January 16, 2001 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen provides a brief profile of baseball star Kirby Puckett, who along with Dave Winfield, have been elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Winfield is a St. Paul native whose 22-year major league career included a couple of seasons with the Minnesota Twins. But at the team offices in the Metrodome, the biggest celebration was for Puckett, who during his twelve years in Minnesota became one of the Twins' best and most popular players.
January 17, 2001 - Jim Kaat, former Twins broadcaster, and Howard Sinker, MPR sports analyst, discuss Baseball Hall-of-Famer Kirby Puckett. Program also features Kirby’s retirement statement, reports on his election to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and call-in commentary from listeners.
January 17, 2001 - MPR’s sports commentator Jay Weiner reflects on the early days of Kirby Puckett after the announcement that St. Paul native Dave Winfield and the Minnesota Twins legend Puckett were elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Hall in their first year of eligibility.
January 31, 2001 - MPR’s Laura McCullum reports on the Minnesota Twins latest effort to find support for a stadium plan at the State Capitol. This time, team officials are taking a go-slow approach, listening to legislators and floating ideas. Some lawmakers are warming to one idea that doesn't involve a direct taxpayer subsidy, but they say funding a new ballpark won't be a top priority during a busy budget session.
February 5, 2001 - MPR’s Chris Julin reports from Cloquet High School, “checking” the growing popularity of high school girls hockey. In 2001, 120 Minnesota high schools have girls hockey teams and two-thirds of the girls playing high school hockey in the entire country live in Minnesota.
February 23, 2001 - LaVelle Neal, who covers spring training of the Minnesota Twins for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, gives his hopeful appraisal of the team. The Twins' front office has been busy signing their best young players, which has the team thinking about reaching the .500 mark this year.
February 28, 2001 - MPR commentator Dale Connelly with his humorous Robert Frost inspired poem "Stopping by the Links on a Snowy Evening."
March 16, 2001 - Baseball analyst Kevin Hennessy comments on the positive potential of the Minnesota Twins with the continued signing of strong young players, such as Brad Radke, LaTroy Hawkins, Cristian Guzman, and Corey Koskie. It is a change from the rock-bottom salary strategy for players that team had done in prior years.
March 20, 2001 - When the Minnesota Twins last made a major push for a new ballpark, team officials argued they needed the facility to make them financially competitive with the rest of the league. In the four years since that effort failed at the Legislature, player salaries have risen so high that the team now concedes that revenue from a new ballpark alone won't balance their books.
March 21, 2001 - MPR’s William Wilcoxen previews the first Women's Hockey Final Four. Wilcoxen interviews players and fans about their feelings on the first NCAA Women’s Hockey Championship, which is being hosted at the University of Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena.