Metropolitan Stadium
- David Hegler
- Apr 17
- 6 min read
For a stadium with such a short life span, Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium certainly had its fair share of memories. Memories such as Sandy Koufax refusing to play in the World Series opener due to religious reasons, the Purple People Eaters gobbling up opponents on the frozen tundra and the birth of the Hail Mary pass make "the Met" seem so much older than it really was. All told, Metropolitan Stadium lasted a mere 20 years before domed stadiums became the norm.
The Conception
Baseball was changing. All through the 1950's, Major League Baseball watched as the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and both the Dodgers and Giants ripped the hearts out of New Yorkers by moving west to California. Gerry Moore was more than a little intrigued by all the hustle and bustle and thought that his home state of Minnesota would be a terrific location for the establishment to expand its brand.
He had been told by both the Giants owner Horace Stoneham and the major league's chairman of the expansion committee Frank Lane that Minnesota stood no chance of getting a team unless a suitable stadium was built, Moore got to work. He knew that the AA Minneapolis Millers' ballpark, Nicollet Park, was a no go as it only sat 4,000 so Moore kept on looking for the perfect spot.
He found the perfect 164 acres of farmland in Bloomington and set about collecting the necessary funds to make his dream a reality. What followed was picturesque of what small town America could accomplish in the face of a series of unfortunate events.
A subcommittee called the Minute Men had set to raise $4.5 million for the project but could only scrounge up half that. Even though an investment bank had promised to cover the remaining balance, they reneged and put up just $1 million. So a group of 50 businessmen around Bloomington got together and raised the remaining $1.3 million themselves.
With the money in hand, the land was soon purchased but construction couldn't begin until all of the farmers had been paid in full. Right when ground was supposed to be broken, a farmer named Paul Gerhart lined up all of his machines where first base would eventually reside and refused to move until he was paid the $122,000 that he was owed. Gerhart had spent his whole life growing onions, melons and sweet corn on that 50-acre plot and he knew just how much his sacrifice was worth.
He was soon paid in full and ground officially broke on June 20, 1955. Soon, a ballpark rose above the humble plains and the townsfolk of Bloomington, Minnesota began to dream of the possibilities.
Construction crews must have sensed this desire as not even an explosion and subsequent fire under the grandstand near third base two months before Opening Day could slow them down. Finally, on April 24, 1955, the Minneapolis Millers opened up the 18,000 seat Metropolitan Stadium.
The Glory Years
Metropolitan Stadium was never built to attract a specific team. All Gerry Moore wanted was to bring A team to Minnesota. For a little while, speculation swirled that the Giants might move to the midwest since Horace Stoneham owned the Millers. However, that speculation quickly fizzled out when the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958.
So the Baseball Committee of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce set its site's on the Washington Senators. In those days, the Senators were not doing well in the nation's capital and their owner Clark Griffith was eagerly looking at all options. It took five years of finagling, but on October 26, 1960 the A.L. announced that it had decided to award an expansion team to Los Angeles (the Angels) and give Washington a new team after their Senators moved to Minnesota.
On April 21, 1961, the newly-minted Minnesota Twins began their stay at the recently expanded Metropolitan Stadium. With a crowd of 23,606 braving the mid-50's temperatures and strong winds blowing towards the west, the Twins ironically lost to the expansion Washington Senators in their new home 5-3. The Twins finished the year 70-90-1 but soon rebounded to quickly become a contender.
Meanwhile, the NFL decided to expand to Minnesota in 1961 and the Vikings began their stay at Metropolitan Stadium on September 17, 1961. They stunned the football world by beating the heavily favored Chicago Bears 37-13 behind rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton's four touchdowns. The Vikings would win just twice more that year and wouldn't taste true relevancy until Bud Grant took over for Norm Van Brocklin as their coach in 1967.
Like all expansion franchises, the Vikings were always low on cash. In 1965, they struck a deal that in lieu of rent, they would build the left field pavilion just in time for the first truly memorable year of Metropolitan Stadium's existence.
It began with the All-Star Game. National League stars Willie Mays, Willie Stargell and Joe Torre each hit a home run as their team beat the American League 6-5. For what it's worth, local favorite Harmon Killebrew made a hit, drove in two scores and hit a home run for the losing team. The winning pitcher? Sandy Koufax, who would find himself face-to-face with his unique legacy right there at the Met a few months later.
The Twins had a phenomenal year in 1965, winning 102 games and claiming the American League pennant. They started the World Series at home against the Dodgers, but there was a catch: star pitcher Sandy Koufax refused to play on Yom Kippur. So the Twins beat the Dodgers' other ace, Don Drysdale, 8-2 and followed up that performance with a 5-1 throttling of Koufax the next afternoon.
After the Dodgers won the next three game in L.A., Mudcat Grant saved the Twins' season by holding the powerful Dodgers lineup to just a single run as his teammates piled up five of their own to force a Game 7. Unfortunately, the magic ended that day as Koufax finished off the Twins 2-0.
Meanwhile, Harmon Killebrew was in the middle of a legendary career in Minnesota. On June 3, 1967, he blasted a phenomenal 520 foot home run at the Met. It was such a monumental moment that today, a plaque and red chair bolted to the ground stand where the ball landed. Just two months later, on August 10, he hit his 500th career home run at Metropolitan Stadium.
The Twins would never return to the World Series, but they remained competitive for most of their years at the Met. Still, they finished the 1960's and began the '70's with three game sweeps at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS.
Just as the Twins were starting to lose some of their championship magic, the Vikings were beginning to pick up the slack. In 1969, Metropolitan Stadium hosted the last NFL Championship Game ever played, with the Vikings dominating the Browns 27-7 to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl.
Even though they lost to the Chiefs, the Vikings figured that they would win the next one. They never did, losing in all four of their Super Bowl appearances. Still, as the weather got colder in the winter, Metropolitan Stadium began to pick up a mystique that reflects much of what Green Bay's Lambeau Field has been a symbol of for many decades.
Seeking any psychological advantage that he could muster, Bud Grant refused to allow any heaters on his sidelines during games. this strategy seemed to work as the Vikings went 7-3 in the playoffs while playing at the Met. Sunday after Sunday, offensive lines across the NFL quaked in their cleats at the mere thought of facing the Purple People Eaters, one of the fiercest defensive line units of all time. Led by 1971 NFL MVP Alan Page, the foursome wrecked havoc all over the league
Still, that doesn't mean that they were impervious to losses. In the 1975 Divisional Round, the Vikings and Cowboys staged one of the great defensive slugfests of all time. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Vikings were ahead 14-10 with two minutes left in the game.
Then disaster struck. Facing second-and-ten from the 50-yard line, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach stepped back from the shot-gun, pump-faked once then launched a prayer into orbit, holding his breath until future Hall of Fame receiver Drew Pearson caught it and pranced the final five yards into the end zone. After the game, Staubach referred to his heroics as a ""Hail Mary". Thus, a new football word in the dictionary entered America's lexicon.
The End of the Stint
By the mid to late 1970's, it was becoming apparent to many that Metropolitan Stadium was not good enough for the major leagues. While people still swooned over its revolutionary cantilever design that eliminated obstructing pillars, the venue offered poor sight lines for football. While a dome was discussed, it was never added to the structure. Still, the Twins knew that the time had come to bid farewell to the only ballpark in the major leagues to offer a nice view of active farmland just beyond the outfield walls.
The Twins played their last game at Metropolitan Stadium on September 30, 1981, losing to the Kansas City Royals 5-2 in front of just 15,000. The Vikings lost to Kansas City to close out their stay at the Met too, losing to the Chiefs 10-6 on December 20, 1981 before moving to the Metrodome downtown. Metropolitan Stadium was soon demolished and now the Mall of America stands in its place.
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