Carl Pohlad (1915-2009)

In these (by now cliched) troubled economic times, the last thing you want to hear is how a man picked himself up by his bootstraps in an era much darker than this one, and transformed himself into a self-made billionaire who made an impact on so many lives. Carl Pohlad, who died at the age of 93 Monday, was that man.

Pohlad was best known as the owner of baseball's Minnesota Twins. Before that, he made his name in the banking business, buying and selling two versions of Marquette Bank to the companies that became U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, for example. He also had companies that dabbled in real estate, a Pepsi distributorship, and a local radio station (KTTB-FM, also known as B96). He was also part-owner of the Vikings at one point.

Pohlad bought the Twins in 1984 to keep Calvin Griffith, who brought the team here from Washington in 1961, from moving the franchise to Tampa. Within a few years, the Twins became frequent winners, culminating in world championships in 1987 and 1991 with such players as Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola and manager Tom Kelly.

Also as Twins owner, Pohlad oversaw the near-destruction of the franchise with his fruitless attempts at moving out of the Metrodome and into a new outdoor park. He tried to sell the team to a North Carolina businessman who would have moved the Twins to Charlotte. But that fizzled when voters there rejected a tax increase to fund a new ballpark. Pohlad also offered to disband the franchise as part of a plan by Major League Baseball to contract financially struggling teams, which was eventually dropped.

Under Pohlad, the Twins continued the tradition of being a model small market franchise, which was begun under Griffith. Unable to compete financially with the likes of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, they developed young players, then let them go to other teams that offered bigger paychecks.

In spite of that, the Twins have remained competitive in recent years, being at or near the top of the American League Central Division. Players such as Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Johan Santana and Justin Morneau became All-Stars under manager Ron Gardenhire.

Pohlad finally got his outdoor ballpark in 2007 when the Minnesota Legislature agreed to a sales tax increase for Hennepin County. Target Field in downtown Minneapolis will open in the spring of 2010--one season too late for Pohlad.

Carl Pohlad was one of the richest men in Minnesota, and he worked hard to get there. Not everyone agreed with the decisions he made, whether in business or in baseball. But he is an example of how it is still possible to succeed in America, even in these tough economic times.