MLB: Sorry for early morning All-Star fireworks in Mpls.
Updated 4:20 p.m.
Major League Baseball apologized for shooting off fireworks early Tuesday morning over the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis residents as far away as Uptown were awakened by the display, part of MLB's All-Star Game festivities. The city's call center received 15 complaints about the fireworks launch, which began about 20 minutes after midnight. It was originally scheduled for 11:45 p.m., but was delayed due to rain.
While fireworks near midnight were part of a prior deal with city officials, "the show that the fireworks vendor executed was louder and longer than what we were expecting. Major League Baseball and the Twins apologize to area residents for any inconvenience," MLB said in a statement.
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City Council Member Jacob Frey, who represents the downtown riverfront as well as neighborhoods across the river, said the Twins promised him affected residents would be offered free tickets to games at Target Field.
The statement from Major League Baseball, however, made no mention of free tickets.
"We have provided four dates to for a special neighborhood night at a Twins game to the various neighborhood groups around Target Field," Twins spokesman Kevin Smith said Tuesday afternoon.
"To be very clear, this offer was made a few weeks ago by the Twins organization as a good-faith outreach effort. It was not made as a reaction to last night's fireworks matter," Smith said, adding that the team is still waiting to hear from the groups about a final date.
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board President Liz Wielinski said she raised concerns about holding such an event on a week night, but was assured it would be a small-scale pyrotechnics show.
Still, she said she considers the uproar over the fireworks overblown, given all the publicity Minneapolis is getting from the All-Star Game. The display was part of the All-Star Gala, an invitation-only event connected with the MLB All-Star Game.
The gala also featured a performance by the singer Aloe Blacc, who wrote the hit song, "Wake me up."