New Gopher baseball stadium thread


At least 500 people at the "Bottom of the 9th" fundraiser tonight. Good odds that some significant dough was raised before the night ended.
 

I attended the Bottom of the Ninth event at TCF Club Room on Friday. Great night, surely raised more money, but Coach Anderson admitted that we will need another seven-figure gift to make it happen. He sounded optimistic and enthusiastic.
 

As I understand it, the fundraiser last Friday night brought in only about $200,000. Not sure who was there, but I was hoping for a couple three guys to say that they will donate $3 $4 million either from them or a group effort from their friends. I was also hoping that Joe Mauer was going to step up a bit. While he turned the U down in the past (to attend college) and really has no connection to Florida, I was hoping that since Minnesota has treated him well growing up as well as professionally, he would give a generous gift. Time will tell.
 



Charley Walters reporting today in the Pioneer Press that another 500k gift has been received to bring the total raised to 5M. Two-thirds of the way toward breaking ground.
 


Tid-bit from Charley Walters PP on 8-11-11: http://www.twincities.com/walters/ci_18657382

Hall of famer Paul Molitor, who gave a stirring motivational speech at the RBI Inner Cities baseball banquet Tuesday in Bloomington, also appeared at his alma mater Gophers' fundraiser golf tournament at Willingers the same day. Molitor, who heads the Gophers' stadium fundraising effort that is up to $5.5 million, said more donors are preparing to help.


I also read in the mndaily and ballpark digest several weeks ago, that the University needs $7M to start construction. So, maybe another $1.5M is needed instead of $2.0M. Either way, we need to get this last chunk gathered to make it happen.
 

Well, Sid Hartman continues to be remarkably negative after 60-some years of optimism. By my count, this puts us at $5.9 million, or $1.6 million short (Sid doesn't include the math below). Still a couple more major donors required.

From his column last week:
About $400,000 more has been raised to build a new Gophers baseball stadium, but that amount is far from the $7.5 million needed to start work on the current site of Siebert Field.
 



sid is always telling other people they should contribute to the stadium. well even after sid lost a bit in Madoff ponzi scheme, he still has enough to put the u over the top for the stadium and it wouldn't impact his overall wealth that much.
 

A piece from Sid's column last week is below. No news, other than that efforts are still going strong, and confirmation of what we already knew; need another 1.5M. Would love to see another game or two at Target Field this year, sounds like the schedule has us at the Dome for all our home games, of which there are 39!

Good news on U baseball field
There is encouraging news over fundraising for a Gophers baseball field, with $6 million of the $7.5 million needed to start construction raised.

Former Gophers star Paul Molitor has been heading fundraising efforts for nearly a year. The Baseball Hall of Famer has been talking to fellow Cretin-Derham Hall product Joe Mauer about becoming a possible donor. The Mortenson Construction Co. that would build the stadium is another possibility. And Dick Ames, the big contractor and one of the biggest Gophers donors around, could contribute by doing some of the digging for the project.

Meanwhile, in the 2012 season, the Gophers are scheduled to play 39 of their 55 games at the Metrodome with 16 games on the road. That's after they couldn't play any games at the Metrodome earlier this year because of the roof collapse.
 

Glass Guy, Have you seen a schedule for 2012. I've been checking and still unable to find it.
 

Stay Classy Dave Winfield

Can anyone confirm Winfield insisted upon receiving 10K in travel "expenses" to attend a fundraiser at TCF Stadium?

I'm hearing he asked Coach Anderson is he should mention in a short speech how much he will be contributing; Anderson asked himhow much?; Winfield replied "15K"; Anderson said "I'd keep that to yourself".

So a net 5K from Winfield? WOW.
 



I was at the fundraiser you mentioned above and I have no idea if that conversation ever took place, but it wouldn't surprise me. I have heard for years that Winfield was a jerk, but somewhat refused to believe, one I know his brother Steve and he is a wonderful person and secondly because I loved watching him play, but his speech at the event confirmed the rumors. His entire speech focused on the fact that he was awesome, at baseball at basketball, how he would have been good at football. It was one of the worst speeches I have ever heard. It was very disapointing and if that conversation mentioned above really happen, I wish the Gopher Baseball team would just cut ties with him.
 

My understanding is that Winfield required a $15k speaking fee to come do the fundraiser. His "donation" was waiving half of that fee. So essentially he didn't donate anything, just charged the program $7500 instead of his normal $15k. To top it off, when he received his payment the U withheld taxes (as is required.) Winfield sent it back and demanded that they gross it up so he received the full $7500 after taxes. I'm not as confident on the conversation with Anderson, but I did hear something to that effect happened. Anderson told him to just not mention how much he was "donating."

Winfield is a grade A, money grubbing.....I'll stop there.

And I agree, his speech at the banquet was so self-serving I wanted to puke.

Molitor, on the other hand, had a really great speech. He's made his mistakes in life (as we all have) but he's gone above and beyond in helping this program it seems. He'll deserve a huge thank you when this gets done.
 

A tidbit from Charley Walters today...

Funding for a new Gophers baseball stadium has quietly reached $7 million and is rapidly moving toward the $7.5 million required to break ground.

Don't be surprised if former Gophers pitcher Glen Perkins makes a significant stadium contribution that will be announced soon.
 


A tidbit from Shooter:

"Although more than $7 million has been privately raised for a new Gophers baseball stadium, the project still would have to be approved by the university's Board of Regents before ground could be broken next spring."

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_19489180

Go Gophers!!
 

It would be great if they break ground in the spring. I wonder what the time table would be before they could actually play? Could they be playing baseball there in 2013?

On a side note, I can't believe how long this project has taken....I started this thread 3 years ago...under a different moniker even...haha
 

On a side note, I can't believe how long this project has taken....I started this thread 3 years ago...

JMO but I assume this project has taken this long because it is such a complete waste of money. Again that is JMO.
 




Looks like what we need. A nice, simple ballpark. Not too extravagant, but still looks great.
 


Charley Walters had this item below yesterday in the Pioneer Press. Nice to see Perkins is donating, I had heard some negative comments about him in regard to his lack of financial support. This is a small intimate ballpark, I would assume a Spring 2012 groundbreaking would mean it would be open for the 2013 season. But, I am sure we will find out, if and when $7.5 million is reached and the decision to break ground is made.

It looks like a groundbreaking for a new Gophers baseball stadium could come this spring. Private fundraising has exceeded $7 million and is moving toward the $7.5 million required to put a shovel in the ground. Among major donors is ex-Gophers pitcher Glen Perkins of the Twins.
 


This is exciting for Gopher baseball. I know that the University originally envisioned a $15M project, and would build it in two phases. So, if we are closing in on the completion of fund-raising for the first phase, I bet the fundraising focus is going to shift to the basketball practice facility now (another $15M project) and the second phase of the baseball facility will take a back seat temporarily. I am sure they can continue to work on both, but when it comes to fundraising and wealthy donors, something has to take center stage. Whatever the case may be, the baseball facility has been through more ups and downs in the last ten years, it will be nice to see the first shovel go into the ground.
 

Shooter from the Pioneer Press with another note on the architect today:

As the University of Minnesota closes in on $7.5 million required in private donations for a new on-campus baseball stadium, a bid process is about to begin for an architect. Among firms that would like to construct the ballpark is Populous, formerly known as HOK Sport, which built the Twins' Target Field, as well as the new Yankee Stadium, the Detroit Tigers' Comerica Park and the Gophers' TCF Bank Stadium. Among architects for Populous is former Gophers baseball player Logan Gerken, who worked on Target Field and TCF Bank Stadium.
 

Sid had a quick note today in the Star Tribune, perhaps this means the 7.5M has been raised and the Board of Regents will consider this in their next meeting, but sometimes Sid gets ahead of himself (I know it's hard to imagine, but yes, really, he does). Pretty amazing that the Gophers will play 27 consecutive home games, and after last year, that is a good thing:

Once the University of Minnesota Board of Regents gives its OK, invitations will be sent out to architects to work on the design of the new Gophers baseball stadium. The Gophers released their 2012 schedule Thursday, and it includes 39 home games: 38 at the Metrodome, one at Target Field and none at Siebert Field. They have 27 consecutive games at the Dome from Feb. 24 to April 3, a year after playing all their March games in either Arizona or California due to the Metrodome roof collapse.
 

Update and good news on the stadium front....

From the MN Daily...

http://www.mndaily.com/2012/01/17/university-build-75-million-baseball-stadium


After years of planning, fundraising and false hopes, plans to build a new stadium for the University of Minnesota baseball team are finally moving forward.

The University is seeking an architect and contractor to build a $7.5 million baseball stadium to replace the 40-year-old Siebert Field. The new artificial turf field is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

For decades, the Gophers baseball program heard rumors of getting a new place to call home, but another multi-million dollar project would come up and trump it — most recently, TCF Bank Stadium.

The University put out a request for proposals last week after years of fundraising to begin the project.

“This means a great deal to the baseball program that has been playing in a facility that is a little out-of-date,” said David Crum, associate athletics director of the Golden Gopher Fund.

The fund, which is the nonprofit branch of the University’s athletics department in charge of fundraising, has secured commitments for a little more than $7 million toward the project. It will be built on the current Siebert Field site.

The Golden Gopher Fund has received a number of six-figure contributions including a $2 million gift from the Pohlad Family Foundation, the family that owns the Minnesota Twins.

From maintenance issues to a recruiting disadvantage, Siebert Field — constructed in 1971 — has plagued the baseball team since the early 90s. Baseball has lagged behind in an athletic department that prides itself on infrastructure. Minnesota boasts some of the top facilities in the nation like the University Aquatic Center and Ridder Arena.

“Our job is to get [Gopher baseball] a facility that is comparable to other Big Ten facilities so they’re on a level playing field,” Crum said.

Intermittently for the past decade, the Gophers baseball team has had to play its home games off-campus at the Metrodome, where attendance is poor. After the December 2010 collapse of the Dome’s roof, the team scrambled to schedule home games, which resulted in a slew of cancellations.

The team played four weekend series at Target Field and a handful of games at Siebert while the rest were either played on the road or cancelled altogether.

In 2004, the University had to schedule 24 of 35 home games in the Metrodome because Siebert Field was in such disrepair — the first time since 1970 that a majority of the home games were played off the historic field.

In 2012, the team might find it hard to keep both eyes on this season as 38 of the 39 home games will be played in the Metrodome during what may be the last year of off-campus baseball.

Since the early 90s, Gophers head baseball coach John Anderson has advocated for a new stadium and watched as the Sports Pavilion, Mariucci Arena Baseline Tennis Center and other facilities were built.

“A great number of the [donations] have been coming in because of John Anderson,” Crum said. “He is a patient and loyal member of this athletic department.”
 




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