His Minneapolis background meant he shared with me about the Minneapolis Millers when I was a kid. The Millers? The baseball team has sort of faded into the dustbin of history. I find that sad.
It is understood that when the Twins were created in 1961, euphoria took over. Yes, big league ball at last! A long-held goal requiring considerable patience. You might say excruciating patience. Metropolitan Stadium (on the Bloomington prairie) opened for play in 1956. Yet the Twins did not take the field until 1961. Before that, rumors swirled about when "the bigs" would come and if so, what team? Would it be an expansion team?
Expansion teams in that era had to take lumps at the start, the best example being the 1962 New York Mets. Would Minnesotans have the patience to hang in there with a bunch of misfits? Good question. When we got the Timberwolves, you remember, our philosophy was to eschew the expansion team model and just try to "win, baby." We did OK on that count with Bill Musselman, RIP, but we failed to get the kind of premium draft picks that would have yielded big. We drafted Felton Spencer. A friend of mine described the center as "Herman Munster."
The Minneapolis Millers made Metropolitan Stadium their home from 1956 through 1960. In '60 the feeling must have been overwhelming that the door was about to be closed on Millers history. Such is the lot of the minor league baseball fan: they appreciate the game for its most basic qualities, knowing full well their team cannot hold a candle to the majors.
It's bittersweet to remember those Millers, a team that caught my father's admiring eye. The Millers have never escaped the orbit of my baseball thoughts. The old revered TV anchor Dave Moore did not dismiss the Millers as the years went by. In particular he expressed nostalgia about the Millers' pre-1956 home: Nicollet Park.
Whereas the Twins strained to be neutral when it came to Minneapolis vs. St. Paul, in a manner that seems quaint now, the Millers were Minneapolis. A downtown ballpark. I'm sure it had the kind of intimacy we'd associate with minor league parks.
The Twin Cities were indeed at the top of the minor league firmament. But alas, little real satisfaction to be taken from that in the big picture. "The bigs" are what mattered.
I doubt that the old Nicollet baseball park was much more than a typical Triple-A facility. It's really hard to believe that the Twin Cities weren't big league in the 1950s. Gophers football was the big-time attraction with the likes of Paul Giel. I wonder what it was like being at Nicollet ball park. The game of baseball has beauty wherever it is played at a high level.
The Millers were high enough to attract some pretty big names. Although players hardly ever say anything positive about the minors, they must know it exists to further their careers. Ted Williams as a Minneapolis Miller? Wow, that was the case in 1938, so we can only conclude that Williams (no relation to your blog host) was deemed not quite ready to take the field with the Red Sox. And yet Williams hit the cover off the ball when playing for Minneapolis. He was age 19.
What thrills fans received in that summer of 1938! Winds of war were building around the globe. But Miller fans, perhaps with my Dad in the ranks sometimes, got to enjoy seeing Williams bat .366. So then what happens? You know the script: a stellar talent in minor league ball isn't around long. Williams packed his bags and headed to Boston. He did build affinity here in Minnesota: he established his off-season home, enjoyed hunting and even met his future wife!
My father took the reins of the Apollo Male Chorus in 1951. That's quite the distinctive year from Millers annals: none other than Willie Mays donned the Millers uniform. Willie Mays! He knocked the cover off the ball to an ever greater extent than Williams. His stay here was shorter. Twin Cities sports media icon Halsey Hall vented frustration about how the better Millers would be plucked by the parent club. It had to be frustrating but it was a fact of life for the minors. Today we take for granted we're in the "big time."
What would the Miller fans say if they traveled by time machine to see Target Field of today? Or the previous Metrodome? It would be jaw-dropping, and yet I'm reminded of how Dave Moore drifted into dreamy nostalgia when talking about Nicollet Park.
Maybe all the bells and whistles don't mean everything. They might in fact be secondary as one considers the beauty of a summer night downtown in the '50s, the captivating sound of bat meeting ball, the bursts of cheers, the camaraderie of all the fans, the opportunity for young people to engage in some dating behavior.
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| Willie Mays, 1951 |
I'm sure smoke from tobacco products wafted about. I'm sure there was some excess alcohol consumption. I witnessed fans availing themselves of this vice at Metropolitan Stadium. I remember the "dollar size" beer: the "large" size! Excuse me if that made you faint.
Target Field today seems almost like Emerald City. How much further can we go with opulence? Is this always where happiness lies? I'm sure a summer afternoon at Nicollet Park could be abundantly pleasant.
My father talked with fondness about the Millers. I hope some of the fans also availed themselves to hear the Apollo Male Chorus.
My family resided in the Twin Cities through 1960. I was born in the east metro suburb of Ramsey. I was baptized at Central Lutheran of Minneapolis in 1955. My father taught at the U of M-St. Paul School of Agriculture in the '50s.
My life might have developed in the urban environment. Instead Dad came back out to pastoral western Minnesota. His mission: to help start the University of Minnesota-Morris. The memories of our Twin Cities life have always stayed close to us. The Minneapolis Millers are most definitely part of that.
My podcast for February 10
I have recorded today's "Morris Mojo" podcast in the ice cold of the 2021 winter. Below zero, yes. So it's therapeutic to call up memories of Twins baseball. I'm reflecting back to 1962. I was seven years old. On my podcast I share my original lyrics/poetry inspired by the Twins' MVP of '62: Vic Power. What an unforgettable player! Please click on permalink:
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| Fans of the Millers arrive at Nicollet Park, Minneapolis. (Stew Thornley image) |
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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