Injunction Granted Against Twins in Lease

Injunction Granted Requiring Twins to Honor Stadium Contract

Ruling could be blow to MLB's contraction effort

Minneapolis, November 16, 2001 -- The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has been granted a temporary injunction against the Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball, hereby apparently forcing the team to honor the final year of its lease agreement.

The commission had previously been granted a temporary restraining order against both the Twins and the league, requiring the team to play at the Metrodome in 2002, according to an Associated Press report. Hennepin County District Judge Harry Crump, issued the ruling. By granting the injunction, a planned elimination of the Twins by the league may be averted, as a trial will now likely take place at a later date.

A lawyer representing the Twins and baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, had argued that Crump would be overstepping his bounds in extending the order. The commission, whose members are appointed by the governor of Minnesota and the Minneapolis city council, maintained that the lease with
the team required "specific performance".

In arriving at his decision, Crump considered factors such as whether the Facilities Commission would be likely to win at trial, whether it would sustain irreparable harm if the injunction were denied, whether the Twins and the league would be damaged, and also whether the public interest would be served.

Source : Associated Press, Nov. 15, 2001.

David Burkey
E-mail : daveywriter@hotmail.com