As much as he was criticized for being frugal with the Twins, he truly was a great, great man and was very highly regarded with the Twins. A sad day for baseball indeed.

Rest in peace, Carl.

Posted by: ws2009bound | January 05, 2009 at 04:55 PM

Yes, its a sad day when someone passes away. My thoughts are with the family. But people should also remember this is the guy who volunteered to contract the Twins for financial gain. Also he did not pay for the entire new stadium on his own. Taxpayers... Maybe his sons will do a better job.

Posted by: darin617 | January 05, 2009 at 04:56 PM

RIP I send my prayers to his family that they can recover from his loss

Posted by: HalosFan777 | January 05, 2009 at 04:58 PM

RIP He will be missed...

Posted by: Dj 26 | January 05, 2009 at 05:02 PM

He brought happiness in Minnesota, 2 World Series. Lots of owners never get to say this.

God Bless,
Carl

Posted by: Cyyoung | January 05, 2009 at 05:04 PM

First and foremost, RIP and my condolences out to his family..

Seondly to start_wearing_purple who wrote:

"Does this mean the Twins will spend more money?

Could you be just a little more tacky?

Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | January 05, 2009 at 05:06 PM

How did he get "mad rich"?

Posted by: pskip13 | January 05, 2009 at 04:53 PM

By foreclosing farms during the great depression. He made all is money from banking. He is also owned various things like radio stations and a portion of Pepsi bottling Co.

Posted by: Twins777 | January 05, 2009 at 05:08 PM

He could have helped the Twins a lot more financially. This guy was a *billionaire*... Regaurdless, in his time he was responsible for two Twins championships and will be most remembered for that. Best wishes to the family.

Posted by: ForeverYanks | January 05, 2009 at 05:14 PM

He sounds like a decent man, with integrity and compassion (aside from keeping the Twins' payroll down). Requiescat.

Posted by: redaxe | January 05, 2009 at 05:27 PM

RIP.

Condolences to all who knew him.

I would love to live to 90. I've got so many things to take care of to make that a possibility though.

Posted by: melonis rex | January 05, 2009 at 05:34 PM

RIP and my prayers are with the family.

The Twins have been the best team in baseball from a win : dollar spent perspective for many years now.

Posted by: Svengoolie | January 05, 2009 at 05:41 PM

Sad to see him pass but as a Twins fan I'm happy we no longer have to put money in his pocket.

When they going to do contraction the Twins were worth 89 Million by Forbes magazine, MLB was going to pay Pohlad 200-250 Milion to go away and he was on baord to kill a great franchise.

Did you know:
From 1979-1995 Twins won more world championships than the New York Yankees. Also from 1988 through 1994 they out-drew the Yankees. Minesota is a large market team. They led the AL in attendance year after year back in the 80's and early 90's.

Pohlad claims that Minnesota is a "small market" with a "poor fan base" and thus he simply cannot afford to pay any more that what amounts to the lowest payroll in the MLB. The truth is that Minnesota is a great market that as recently as ten years ago was leading the major leagues in attendance. Furthermore, Pohlad is one of the richest owners in the game, so rich that it was recently revealed that he has been giving other owners massive interest free loans in exchange for backroom favors. Worst of all, for years Pohlad has been one of the few owners making a profit, by keeping his payroll so low that it is below the amount of money baseball's luxury tax system gives to the teams with the lowest payrolls - a corrupt system Pohlad helped instigate.

Pohlad wanted to sell the team and have it moved to North Carolina.

Said he would pay $80 million for a new ballpark in the 90's but it was a 80 million dollar loan with intrest to the state.

All I have to say it's a good day for baseball.

* Top FA signings since 01'
03 Kenny Rogers 1 yr deal
Mike Redmond
Jaun Castro
Rondell White
Livan Hernandez
Tony Batista
Mike Lamb
Ramon Ortiz
Sidney Ponson
Adam Everett

Posted by: Twins GM | January 05, 2009 at 05:42 PM

"By foreclosing farms during the great depression. "

Wrong.Pohlad didn't start in the banking business until after World War II, the great depression was long over by then.

Posted by: ScottG | January 05, 2009 at 06:33 PM

RIP 90 plus is awesome..
Twins GM, you are a dick.

Posted by: 661dodgerblue | January 05, 2009 at 06:48 PM

"By foreclosing farms during the great depression. "

Wrong.Pohlad didn't start in the banking business until after World War II, the great depression was long over by then.

Posted by: ScottG | January 05, 2009 at 06:33 PM

Here's a link to wikipedia. It says that he foreclosed farms during the great depression. I know that Wikipedia isn't the best source, but it is true the he foreclosed those farms.

Posted by: Twins777 | January 05, 2009 at 06:59 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Pohlad

Posted by: Twins777 | January 05, 2009 at 07:00 PM

Sorry that I don't have good feelings to a man who has done nothing for my favorite team and wanted to get ride of my team and have me pay for his new ball park.
How would you like to see your Dodgers be contracted or have an owner who cared more about making a dime than having a winning team. Year after year we see great ball players leave when he has money made by the team to keep them. Polhad ran the team into the ground in the 90's and did nothing about it. For that I'm happy he is no longer running the team.

P.S. I wish death to no one and it is a sad day for his family. My best wishes go out to his family but as a fan I'm happy he is gone just as much as I'm happy to see Bush gone after what he has done to the USA.

Posted by: Twins GM | January 05, 2009 at 07:06 PM

Does this mean the Twins will spend more money?

Posted by: start_wearing_purple | January 05, 2009 at 04:41 PM

The body's barely cold and you're trying to get at the money? Don't hold your breath. Depending on how his estate is being divvied up, the team may be sold. God help Twins fans if the team ends up in the hands of an owner like Frank McCourt (owner of the Dodgers).

Posted by: midtown | January 05, 2009 at 09:27 PM

Thank you for the information Twins GM. I knew he was holding back, but that's just down right disguesting. This is why I love the Yankees so much. They're a team that actually reinvests and rewards their fans for their loyalty by putting the best players possible on the field. The funniest thing though, as rich as the Yankees are, there are several teams that could *easily* contend with them financially. The Steinbrenners are simply a family with resources and a winning attitude.

The Twins aren't the only one with a stingy owner though. I know for a fact that the Marlins' owner is holding back financially, which is so sad because that team has had very good success with a less than $20 million budget most of the time. If that team had a payroll like, say their division rival Mets, they'd dominate. And If i remember correctly, the Royals had the richest owner in baseball about three years back or so.

People need to see that this is what truly is killing baseball. What's honestly worse - the Yankees doing everything in their power to win to put their team in contention year after year, or several (understatement) other owners doing the opposite to turn a profit at the cost of undersupporting their teams? Frugal, penny pinching owners only worried about turning a profit at the cost of their teams contending seem to have become acceptable in the MLB. Twins fans, I'm sorry for the pain you've had to endure knowing you were one win away from the playoffs, despite being undersupported and told you couldn't contend. The Twins have shown a ton of heart and rightfully deserve more support financially.

Like Twins GM said, I wouldn't wish death upon anyone either, but I don't see how this couldn't help the Twins.

Posted by: ForeverYanks | January 05, 2009 at 09:28 PM

This is a huge shock. I didn't even know he was sick!

Posted by: TheAlbatross | January 06, 2009 at 06:39 AM

So does this mean his 12 year old grandson will inherit the team, then name himself manager?

And will the kid's mom wind up marrying Justin Morneau?

Posted by: Pinky29 | January 06, 2009 at 03:53 PM

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Carl Pohlad Passes Away

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