Today, Minnesota Twins fans probably wish that their team played outside at Metropolitan Stadium, instead of at the Metrodome. However, Metropolitan Stadium has been gone for more than three decades. In 1953, a group began looking for a site to build a stadium that one day could bring a major league baseball team to Minneapolis. In 1955, a site was chosen to build the stadium in Bloomington, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. Construction on Metropolitan Stadium began in June 1955. The stadium was completed in just one year and opened on April 24, 1956. The Minneapolis Millers of the American Association league became the first tenant at Metropolitan Stadium.

When it opened Metropolitan Stadium had a capacity of 18,200. A huge three tier grandstand extended from behind homeplate to the first and third base dugouts. From the outfield, the three tier grandstand towered over the playing field. The press box was at the top of the upper deck, and huge lights stood above the rim of the upper deck. Not connected to the lower level of seating, additional seats extended down both the first and third base lines. Trying to attract a franchise to the area, the seating capacity was raised to 21,000 in 1957. The same year an exhibition game between the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds was played at Metropolitan Stadium. In 1958, the man who would eventually bring baseball to the area, Calvin Griffith, toured the area when his team, the Washington Senators, played an exhibition game at Metropolitan Stadium. Griffith liked the area and told the city that if he moved his team, they would be the first place on his list to move to. By 1960, the capacity at Metropolitan Stadium increased to 30,000 with wooden bleachers added behind the left and right field outfield walls.