ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The Minnesota Supreme Court refused Friday to hear an immediate appeal on a county court's decision that would force the Minnesota Twins to play its games in the Metrodome next season, but did urge the state's Court of Appeals to expedite the case.
Justices on the Supreme Court said attorneys for baseball, "have not demonstrated that this case requires the extraordinary procedure of immediate determination."
Hennepin Country District Judge Harry Crump issued a temporary injunction on Nov. 16, ordering the Twins to compete in 2002 and barring any person or organization from trying to stop them.
That order is one of the major obstacles that stands in the way of baseball reducing its number of teams, which commissioner Bud Selig has said it will do. Although Selig has not announced which teams will be disbanded, it has been widely reported that Minnesota and Montreal are the top candidates.
The normal span of time for the Court of Appeals to hear a case is about six to eight months. Baseball's spring training is less than three months away.
Crump ruled the Twins were a key part to the region's economy.
A brief has already been filed by baseball to the Court of Appeals, contending that the Twins are not a community asset and that Crump had no authority to force the team to play or to force other teams in baseball to come to Minnesota.
