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MINNESOTA TWINS President Dave St. Peter, left, is welcomed by Forest Lake Lions Club member Howard Lestrud at the club’s luncheon in Wyoming on Thursday. Lestrud invited St. Peter to speak to the Lions after hearing him talk in Elk River last year. “He didn’t even hesitate,” said Lestrud. “He said, ‘By all means.’”
(Photo by Clint Riese)
Twins president graces FL Lions luncheon
Clint Riese
Sports Editor
The special guest at the Forest Lake Lions Club’s Thursday meeting came straight out of left field. Minnesota Twins President Dave St. Peter spent an hour sharing insights from the big leagues with a crowd of dedicated fans at Stars & Strikes in Wyoming. With an overachieving squad and a new ballpark in the works, St. Peter proclaimed it a great time to live in Twins territory.
“I am a little surprised at where we are this soon,” the 41-year-old North Dakota native said. “We went into this offseason knowing it was going to be a transitional year. You don’t take a Torii Hunter and Johan Santana out of your lineup... without it having some impact. We knew we were getting good players in return and we had good players in our system and that we’d be competitive. What we did not expect is how the division would be.”
St. Peter oversees the franchise’s business operations and strategic planning. Though he gave honest opinions about the club’s personnel moves, he works closer with the new stadium than the on-field product. He acknowledges that the Metrodome has been a special home, but says that fans deserve a more traditional environment.
“Basically, you’ve been watching baseball in the corner of a football stadium for the last 10 years,” he said.
The Twins have had discussions with Major League Baseball about hosting a future All-Star Game in the $544 million, 40,000-seat facility, perhaps as soon as 2014, the 19-year Twins employee said.
“It will be three blocks from the heart, center and soul of downtown Minneapolis,” said St. Peter. “This will not be a cookie-cutter ballpark. What makes Wrigley Field and Fenway Park so special is that they have character. This ballpark will have character.”
The stadium’s grass will be planted remotely this week, St. Peter said, and the organization is close to purchasing a 103-by-56-foot HDTV scoreboard.
In the meantime, fans can enjoy this year’s second-half playoff race.
“The good news for Twins fans is we have tremendous stability in this roster,” St. Peter said. “These are the guys you are going to see in ‘09 and even in 2010 going into the new ballpark.”
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