Twins' Jim Pohlad Likely To Fill Late Father's Ownership Role
 |
Jim Pohlad Has Overseen
Operations In Recent Years |
Following the death of Twins Owner Carl Pohlad, the selection of the team's new operating owner is an "internal decision for the consortium of businesses run by the family, but the general assumption" is that Carl's son, Twins CEO Jim Pohlad, will assume oversight of the franchise, according to Phil Miller of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. The designation of Jim Pohlad as owner will "merely formalize a working arrangement that has evolved for almost a decade," as he in recent years has overseen "everything from setting budgets to monitoring ticket sales and promotions to tracking the progress of Target Field," the team's new ballpark set to open in 2010. Twins President Dave St. Peter said of Jim Pohlad: "He's aware of everything that goes on and makes the ultimate call on a lot of issues. But he certainly doesn't seek out the limelight. He's even chosen not to have a title. ... Just like his father, Jim said he wants the focus to be on putting a team on the field that is competitive, and doing so in a fiscally responsible way." MLB rules require each team's ownership group to "designate an individual with sole authority for management decisions." Carl Pohlad has been the team's sole authority since he acquired the team in '84, and St. Peter said that he "expects the other owners to approve the passing of that mantel to a new Twins leader." Miller notes the Twins' transfer "could happen at an owners' meeting scheduled for this month" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/7).
 |
During Carl Pohlad's Ownership, The Twins
Won The '87 And '91 World Series Titles |
FAIR OR FOUL? In Minnesota, Dave DeLand writes Carl Pohlad "leaves a somewhat mixed legacy, but one that overall should be remembered for its positives." Pohlad's life as an owner had "credits and debits, but at the bottom of the balance sheet Pohlad did mostly good things" for MLB in Minneapolis. If Pohlad had used a "fraction of [his] personal fortune to build Pohlad Field, his memory would always have been around," but instead the Twins will play at Target Field, which "undoubtedly will contain a tribute to Pohlad, but it could have been so much more" (ST. CLOUD TIMES, 1/7). CBSSPORTS.com's Scott Miller wrote during Pohlad's tenure with the Twins, the "remarkable thing is that he didn't kill baseball in Minnesota," but "Lord knows, he tried." Pohlad's volunteering the Twins for contraction in '01 "remains one of the most reprehensible actions of any owner in recent memory." Miller wrote the "one thing he did right was to put baseball people in charge and leave them there" (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/5). A BEMIDJI PIONEER editorial states from Pohlad's "frugal ways with running the Minnesota Twins, to his threats of selling the Twins to an East Coast owner," to "allowing the Twins and Montreal to be put on [MLB's] list of teams to 'contract,' Carl Pohlad was often the brunt of fan criticism." But Pohlad "did more to solidify the Minnesota Twins as a major player in a high-priced game than any other small-market endeavor in athletics" (BEMIDJI PIONEER, 1/7). A Yankton PRESS & DAKOTAN editorial states Pohlad's tenure with the Twins "sometimes brings to mind the first line of Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities': 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.'" When Twins fans "look back on the Pohlad era, the best of times will no doubt jump to mind." Baseball in Minnesota has "survived because of Pohlad -- and sometimes in spite" of him (Yankton PRESS & DAKOTAN, 1/7).
|
Related Stories By Company
|
Related Stories By Sport
|
Twins Unveil Major Uniform Revamp
November 17, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Vikings Grow Restless For Stadium
October 12, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
UM, Twins Eye Concerts For New Stadiums
October 12, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Twins Sell Full-Season Equivalents Briskly
October 8, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Twins Ink Casino As Founding Partner
September 24, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
Boras, Manfred Talk About Finances Escalate
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Selig: Concerns Around Economy Still Exist
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
MasterCard Present At WS DVD Premiere
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Hicks Hopes To Remain Rangers Majority Owner
November 19, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Selig Committed To Condensing Playoffs
November 19, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
|
