Sam Arkwright Diary
September 29th, 2022
Coming off the high of seeing Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run in Toronto, I was prepared for a major letdown today in Minneapolis. I mean seriously, how do you top that? Lucky for me, Minnesota didn't disappoint.
Target Field was built twelve years ago, but in many ways, it feels like it is brand new but at the same it feels like it's been around for a century. It's what I like to call a new classic.
Unlike Rogers Centre and many of the other stadiums I've been visiting as of late, Target Field does not have a retractable roof. The roof was in the plans early on, but it wound up being a budgetary casualty because of its $100 million price tag. That can make for a frigid experience in early April, but no one was complaining this afternoon. The game time temperature was 61 degrees and sunny, with a stiff breeze out to left.
Like many of the previous hosts I've met on this ballpark journey, Jim Pohlad inherited his team from his dad, Carl, who first bought the Minnesota Twins in 1984. It makes me wonder if I'd want to pass down a team to my son one day. First, though, I'd have to own a baseball team to be able to give one away. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. That day isn't today.
Minnesota is a one-party consent state, which means I didn't need permission to record my conversation with Pohlad. So when I arrived at the owner's box, I did what I normally do, which is push record on my transcription device and place it in my pocket. Pohlad gave me an earnest smile and a firm handshake, and we sat down to watch the first pitch as his Twins took on the visiting Chicago White Sox.
Quote:
[Begin Transcription, 12:15pm Central, September 29, 2022]
Pohlad: Perfect timing. Welcome, Sam. I've been looking forward to meeting you.
Arkwright: Really...
Pohlad: Surprised a guy like me would know who you are?
Arkwright: Yeah. A little, actually.
Pohlad: Well, to be honest, I didn't have a clue, until your name came up in the paper about buying the Angels. So I thought I'd do my homework on you. You know, get to know a little bit about who you are, before you came to my fair city.
Arkwright: And what did you find out?
Pohlad: Not a lot. For a guy who's so prominent in the business community, there's not a lot about your personal life.
Arkwright: I prefer to keep it that way.
Pohlad: As do I. As do I. You'll notice that on my bio page on the Twins website, you'll see a few words about my charity work, my education background, committees I serve on. That's about it.
Arkwright: You're entitled to your privacy.
Pohlad: But like I said, I wanted to get to know more about you.
Arkwright: Well, Jim, what would you like to know?
Pohlad: The stuff that's not in the bio. Like... are you married?
Arkwright: Yes.
Pohlad: Any children?
Arkwright: Yes.
Pohlad: How many?
Arkwright: One.
Pohlad: Education?
Arkwright: Nope.
Pohlad: "Nope?" As in you're not answering, or as in you didn't go to school?
Arkwright: The latter. As in I didn't go to school.
Pohlad: Billionaire video game tycoon, about to buy a Major League Baseball team. How did you pull that off?
Arkwright: Mostly by cheating.
Pohlad: I beg your pardon?
Arkwright: You ever watch Ferris Bueller? I hacked my school's records. Statute of limitations are probably up at this point, so I can tell you.
Pohlad: You seem like a pretty smart guy. Why did you have to cheat?
Arkwright: I was coding my first games before I was a teenager. I kept making more and more games, but there wasn't enough time to do that and go to school at the same time. So I made a choice. I hacked the attendance records so everyone thought I was going to school. My dad was always at the office, so I stayed home and kept coding. I'd read some books when I needed a break, and would test myself.
Pohlad: "Test yourself?"
Arkwright: Yeah. History. Algebra. Spanish. The whole enchilada. Then I'd grade myself, and I'd hack the system and give whatever grade seemed appropriate.
Pohlad: What was your GPA?
Arkwright: 3.2, I think.
Pohlad: You didn't give yourself a 4.0?
Arkwright: I'm a tough grader.
Pohlad: How about college?
Arkwright: Not yet. But I might do the "Back to School" thing Rodney Dangerfield-style some day. You never know. Enough with the 20 Questions. Your Twins are coming up to bat.
[End Transcription]
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The Twins wound up scoring two runs on a double from Nick Gordon in the bottom of the 1st to take a 2-0 lead. But their offense stalled out from there. So did the conversation. I got the impression Pohlad was doing a fact-finding mission on me. Maybe he was vetting me for ownership. Don't know. Don't really care.
Minnesota wound up losing, 4-3. Pohlad and I parted ways, and I headed straight for the airport to fly back out West. I have another game to catch tonight on the West Coast.
Pictured: Target Field