St. Paul Saints Preparing To Follow Up Record-Breaking Season

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As bad as things are going for the Twins, you'll probably be quite pleased to hear this: The St. Paul Saints are just about to get started.

The Saints held their first official workout on Saturday at CHS Field, with Opening Day set for May 19.

Topping what they did last year will be tough, but that's the goal.

It was the kind of season teams can only dream about. But it really happened. In their first year at CHS Field, the Saints won a team-record 74 games, and blew away the league attendance record – with more than 400,000 fans for the season.

"What a terrific season it was. I mean, to go 74-26, it was an amazing year," Saints manager George Tsamis said. "The crowds here, obviously it's such a beautiful park, but when it's packed, it's just an unbelievable place to be. And fans get into it, and you want to play well for them."

Tsamis spends his offseason going out and recruiting, putting together the best team he can. And he says what happened here last year – the winning, and the beautiful stadium packed full of fans – was absolutely a draw to free agent players.

"Especially players that have played for other teams that have come and seen the park," Tsamis said. "A lot of them want to play for us and wish they could. Word travels. Some of the free agents we've signed, they've heard it from other players they've played with or guys they know, how nice this place was, and guys wanted to come play here."

About the only thing the Saints didn't do last year was win the championship. So as crazy as it may sound, expectations are even higher this season.

"Every year, your goal is to win a championship," Tsamis said. "To win 74 games, that's tough. I would take winning 60 games and winning a championship, obviously."