Death of a Minnesota tinkerer in an Atlanta beer cooler
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Todd Keeling, 48, of White Bear Lake, was justifiably proud of his invention and every time you get a beer poured at Target Field in about five seconds or less you should think of him.
Keeling died at Atlanta's SunTrust Park on Tuesday afternoon where he was installing his invention in the third Major Lake Baseball park interested in it, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field and Target Field are the others.
His Quick Draw taps cut down the pour time of beer from 14 to about 5 seconds, a world record the Los Angeles-based company claimed.
“This is his dream since he was a kid,” his aunt, Fran Kuchta said. “He worked hard to do this ... I’m sure things would have gone on further."
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She indicated he was trapped in the keg room (cooler) and couldn't get out.
An autopsy is planned today to determine the cause of death.
Target Field installed Draftwell taps and increased its keg yield from 87 to 94 percent because less beer was spilled during the pour, Delaware North spokesperson Marc Heintzman told the Atlanta paper.
(h/t: Paul Tosto)
