The Twins removed a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith from in front of Target Field, the team announced Friday.
Griffith was also the president of the franchise for much of his 30-year tenure with the team and orchestrated its move from Washington to Minnesota. Griffith caused controversy with racist remarks, which is what led to the Twins removing the statue just over a decade after it was placed in front of its new stadium in Minneapolis.
The announcement came less than a month after the city became the focal point of unrest in the country after George Floyd, who was black, was killed by a white police officer. The incident set off protests around the country.
But there was already a movement to remove Griffith’s statue before the current events, mostly due to comments Griffith made in 1978 at a Lions Club dinner, when he was unaware a reporter was present.
“I’ll tell you why we came to Minnesota,’’ Griffith said, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune article the next day. “It was when we found out you only had 15,000 blacks here. Black people don’t go to ballgames, but they’ll fill up a rassling ring and put up such a chant it’ll scare you to death. We came here because you’ve got good, hard-working white people here.”
Griffith, who died in 1999, was also quoted separately as saying: “Why do we have colored ballplayers on our club? They are the best ones. If you don’t have them, you’re not going to win.”
In the aftermath of those remarks, Rod Carew requested a trade from the team and was soon shipped to the Angels.
In a statement Friday, the Twins said “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 Minnesota Twins stand for and value.
“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 and across Twins Territory. We cannot remove Calvin Griffith from the history of the Minnesota Twins, but we believe removal of this statue is an important and necessary step in our ongoing commitment to provide a Target Field experience where every fan and employee feels safe and welcome”.
Carew also supported the move, but noted Griffith’s past was complicated.
“I understand and respect the Minnesota Twins decision to remove the Calvin Griffith statue outside Target Field,’’ Carew said, according to the Star Tribune. “While I’ve always supported the Twins decision to honor Calvin with a statue, I also remember how inappropriate and hurtful his comments were on that fateful day in Waseca. The Twins did what they felt they needed to do for the organization and for our community.While we cannot change history, perhaps we can learn from it.”
Carew continued: “When he traded me prior to the 1979 season, Calvin told me he wanted me to be paid what I was worth. “Later that year the Angels made me the highest paid player in baseball. A racist wouldn’t have done that… In 1991, the first 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.”