Hidden History of Twin Cities Sports

Twin Cities sports fans are well-versed in disappointment, but the last 120 years of Minneapolis and St. Paul sports have also produced forgotten milestones.

Most know of the Vikings’ Super Bowl woes and the Twins’ record-setting postseason losing streak. Few know that the first full-time college basketball coach originated here and that a Babe Ruth home run record supplanted a local player’s achievement. Fewer still know about near misses like John Wooden almost becoming the University of Minnesota basketball coach in 1948 and Billie Jean King turning down an offer to join the Twin Cities’ World Team Tennis franchise.

  

Longtime Twin Cities journalist Joel Rippel documents these subjects and other forgotten or unheralded stories.

Joel Rippel is a news assistant for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, he has worked for newspapers for nearly forty years and is the author or coauthor of eleven books on Minnesota sports history. As a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), he has contributed as a writer or editor to two dozen books published by SABR. He lives in Minneapolis and can be reached at joelrippel@hotmail.com.