February 15, 20197 yr In the wake of relatively low-risk contract extensions given to Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler, some wondered if this meant the Minnesota Twins were ready to make a bigger splash with a veteran contributor.Depending on your perspective, they’ve done just that. Multiple sources have confirmed to Twins Daily that the team has extended their contract with Koopmeinens Amusements & Golf Cart Repair to rent the TC Bear costume through 2023. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but it is expected to cover theft, fur replacement, and the climate-controlled Tuff Shed where the head is stored. “We’re thrilled to continue partnering with the Koopmeinens team,” said Twins GM Thad Levine. The Royalton-based business, located in a haunted industrial park off Highway 10, has provided costume rental for the franchise ever since they provided the low bid for mascot services in 2004. “My dad (Harlan Koopmeinens, the company’s founder) and I stopped at a consignment store in Wisconsin back in the ‘80s, and there was this giant bear costume,” said COO Horace Koopmeinens. “It turned out a local community college had gone belly up when the FBI discovered that all the tuition money was going to the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and all their old sports equipment wound up there. Pops bought the bear costume for $20, put it in our pole barn, and waited for the right opportunity. When we saw the (team’s) Craigslist ad, we asked for $25. The rest is history.” Levine said the quality of the suit has never been in doubt. “The barn cats used the head to birth their litters,” said Levine. “The clubbies really had to get in there with some soapy water, but it was still in surprisingly good shape. Those Rajneeshees built a sturdy mascot.” TC Bear is now the longest-running mascot in team history, although that mark does come with an asterisk after the ill-fated “Replace TC Bear with a Real Bear” promotion on June 30, 2013, when a Kodiak brown bear in a powder blue Tom Brunansky jersey interrupted TC’s consecutive game streak and ate Clete Thomas. Click here to view the article
February 15, 20197 yr I always wondered what happened to Clete. He had that short run that showed so much promise.
February 15, 20197 yr "...FBI discovered that all the tuition money was going to the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh..." Someone has been watching a lot of Netflix recently. Excellent work Stu.
February 15, 20197 yr Surprised by the violent ending. I still blame Bruno to this day for any Twins hitting woes when they are in the middle of a team slump.
February 15, 20197 yr I’m a little concerned about his age. Maybe they should’ve only gone four years. He had good LAR(laughs above replacement) last year but they weren’t as high in the decibels. Is this just a one year hiccup or the start of a new trend? I have some under ten aged nephews and they weren’t so excited to see him as I’d hoped. The Cedar Rapids Kernels have a nice up and coming mascot in Shucks. It’s always nice to see homegrown talent make it to the big league club and I’m concerned they may have blocked him with this move.
February 15, 20197 yr TC should have bet on himself and not take the CLEARLY team friendly deal... Though I was worried he would take his talents to Chicago and mascot a Super Bowl caliber team...
February 15, 20197 yr No financial terms?I'm skeptical.I wouldn't have done anything more than a two-way contract that required him to keep the red bird and the fish costumes handy. He better have been working on his flopping around on the ground, too - the Blue Wahoo gig is tougher than just standing there like an ear of corn.
February 15, 20197 yr It's the little things that make these so great. It says so much the Twins' management wouldn't pony up for anything stronger than "soapy water" to clean the headgear of cat birthing matter.
February 15, 20197 yr This might be the deal that convinces Berrios, Rosario and Gibson that we're serious about competing and that they should extend as well.
February 15, 20197 yr Thank you for using keywords so Google can file this with the other articles on this topic.
February 15, 20197 yr Thank you for using keywords so Google can file this with the other articles on this topic. Well, I was searching "feral cat births" earlier this morning, but this article did not appear in the results, so, yeah not really.
February 15, 20197 yr Well, I was searching "feral cat births" earlier this morning, but this article did not appear in the results, so, yeah not really. All I know is the Pohlads have done a great job of burying the Clete Thomas story and Stu is showing great courage by trying to put it back out there. When you google this there is scarce information on it. We need to keep this story alive! The Twins have multiple bobblehead giveaways every year just to push what happened to Clete down in the search results. Edited February 15, 20197 yr by Doomtints
February 15, 20197 yr Let me get this straight - this team has missed the playoffs for 1 straight seasons and instead of signing a real bear that could maybe charge, attack or otherwise startle the opponent they sign this bum? A mascot bear who can’t even pull it together to run in the mascot race? Noooo, instead for him we have a designated runner (thank you Wanda, an actual athlete) so that TC can busy himself shooting fans, including children, with a cannon? Unconscionable.
February 15, 20197 yr I'm guessing the financial terms are staggering. TC seemed to be on the outs at Twins Fest and was being pursued by the Boston Bruins. Twins must have realized how important he was and ante'd up. Could this be where the Mauer savings went?
February 16, 20197 yr I'm glad they extended him. I was worried they were going to flip him for some prospect mascot in July.
February 16, 20197 yr All I know is the Pohlads have done a great job of burying the Clete Thomas story and Stu is showing great courage by trying to put it back out there. When you google this there is scarce information on it. We need to keep this story alive! The Twins have multiple bobblehead giveaways every year just to push what happened to Clete down in the search results.I'm not sure if the story was actually buried. I believe that Kodiak brown bear received some MVP votes the following November in recognition of his contribution to the team. We've collectively just pushed Clete out of our memory.
February 16, 20197 yr All I know is the Pohlads have done a great job of burying the Clete Thomas story and Stu is showing great courage by trying to put it back out there. When you google this there is scarce information on it. We need to keep this story alive! The Twins have multiple bobblehead giveaways every year just to push what happened to Clete down in the search results.It's a terrible indignity, for the inventor of the baseball shoe, to be forgotten in this way.
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