It's Official: Senators Announce Move To Minnesota, Oct. 26, 1960

NOTE: this post is a part of my ongoing "Twins Genesis" series, with "The Naming Of The Twins" being the other published back on November 26, 2011.

In the October 26, 1960 edition of The Sporting News, Washington Senators President Calvin Griffith emphatically denied that a move of his team to Minnesota was in the works:

"Read my (semi-obscured)
lips - there will be no
move to Minneapolis...
today."

"That's a lot of baloney, and sounds like somebody's pipedream. It is news to me that the American League will discuss transferring the Washington club elsewhere."

But on that very same day, as we well know, Griffith and the rest of the AL bigwig suits came out of a smoke-filled backroom during the Fall MLB Owner's meetings to announce the info about the Senators move, besides the blockbuster new expansion teams being created in Washington (the "new" Senators) and Los Angeles (the Angels) to begin play in April, 1961.

Below embed - From the October 26 and November 2, 1960 issues of  "The Sporting News"



The Fall Owners meeting in '60 was preceeded two days earler by a fateful visit to Griffith's New York hotel suite by young Minneapolis businessman Wheelock Witney and Gerald Moore, Executive Director of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, In their last-ditch, final pitch to convince him to commit to a move, they upped the ante by guaranteeing him 1 million in attendance for each of the first three years in Minnesota, plus full concession proceeds and $500,000 in local television and radio rights – almost three times more in broadcast revenue than he was earning in Washington. Now There was no way Griffith would delay. The deal was done - to The Northstar State was he headed. The owners stood by Calvin with a 6-2 vote.

It was the culmination of several years of rumored moves, thinly-veiled threats by Griffith to find greener pastures, and legal action to block said movement. Not that one could blame Calvin for wanting out of perpetual, last place penury, especially in the 1950s, Yankees-dominated era which he had inherited from his Hall of Fame Uncle, Clark Griffith.

 Now, to put a final nail in the upstart Continental League, and to get the jump on the National League, Griffith and his American League backers were moving boldly (if not with great foresight). It was not just a wonderful bonanza in Minnesota, and for its fans to have a professional sports franchise - expansion and relocation signaled the beginning of a new era in American professional sports, happening as it did at the start of the 1960s, with all the innovation and turbulence that change can bring. The NFL, NBA, and the NHL would take their cues, and follow suit in the years to follow.

"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal

The Naming of The Twins: Nov. 26, 1960

On this day 54 years ago, Calvin Griffith announced his decision to name the new Minnesota franchise that was relocating to the Minneapolis-St.Paul area for the 1961 season. Among his choices was the "Twin Cities Twins," referencing the Northstar cities straddling the Mississippi River and their joint venture to field a major league ballclub. It was Griffith's intention to placate the two cities, and create unity after years of rivalry as minor league baseball cities. He eventually compromised, settling on "Minnesota Twins," thus making the entry the first MLB team to be named after a state, and not a city. The "TC" symbol, though, was retained on the caps.*

ABOVE: Nov. 28, 1960, 

Fergus Falls (Minn.)Daily Journal

The recent relocation of the Minneapolis Lakers to L.A. in April, 1960 was unquestionably on his mind, and he didn't want discord to undermine the franchise's viability in the future. The area would indeed embrace the team of Versalles, Becquer, Allison, Killebrew, Pascual, Kaat, Battey and Lenny Green. The naming decision was published in a story by iconic Minnesota sportswriter and broadcasting legend Halsey Hall (SABR link) ten days later in "The Sporting News" edition of December 7, 1960.

Ahh! Rustic. In the quaint,
Huckleberry Finn sense.
Manager Lavagetto, May 27, 1961

* "Twenty Cubans" was Jim Kaat's tongue-in-cheek response when asked by a rival team player for the meaning of the cap symbol. The Twins were renowned for fielding rosters with multiple players of Hispanic ancestry since the 1950's.

1961 Minnie And Paul logo
courtesy of Fleer Sticker Project.
The logo was created by artist 
Ray Barton in 1961 for $15.

Details, details. The 5 and 7 year-old money figures Calvin cites at the bottom of this section undoubtedly did not match the current economic realities, inflation, etc.,in Minnesota at the time. The Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1/10/61) detailed the compensation The Twins eventually agreed to fork over for area rights. Yes, fudging details, omitting relevant info...they were Griffith's twin guns he brought to many a negotiation! Star hurler Jim Grant was quoted as saying Griffith handled nickels as if they were manhole covers, alluding to the difficulty in wringing wage increases during salary talks with the Twins President. A formidable adversary in all things economic, and a pretty fair baseball mind! As far as I am aware, the middle section is the first national sports publication reference to the Twins team logo (left). Oddly enough, the only known instance of Cal telling fans to "Keep your money" was during the team season ticket drive before the '61 season, as reported in The Sporting News of January 11, 1961.

The "Gerald" (Gerry) Arrigo acquisition is a key one in Twins history - not so much for what he did as a member of the Twins staff, but for what he was worth in trade. The Twins picked up super-sub Cesar Tovar on Dec. 4, 1964 from the Reds. This was perhaps Calvin’s greatest trade steal of the 1960’s (with the possible exception of the 1963 Jim Perry for Jack Kralick deal).

You now know the fine trivia answer "Eddie Lopat" to the question: "Who was the Twins' first pitching coach?" Take a look at several of his young Twins rookie pitchers at the April, 1961 Baseball Digest (Google Books). Carl Yastrzemski, of course, had Minnesota ties from his season as a Minneapolis Miller in 1960, playing at Metropolitan Stadium. He later would help to famously end the Twins season as a member of the Boston Red Sox with his performance during the final series of the year (game stats) in 1967. 

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. Now, Minnesota fans in late 1960 could truly say they were "Big League," that, despite the fact the old Minneapolis Lakers had been an NBA dynasty in the 1940s and 50s. But that was long before basketball was truly a big-time, high-echelon American, professional sport. The expansion NFL Vikings were technically first to commit to Minnesota, back on January 28, 1960. But they wouldn't play their first game until September 17, 1961. And after the original Lakers fell on hard times and fan apathy, they moved to L.A. after their last playoff game on March 26, 1960. They left behind a territory eager for something bigger - Major League Baseball and some yet, unknown entity that would fill the void. 

Enter the Twins.

As our Hall Of Fame broadcaster Herb Carneal ended his broadcasts, I say:"So long, everybody!" - TT 

Jim Lemon and Lenny Green were

positively un-Twinlike on the day

the Minnesota Twins were truly a

reality, in their first regular season

game on April 11, 1961

in New York.