Another baseball strike -- the 9th in 30 years -- could derail the flickering effort at the Capitol to build a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins. All four of the state's major-party-endorsed gubernatorial candidates say a work stoppage would diminish the drive for a new ballpark.

The quest for a new stadium picked up steam in 2001 when the team carried the best record in the major leagues during the first part of the season. It seemed to culminate this year -- under the threat of contraction -- with a stadium bill, at last, signed, sealed, and approved. But with contraction on hold and lawmakers more sympathetic to the team's needs, baseball has found a new quagmire.

"They have been so stupid for so long, I can't believe they would strike," says Republican House Majority Leader and gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty. "I can't believe they're that stupid. But if they do do it, it's going to result in a severe blow to their efforts at the Legislature."

Pawlenty isn't alone in his assessment. The plan that passed this year failed to produce a ballpark agreement between the team and a host city. All four of the Minnesota's major-party gubernatorial endorsees say a strike will seriously undermine the team's request to tweak the proposal and allow counties to join the hunt.

"There would not be a lot of sentiment to move on with that if they strike," according to DFL candidate and Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe.

Independence Party candidate Tim Penny says a strike would "poison the well on this issue."

Green Party candidate Ken Pentel says, strike or not, other state priorities weigh heavier than a ballpark. He says it's disappointing to see owners and players unable to resolve their differences.

"And right now we've got some other issues we have to deal with. They've got their issues they have to deal with. Everybody go work on solving their problems," he says.

A strike, while disruptive for fans across the country, could be lethal in Minnesota. The Twins have repeatedly said they can't survive without the added revenues that they say a new ballpark would generate. While the team is committed to playing the 2003 season in the Metrodome -- assuming there is a season -- beyond that, they would again be likely candidates for elimination.

If a strike kills the stadium drive, the team could be swallowed up in a future round of contraction. Even veteran ballpark supporters are concerned.

State Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, has carried several ballpark bills. He notes that next year will bring in not just a new governor, but as many as 40 or 50 new lawmakers. He says, in the event of a strike, it's unlikely they'll rally around a stadium solution.

"Imagine you're a freshman legislator. You're not going to want to go home in January and February and say, 'Well, we fixed Major League Baseball somehow, but we haven't fixed the local school problem yet.' That doesn't work," says Johnson.

The Twins declined to comment on the possibility of a strike, but they've previously asked lawmakers to recognize the ongoing labor negotiations are meant to rein in skyrocketing players' salaries and restore balance between large- and small-market teams. In that sense, team officials have said, the league is doing exactly what policy-makers have demanded of them.

But opponents of a publicly-supported stadium say the strike potential only underlines the risks of doing business with baseball.

"It really never seems to make good economic sense to put large dollars into a business funded by billionaires themselves," says Dan McGrath, executive director of Progressive Minnesota, a group that has lead previous efforts to defeat public participation in ballpark plans. "It makes even less sense when those billionaires can't even keep their own internal house in order and have ongoing labor disputes."

And that line of reasoning -- more so than the team's -- so far seems to have more sway in the Capitol.

Session 2002: Stadium