Twins Do The Right Thing !

The Minnesota Twins have much more on thier minds this evening than baseball. The I-35W freeway collapsed over the Mississippi River sending cars and people into the water as the afternoon rush hour came to a close. The Twins and Royals played Wednesday, but have cancelled the game on Thursday. The team and its officials did the right thing. Here is the story from the Twin's Website.

------MINNEAPOLIS -- Thursday's Twins-Royals afternoon game has been postponed in light of the tragic I-35W bridge collapse that took place in Minneapolis on Wednesday night.
The team has also postponed Thursday evening's groundbreaking ceremony for the new ballpark.

At about 6:05 p.m. CT on Wednesday, the four-lane I-35W bridge near the Metrodome collapsed into the Mississippi River. The collapse sent an estimated 50 vehicles into the water and onto land below, in what became a sea of destruction that included fire, smoke, injured people and rescuers.

Workers had been repairing the 40-year-old bridge's surface as part of improvements along that stretch of the interstate. The death toll was reported to be seven as of late Wednesday night, with 20 people missing and recovery efforts suspended until the morning.

Twins officials contemplated canceling Wednesday's game, but were concerned that an influx of traffic into the area could impede rescue vehicles.

"We felt as though the responsible thing to do was to play the game for the simple reason that not playing the game would have put 20-25,000 people back on the streets," Twins president Dave St. Peter said. "And we didn't want to do that, in order to allow those first responders to do their job with hopes of rescuing survivors. We felt as though as difficult as it might be, the right thing to do was to play tonight."

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was scheduled to be in town for Thursday's groundbreaking. St. Peter said Major League Baseball is aware of the situation and the postponements.

There was a moment of prayer held before the game Wednesday and fans were encouraged to stay off their cell phones and exit calmly if they were going to leave.

And while traffic was the reason the club decided to play Wednesday night, it was also the reason for the postponement of Thursday's game. The organization did not want fans coming to the game to get in the way of rescue efforts.

"We want to be respectful to the people who are trying to work on the situation, and out of respect for those lives that have been lost and those people it's impacted," St. Peter said. "We didn't think playing baseball tomorrow would be the right thing."

St. Peter said that the organization had been trying to get in touch with all of its staff to make sure that everyone is OK. He said they felt nearly everyone in the front office had been accounted for, but that it wouldn't be fully known until a little longer after the tragedy.

It wasn't just the organization's families that were on the minds of the Twins, but those of their fans and others touched by the tragedy.

"A lot of prayers and thoughts go out to the families that are impacted by this," St. Peter said.

More games could possibly be postponed for the team's weekend series with the Indians, but St. Peter said information regarding those games would not be available until at least Thursday.

More information concerning the rescheduled game and the groundbreaking ceremony will be posted as soon as it's available.

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Teams and leagues often walk a fine line when events such as this take place. A decision has to be made. I'm sure the Twins will honor the victims of this horrible ordeal. My prayers go out to the community of Minneapolis/St.Paul !