Stadium Friday

 I think I'm going to make this a regular thing. I want to take a day each week and highlight a stadium. 

Show a card of it and give some information on it.. 

Today is Metropolitan Stadium

Metropolitan Stadium was home to the Minnesota Twins.

It was also known as "The Met" and later "The Old Met" once the Metrodome was built. 

It started out as a Triple A Stadium for the Minneapolis Millers from 1956-1960. 

The Washington Senators moved here for the 1961 season, causing the seating capacity to go from 18,200-30,000, then 45,000. By time the Twins moved to the Dome, seating was 45,919.

So to get to the point where The Met was used by the Twins, we have a lot of boardroom dealing and other shenanigans. The Millers were the top team for the New York Giants. Thoughts were the Giants would move to Minneapolis. They ended up going to the west coast with the Dodgers, causing the Red Sox to take over the Millers as their farm team to allow the Giants rights to San Francisco. 

By time the Senators were being moved to Minneapolis, MLB folded the Millers and the St. Paul Saints. 

By the 1970s, there were talks of replacing the stadium already, as it had started to outgrow its usefulness to both the Twins and Vikings. Logistical problems and renovation issues also caused them to prefer a new stadium. Originally, the new stadium was just going to be for the Vikings, but the Twins joined in the discussion. The domed aspect was appealing due to the cold in April and Sept-Oct.. 

The stadium was not well maintained either, with railings falling off and the field not being up to par. 

The Old Met sat unused from 1982-1985 when it was finally demolished. In 1992, the Mall Of America was built on the site.