The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Pat Reusse is willing to write off the new Minnesota Twins ballpark as an economic failure because a local bar owner doesn’t anticipate many baseball fans heading into his dive bar.This article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Patrick Reusse is the most curious piece of ballpark writing we’ve seen in recent years, as the columnist expresses great willingness to write off the new Minnesota Twins ballpark because a gentleman named Louie Sirian doesn’t think his dive bar will attract any baseball fans.
If you’ve been around Twin Cities bar circles, you know about Lee’s Liquor Lounge, the offbeat joint on Glenwood that really isn’t on the way to or from anything but still manages to attract good crowds to see the likes of Trailer Trash, Becky Thompson, rockabilly and punk bands, and various tribute bands on stage most nights of the week. It’s a lively, vital venue.
And Louie is one of the more unique characters on the local bar scene, forever the pessimist.
Which makes the location of the Twins ballpark, well, irrelevent to the fortunes of Louie Sirian. We’re guessing the place will pick up some action; those seeking free parking up Glenwood will walk by there and decide to drop by for a postgame Pabst. Also, there’s a much larger bar scene on First Avenue, just a block from the ballpark, and we’re guessing the bar owners there are overjoyed about the Twins ballpark — but we’ll never know, because Reusse decided to interview just Sirian and not the owners of Drink or the Loon.