The face of each team

[The_Admiral]

Given the unsavory nature of how and why the Ballpark in Arlington was developed and the general harbinger-ness of it, would you accept George W. Bush as the face of the Rangers?

Please detail.

The gist is that the Rangers' ownership group, under the leadership of Bush, was able to acquire land under eminent domain not just for the park but for other real estate developments, which they built with taxpayer dollars. This raised the value of the team so much that Bush eventually sold his share of the team for like 30 times what he paid. One of the more egregious stadium socialism tales, and fairly early in the new stadium boom, so yeah.

[infrared41]

Names is parenthesis are the names that came to mind at first...some are a bit strange

Blue Jays - Joe Carter (Juan Guzman)

For me it was Dave Stieb or Lloyd Moseby. (I saw Moseby hit an inside the park home run at Tiger Stadium way back in 1983...I think it was '83 anyway.)

EDIT: It was May 30th, 1983 off Dan Petry. Gotta love baseball-reference.com

[trekbkr]

AL

Twins: Kirby Puckett; With all due respect to Harmon Killebrew, there are probably ten people in this entire community old enough to have actually seen him play. He was an all-time great but...

The point was made during Killebrew's memorial service yesterday -- which, by the way, was broadcast in its entirety on local stations in the middle of the day -- that he had a lot to do with establishing the fan base for the Twins. Keep in mind that it's not like Minnesotans had never heard of baseball before; they were fans, but they were fans of other teams -- the Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, etc. -- so it was going to take quite a bit of convincing to get them to change loyalties that had been handed down for generations. When the Senators moved to Met Stadium in 1961, Killebrew's power at the plate and his accessibility to fans attracted Minnesotans to the new team very quickly. He was instrumental in giving fans a reason to attend games beyond the mere novelty of a new team being in town. Obviously, the team would have been adopted eventually by local fans anyway, but Killebrew's appeal made that happen almost instantaneously.

That, my friends, is a face of a franchise.

[infrared41]

AL

Twins: Kirby Puckett; With all due respect to Harmon Killebrew, there are probably ten people in this entire community old enough to have actually seen him play. He was an all-time great but...

The point was made during Killebrew's memorial service yesterday -- which, by the way, was broadcast in its entirety on local stations in the middle of the day -- that he had a lot to do with establishing the fan base for the Twins. Keep in mind that it's not like Minnesotans had never heard of baseball before; they were fans, but they were fans of other teams -- the Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, etc. -- so it was going to take quite a bit of convincing to get them to change loyalties that had been handed down for generations. When the Senators moved to Met Stadium in 1961, Killebrew's power at the plate and his accessibility to fans attracted Minnesotans to the new team very quickly. He was instrumental in giving fans a reason to attend games beyond the mere novelty of a new team being in town. Obviously, the team would have been adopted eventually by local fans anyway, but Killebrew's appeal made that happen almost instantaneously.

That, my friends, is a face of a franchise.

Don't get me wrong, Harmon Killebrew was one of the all-time greats. One of my all-time favorites in fact. And, I'm one of the ten people around here who actually saw him play. The reason I chose Kirby Puckett is that, despite the fact that I'm old enough to have seen Killebrew play, (I actually got to see him hit a home run at old Cleveland Stadium) when I think of the Twins, the first player that comes to mind for me is Kirby Puckett. That's all.

[Lee.]

And that's what the point is. It's "who do you think of when a certain team is mentioned, not how much time you spent looking up trivia prior to posting.

[trekbkr]

AL

Twins: Kirby Puckett; With all due respect to Harmon Killebrew, there are probably ten people in this entire community old enough to have actually seen him play. He was an all-time great but...

The point was made during Killebrew's memorial service yesterday -- which, by the way, was broadcast in its entirety on local stations in the middle of the day -- that he had a lot to do with establishing the fan base for the Twins. Keep in mind that it's not like Minnesotans had never heard of baseball before; they were fans, but they were fans of other teams -- the Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, etc. -- so it was going to take quite a bit of convincing to get them to change loyalties that had been handed down for generations. When the Senators moved to Met Stadium in 1961, Killebrew's power at the plate and his accessibility to fans attracted Minnesotans to the new team very quickly. He was instrumental in giving fans a reason to attend games beyond the mere novelty of a new team being in town. Obviously, the team would have been adopted eventually by local fans anyway, but Killebrew's appeal made that happen almost instantaneously.

That, my friends, is a face of a franchise.

Don't get me wrong, Harmon Killebrew was one of the all-time greats. One of my all-time favorites in fact. And, I'm one of the ten people around here who actually saw him play. The reason I chose Kirby Puckett is that, despite the fact that I'm old enough to have seen Killebrew play, (I actually got to see him hit a home run at old Cleveland Stadium) when I think of the Twins, the first player that comes to mind for me is Kirby Puckett. That's all.

Oh, I agree with your feelings about about Puckett; my intent wasn't to shoot you down, but to make a case for the Killer. What Killebrew did for the Twins' inception, Puckett did for their renaissance in the 80's. I'd put Puckett as the 1B to Killebrew's 1A.

[NJTank]

Horrible news for all Mets and Expos fans

New York Mets Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter diagnosed with small tumors on his brain Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2011/05/21/2011-05-21_new_york_mets_hall_of_fame_catcher_gary_carter_diagnosed_with_small_tumors_on_hi.html#ixzz1N0ZQ3GIh

[winghaz]

As one who has been a Twins fan since I was 5 years old -- which, by the way, was 1961 when the Twins moved to Minnesota -- I still think of Killebrew when I think of the Twins.