April 21, 1961: The Minnesota Twins play their first home game, at Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington. Ironically, they played the team that took their place, the "new" Washington Senators. Washington won, 5-3.
Major League Baseball in Minnesota began with Camilo Pascual pitching to Marty Keough, who singled to right. Pascual, noted for having one of the best curveballs of that era, gave up a 2-run home run in that inning, to Dale Long. In the 4th inning, Don Mincher hit the 1st Twins home run at "The Met." But the Senators won.
The Minneapolis Millers won 10 Pennants in the American Association: 1896, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1915, 1932, 1935, 1955, 1958 and 1959. Their arch-rivals, the St. Paul Saints, won only 2: 1924 and 1948. The arrival of the Twins for the 1961 meant the end for both of them.
The New York Giants baseball team almost moved to Minneapolis for the 1958 season. Metropolitan Stadium had opened 2 years earlier, in the hope of attracting both Major League Baseball and the NFL to the Gopher State, and the Millers were the Giants' top farm team. But when Walter O'Malley was preparing to move the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles, he needed another team in California to help him save on travel costs, and talked Giants owner Horace Stoneham into moving to San Francisco instead.
The Twins' original ballpark, Metropolitan Stadium, was in the suburb of Bloomington, on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River, but roughly equidistant from the downtowns of both Minneapolis and St. Paul. Or as close as could have been hoped for: Minneapolis' City Hall is 10 miles away from the site, and St. Paul's is 11.6 miles. The site of the Millers' previous home, Nicollet Park, was 8.2 miles; that of the Saints' Lexington Park, 9.6 miles.
The team is called "Minnesota," because they didn't want to slight either city. It is called the "Twins" because Minneapolis and St. Paul are the "Twin Cities." Well, these "twins" are not identical: They have different mindsets, and, manifesting in several ways. Minneapolis has about 430,000 people, St. Paul 300,000, and the combined metropolitan area a little under 3.7 million. And, despite being the smaller city, St. Paul is the State capital.
The Met had one deck along the 3rd base stands and in the right field bleachers, two decks from 1st base to right field and in the left field bleachers, and three decks behind home plate. Somebody once said the stadium looked like an Erector set that a kid was putting together, before his mother called him away to dinner, and he never finished it. At 45,919 seats, it had a capacity that was just fine for baseball; but at 48,446, it was too small for the NFL.
On September 17, 1961, the expansion Minnesota Vikings played their 1st regular-season game at The Met. They beat the Chicago Bears 37-13.
The Vikings reached 4 Super Bowls while playing at The Met, while the Twins won Games 1, 2 and 6 of the 1965 World Series there, but lost Game 7 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a shutout by Sandy Koufax. (So the Twins are 11-1 all-time in World Series home games, but 0-9 on the road.) The Vikings were far more formidable in their ice tray of a stadium, which had no protection from the sun, and nothing to block an Arctic blast of wind.
Within 3 months in 1965, The Met played host to baseball's All-Star Game and its World Series, and to The Beatles. It was 1 of 11 major league ballparks where The Beatles played. The others were Shea Stadium in New York, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Comiskey Park in Chicago, the Municipal Stadiums in Cleveland and Kansas City, District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington, Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
But the desire to not lose early games to postponements due to snow or cold, thus piling up games later in the season with fewer days off, led to the building of the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. The Twins' last game at The Met was on September 30, 1981, a 5-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals. The Vikings' last game there was on December 20, 1981, and they also lost to Kansas City, 10-6 to the Chiefs.
Demolition began early in 1985. The Mall of America, the largest shopping center in the United States, opened on the site in 1992. The location of home plate, and the red seat where the longest home run in the stadium's history, a 1967 blast by Harmon Killebrew, landed have been preserved in their original locations. The following year, across the street, the Metropolitan Sports Center, which had been home to the NHL's Minnesota North Stars and the ABA's Minnesota Muskies, was demolished in 1994, and an IKEA store was built on the site.
Like most of the combined baseball and football stadiums that were built in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, The Met did what it was supposed to do: It provided a place for teams to play, until a better one could be built. (In this case, that didn't happen. But it did happen to the Metrodome, when the Twins moved to Target Field in 2010, and the Vikings moved to U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016.) Some of those stadiums allowed teams to move in to a city/region, others prevented teams from moving out.
But, more than that, The Met made Minnesota "major league." It is true that the Minneapolis Lakers won 5 NBA Championships in a span of 6 seasons from 1949 to 1954. It is also true that the NBA wasn't exactly major at the time. But between 1961 and 1968, the Twin Cities would have teams in all 4 major league sports.
It lost the ABA's Minnesota Muskies in 1968, and didn't get another NBA team until the Timberwolves arrived in 1989. It lost the NHL's North Stars in 1993, and they were replaced by the Minnesota Wild in 2000. But, with Metropolitan Stadium bringing in a major league baseball team, it made Minneapolis, and all of Minnesota, major league. (At the time, the addition of a pro football team was considered basically a bonus.)
UPDATE: The Twins have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1965 American League Pennant, they have inducted team owner Calvin Griffith, executives George Brophy and Tom Mee, public address announcer Bob Casey, broadcaster Herb Carneal; 1st baseman Harmon Killebrew, shorstop Zoilo Versalles, left fielder Bob Allison, right fielder Tony Oliva, catcher Earl Battey, utility player César Tovar; and pitchers Camilo Pascual, Jim Kaat and Jim Perry.
From their 1969 and 1970 AL Western Division titles, they have inducted 2nd baseman Rod Carew, along with Griffith, Brophy, Mee, Casey, Carneal, Killebrew, Allison, Oliva, Tovar, Kaat and Perry.
From their 1987 World Champions, they have inducted Mee, Casey, Carneal, Oliva (now a coach), Blyleven (who had left and returned); team owner Carl Pohlad, general manager Andy MacPhail, executives Jerry Bell and Jim Rantz, manager Tom Kelly, coach Rick Stelmaszek, broadcasters Dick Bremer and John Gordon; 1st baseman Kent Hrbek, shortstop Greg Gagne, 3rd baseman Gary Gaetti, left fielder Dan Gladden, center fielder Kirby Puckett, and pitcher Frank Viola.
From their 1991 World Champions, they have inducted Pohlad, Mee, Casey, Carneal, Oliva, MacPhail, Bell, Rantz, Kelly, Stelmaszek, Bremer, Gordon, Hrbek, Gagne, Puckett; coach Ron Gardenhire, and pitcher Rick Aguilera.
From their AL Central Division titles of 2002, '03, '04, '06, '09 and '10, they have inducted Pohlad, Gardenhire (now the manager), Casey, Carneal, Gordon, Bell, Rantz, Stelmaszek, Blyleven (having returned as a broadcaster), general manager Terry Ryan; catcher Joe Mauer, 1st baseman Justin Morneau, 3rd baseman Corey Koskie, center fielder Torii Hunter, right fielder Michael Cuddyer; and pitchers Eddie Guardado, Brad Radke, Johan Santana and Joe Nathan.
As yet, there have been no honorees from their Division Champions of 2019, '20 and '23, except broadcaster Bremer, who retired after the 2023 season.
The Vikings have a Ring of Honor. From their 1969 NFL Champions, they have inducted head coach Bud Grant, general manager Jim Finks, team physician Fred Zamberletti; running back Bill Brown, center Mick Tinglehoff, offensive tackle Ron Yary, defensive ends Jim Marshall and Carl Eller, defensive tackle Alan Page, cornerback Bobby Bryant and safety Paul Krause -- but not quarterback Joe Kapp.
From their 1973, '74 and '76 NFC Champions, they have inducted Grant, Finks, Zamberletti, Brown, Tinglehoff, Yary, Marshall, Eller, Page, Bryant, Krause; quarterback Fran Tarkenton, running back Chuck Foreman, receiver Ahmad Rashad and linebacker Matt Blair.
From their team that reached the 1987 NFC Championship Game, they have inducted Zamberletti, head coach Jerry Burns, tight end Steve Jordan, defensive end Chris Doleman, linebacker Scott Studwell, and safety Joey Browner.
From their team that reached the 1998 and 2000 NFC Championship Games, they have inducted Zamberletti, head coach Dennis Green, receivers Cris Carter and Randy Moss, guard Randall McDaniel, offensive tackle Korey Stringer and defensive tackle John Randle -- but not quarterbacks Randall Cunningham or Daunte Culpepper.
From their team that reached the 2009 NFC Championship Game, they have inducted Zamberletti (who finally retired after the 2011 season), defensive tackle Kevin Williams, and defensive end Jared Allen. No members of their team that reached the 2017 NFC Championship Game have yet been inducted.
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April 21, 1961 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The hockey season had ended 5 days earlier, with the Chicago Black Hawks defeating the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup. The basketball season had ended 5 days before that, with the Boston Celtics defeating the St. Louis Hawks for the NBA Championship.
And these other baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Whitey Ford outpitched Steve Barber, who did pitch well enough to suggest that his arm was neither sore nor a little stiff. (Ball Four reference.) Mickey Mantle hit his 4th home run of the season. Roger Maris was still looking for his 1st. Little did anyone know...
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Ernie Banks went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 9-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Rookie Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-3 at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. (Cleveland's home was also named Municipal Stadium.)
* The St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants were rained out at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It was made up 2 days later, on April 23, as part of a doubleheader. The Giants won the opener, 2-1. Stan Musial went 1-for-4, but only appeared as a pinch-hitter, not reaching base, in the nightcap, which the Cardinals won, 7-4. Over the 2 games, Willie Mays went 3-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Milwaukee Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. It was made up 3 days later, on April 24. The Pirates won, 7-6. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Hank Aaron went 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs.
* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Sandy Koufax went the distance for the win. He struck out 11, and walked only 3. He had found his control. He also got a hit in the game. But he did give up a home run to Frank Robinson.
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