Going, Going...

MINNEAPOLIS —  The facing of the white draping that hides the empty, right-center-field seats in the upper deck at the Metrodome reflects a colorful history.

Affixed to the draping are banners commemorating the World Series titles of 1987 and 1991, the American League title of 1965, and the division titles of ’69 and ’70.

There also are large photographs of Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett, a group of renowned players who have each had their uniform numbers retired by the Minnesota Twins.

Now, the comparatively young, home-grown and modestly paid Twins of 2002--a $40-million payroll ranks 27th among the 30 teams--are trying to enhance that history by winning the division title they unexpectedly chased into last August before finishing second in the American League Central with 85 wins, six games behind the Cleveland Indians.

Now, before that draping becomes nothing more than the shroud on a once-thriving franchise, before it reaches the point, perhaps, where there is nothing left but the dirge of contraction, the Twins are trying to deliver what they still hope will be more than a final statement.

The hope in the clubhouse, and for the loyalists in the stands and community, is that the Minnesota Legislature, before it adjourns May 20, will produce a stadium finance bill attractive enough to lure a prospective buyer and remove the Twins from the contraction gallows.

Jerry Bell, the Twins’ president and liaison to owner Carl Pohlad, has assured a conference committee of the Minnesota Senate and House that a viable financing package will eliminate the specter of contraction, but the future of the Twins remains as complex and uncertain as the deep-rooted skepticism regarding the true intentions of Pohlad and Commissioner Bud Selig, his close friend and onetime debtor.

The clock is ticking here, and if the Twins helped regenerate enthusiasm with their promising season last year, the players know that their early success in the new season may not be as important to the franchise’s future as what the Legislature does in the next three weeks.

“At this point,” infielder Denny Hocking said, “we can only worry about the things we can control. We spent a long winter worrying about contraction and stadium issues. Now we just have to worry about putting more runs on the board than the team we’re playing. We’ve been given a reprieve. We feel we’ve been given one year to do something and we’re up to the challenge. We have an opportunity to play this one last year together and we’re excited about that.”

The reprieve came in the form of legal hurdles, forestalling contraction in 2002, saving the Twins and Montreal Expos from the gallows.

Now, in a preview of what could become Selig’s worst nightmare, the Expos also are acting as if they have title aspirations, and if the thought of a Minnesota-Montreal World Series isn’t enough to give the commissioner palpitations, as Twin first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz put it, teammate Hocking said he has to believe both teams “are on a mission ... [although] I don’t think we need motivation to win. We have the talent to win, period.”

The Expos, of course, are done in Montreal despite their April success.

The Twins, who in 1988 became the first American League team to draw 3 million, are a different story.

The Metrodome is not back to the Homer Hankie, decibel-busting electricity of the 1987 and 1991 World Series, but attendance is up almost 40,000 from the 1.7 million pace of last year (when it jumped 700,000 in response to the first winning season since 1992) and, said Mientkiewicz, “I got goose bumps when we had 49,000 here on opening night this year, and it’s certainly an improvement over when I first came up in ’98 and our crowds were so small you could hear people ordering hot dogs.”

In addition, in response to Selig’s Nov. 6 contraction announcement, a “Keep the Twins at Home” drive obtained 185,000 signatures in a three-week sweep through the club’s five-state market.

“I think we made a real statement,” organizer Paul Ridgeway said in reflection. “People want the Twins to stay and are willing to support a public-private partnership, depending on the Twins’ contribution. I also think most legislators now feel it’s safe to support a stadium financing bill, depending on the Twins’ contribution.”

Separate bills have passed the Senate and House and are being consolidated in committee, in consultation with the Twins.

Ultimately, Minnesota sources believe Gov. Jesse Ventura, despite his concern over baseball’s labor problems, his reservations about government involvement, the lingering memory of his Congressional free-for-all with Selig and the fact he is closing the Governor’s Mansion because of a budget shortfall, will see that a viable package gets done.

The basic plan calls for a $330-million, roof-ready park, with the House version asking the Twins to pay $165 million, which is considerably more than Forbes magazine’s recent franchise valuation of $127 million and the $150 million Pohlad reportedly will receive if the Twins are contracted.

A highly placed baseball official said he thinks an agreement at $100 million, which the club has offered in previous scenarios, is workable, but the situation is so complex that it is difficult to predict how it will play out.

Said Bell, the Twins’ president: “I’m confident they’re going to pass something, but I’m not yet confident it will attract a new buyer. They could say, ‘Here, we’ve passed a new stadium bill, it’s a good bill, take it or leave it.’ They could do that as easy as not.”

Said Pam Wheelock, Ventura’s finance commissioner: “It is not government’s responsibility to help the Twins sell the team at a favorable price.”

Besides the daunting question of how much the Twins contribute, there is a hornets’ nest of other potential hurdles. Among them:

* Legislators wary of increasing taxes have to be cognizant of the stadium demands that are also coming from the NFL Vikings and University of Minnesota.

* There is the risk of an uncivil war in determining which Twin city would be home to the new park.

* And there is no assurance that Pohlad, absent recent offers, can find a buyer--local or otherwise--willing to take on the stadium obligation and a franchise value inflated by the threat of contraction at a time when 1) labor problems could shut down the industry in November or before, 2) the players’ union still has a contraction grievance pending, and 3) the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, having stopped contraction in 2002 by winning a temporary injunction, is now slated to go to court in August, arguing it was prevented from negotiating a new lease with the Twins because of contraction.

If all of that isn’t enough to give a prospective owner pause, there is also the issue of local revenue.

Some in baseball believe it’s just not there--even in a new park.

Operating in the nation’s 13th-largest market, the Twins currently rank 29th in revenue, ahead of only the Expos.

An industry official, making the case for contraction, said the club expects to lose more than $15 million this year despite the attendance increase and a $23-million dole from revenue sharing.

No one is more familiar with Pohlad and the complexities than Clark Griffith, a Minneapolis lawyer and son of Calvin Griffith, the former Twins’ owner.

Griffith believes in the market--”the relationship between owner and community has never been properly nurtured,” he said--but his offers to buy the team in 1994 and 1997 were rejected.

“I have a group that’s still interested, but it’s definitely complicated,” Griffith said, raising questions pertaining to Pohlad’s commitment to selling, the Legislature’s ability to develop a workable stadium plan and the labor risk at the end of the season.

“Then there’s the uncertainty of contraction, which gives Pohlad an attractive option financially and artificially inflates the value of the franchise, making it difficult for a prospective local owner,” Griffith said.

“The cost of the franchise, combined with the stadium obligation, can’t be so onerous that it prevents a new owner from making the necessary player moves.”

Contraction, of course, paralyzed the uncertain Twins until Selig gave them permission to conduct business as usual in January.

Third base coach Ron Gardenhire celebrated the New Year on Jan. 4 when he was selected to replace the retiring Tom Kelly as manager.

“It was an ugly winter in the Twin Cities,” Gardenhire said, not referring to the weather. “Everybody in the organization was burdened with questions they couldn’t answer. It was no fun, but as I told the players in spring training, ‘Now comes the fun part. Now you get to go out and play.’”

No one in the Minnesota clubhouse believes the team has played to its full ability yet, but the Twins are 11-1 at home, 6-10 on the road and only a half game behind the Chicago White Sox despite the loss of middle infielders Cristian Guzman and Luis Rivas, designated hitter David Ortiz and 17-game winner Joe Mays, all out with injuries and only Guzman not on the disabled list.

Gardenhire calls it his M*A*S*H unit, but he makes no excuses.

“We have to play every series like it’s our last,” he said. “If we pitch and catch like we’re capable, we can compete with anyone in the division. This is the third year at this level for most of our guys. Our goal is to get into September in the race. We were there last year and didn’t perform. We should have learned from it and be better for it.”

Pitching the ball and catching it is the Twins’ strength, as Gardenhire noted.

A physically sound Mays would give the Twins three starters who won 15 or more games last year. First baseman Mientkiewicz (pronounced Mint-kay-vich) and center fielder Torii Hunter, a budding superstar who is tied for second in the AL in home runs, won Gold Gloves last year, third baseman Corey Koskie may soon join them, and a sound Guzman and Rivas may be the league’s best double-play duo now that Roberto Alomar is no longer teamed with Omar Vizquel.

“There’s no doubt in my mind we should win the division,” Mientkiewicz said. “We have one more year under our belt, and the guys we’re pulling up from triple-A have been up before. If we had gone wire to wire last year, we wouldn’t have known how we did it. This year there’s a realization it’s a marathon and our better baseball is to come.”

Along with it, of course, will come the constant reminders about contraction and the uncertain future, a test of their focus.

“Everyone made it seem that all we had to do was win and it would go away, but we [finished above .500] for the first time in a long time last year and it’s still in our face,” Mientkiewicz said. “We’ve proven we can be competitive, and now it’s up to the fans and legislature. We’ll keep doing our part, but our part in the grand scheme of things is minor.”

Maybe not.

It would be hard to contract two division winners, if it came to that.

About as hard as getting a reading on the commissioner’s palpitations, if the Twins and Expos make it happen.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

*--* How They Compare Attendance per game (rank) 2002 2002 record (rank) payroll (rank) SEATTLE (1st) 41,318 N.Y. BOSTON (1st) 17-7 (.708) YANKEES (1st) $125,92 8,583 MINNESOTA (23rd) 20,727 MINNESO MINNESOTA (T7th) 17-11 (.607) TA (27th) $40,225 ,000 MONTREAL (30th) 8,143 MONTREA MONTREAL (T4th) 17-10 (.630) L (29th) $38,670 ,500 Source: Major League Baseball TAMPA MILWAUKEE (30th) 8-19 (.296) BAY (30th) $34,380 ,000

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