Met Stadium: Pictorial, 1955 - 1970 Part 2

The 1970 Twins Yearbook provided a very nice photo essay of the early construction stages of Metropolitan Stadium. I've included it here, with minor color contrast enhancement, and photo borders.

"Hello! My name is 'Rod Carew,'
the '69 AL Batting Champ"

Rootin' out the soybean and alfalfa

THAT is one helluva big mound (right)

With miles to go before they slept

Could swear this is the same moonscape where Armstong landed

When it was just a game, when it all started!
No second deck in left - & NO  RF foul seating at all!

Little did we know...the habit of being in contention
was about to end!

At the time these photos were published, the Met was still a very lively, inviting place to attend an outdoor baseball game.  A vibrancy, an expectation of success hung in the air during those late 1960's and early '70s, like the omnipresent Schweigert hotdog aroma, Hamms Beer and cigar smoke. They were an integral part of the mix, as much as watching Bob Allison and Rich Reese loft shots into the bleachers in batting practice. It was a carryover from the giddy period of relocation from Washington, D.C. The park's atmosphere would degrade over the next few years, as the frugal Calvin Griffith (see MPR obit link) neglected to perform even basic upkeep of the ballpark. Sherry Robertson, the Twins Director of Minor Leagues, tragically died in 1970; with that, the team's farm system went into decline. The talent pool slowed to a trickle, and so, too, did the crowds that had flocked to the Met.  A shame. The stadium was only 25 years old at the time the Twins abandoned it after the 1981 season ('81 roster, results), and could have functioned much longer with some TLC. 

The best dogs on God's Green Earth

As our old friend at the mic, Herb Carneal, put it: "...and the count rides along." - TT