METROPOLITAN STADIUM (1956-1985) ******************************** HOME OF THE: MINNESOTA TWINS This home-made ball park has been created for use with Diamond Mind Baseball v8. The dimensions and image are to depict the stadium as it looked in 1968. LFL L LFG C RFG R RFL *** *** *** *** *** *** *** DISTANCE: 346 360 405 425 385 353 330 HEIGHT: 12 12 12 8 12 12 5 PARK FACTORS LEFT HANDED BATTERS RIGHT HANDED BATTERS ************ ******************* ******************** S D T HR S D T HR *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 112 110 106 104 112 105 106 104 SURFACE: Natural Grass FOUL TERRITORY: Normal The Minneapolis Millers of the American Association were the first tenants of this park, when it initially opened in 1956. The Minnesota Twins played their first game here on April 21st, 1961. Some memorable moments at this park, ... April 21st, 1961: On opening day the Twins, transplanted from Washington, inaugurate major league baseball in Minnesota, wih the final score Washington Senators (a new expansion team) 5, Minnesota Twins 3 - or "new" Senators 5, "old" Senators 3. May 9th, 1961: Baltimore Orioles first baseman Jim Gentile hits two grand-slam home runs - in consecutive innings - in a Baltimore victory over Minnesota, 13-5. July 18th, 1962: Minnesota's Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison both hit grand-slam home runs in an eleven-run first inning, of an eventual 14-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. July 23rd, 1964: Kansas City Athletics shortstop Bert Campaneris hits two home runs in his first major league game, one of which is on the first pitch, in his first time at bat. (Over the next nineteen years, Campaneris will come to bat 8,682 more times but manage only 77 more homers, about one for every 110 at bats.) October 7th, 1965: In the second game of the World Series, Minnesota's Jim Kaat outpitches the Los Angeles Dodgers Sandy Koufax, 5-1, assisted by a sensational one-handed diving catch by left fielder Bob Allison in the fifth inning. October 14th, 1965: In the seventh and deciding game of the World Series, Koufax gets his revenge, this time pitching a three-hit shutout, with ten strikeouts, beating Minnesota's Kaat, 2-0, and winning the World Series for the Dodgers. The above comments are from the book: "Lost Ballparks - A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields," by Lawrence S. Ritter. ********************************************* METROPOLITAN STADIUM IS FROM THE CREATORS OF: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Baseball's Analytical Search Engine +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tdmilne Ron Gudykunst - ronlg@aol.com Tom Milne - tdmilne@compuserve.com