Twins get 'Gardy's Buff Shop'

Team, county unveil new training facility

By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press

After a final flurry of activity over the weekend, the Minnesota Twins and Lee County opened their new conference room and training facility Monday afternoon.

The Lee County government footed the $950,000 bill for the construction as part of the 15-year lease-extension agreement that will keep the Twins training at the Lee County Sports Complex through at least 2020.

Built adjacent to the minor-league clubhouse and batting cages, about 200 yards west of Hammond Stadium, the 6,000-square-foot building -- it's about three times the size of the average home in the United States -- includes a 3,600-square-foot training center, an 1,800-square-foot multi-purpose meeting room, a kitchen and an office.

Lee County took the money from a 13.5 percent portion of the tourist taxes that had been accumulated over four years.

Meanwhile, the Twins paid for all of the weight-training equipment, most of which has yet to arrive but is expected over the next few weeks. Twins management would not divulge the price tag of the equipment, other than to say it was a "sizable amount."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire joked that it would be named "Gardy's Buff Shop," at a lunch Monday for Twins management, Lee County commissioners and the media.

"It's going to be a tremendous, state-of-the-art training center," Twins assistant general manager Bill Smith said.

The Twins are celebrating their 15th anniversary of training in Fort Myers this spring.

But Minnesota strength and conditioning coaches Randy Popple and Perry Castellano were celebrating the opening of a building that will make their jobs much easier.

"We're getting away from the body-building mentality," Castellano said, noting that some of the equipment includes plyometrics -- working on short bursts of speed and leaping -- that are needed in baseball.

In previous years, many of the Twins lifted weights at Gold's Gym or other workout centers in town. Now, they can do their workouts just a three-minute walk from their spring-training clubhouse.

"It's going to be a great facility for us," Twins third baseman Michael Cuddyer said.

The training center will be used year-round, by players in the instructional league, the Gulf Coast League and the Florida State League's Fort Myers Miracle. Injured major-leaguers will do their rehabilitation work there as well.

"Everything I needed, we got it," Popple said.

Popple and Castellano designed the building from the inside out, during which time they envisioned the equipment they wanted before they made a pitch for a 60-by-60 foot room that has mirrors on three sides -- making it look even bigger.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association has safety guidelines as to the distances apart that equipment must be placed.

Although the room will include the typical bench-press and squat racks, some of the equipment will be air machines. The players will be working against air resistance instead of weight resistance.

Smith said the building's addition gives the Twins the best facility in baseball.

"The Minnesota Twins and Lee County will not take a backseat to any spring-training facility in the game," Smith said. "These are the two pieces that we've been missing. With those in place, there's no better facility in all of baseball."

Smith praised the Lee County government for getting the project done.

"We recognize the challenges that this community has gone through since Hurricane Charley," Smith said, referring to the Aug. 13, 2004, hurricane that could have put the building behind schedule.

"There's a lot of competition for construction materials, there's a lot of competition for labor, and there's a lot of competition for vendors," Smith said. "We are extremely appreciative of all the efforts."

"GARDY'S BUFF SHOP"

Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire joked that his team's new strength and conditioning center at the Lee County Sports Complex would be known as "Gardy's Buff Shop." Here's a look at the unnamed facility's numbers:

$950,000 -- Estimated cost of the building

13.5 -- percent of Lee County's tourism taxes that funded the construction

2020 -- The year when the latest lease of the Lee County Sports Complex by the Minnesota Twins expires

6,000 -- square footage of the building

3,600 -- square footage of the training center

1,800 -- square footage of the conference center