Advertisement
Loyalty and stability were the hallmarks of Carl Pohlad’s time as owner, and the Twins don’t expect that to change as son Jim Pohlad officially assumes control of the organization.
“You lack some of the chaos that I think exists generally speaking in many pro sports franchises,” president Dave St. Peter said Tuesday, the day after Pohlad died at age 93. “I think it’s probably the biggest factor in our success.”
Despite two World Series titles in the first seven years after his purchase of the Twins in 1984, the only major championships here since the Minneapolis Lakers ruled the NBA in the early 1950s, public approval of the Pohlad regime plummeted in the late 1990s during unsuccessful attempts to secure funding for a new stadium.
When word leaked that Pohlad had approved Major League Baseball’s plan to eliminate the club, a move ultimately blocked in court before the 2002 season, fans were fired up.
Even as player spending increased and the Twins won four AL Central titles over the last seven years, the Pohlad name had a negative connotation for the majority of the customers. Being a billionaire three times over, while popular players like Torii Hunter left for larger paychecks with other teams, didn’t help.
But Pohlad’s reluctance to lose money in the low-revenue Metrodome was as strong as the belief of his front office that the draft and player development is the way to build a contender — and not spending freely on big-buck free agents.
In fact, sometimes his chief executives were more cautious than he was.
Jerry Bell, a close friend of Pohlad’s who served as team president from 1987-2002 and now oversees the construction of the new ballpark, recalled a discussion they had in the winter before the 1991 season about whether to give pitcher Jack Morris a $3.7 million, one-year contract to join the Twins’ rotation.
Morris helped lead a worst-to-first turnaround that year and was MVP of the World Series.
“I said to Carl, ’If we sign him, we’ll be a better team, but I can’t testify we’ll sell enough tickets to cover all those salaries,“’ Bell said. “Then he said to me, ’We’ll amortize it over two years.’ He really wanted to get him.”
There were some hasty moves.
After an overhaul of the team in 1999 put 18 different rookies on the field, Pohlad hired former airline executive Chris Clouser as chief executive officer to help with a renewed push for marketing. Clouser didn’t fit, though, and his desire to fire manager Tom Kelly soon led to his departure.
That, however, was the exception. Kelly retired and was replaced in 2002 by Ron Gardenhire. Terry Ryan was hired as general manager in 1994, but only after Andy MacPhail left for a promotion with the Chicago Cubs. Bill Smith succeeded Ryan, who stepped aside to become a senior adviser.
“It starts with loyalty and it’s followed by patience,” St. Peter said. He added: “He provided me incredible opportunities to advance throughout the organization and take over a leadership role. I’m indebted to him forever. With the fortune of working with him, we certainly learned a lot about business and about how to go about making business decisions as well as about character, trying to have vision, and perspective. And, frankly, a lot about hard work.”
Jim Pohlad became the “day-in, day-out point person” in the late 1990s, St. Peter said, and proactively encouraged the front office last winter to lock up stars Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan to long-term contracts after Hunter left and Johan Santana was traded. Those deals cost $151 million over a total of 13 guaranteed years.
Morneau was grateful.
“I’m sure his legacy will live on and he’ll be remembered not only by the Twins front-office staff, but the great fans of Minnesota and the Twins players proud to wear the uniform under his leadership,” the first baseman said in a statement distributed Tuesday by the team. “His contributions and commitment to sports and the Minnesota community will never be forgotten.”
Nor will his impact on the franchise fade anytime soon.
“Jim is never going to be looking for publicity and in fact would prefer to stay away from it,” Bell said. “That’s his nature, but he provides a lot of leadership and direction. ... I know he will operate the team much the way Carl wanted it.”
