October 4, 2002 - Well, there is one epidemic that the state doesn't need any statistics to confirm... Twins Fever. 55,000 baseball fans will fill the Metrodome for Game 3 of playoff series against Oakland A’s. If previous post season games are any indication, the noise those fans make will give the Twins a big advantage.
September 2, 2002 - MPR sports commentator and Star Tribune writer Jay Weiner comments on agreement between the players' union and the team owners, averting a Major League Baseball strike. Weiner sees the revenue sharing plan as a win for Twins owner Carl Pohlad.
September 2, 2002 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Dr. Chip Bolman about the fifty-year anniversary of first open heart surgery. The world's first successful open-heart surgery was performed at the University of Minnesota. A team led by Doctor F. John Lewis operated on a five-year-old girl who was born with a hole in her heart. The girl survived and grew up to have two kids of her own. Since then, advances in medicine and medical technology have revolutionized the treatment available to people with heart trouble.
July 17, 2002 - Ray Crump, former Twins equipment manager and owner of Dome Souvenirs Plus, shares his optimism of the 2002 Minnesota Twins roster. The team has a nine game lead in the division. At this time in 2001, the Twins led the division, only to see that lead disappear as they collapsed in the second-half of the season.
July 17, 2002 - The State Fair is more than a month away, but the employment office at the fair is already conducting background checks on potential employees. More than 4-thousand people work at the fair during the 12 days leading up to Labor Day. Because of the September 11th terrorist attacks, officials will be doing more background checks this year and are increasing other security measures as well.
July 1, 2002 - LaVelle Neal, who covers the Twins for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, comments on Minnesota Twins' outfielder Torii Hunter, pitcher Eddie Guardado, and catcher A-J Pierzynski making the American League roster for 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee.
June 12, 2002 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with reporter Michael Khoo, who is in Shanghai, where Governor Jesse Ventura arrived for the second and final stop on his week-long mission to China. Ventura is visiting China to develop contacts and to promote Minnesota goods and services.
June 7, 2002 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer visited the Ventura ranch in Maple Grove and spoke with Terry Ventura in the barn where she runs a horse training and breeding business. She says she has learned a great deal since her husband was elected governor in 1998. Mrs. Ventura says it has taken her quite some time to get comfortable with her role as Minnesota's First Lady.
June 5, 2002 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with local sports analyst LaVelle Neal about Minnesota Twins game the previous night, where the team crushed the Cleveland Indians 23-2 at the Metrodome. It was the biggest margin of victory in team history. The Twins also set a team record by collecting 25 hits.
May 20, 2002 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer interviews R.T. Rybak, Mayor of Minneapolis, on state capital stadium bill. Governor Jesse Ventura has 14 days to decided what to do with a Twins stadium financing plan that lawmakers sent him late Saturday night. The deal for a 330-million-dollar ballpark, requires a 120 million private contribution (facilitated by the Twins) prior to any bond sale. In addition, the team would pay ten million dollars a year in rent. Proponents of a new ballpark in Minneapolis were hoping the bill would allow a county to finance the local portion of the cost, but that did not happen. Rybak says because of that Minneapolis appears to be out of the running as a location for a new ballpark.