ST. PAUL -- A Twins season ticketholder asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Thursday to let him participate in a legal dispute that for now requires the team to play in 2002 as part of its Metrodome lease.

Alabama businessman gets OK

ST. PAUL -- Major league baseball will let Alabama businessman Donald Watkins pursue the Minnesota Twins at the same time he considers purchasing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Twins president Jerry Bell told Congress on Thursday. Responding to questions before the House Judiciary Committee, Bell said league lawyers told him Watkins can talk with the Twins about a possible sale despite his overtures to the Devil Rays. "It's the best news I've heard all day," Watkins said in a telephone interview. He said he intends to call Bell soon and find out how to proceed with a possible bid." Twins owner Carl Pohlad has said he would listen to offers. A group of Minnesota business leaders also have expressed an interest, but Watkins wants sole ownership. -- The Associated Press

Charles Spevacek, a 45-year-old attorney, wants to aid the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission in its fight to enforce the Twins' lease.

Oral arguments are set for Dec. 27 in an appeal by the Twins and major league baseball to lift a judge's injunction that keeps them from simply buying out the last year of the lease. The order is a key obstacle to a baseball plan to get rid of two teams before next season.

In papers a colleague filed with the court on his behalf, Spevacek contends that fans like himself would suffer if the Twins fold and deserve a voice in the fight. His plea is filled with references to Homer Hankies and mentions of summer nights spent listening to Twins radio broadcasts.

"As everyone including baseball and its corporate sponsors well understands, there are some things money can't buy," his petition said. "The appellants are in no position to contend that money can buy more profit through contraction that violates a unique written contract to play baseball in Minnesota."

Attorneys for the Twins and baseball maintain that state contract law permits them to pay monetary damages to satisfy any breach of the lease.