the Twins under Griffith and that he and Griffith did in fact agree that he should play for a bigger market team which had enough money to pay him what he was worth. Additionally, Metropolitan Stadium, which had been the biggest factor in Griffith's move west, was already obsolete despite being just over 20 years old. However, there weren't enough revenue streams available to extend its useful life. There were only bleacher seats along the third base line, but the Twins couldn't afford to replace them with permanent seats. Talk of a new stadium began as early as 1970. Finally, the Metrodome opened in downtown Minneapolis in 1982. However, Griffith initially balked at signing a 30-year lease at the new stadium, instead opting for a provision that allowed the Twins to break the lease if average attendance fell below 1.4 million or the average attendance for the American League as a whole, whichever was lesser. The last five full seasons of Griffith's ownership (1979–83) witnessed only two .500 or better teams, and attendance fell below one million fans at both Metropolitan Stadium and the Metrodome. Behind the scenes, however, the Twins' farm system was stepping up its development of young talent. Griffith's roster in , the year during which he sold the Twins, included Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Tim Laudner and Frank Viola, all key members of the Twins' 1987 world championship team. Sale to Pohlad In 1973, as one of the Junior Circuit's longest-serving owners, Griffith was elected vice president of the American League, a post once held by his late uncle Clark; he served in the position into the 1980s. However, by the 1980s, the changes in baseball brought about by free agency proved too much for Griffith; by this time, he was the last MLB owner who had no income apart from his baseball team. In 1984, Griffith sold the Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad on August 15. Calvin and Thelma's controlling 52 percent stake reportedly fetched $32 million, a handsome return on their uncle's purchase of a stake in the then-Senators in 1912 for $27,000 (he effectively acquired controlling interest in 1919). Pohlad then acquired Murphy's 40.4 percent interest through the Tampa Bay Baseball Group for a reported $11.5 million. The transaction ended almost 65 years of Griffith family ownership. He stayed on for a time as chairman of the