MINNEAPOLIS -- "Fun is good," the St. Paul Saints say. The Twins' new Triple-A affiliate made sure fans knew that during their history as an independent team.

There are the between-innings sumo suits, of course, and the zany costumed dancers on the dugouts and around the field. Don't forget the tire-rolling competitions, the eyeball races, the "ushertainers" who rile up the crowds. Oh, and try and find another organization that annually crowdsources a name for an actual ball pig. (Recent winners have included "Daenerys Hoggaryen" and "This Little Piggy Stayed Home," a nod to these pandemic-impacted times.)

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The Saints are self-described members of the "anti-establishment" in the name of family fun at the ballpark, and their increasingly zany fan-experience antics have played a significant role in how they became one of the top brands in independent baseball and led their league in attendance during 17 of their 27 full seasons in St. Paul. The Saints bring with them a devoted fan base that flocked to the unique and, frankly, irreverent brand of entertainment over the years.

So when the Twins began to engage in serious conversations with the Saints over the summer about making them one of the club's Minor League affiliates, owner Jim Pohlad had one important directive for club president Dave St. Peter as part of the talks: The Saints need to be the Saints.

"At the end of the day, the Saints will continue to be the Saints," St. Peter said. "With the exception of players on the diamond, the St. Paul Saints will continue to operate how they always have. The Twins admire and respect the Saints' operation and the way they approach the gameday experience at CHS Field. The last thing the Minnesota Twins want to do is to change that."

"I've always admired the Saints," Pohlad added. "We have no desire to change the personality of the club at all, because I like it."

On a conference call with media on Wednesday, Saints executive vice president and general manager Derek Sharrer said that the response to the transition away from St. Paul's fiercely proud tradition of independent baseball had been positively received by most of the Saints' season ticket holders. And through an unprecedented transition, St. Peter assured fans that the Saints' gameday experience is more likely to impact how the Twins engage fans at Target Field than the other way around.

"I think there are things that can be edgy and not cross any lines, that create new lines," said Mike Veeck, president and co-owner of the Saints. "I think it's terribly important right now for the game's overall health, and as [Saints chairman Marv Goldklang] said, growing the game. I think that's what we have to look at."

That desire to continue growing the game in the Twin Cities, particularly among the youth of the region, is why Veeck and Goldklang said that they were comfortable leaving behind their tradition of independent baseball, a big deal considering that they were actually two of the pioneers in the founding of the Northern League, the Saints' original home and the predecessor to the American Association.

Streamlined player development was a major advantage of the Twins' ability to bring their Triple-A affiliate closer to home, and that will, indeed, give the organization an advantage by allowing their Major and Minor League personnel to mix and work together while reducing the logistical challenges for players transiting between Triple-A and MLB. And from a human standpoint, the sides also emphasized the important place both clubs have in the local youth baseball communities.

"Why is this the right time? I think that baseball is at a huge crossroads in so many ways, and I love that Dave made reference to it: We need to grow the game," Veeck said. "We need to attract youngsters to this wonderful game, and I think that this combination is exactly the perfect one to do it because we are both organizations that are fan-centric."

The Twins' involvement in the community includes their Play Ball! Minnesota and RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) initiatives, and the Saints have had success with their youth camps and development through the Saints Sports Academy.

"When the opportunity presented itself to combine two iconic brands and two great organizations in the same market, it was something that we absolutely could not say no to," Goldklang said. "I think all of us are looking forward to a special and, in many respects, a unique relationship."

The Saints have been good at adding to that interest with their gameday experience, even among casual fans, particularly following their move to their new home at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul in 2015. Since then, they've averaged 112 percent capacity at their home games while drawing 2,028,402 fans over five full seasons from 2015-19. They hope to expand that with the added influence of the Twins and their pipeline of top prospects, with the organization's top five prospects all poised to appear at CHS Field in '21.

The Saints have always done it their own way -- and the Twins won't draw a line to limit that as the organizations forge their new partnership.

"I'm actually waiting for Dave to say there is no line," Veeck joked.

"To be honest, we haven't defined a line," St. Peter replied. "We haven't had that conversation, and we believe that, to use the Saints' line, that fun is good. We believe that that brand can work and will work at Triple-A baseball. We have no doubt about that."