Minnesota Twins open Fort Myers facility as hurricane staging facility

September 29, 2022

FORT MYERS, Fla. (KFGO/WCCO) – The Minnesota Twins opened the doors to their spring training home, Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida, to house first responders as Hurricane Ian makes landfall.

“Right now, our focus is just on making sure that everyone is safe in the area,” Matt Hoy, Twins senior vice president of operations, said.

Hoy said the stadium is in a central location in Lee County, making it perfect for staging first responders.

“Whether it’s fire trucks or electric company trucks, those are all staged there so they can deploy…anywhere really on that western side of I-75 where the storm surge is expected to be the worst,” Hoy said.

The Twins did have personnel in Fort Myers, and Hoy shared that they left the state as the storm worsened earlier this week.

“We pretty much sent everybody home by Monday,” Hoy said, adding that players like Kenta Maeda and Chris Paddock, who were down there rehabbing, are now in Minneapolis and will remain in Minnesota until it’s safe to return.