In our fast paced world we need a place and a time to kick back and relax, baseball provides that. Its nice to forget about your car payment, your leaky roof, or office politics. Baseball is a pause in the middle of a marathon. You can sit with family and friends and talk (or not talk) and look out on a sea of green, without a clock. It is non-violent and exciting, it is clean family fun. There are no nasty politics in baseball, except for rowdy mascots maybe, all of that negativity gets checked at the door. Its like religion, without the guilt. Its a civilizing influence. They even feed you hot dogs and beer! Its a picnic without the ants. Baseball is a release from this crazy, hectic world we live in. We can switch off and recharge. Baseball is a little bit zen, a little bit cracker jacks, and all American.

Outdoor baseball provides intangible benefits. I don't justify wanting baseball because it provides us with revenue, I justify it because it is good for us, good for the soul, its medicinal. I think we need baseball for our civic health.

Is that worth $360 million or is it worth $.0015 for every dollar? I don't know, it seems like a lot of money on the one hand, but it seems incredibly cheap on the other. But then again, how much is a moment of peaceful contemplation worth? Its true we are carrying the burden for this stadium proposal disproportionately on Hennepin County. But doing this would be a magnanimous gesture, a gesture of civility and goodwill toward the entire state, and also give us special status.

As far as the owner making money off of this, if we do this, it will be his civic duty to make baseball work for the long term, that is a big responsibility, and it will cost a lot of money. If he takes the money and runs, which is his choice, he will be in the company of people like Norm Green. That would be a sin. God will punish him.

Peter Vevang
Audubon

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