Never Forget Twins Owner Made Racist Statements in 1978 About Moving Team to Minnesota

The Washington Senators ended their six-decade run in the nation's capital by moving to Minnesota and rebranding as the Twins in 1961. What is less well-known, however, is that Senators/Twins owner Clark Griffith had an extremely nefarious reason in mind for choosing Minneapolis as his relocation site.

Griffith claimed in 1978 that he moved the Senators to Minnesota and not New Orleans because Minneapolis doesn't have as many black people. Point blank.

Griffith, after checking to make sure he was in the room with a black person, also expressed his preference for "good, hardworking white people" over minorities, whom Griffith accused of making a "rassling ring" and "putting up such a chant it’ll scare you to death" instead of attending baseball games.

Yes, these horrid words came from 1978, not 1878.

I wonder what minority players like Rod Carew and Tony Oliva, who brought Griffith so much success in the '60s and '70s, think about his clear preference to be around white people. The fact that a statue of Griffith is outside Target Field as we speak shows that his reprehensible views have been swept under the rug by the franchise.

Digging into the history of any MLB franchise is sure to unearth some stark racism. given the attitudes of the early part of the 20th century, but Griffith being so blatant with his racism as late as 1978 is nothing short of abhorrent.