By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to Metropolitan Stadium to learn how to stay dry on a rainy day.

Season 2: Episode 6. A Cover-up at the Met.

Audio reel box for "Look What We Found... A Cover-up at the Met," April 13, 1978.

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 5.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. The title for the April 13, 1978 broadcast of Look What We Found is “A Cover-up at the Met.” Met is a nickname for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home to Minnesota’s professional sports teams. The stadium opened in 1956 and was demolished in 1985.  It’s where Harmon Killebrew hit home runs for the Twins, and where Fran Tarkenton threw touchdown passes for the Vikings. The Kicks, a professional soccer team, also played in the stadium from 1976-1981.

The introduction to this program in the Teacher’s Guide states, “When a Carew homer whizzes across the diamond at Met Stadium and into the stands, not many fans are thinking about why the field looks such a brilliant green under the lights. Likewise, when some fancy footwork by the Vikings or the Kicks throws up patches of sod, who puts the field back together?  One thing fans probably have noticed is the enormous protective tarp that covers the field when it rains. Those are the groundskeepers who pull that out.”

Text from the "Look What We Found" teacher's manual for the April 13, 1978 episode "A Cover-up at the Met."

On today’s historic broadcast of Look What We Found, you’ll hear from Dick Erickson, the stadium supervisor at the Met.  He described the difficulties of rearranging the field to accommodate three different professional sports.

After the broadcast questions from the "Look What We Found" teacher's manual for the April 13, 1978 episode "A Cover-up at the Met."

Metropolitan Stadium was built before Minnesota had any professional sports teams.  In the 1950s, a Metropolitan Sports Area Commission was created to oversee the construction and operation of a stadium with the potential to accommodate professional teams. A local fundraising campaign was initiated to secure the funds. Farmland was purchased in the city of Bloomington, south of Minneapolis, as the site for the stadium.

On opening day, April 24, 1956, it was the Minneapolis Millers minor league baseball team that took to the field.  However, Minnesotans only had to wait a few more years for professional teams to come.  The Vikings played their opening game on September 17, 1961 and pulled off a victory against the Chicago Bears 37-13.  The Twins lost their home opener on April 21, 1961 5-3.

Within a year after this program aired on KUOM, construction began on a new indoor domed stadium in downtown Minneapolis.  The Kicks, Vikings, and Twins all played final games at Metropolitan Stadium in 1981.

The stadium was demolished in 1985 and the site was replaced by the Mall of Ameri...