ns to our forever ballpark. As such, we wanted to pay permanent tribute to those figures and moments that helped shape the first half-century of Minnesota Twins baseball including a statue of Calvin Griffith, our former owner and the man responsible for moving the franchise here in 1961.
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
Our decision to memorialize Calvin Griffith with a statue reflects an ignorance on our part of systemic racism present in 1978, 2010 and today. We apologize for our failure to adequately recognize how the statue was viewed and the pain it caused for many people both inside the Twins organization
Carew, who said he would never sign another contract with the Twins after Griffith remarks, saidin a statement released by the team: I understand and respect the Minnesota Twins decision to remove the Calvin Griffith statue outside Target Field. While Ive always supported the Twins decision to hon
rst 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.
