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Some Flagpole History

June 1, 2006 9:18 PM

COMMENT

Looking back at yesterday's entry, it occurred to me that I left the most important aspect of a great ballpark to just a brief mention at the end. The truth is that the most important part of a great baseball place is what happened there.

But you can't build history into a park, you can only evoke it. To a certain extent, I suppose, you can also transfer history as they did by moving home plate from the original Busch Stadium to Busch II in St. Louis. (I don't know if the same thing happened between Busch II and the new park. Anybody know?)

Moving the Metrodome home plate may make some sense since two World Series were won there. The pitching rubber has some significance, too. But beyond those, there's not much about the Metrodome that we might want to retain. In fact, I can't think of a darn thing.

Thinking back on Met Stadium, I suspect that home plate is long gone (Update: This is now confirmed). And so many people have seats tucked away in their garages (they write to tell me about it all the time) that it might be interesting to put together a Met section (a la Midway Stadium), but those seats weren't especially comfortable. Doesn't seem worth the work.

There is one interesting piece of the Met which may be available. The original flag pole was given to and still stands outside the Richfield American Legion located on Portland Avenue just south of the crosstown. B.W. McEvers, a visitor to my other site, told me the story of how they got the original flag pole from the Met:

Basically, the club manager and a couple of officers prevailed upon the person in charge of salvage to donate the pole to the club. The story goes that the guy already had a buyer but was persuaded that the pole should remain in the area and what better place than a local Vet's club. The pole was dragged (they waited for a lousy, snowy day) over to the post and set on blocks. One of the guys (Dan Mulroy of Mulroy's Body Shop) had an employee of his sandblast and paint the pole. Everything was donated as far as time and material. Another guy worked for L.H. Sowles Construction and arranged for the necessary crane, survey person to shoot the angle, etc. Everyone was pretty much astonished that these guy's were able to not only get the pole but get it properly installed. I suppose the salient point is that active and concerned members managed to get the old pole installed on Post property essentially for free.

(It's at) 6501 Portland. Flagpole is not hard to spot. It's a bit shorter than original because it had to be cut off at ground level and re-installed. I do not know if there is a plaque, there may well be.

This might make a nice connection to the past if the Twins could buy back the pole by replacing it with a new one free of charge (and maybe some tickets). I don't know the logistics of such a process, but it seems like something worth investigating.

A lot of the Met was made up of chain link fence and temporary seating (now resting quietly in a landfill in Eagan). The most distinctive portions were the colored panels on the outside of the grandstand and the gigantic light standards which hovered over the infield. Obviously, none of this need be located, but it does suggest some architectural elements which might evoke the past.

A footnote to the new location is that Minnesota's first professional teams played very nearby. Athletic Park was located on the block now occupied by Butler Square, just across I-394 from the new park. It might be nice to acknowledge this somehow.

As far as I know, there's simply nothing left anywhere of Griffith Stadium or American League Park (the original home of the Senators). Anything done to remember these places would probably have to be in the form of plaques or monuments. For example, did you know that there are three additional Hall-of-Famers who wear Washington Senators caps but are not recognized anywhere at the Metrodome? And did you know that those Senators - the forerunners of our Twins -- won the AL pennant three times, and the World Series once?

These seem like things which need to be remembered in the new park. I'll try to work up more information on them some other day.

Comments

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Love the site......keep up the good work!

Posted on June 5, 2006 at 3:35 PM by MOJO 1

Love the idea of linking the new ballpark to the Met. I am one of the many with a box seat in my basement. The guy who put the stand on it for me gave me a little tin of touch up paint he called Met Stadium aquamarine. It is a classic ballpark color; not blue and not too green. I have seen other Met seats of different shades of green but this color is definitely one that should be considered for the primary seat color.
-Jiminstpaul

Posted on June 5, 2006 at 9:16 PM by Jiminstpaul 2

The detail at the top you refer to as an ornament is called the truck. It is a common device on government and military flagpoles. An American Legion post (an organization well-versed in the proper display of the flag) would naturally have flagpole with a truck.

http://www.snopes.com/military/flagball.htm

Posted on June 23, 2006 at 10:58 AM by Brian 3

peter34@gmail.com

Posted on December 20, 2006 at 7:20 PM by http://www.peter.com 4

Wierd bumping into this site again ----

I would imagine that the Twins have absolutely no idea where the old Met flagpole wound up. It would be neat to see it gracing a Twins ball park again (one wonders what the team might be willing to pay, or, if they even would be interested). But, there's alot of old-fart vets (and I'm one of them) who like it right where it is. And, by the time it was cut off and reinstalled (again), height might become an issue.

Posted on January 13, 2007 at 12:16 PM by B.W. McEvers 5

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"You talk about the magic, the aura, but what really makes a stadium is the fans. Concrete doesn't talk back to you. Chairs don't talk back to you. It's the people who are there, day in, day out, that makes the place magic."

– Bernie Williams

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Here are 50 images chosen randomly from the 3004 found on this site. Click the image to be taken to the original post. A new list is created every 10 minutes.

That group was working on something very carefully, but I couldn't tell just what it was.

Who Owns What (Click for larger version. Source: Ballpark Authority)

Our conductor in Big Lake

Our cantilever friends will be happy to learn that there will be sections with views like this in the new stadium.

The Hrbek gate is directly below. It's a lively place after a game.

Ballpark elevation viewed from Seventh Street. (Click to enlarge.)

The rough outlines of our urban trench. (North is up.)

Just one lane of traffic and a couple of feet between the fence in right-center and the wall of the parking ramp!

The east wall of the building looks like it will be the first part completed. These are probably supports for the plaza, and they hug the very edge of the site.

The scoreboard also towers over the LRT tracks, which now are functional (though not open) all the way to the park -- and beyond!

Camera mounts

North Loop Deli

An early concept for the pedestrial bridge. (Source: Ballpark Authority, RP)

With the engine behind us, we got a real sense of how fast we were going by looking out the front (back) window

That is the gun-metal gray wall of The Stadium just beyond the elevated tracks.

Florida

Saints between innings

This looks south and shows the track configuration for Northstar. The platform shown is just a placeholder. To the best of my knowledge, concept drawings for this platform have not been released. Keep in mind, this is NOT part of the ballpark project. It is completely separate.

Wow! Looking good.

This was on BPM night. Nice neon, but I'm still waiting to see the homer show.

Lots of people are doing it.

Locations for ticket machines near the Hrbek outdoor plaza

September 23, 2007

Workers against green

Nearby, workers are finishing a support column. The guy at the bottom is using some sort of personal dirt mover (inset). Very cool.

Champion's Club details (click to enlarge)

Yes, son, Memorial Stadium used to be right there, just beyond those gates.

These tracks actually travel beneath the admin building and come out on the other side

Hubert's remains the only sports bar within site of the Dome after 28 years of its existence. It's a cautionary tale.

Puckett atrium chef stand menu

Polo Grounds facade, obscured

Large staircases, a staple of recent Populous (nee HOK) projects, are all over the place.

This design has a rather generic quality to it, but they appear to have considered the B garage. Though it isn't part of the model, they've clearly left room for it.

This looks up Fifth Street (LRT train visible in the distance). This bridge is also being partially rebuilt (see next photo).

Of the players up there, only Bert does not have a gate with his number (28) on it at Target Field. You know, there is that door underneath the skywalk on Seventh Street between gates 14 and 29...

That's Tony Oliva checking out ballpark construction from the roof of Target Center.

A truck is leaving the HERC plant. Here you can see the proximity to the promenade. For the record, the truck drove right by me and I smelled nothing...

He'll always be a fan favorite, but did you know that he's making $18.5 million this year? The Twins' entire outfield today, combined, makes $7.45 million.