It’s been more than a century since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series (1908 to be exact), but they may have an inside track for the 2014 All-Star game. After all, 2014 will mark the 100th birthday of Wrigley Field.
But the Minnesota Twins are also making a pitch to host the game – and a perfect opportunity to showcase their beautiful gem of a ballpark – Target Field.
The Twins are even willing to shell out a million dollars worth of improvements to a stadium that opened just 19 months ago. The capitol upgrades are said to include new carpeting, improved WiFi and even more varieties of food. As for food, the Twins already offer some of the best cuisine of any ballpark in Major League Baseball. You can order anything from Asian wok cooking to bratwurst on the grill.
In our 2010 road trip, my son Matt and I savored the flavor of “Twins Brews”, featuring lagers from Minnesota and Wisconsin, including my personal favorite, Leinenkugel. “Leinie” is an American premium Pilsner beer with a rich, creamy taste representing the “Legend of the Northwoods.” The Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin beer maker is in fact the seventh oldest brewery in the United States.
But enough about beer.
The team also plans to roll out a new bronze statue of a Twins legend – reportedly Kent Hrbek, the two-time World Series champ and former first baseman who played his entire 14-year career for his hometown Twins. His number 14 is retired at Target Field.
If the Twins do decide to honor Hrbek with a statue – it better be a big one.
The Twins have already honored the great Rod Carew in bronze.
And the team has a tradition of honoring other hometown heroes, including Joe Mauer of St. Paul. You can find his statue all over downtown Minneapolis, as part of an art display called Twins About Town.
The 2012 All-Star game is headed to Kansas City, where the Royals plan to show off their newly remodeled Kauffman Stadium. Here are some pictures before the new look:
And the New York Mets are said to be the inside favorite to host the 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field.
In keeping with the tradition of rotating leagues every year, the 2014 game is supposed to be in an American League city. So the Cubs would seem to be a long shot – but they could appeal to Commissioner Bud Selig to break the rotation – and given the popularity of the Cubs and the newly installed Theo Epstein as team president, anything could happen. But then again, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park – the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball –
And yet the All-Star game will be nowhere near Red Sox Nation. Selig is a stickler for tradition – which requires an American League venue for 2014 – so my hunch is that the Twins will host the big game. The Twin Cities have hosted the All-Star Game twice before: in 1985 at the Metrodome, and in 1965 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, where the Twins later made their World Series debut, losing to Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fall classic.
