D. Hocking

Looking back on Minnesota baseball history, Black players like Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield, Mudcat Grant, or Torii Hunter often stand out. Two names, even more recognizable, are often overlooked.
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella was the sixth player to break the MLB color barrier and the third Brooklyn Dodger. He was on Branch Rickey’s shortlist of players he had signed to integrate baseball. As the son of a Black mother and an Italian-American father, he was seen as a candidate before Rickey settled on Robinson.
Before signing with the Dodgers in 1946, he spent nine years with the Negro Leagues Washington Elite Giants, having joined the team as a 15-year-old. In 1946, he was sent to Nashua, NH, after Brooklyn determined that the Danville Dodgers in Illinois was not a location prepared for integration.
He then spent 1947 in Montreal, where Robinson had played the year prior, rather than for the AAA St. Paul Saints. Again, the Dodgers feared the American Association was unprepared for integration.
Robinson broke the MLB color barrier in 1947, playing first base for the Dodgers, and Dan Bankhead became the second Black Dodger later that season. Campanella was knocking on the door of the big leagues, and at the beginning of the 1947 season, he registered his first MLB plate appearance as a Brooklyn Dodger, being hit by a pitch, as was the practice at the time for Black players. 
He played in a few more games in Brooklyn but was sent down to AAA as part of an early-season roster trim. Before becoming a fixture behind the plate for the Dodgers, he needed to make one more stop: Lexington Park in St. Paul.
Although not the first Black player to play in MLB, he was the first in the American Association. By public accounts, the Twin Cities welcomed him. Hitting a home run in six consecutive games with 20 RBI in a week will do that to a community.
Many wondered why it had taken so long for a Black player to come to play professional baseball on their fields, and Campanella made a case for more to be accepted into town. His success as a ballplayer was bittersweet for the fans, though; the better he played, the sooner he would be called up to Brooklyn.
Campanella spent only 39 memorable days in St. Paul, belting 13 home runs with a .325 batting average over 35 games. He left for Brooklyn amongst Minnesota well-wishers who became lifelong fans of the star catcher, supporting him from a distance.
For ten years, Campanella sat behind the plate for the Dodgers, seen as one of the top players in the game. He was an All-Star for eight consecutive years, winning the MVP three times. Unfortunately, his career was cut short due to a car accident that left him paralyzed, but in 1969, he was inducted into Cooperstown.
He may be more famous for his Hall of Fame plaque, or his mentions in Billy Joel’s We didn’t Start the Fire and Talkin’ Baseball by Terry Cashman, but for five weeks, he was the talk of the town in the Twin Cities. When he left town, there was excitement about more Black players playing for Minnesota teams.
Willie Mays
The Twin Cities didn’t have to wait long before an even more significant Black figure came along. Another New York team also had a Minnesota farm team in the American Association—the Minneapolis Millers—who would get their own slice of Black baseball in the form of the Say Hey Kid.
Willie Mays was the 17th player to cross the color barrier at the Major League level. Like Campanella, he began his professional career as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, playing for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948. Upon graduating high school in 1950, Mays had several contract offers but chose the New York Giants.
As a 19-year-old, Mays moved to Trenton to play in the Giant’s minor league system, seeing success, hitting .353 with four home runs in 81 games. The following year, 1951, he moved to Minneapolis to play for the AAA Millers.
If Twin Cities residents thought what Campanella did was special (and it was), they had a pleasant surprise with Mays. The 20-year-old, playing against a league of grown men seven years older than him on average, hit a blistering .477 with an absurd 1.323 OPS for the Millers.
His prowess with the bat wasn’t the only draw; he was also the most outstanding defensive centerfielder of his time (if not the greatest ever). The young man, who would go on to make a play simply known as “The Catch” just three years later in the 1954 World Series, was making highlight plays nightly in Minneapolis, including one catch climbing the wall in a style that Stew Thornley compared to Ken Griffey Jr. or Bo Jackson.
Those who did not learn their lesson about the fleeting nature of superstar prospects from Campanella’s time in the Twin Cities four years earlier had only themselves to blame for missing out on Mays tearing the diamond at Nicollet Park. He was in town for an even shorter time. Although he was with the team for 38 days—one fewer than Campanella. To make matters worse, the Saints were on the road at the beginning of his stay with the team, and he left the team for New York while they were on another road trip, actually staying in the Twin Cities for just over two weeks.
Mays didn’t even make it to June before leaving for New York. The spring weather had been poor, and many in town passed up a chance to see him, hoping to catch a game later in the season. So many had missed their opportunity that these people came to refer to themselves as the I Didn’t See Him Club.
Mays, too, left a group of lifelong fans in Minnesota. To soften the blow, the owner of the Giants, Horace Stoneham, wrote a letter published in local newspapers thanking the Twin Cities for supporting Mays and the Millers, promising to send additional talented players. He never sent anyone like Mays.
We can’t blame Stoneham for that, though, because only a handful of players in history are on Mays’s level—if anyone. That same year, he was named Rookie of the Year. Three years later, in 1954, he would make The Catch, win the World Series, and be named MVP. He won MVP again in 1965 and racked up 24 All-Star games in a 21-year career (the math checks out, I promise).
Mays ranks fifth all-time in WAR, per Baseball Reference, with 660 home runs (6th all-time) and 12 Gold Gloves. He was an all-around star, the likes of which we have not since seen. Mays, too, is enshrined in the chorus of Talkin’ Baseball and is one of the bastions of the sport. At 91, the 1979 Hall of Fame inductee still serves as one of the sport’s great ambassadors.
And the last thing he did before becoming all-caps WILLIE MAYS was amaze the spectators who braved the weather to watch him play home games in Minneapolis.
The sixth and seventeenth players to break the color barrier in MLB were Minnesota ballplayers the same year they made their historic entrances. Even if it was only for five weeks each, we should remember them in the annals of Minnesota baseball history.

The Detroit Tigers led the American League from May 16th to October 6th, when the game was moved from its original date of October 5th because Brett Favre and the boys had a ball game. 
On September 6th, the Tigers held what seemed to be an insurmountable lead of seven games. They went 16-12 in September but floundered in the early October games, winning one of four. The Minnesota Twins won all four games, beating Cy Young award winner Zach Greinke in the process, thus leading to a tie after the final day to force a "163" for the division crown.
 
The rosters for both teams are a treat to look back on. The Tiger's notables in the pitching department were Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Edwin Jackson, Armando Galarraga, Dontrelle Willis, Fernando Rodney Joel Zumaya, and Fu-Te Ni. A formidable staff even before they added Max Scherzer. 
The bats brought some noise, led by Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn, and Marcus Thames. A balanced lineup with decent reserves to make up a very formidable opponent.
 
 
The Twin's roster was steeped in talent as well. It was a potent offense with some sluggers and the famed piranhas. The staff was middling with a rotation of Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey, and Carl Pavano. None had an awe-inspiring season. The bullpen was the strength of the staff in the 2009 season, led by Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares, Jesse Crain, and Bobby Keppel. 
The lineup was where this team made its hay—led by Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Denard Span, Delmon Young, Carlos Gomez, Jason Kubel, Alexi Casilla, and Orlando Cabrera. One of the more talented lineups the Twins have ever assembled, but it didn't have the starting pitching to match. We parked the Porche in the driveaway with the lack of starting pitching.
 
So on October 6th, 2009, these two very talented ball clubs would clash in a wild (mid)west showdown in the giant inflatable toilet, and I got to sit with my butt touching the back of the dome in the third deck. I was as far away from the field as humanly possible, and it was the best fan experience of my life.
We enter the dome to the familiar scent of peanuts, dome dogs that you can almost taste while you walk the concourse, and spillage from the trough. It's an aroma that I can smell to the day, and if I could get it made into a candle, I would. 
We meander to our seats, doing the awkward dance of not wanting to divert our path to a stranger then it ends up being a classic midwest exchange of "ope, scuse me." After taking in the smells and midwestern hospitality, we got to our seats to see the dome's bright lights and the place humming. The fans, the music, and the players getting ready for a win or go-home ball game, the excitement was palpable.
The game started slow, contrary to the energy draped all over the Metrodome. The first two innings were scoreless until the forever underrated Magglio Ordonez ripped a single to center field. Then one of the most memorable sports moments of my life took place. Twins fans capitalized on the energy in the building and the controversy that surrounded Miguel Cabrera that season. 
The crowd slowly started chanting. I couldn't understand what was being said at first, but then the crowd noise began to swell, and the entire state of Minnesota was chanting "Alcoholic." The crowd grew louder and more confident until the future first-ballot hall of famer blasted 430 foot no-doubter off the chairs in right-center field. The dome was deflated, and the score showed 3-0 in favor of Detroit.
The Twins did what all great ballclubs do in the bottom of that inning. They didn't get all three back, but they responded. Matt Tolbert and Span hit back-to-back singles. Tolbert advanced on a fly ball out, and then on an errant pick-off attempt to first base, Tolbert scored. In true piranha fashion, the Twins responded and kept the crowd alive.
The game stayed at three to one in Detroit's favor until the left-handed bat of Kubel deposited a homer of the future Cy Young Award winner Porcello to end his evening. The Twins then loaded the bases but failed to cash in again in the bottom of the sixth.
Baker walked the leadoff hitter in the 7th and was relieved by big Jon Rauch , who ended the threat. The little guys struck again in the bottom of the seventh. Fan favorite Nick Punto singled to start the inning, then The OC- Orlando Cabrera, dug in. One false pick-off move, then a hanging breaking ball... 
From my vantage point, it looked like he popped up to shortstop. The crack of the bat was almost on delay. The crowd noise was like a tidal wave that built up and crashed into our row in the back. The left fielder was moving back, and the ball kept floating and found the seats in the first couple rows in left field. 
Pandamonium. Cabrera immortalized himself in the hearts of Twins fans with one swing and sent Minneapolis into a frenzy. Homer hankies enveloped the sea of fans.
It felt like the game was in hand, and our bullpen was our strength. Nathan and Guerrier were waiting in the wings. Each with a sub-three ERA. 
Guerrier, with the double braided Phiten necklace, the mark of a good baseball player back then, was not sharp. Ordonez pumped a homer to left field to tie the game, and then Guerrier followed it up with two walks. 
Ron Gardenhire had to pull his best setup man and go to the closer. The game was hanging on by a thread, with our last big-time arm taking the hill, but we had our stud on the mound. Nathan fell behind 2-0 to Brandon Inge and induced an infield fly on a borderline pitch. Nathan and all his twitchiness got the backward K with his big curveball and recaptured the momentum.
The closers ruled the ninth inning. Rodney and Nathan both hung zeros, and we headed to extras. Crain entered the game and promptly hit Aubrey Huff with a pitch, and the pinch runner scored on a Inge double. Former Twin Clete Thomas was the defensive replacement for Ordonez in the outfield for the Tiger's attempt to close the ball game.
Cuddyer led off with a looper to right field. Ryan Raburn made a sliding attempt at the dying quail that made it to the fence in right field. Delmon Young couldn't cash in with the ground out. Brendan Harris then was able to work a walk, but the double play was in order. The Twins were one grounder away on the Metrodome's turf to getting a jump-start on the off-season. 
Tolbert tapped one back up the middle, but on this day, the turf giveth. Tie game. Redemption was spelled Raburn however. Punto lined a ball to left that was caught, and Raburn hosed the pinch runner Casilla at the plate. More baseball.
The 11th went quietly, but the dome was ready to burst. Thus began the inning that may have given me gray hair as a 13-year-old. Bobby Keppel was on to pitch and intentionally walked Raburn to load the bases. 
Keppel threw his first pitch to Inge, and he at least thought the pitch hit him. To this day, I still couldn't tell you if that was the case. After the game, Jim Leyland said that the replay confirmed the pitch hit Inge. What matters is that the home plate umpire kept Inge at home that day. 
The conclusion of all the hoopla was Inge hitting a tweener ground ball similar to Tolbert's, but Casilla made an excellent play and got the force out at home, two outs, bases still loaded. Keppel then struck out Gerald Laird to close the inning, immortalizing another player in Twins' history.
The bottom of the 12th felt inevitable. If Keppel can show that heavy of a sack, we can snag one run with the bottom of the order. Go Go Gomez led off with a single and made it to second on a ground out. Leyland put Young on to get the double play back in order, with Young's run not meaning anything. 
That brought Casilla to the dish, along with his .202 batting average with zero home runs. The slap hitter got his barrel out front and shot one through the right side. We all knew who was on second base. All I could think was "don't fall." Mauer got gobbled up by the turf monster earlier in the game on a fringe double. 
Gomez flew around third, and the team met him in a pile of dust after the celebratory slide. The top of the Metrodome flipped its top. We were hugging people we didn't know, and the blur of homer hankies took over the stadium.
It may not have been perfect, but it was our moment. The season wasn't galvanized by a World Series or even a post-season win. It was just a beautiful baseball game. The game had everything a lover of the game could dream of; much like a heavyweight title fight, the teams traded punches until finally, in the 12th round, someone hit the canvas. It's a game I will look back on and remember the beauty of a crap stadium and group that wouldn't be denied on October 6th, 2009.
And to cap off the night of baseball, we got blasted by that famous gust of Hubert Humphrey Metrodome air, trailed by the scent of dome dogs you could taste, peanuts, and urine. On that night, it was perfect.