What began as a pleasant evening at Target Field with her 13-year-old son quickly turned into a tense postgame confrontation that later went viral after Twins fan Andi Wentworth and owner Tom Pohlad exchanged words over what she says was an earlier in-game dispute involving her “sell the team” hat.
Wentworth, a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan, told Alpha News she had no idea Twins Chairman and CEO Tom Pohlad and his family would be seated near her when she purchased two tickets the morning of April 8 for the Twins’ 6:40 p.m. game against the Detroit Tigers at Target Field.
“I did not go there intending to antagonize Mr. Pohlad,” Wentworth said. “I was there to watch baseball.”
She said she and her son had been enjoying the game when he first noticed repeated looks from the family seated in front of them.
“My son kept elbowing me,” Wentworth said. “They kept turning around and giving dirty looks.”
At first, she said, she brushed it off as the normal tension of sitting near other fans at a loud baseball game.
But Wentworth claims the repeated staring continued.
“It happened so much that I was like, okay, this is weird,” she said. “They obviously have an issue with me, and I didn’t get why.”
Hat message came from frustration, not confrontation
Wentworth said she initially did not realize who was sitting in front of her. She said only after texting a friend and looking it up did she realize the man was Pohlad.
That, she said, was when she turned her knitted Twins hat backward to reveal the words “sell the team,” a message she had added herself with iron-on letters.
The phrase, she said, was rooted in her frustration over the Pohlad family’s handling of the Twins during “last year’s fire sale when they unloaded the entire team,” Wentworth said. “If you don’t have the money or you won’t invest in the team, just sell them.”
Before being named the Twins’ top executive last year, Tom Pohlad had not previously served in an official role with the club, instead overseeing the family’s broader business empire, according to an ESPN report. His grandfather, Carl, purchased the franchise in 1984.
And while critics have accused the Pohlads of being reluctant to spend on the Twins’ roster, the family has not shied away from political giving.
The Pohlads have been prominent donors in Minnesota politics — a Star Tribune report found they were the largest Minnesota-based financial backers of then-Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle.
A #MnTwins Twins fan wearing a "Sell the Team" hat got into it with Tom Pohlad for calling her classless
🎥: Insta/northstarchronicles507 pic.twitter.com/mc7TzVxBnW
— 10,000 Takes (@10k_Takes) April 12, 2026
Fan says photo was with her son, not the owner
Wentworth said a fan seated next to her offered to take a photo of her and her son — a shot that appears to show Pohlad turned around, casting a displeased look toward the camera.
Wentworth is adamant that she never asked for Pohlad to be included in the image.
“I was just getting a picture with my kid,” she said. “This was not a malicious act.”
Wentworth said she believes Pohlad may have mistakenly thought she was attempting to take a selfie with him visible in the background while wearing the hat.
She said the moment quickly escalated when Pohlad stood up and, according to her account, told her to “have some class.”
“It caught me so off guard,” she said. “It was uncomfortable.”
Exchange captured on video spreads online
According to video posted by the Minnesota sports account 10,000 Takes, the postgame exchange between Wentworth and Pohlad began politely.
“Great win! Mr. Pohlad, is this your lovely family?” Wentworth asked.
“It is,” Pohlad replied.
Wentworth then asked the ages of his children.
“They are 15, 13, and 11,” he said.
She then referenced what she described as an earlier interaction during the game.
“How would you feel if I called you classless in front of your 13-year-old?” she asked.
Although some of the interaction was difficult to hear, Pohlad appeared to respond with something along the lines of: “How would you feel if … you wore that hat in front of my children?”
“You know what? I had this hat on backward,” Wentworth replied. “Until you mean-mugged me the whole time, sir. But you know what? I’m glad I have more class than you and would never do that in front of your children.”
Pohlad responded: “OK, I’m glad you’re perfect … all right.”
“All right, great game — Go Twins! This is not going to be great PR for you, sir,” Wentworth said.
A separate report by Minnesota Sports Fan cited an eyewitness seated nearby who said Pohlad initiated the earlier interaction, telling Wentworth something to the effect of “have some class” or “get some more class” before the exchange later captured on video after the game.
Viral attention was never the goal
Wentworth said she never recorded the encounter herself and never intended for the moment to go viral.
A person seated nearby captured the exchange on video, she said, and it later spread online after it was shared to TikTok.
“My lifelong ambition was not to go viral,” Wentworth said. “That night, I only posted about meeting Tony Oliva and didn’t even say anything about this.”
By the next morning, the clip had spread widely across social media.
“I was like, what is this?” she said. “This is one of the most random, strangest things that’s ever happened.”
Wentworth said the incident has left a lasting impression and changed how she feels about returning to Target Field.
“I will not go back. Not anytime soon,” she said.
Still, Wentworth said she is grateful the day gave her and her son the chance to take another photo with Tony Oliva, 13 years after first taking one with the Twins legend when her son was a baby.
Alpha News reached out to the Twins for comment and to obtain Pohlad’s account of the incident but did not receive a response.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
