A statue of former
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
team owner
Calvin Griffith
Calvin Robertson Griffith (December 1, 1911 – October 20, 1999), born Calvin Griffith Robertson, was a Canadian-born American Major League Baseball team owner. As president, majority owner and ''de facto'' general manager (baseball), general m ...
stood in front of
Target Field
Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Tar ...
in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
from 2010 until 2020.
History
Griffith inherited the
Washington Senators from his adoptive father in 1955. The team changed its name and moved to Minnesota in 1961. Griffith spoke about the move in 1978: "I'll tell you why we came to Minnesota. It was when I found out you only had 15,000 blacks here. Black people don't go to ballgames, but they'll fill up a rassling ring and put up such a chant it'll scare you to death. It's unbelievable. We came here because you’ve got good, hardworking, white people here."
The statue was installed in 2010.
Removal
In 2020, following a wave of
protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
sparked by the
murder of George Floyd
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
, the Minnesota Twins announced the removal of Griffith's statue at
Target Field
Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Tar ...
, stating "While we acknowledge the prominent role Calvin Griffith played in our history, we cannot remain silent and continue ignoring the racist comments he made in Waseca in 1978. His disparaging words displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the Black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value."
After the statue was removed,
Rod Carew
Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman, first baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minneso ...
released a statement claiming "I've always supported the Twins decision to honor Calvin with a statue" and "I saw no signs of racism whatsoever" when playing with the Minnesota Twins during Griffith's time as owner. Carew also noted that Griffith paid him well and that he was traded to the California Angels because "Calvin told me he wanted me to be paid what I was worth." Carew also stated “In 1991, the first person I called after I was told I had been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame was Calvin. I have long forgiven Cal for his insensitive comments and do not believe he was a racist. That was NOT my personal experience with Calvin Griffith – prior to or following that day in 1978."
See also
*
George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Local protests over the Murder of George Floyd, murder of George Floyd, sometimes called the Minneapolis riots or the Minneapolis uprising, began on May 26, 2020, and within a few days had inspired a George Floyd protests, global protest moveme ...
*
*
Statue of Jerry Richardson
References
{{Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
2010 establishments in Minnesota
2010 sculptures
2020–2023 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest
Buildings and structures in Minneapolis
Minnesota Twins
Monuments and memorials in Minnesota
Monuments and memorials in the United States removed during the George Floyd protests
Outdoor sculptures in Minnesota
Relocated buildings and structures in Minnesota
Sculptures of men in Minnesota
Griffith, Calvin
Statues removed in 2020
2020 United States racial unrest
Baseball sculptures