakland Athletics were forced to open the home part of their schedule at Las Vegas because of construction at the Coliseum.

In recent years, major league games have been played in Japan and Mexico and Hawaii as baseball tries to expand its fan base.

Before that, the Montreal Expos had to go on the road for an extended period because of problems at Olympic Stadium.

The Twins, who hope to have an answer by next week, would pay for the temporary ballpark, which would be near the site of the old Metropolitan Stadium, where the Twins played from 1961-81, St. Peter said.

“It wouldn’t cost the city or state anything,” he said.

Bill Lester, executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, said he’s concerned with the team’s lease and contracts for concessions and signs.

He said he hoped to have an answer in a week to 10 days.

“I think they’re trying to get this to serve as a catalyst to remind Minnesota of outdoor baseball,” Lester said. “Our issue is not with that. Our issue is that it affects the lease and we have to be very careful when it comes to that.

“We have to look at the ramifications, the impact on advertisers and broadcasters and the like. Now, there may be a way to deal with those.”

If lawyers for the Dome sign off on the request, Lester said he would convene a special meeting of the commission to vote on the Twins’ proposal.

The commission’s long-term goal is to seek a new outdoor ballpark for the Twins while remodeling the 18-year-old Metrodome into a football-only facility for the Vikings and the University of Minnesota.

Numerous efforts by the Twins to get public financing for a new ballpark have failed in recent years. The Twins have three one-year options on their Metrodome lease after this season.

The team has convened a citizens’ panel to study the feasibility of keeping big league baseball in the state, and a separate group is looking into private financing options for a Twins stadium.

The Vikings’ lease at the Metrodome runs through 2011, but they’re seeking support for a new stadium because they say renovation wouldn’t do enough to boost revenue.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team also wants a new stadium, but doesn’t want to share it with the Vikings. It wants an outdoor stadium on campus.