Reusse: Outgoing Twins President Dave St. Peter was always the right man for the job

Dave St. Peter’s first involvement in the Twin Cities pro sports market was as an intern in communications for the North Stars for six months in 1989. The other intern in that department was Judd Zulgad, now a featured attraction on numerous podcasts for the outlet cleverly titled “SKOR North.”

St. Peter’s timing was solid, as he left Dec. 31, 1989, to take an internship with the Twins. The North Stars were about to embark on the ownership chaos involving the Gund brothers wanting out, the arrival of Howie “the Hairdo” Baldwin and wife, Karen, as alleged owners, and finally Norm Green — briefly heroic during the 1991 playoff run, later vilified for moving the franchise to Dallas in 1993.

The first assignment was to be the Twins’ marketing contact with Leaf Brands candy company. The daily presence of these treats caused St. Peter to develop an affinity for Milk Duds and he said: “I must have gained 15 pounds that summer.”

The Twins offered him a full-time job — in retail sales, running the Twins merchandise store at the Hub shopping center in Richfield.

“We were coming off a poor season, and we were selling more hats and jerseys for other teams than the Twins early in the year,” St. Peter said. “And then we made it to the World Series, and it was crazy.

“People were lined up Monday and Tuesday. We opened early on Wednesday. And then the snow started. We were shut down for three days.”

Thirty-three years later, St. Peter shook his head in dismay at those lost tens of thousands and said: “The Halloween Blizzard. It killed us.”

As St. Peter’s career with the Twins progressed, there would be other obstacles that seemed mightier than a 28.4-inch, two-day snowstorm. That has made the blue-collar kid from Bismarck, N.D., a memorable survivor as he officially stepped down as the president and CEO of Minnesota’s baseball organization Tuesday.

It was a 22-year run as team president and he will remain in an advisory role on the business end for a time. There will be attempts in the grand world of social media to trace this move to all the heat the team was taking.

Sorry.

St. Peter’s resignation and public and media abuse toward the Twins are not related. There was unconfirmed noise this summer, through a three-month stretch of winning baseball, that St. Peter would step down from the leadership role.

That rumor also came with this: Derek Falvey would be the replacement.

St. Peter was in an advance session with Twins beat reporters when he talked about straightening his “inverted” life — meaning baseball and the Twins have been first, followed by taking care of people he loved and taking care of himself.

He made the point again when we had a half-hour conversation before Tuesday’s media session in the home clubhouse at Target Field — with Falvey, new General Manager Jeremy Zoll and St. Peter.

There is much uncertainty with the Twins at this moment:

The Pohlad family has announced the team is for sale and that there’s also a regional TV deal that will be way more than a haircut.

Two years ago, the Twins were making more than $50 million with what was Bally Sports North. They are unlikely to reach $10 million with MLB handing it in 2025.

I wouldn’t accuse St. Peter, 57, of flinching at encountering a crisis. Consider:

He was promoted to senior vice president of business affairs in February 1999. The Twins were headed for a seventh consecutive losing season, and that was the least of the challenge.

There had been the predictably failed attempt to sell the team to Don Beaver, who would move it to the Piedmont Triad, and perhaps change the name to “Triplets.”

Then, the word “contraction” started coming out of owner Carl Pohlad’s and MLB executives’ mouths — even if it was always a gimmick to try to help the Twins get a new ballpark.

St. Peter also had to put up with the arrival of Kevin Cattoor to create the “Victory Sports” disaster; then, Chris Clouser, a new CEO arriving from Burger King, with a plan to make Minnesotans crave outdoor baseball by building Porta-Potty Park in the parking lot next to the Mall of America.

Finally, the new ballpark — what became Target Field — gained state legislative approval late into the night at the end of a session in May 2006.

St. Peter had been in lock step with Jerry Bell lobbying at the legislature and on the final night, Dave was given perhaps his toughest task in over three decades as Twins president:

“My job was to keep Sid away from the legislators. Our side didn’t want him yelling at Dean Johnson, the Republican leader.”

St. Peter 1, Sid Hartman yelling 200; but the Twins president won the right one.