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Twins manager visits Snappers Hot Stove Banquet

BELOIT — Ron Gardenhire looks like a guy you could see at the corner tap some Friday night.

He’d probably wave and buy the first one.

That fits in well with the Midwestern, low-budget Minnesota Twins.

And that is why the 51-year-old Gardenhire is going into his eighth season as manager of the Twins. Of course, personality won’t get you a long-term contract in the majors, but the bottom line of 621-509 and four postseason berths certainly will.

Gardenhire was one of the featured speakers at Wednesday night’s Winter Snappers Hot Stove Banquet at the Country Club of Beloit.

The white-goateed Gardenhire is not a stranger to Beloit, having managed Class A Midwest League teams here while at Kenosha in the late 1980s.

“We used to hit the Hardee’s on the way out of town,” Gardenhire said. “I love Hardee’s. I have some great memories of Beloit.”

Gardenhire was eating a much better meal Wednesday night than he did back then, and he earned some well-deserved compliments from the people who know him well.

Terry Ryan, the long-time Twins general manager who now is a special assistant for the team, credits Gardenhire for much of the team’s long-term success.

“He has the ability to get players to play for him,” Ryan said. “Players like to be around him. They like to play for him.

“He’s got the gift of gab; he’s good with the media. He’s been a tremendous asset for us to do our business.”

One of Gardenhire’s best jobs did not result in a spot in the playoffs. Last year, he guided a Twins team that lost several key players—including Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana—to an 88-74 regular-season record.

That put the Twins in a first-place tie with the Chicago White Sox. In the one-game playoff to determine who would advance to the playoffs, the White Sox got a seventh-inning homer from Jim Thome to win a 1-0 thriller at Cellular Field.

After Gardenhire talked about losing that final game to the Twins’ chief rival, how he felt he didn’t manage well those final weeks and how the Twins had plenty of chances to get into the playoffs despite that, he was asked how long it took him to get over such a loss.

“I’m still not over it. Can’t you tell?” he said. “You never get over something like that.”

Despite the rivalry with the White Sox that has featured verbal jabs and a couple of violent home-plate crashes, Gardenhire says he enjoys going against Chicago and the Sox animated manager Ozzie Guillen.

“I have more fun with Ozzie than anybody in baseball,” Gardenhire said, adding that he doesn’t always understand what the Sox manager is saying. “He’s like a little kid on the baseball field, and that’s the way it should be.”

After several minutes of discussion, Gardenhire excused himself.

“I have to buy my son some Snapper shirts,” Gardenhire said as he walked out the door. “He’s a Snappers fan. I still have some Snapper shirts—some golf shirts.”

Stadium talk stalled

Dennis Conerton, the chairman of the Snappers’ board of directors, said there is nothing to report on the team’s quest for a new stadium.

“It’s on hold,” Conerton said.

Conerton said while the City of Beloit has given the team a parcel of land, the team is not actively pursuing private financing because of the economy.

No roof overhead

While the Snappers are looking for a stadium, the Twins are looking forward to moving into a new stadium for the 2010 season.

Bill Smith, the Twins general manager, said all systems are go for 40,000-seat venue.

“Most of our season ticket-holders—almost all of our season ticket-holders—are maintaining their tickets because they want to keep their place in line for tickets in 2010,” Smith said.

“We’re very aware of (the economy),” he said. “Hopefully things will turn around soon.”

The new stadium will not have a retractable roof like Miller Park has. The cold weather conditions early and late in the season are something Twins fans will have to put up with.

Smith said there was a reason—or reasons—why the new park will not have a retractable roof.

“There’re 110 million reasons,” Smith said. “That is how much it would have cost.”