Minnesota

Twins sale highlights stability after near contraction. So why did the North Stars fail?

Published

1 year ago

November 9, 2024

Twins sale highlights stability after near contraction. So why did the North Stars fail?

How the North Stars failed

FOX 9 interviewed fans, media members and former team employees about the North Stars’ financial struggles as part of an upcoming documentary about the franchise leaving Minnesota.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – The Minnesota Twins could now sell for $1.5 billion less than 25 years after they were nearly contracted out of baseball altogether. The North Stars also nearly folded in the 1980s. But after changes in ownership, the team failed to find stability in Minnesota before relocating to Texas. Why did one franchise thrive while the other died?

Backstory

The Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas, Texas, in 1993 after a dispute over stadium financing.

The move stunned fans who still resent former owner Norm Green.

Green was initially credited with saving the franchise when he took control in 1990.

Like the Twins, the franchise had nearly folded.

Similar struggles

The North Stars survived thanks to a merger with the Cleveland Barons in 1978.

“That was a circus because, OK, the North Stars were crap, Cleveland was crap so you just put more crap together,” said FOX 9 Sports Director Jim Rich.

“You got a bag of nothing and another bag of nothing, and you put them together, and now you have two bags of nothing,” said Tom Reid who played for the Stars prior to the merger.

Similar success

The Twins and North Stars both appeared to rally.

After near contraction, the Twins advanced to the American League Championship Series in 2002 and won the next three division titles.

The North Stars went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, just three years after the merger.

The Twins’ string of success ultimately led to stability, culminating with the opening of Target Field in 2010.

The North Stars took another nosedive.

Owners need deep pockets

In the 1980s, owners George and Gordon Gund were on the verge of moving the franchise to San Jose after failing to secure funding for renovations to the Met Center.

Lou Nanne, a former North Stars player and executive, negotiated a deal that essentially split the franchise in two. It allowed the Gunds to take over an expansion team in the Bay Area and left the North Stars for Minnesota.

“Worked out a deal with them where we could keep half a team and the Gunds could go to San Jose, and we could move on from there and, hopefully, thinking we could make things work,” Nanne said in an interview for the upcoming documentary on FOX 9.

After two more ownership changes, Norm Green took control of the franchise in 1990 and the team again found success after nearly disappearing.

The North Stars advanced to the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals and Green was hailed as a savior.

But John Blackshaw, former General Counsel for the North Stars, said Green didn’t have deep enough pockets to truly stabilize the franchise.

“He was very overleveraged,” Blackshaw said.

Green bought the North Stars after building a portfolio in Canada centered around shopping malls.

“I think he was getting pressure on his real estate investments in Canada,” Nanne added.

Everything is bigger in Texas

Green moved the franchise to Texas just three years after buying it.

But that too failed to stabilize the team’s financial footing.

Less than two years after relocating the franchise, Green sold the Dallas Stars in 1995 for $84 million to Tom Hicks, who also owned the Texas Rangers.

The deal allowed Green to wipe out more than $70 million in debt, according to press reports at the time.

The Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999. Green was later inducted into the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame.

In Minnesota, his name still invokes derisive chants.

Blaming the owners

The Pohlad family, which has owned the Minnesota Twins since 1984, also became the target of angry chants by the end of last season.

Fans demanded the family sell the team after cutting payroll and failing to make trades before the team fell apart and out of playoff contention.

Published

8 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Driver who fatally struck bicyclist in Minneapolis may have been impaired, police say

Minneapolis police suspect a driver was under the influence when he hit and killed a bicyclist on the city’s southside early Monday morning.

Officers responded to the crash at the intersection of Hiawatha Avenue and East 35th Street around 3 a.m., according to the Minneapolis Police Department.

Upon arrival, police found a man in his 50s suffering from apparent life-threatening injuries. Officers provided immediate medical aid, including CPR, before the man was transported to Hennepin Healthcare, where he later died.

The Minneapolis Police Department says that preliminary information indicates the driver, a 23-year-old man, had been traveling south on Hiawatha Avenue in a Ford Edge when he struck the bicyclist.

Officers arrested the driver and took him to the hospital, where police say “a search warrant for evidence collection was carried out.” Police later booked the driver into Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide.

The incident is still under investigation.

In:

Source link

Minnesota

I-94 rest area in Minnesota closed until Independence Day for $2.9M improvement project

Published

20 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

I-94 rest area in Minnesota closed until Independence Day for .9M improvement project

A rest area along Interstate 94 in Minnesota has been closed to trucks until about Independence Day to accommodate an almost $3 million improvement project.

The eastbound I-94 Enfield rest area between St. Cloud, Minnesota and the Twin Cities between Wright County Road 8 and Highway 25 is now closed to cars and commercial vehicles as crews resurface the entrance and exit ramps, and update nearby sidewalks.

According to KNSI, the full closure is just the first phase of the project. The rest area will reopen to passenger vehicles only the week of May 11th. During that time, the truck parking area will remain closed as crews repave the lot.

The truck parking lot will reopen the week of June 30th, right around Independence Day. During that time, the passenger vehicle area will be shut down to allow for the resurfacing of the lot. The Minnesota DOT expects the rest area to be fully open by late July. The entire project is expected to cost $2.9 million.

Drivers heading east on I-94 are encouraged to use the Big Spunk Lake rest area near Avon, or to drive a little farther out to the Elm Creek rest area.

Source link

Minnesota

UCLA baseball remains perfect in Big Ten by beating Minnesota

Published

1 day ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

UCLA baseball remains perfect in Big Ten by beating Minnesota

Could a UCLA baseball team that’s perfect in Big Ten play get better?

Bruins coach John Savage thinks so, which is a frightening prospect for the rest of a seemingly overmatched conference.

While Savage’s top-ranked Bruins completed a three-game sweep of Minnesota on Sunday with a 5-2 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium — stretching their Big Ten winning streak to 21 games — he said there’s more upside to be realized.

UCLA’s Payton Brennan and his teammates are still undefeated in Big Ten play this season after sweeping Minnesota on Sunday. Ross Turteltaub

“Offensively, we just really couldn’t get a lot going,” Savage said after his team went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six baserunners. “We just weren’t able to put a lot together, but when that pitching and defense shows up every day, it gives yourself a chance to win, and that’s kind of what we did all three games, really.”

Those elements were so good Sunday that they overshadowed Roman Martin’s solo homer in the third inning and Will Gasparino’s two-run shot in the sixth.

Bruins left fielder Dean West made three superb catches — two leaping and one diving — and four relievers combined to give up only one run in 4 ⅔ innings. Closer Easton Hawk needed only six pitches to record a 1-2-3 ninth inning while notching his third save in as many days.

Savage credited Minnesota’s pitching after the Golden Gophers (22-17 overall, 5-13 Big Ten) held the Bruins (36-3) to an average of five runs during the series and said many of his team’s offensive struggles were situational.

“We have very, very good offensive players — some of them are in … little ruts right now, but that’s OK,” Savage said. “These guys play a lot and get a lot of at-bats; there’s a lot of ups and downs.”

When it comes to UCLA’s conference record, it’s all been up.

What it means

UCLA’s sweep is further evidence that the Bruins aren’t getting complacent because of their record.

“This culture is really solid, and these guys truly believe in one another and they’re playing for the team,” Savage said. “We’re very fortunate to have this group, and so they love playing together, so there’s no complacency and there’s no reason to because we haven’t done anything; I mean, you’re 36-3, that’s great, but at the end of the day it’s about getting better and playing your best baseball the next 75 days.”

Turning point

Spotting a dominant team an early lead is never a good idea.

That’s what happened when the Bruins struck for two runs in the bottom of the first inning.

West led off with a single to center field, took third on Roch Cholowsky’s double to left and scored on a balk. With one out, Martin hit an RBI infield single off the pitcher’s glove. UCLA was up 2-0, and the Golden Gophers could never catch up.

Did you see that?

Minnesota did not like it when Gasparino admired his home run by lingering in the batter’s box before commencing his trot around the bases.

There was consensus in both dugouts because Savage also didn’t care for it.

“I thought he probably stayed in the box a little too long for me,” Savage said. “That’s kind of not who we are, and they didn’t like that; I wouldn’t like that either, really.”