Save the Twins; do what you can

NEW ULM --Unless you have $250 million, there's not a lot fans do to make sure the Twins play in Minnesota the next few years.

But trying to communicate to those who do have control might.

R.J. Watson of Keep the Twins at Home, a grassroots effort to save the Twins and stop contraction, was in New Ulm Tuesday spreading his word and getting signatures from people across town.

He was getting people to sign a petition that stated: "I hereby express my support for keeping the Minnesota Twins in Minnesota. I urge Commissioner Selig and Major League Baseball to stop contraction talk and work on a solution for reforming the economics of Major League Baseball."

Although it remains to be seen how successful his efforts are and the petition will be, Watson and his group are trying to slow down talks of contractions.

"We're trying tell the commissioner of baseball that, hey, we have a lot of people in Minnesota that want to keep the Twins," Watson said. "We're also saying you need to take a look at the problems with the Twins. Contraction won't solve the problem, you got to look at the economics of it."

The organization's ultimate goal is obvious: to keep the twins. They're trying to get a little more "breathing room" from the commissioner in order to talk about it instead of it just being over.

They're going across the state to get the word out that Minnesotans still have a chance to save the Twins.

He's part of a number of individuals traveling around the state. He got up at 4 a.m. Tuesday and plans on visiting 25 towns before the weekend is over.

Keep the Twins at Home has five vans that will be visiting places around Minnesota. People are also traveling around the Dakotas and Wisconsin to gather support. Watson is in charge of southwestern Minnesota.

If it were up to the fans, the Twins would stay. But until someone with enough money steps up to the plate, there's not a lot fans can do.

He says although fans alone can really do much, he's hoping to slow down the contraction talk long enough so maybe someone else will buy the Twins.

"I don't think we alone can save the Twins," he said. "But we can at least give the commissioner some pause to think about it. And if he thinks about it and it slows down a bit, the Twins might go up for sale again."

The group is not trying to push for a new stadium or go up against Carl Pohlad -- it's about stopping the contraction of the team.

His own opinion is "if we don't solve the economics problems of baseball in large we won't solve the problems in Minnesota even with a new stadium."

He said if they can solve the problems with baseball we can have a great team and the Twins will be profitable.

"I just want to show that the citizens of Minnesota have a chance to tell the commissioner loud and clear that we want to have baseball in Minnesota," Watson said.

The group plans to have a rally in the east parking lot of the Metrodome at 2 p.m. Saturday. Fans are encouraged to attend.

The Twins have been treated unfairly by a number of different sources for years.

If the Twins leave, there will absolutely be a hit to the state's economy. The taxes the players pay alone will hurt the state among other obvious hits like vendors, restaurants and hotels. It's hard to argue against the value of the Twins to Minnesota.

And any sort of effort, whether it will help or not, will at least show that the people of Minnesota to care.

The group as a Web site at www.keepthetwins.com. The site includes a petition in case you missed him Tuesday. It also has downloadable petition sheets and flyers.