The Minnesota Twins plan on pitching for the 2014 All-Star Game and will spend more than a million dollars on improvements to Target Field this offseason.
The improvements will mostly be on the unglamorous side — improved WiFi, new carpeting, more photos and team displays — but they will include a new broze statue of a Twins great. The Star Tribune speculates it could be Kent Hrbek. New food items are also on the agenda.
The bigger news, and not unexpected: team president Dave St. Peter informed the Minnesota Ballpark Authority that the team intends to bid on the 2014 All-Star Game before the end of the year. All-Star sites alternate between American League and National League ballparks, with Kauffman Stadium and the Kansas City Royals slated to host the 2012 All-Star Game and the New York Mets considered to be the front-runner to host the 2013 game at Citi Field.
A possible complication: the Chicago Cubs may bid to host the 2014 game as part of the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field.
One ominous development discussed by the ballpark authority: sales- and use-tax revenues generated by Target Field patrons declined by almost a million dollars, despite the announced attendance staying constant. The Twins say weather extremes caused patrons to drink less beer, but the more likely explanation is that fewer patrons actually crossed the Target Field turnstiles — something that wouldn’t be unexpected given the team’s miserable record.
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