Twins President Dave St. Peter said that a news release announcing the team was going to allow select fans to pay to watch batting practice for $15 was "sent prematurely and hadn’t been approved by higher-ups in the organization," according to Michael Rand of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. St. Peter said, "It was released before it ever should have been. It’s hard to believe, but it was not pulled down because of fan reaction." Rand reports the release stated the Twins would allow "up to 60 ticketed fans per game a chance to get inside the gates 45 minutes early to watch the home team take batting practice." That was followed by a "nearly unanimous outcry on Twitter, talk radio and online comments sections." One such comment at StarTribune.com simply read, “Unbelievable greed.” The Twins by late yesterday afternoon had "sent out another news release: disregard everything about the news release involving the $15 batting practice," as it was "no longer happening." St. Peter said, "Our focus going forward is to provide greater fan access to BP. Whether there will be charges added to that, I don’t know. But I’ve long believed BP is one of those things we undersell as an industry" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/10). In Minneapolis, Roman Augustoviz sarcastically writes MLB teams "always need new revenue streams," and BP could "just be the start." Augustoviz: "How about $5 to watch the groundscrew mow the grass and rake the infield? Maybe $3 to stare at the concession people as they get their stands ready? ... Another $3 to observe the ball boys get the bat racks loaded up?" The "possibilities are limitless" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 4/10).
