Thread: All Time Mr. Twin?

Originally Posted by crarko

No doubt the three mentioned cover the three main eras of Twins (post-Senators) history, and are true faces of the Twins.

But I can also think of a couple of other faces that span all three eras quite nicely: Tony O. and Bert.

Was planning to mention these two as I worked my way down the thread, and would like to throw Hrbek in as another guy who seemed to exemplify the team and continues to be in the public eye after retirement, which I think is part of being Mr. [YourTeamHere]. I give these three Honorable Mention as being worthy of being "in" the discussion, even though I'd go Harmon/Kirby/Joe more or less for my actual vote.

Oliva was the first one that came to mind for me. Carew was my favorite growing up - I remember painting the number 29 on the back of my plastic Twins helmet, back when those were popular - but Carew left and Oliva stuck around. I'm not sure why I wasn't more of a Killebrew fan, but it might be because he was washed up and in a Royals uniform in my earlier memories. Oliva was mostly done, too, but he kind of became part of the Oliva-Carew batting title continuum that was part of the Twins' identity back then.

Originally Posted by ashburyjohn

Was planning to mention these two as I worked my way down the thread, and would like to throw Hrbek in as another guy who seemed to exemplify the team and continues to be in the public eye after retirement, which I think is part of being Mr. [YourTeamHere].

Thanks for mentioning Herbie. I could never get over that the guy was from Bloomington and had that kind of a dramatic career, literally from his first game to his last.

Originally Posted by Jerr

Nice diplomatic take! Since I'm an old guy and got to see him play, I got to give it to Killebrew, if I have to pick one.

Yeah ... if 'forced' to pick one, I'd pick Killebrew, too. He was my favorite growing up. (Yeah, am an oldie, but goodie, too.) Just is interesting to see the 'generational' sidings on this informal 'poll.'

It has to be Harmon. I loved Kirby as well but Harmon was that kind of iconic figure for a very long time. I'm 52 and cried when I heard the news of his passing. Tony was great also and a true ambassador for the franchise for all of his adult life.

None of the players mentioned would be bad choices. I would probably lean towards Harmon. He was basically one of the founding fathers and was a great senior statesman and was involved with the organization for decades (obviously that factor was out of Kirby's control, and he is definitely right up there). Mauer will hopefully have a good 6 to ten years left to add to his resume which could/should involve another chance at the play-offs. I suspect he will also actively involved with the Twins post-retirement even as his grandkids are dominating the sports at Cretin. (I also have some sentimentality towards Kent on this issue.)

Originally Posted by spideyo

I think after all the court cases he basically withdrew from everybody and holed up in Arizona until he died

That's what I thought and his problems in my opinion would have kept him from ever being Mr. Twin. He did some really horrible things that are hard to ignore.

I really don't care about Kirby's butt pinching fetish after he was done playing ........... and I respect and honor what he did for the Twins and the only 2 World Series championships. My pick is "The Killer", and I love that nickname. I saw them all play, and even was lucky enough to get a foul ball he hit deep deep in the left field stands where I was cruising in a 1/3 full stadium with my glove as a 10 year old in 1965 at the Met. History doesn't disappear just because someone wasn't born yet. Joe isn't done yet, so the pick could change, maybe, even hopefully.......... bring on the championships....... but Harmon gets my vote for "Mr. Twin".

Originally Posted by h2oface

I saw them all play, and even was lucky enough to get a foul ball he hit deep deep in the left field stands where I was cruising in a 1/3 full stadium with my glove as a 10 year old in 1965 at the Met. History doesn't disappear just because someone wasn't born yet. Joe isn't done yet, so the pick could change, maybe, even hopefully.......... bring on the championships....... but Harmon gets my vote for "Mr. Twin".

Hey that's really super about the foul ball, in 1965, no less! Even though I'd vote for Kirby, I'm heartened by how Twins fans have now embraced their early history. From my far-off perspective, I had the feeling that local fans had pushed that in the background for many years. I thought the 50th anniversary of the franchise and the way Target Field was dedicated brought that heritage back in a healthy way. I know I started to cry when I watched Jim Perry raise a pennant, on my crummy computer screen here in New York.

I was 11 & 15 when the Twins won their 2 World Series. My childhood bedroom walls were dedicated to Kirby. I chose his 1984 Fleer Update rookie card over the original Nintendo for my 12th birthday. But I would still vote Killebrew. He made Minnesotans fall in love with the Twins and he was the best player to ever wear the uniform.

I'm pretty much in the exact position as OP. My initial thought was "Kirby, of course. ...what about Harmon, though?"

I'm just too young to have seen him play, so my earliest memories of the team are full of Kirby Puckett. But you have to think that Killebrew's playing career was at least as good as Kirby's (probably better, despite no titles), and Killebrew was one hell of a fine human being.

This is a question that's hard to get wrong.

I think there are two reasons Killebrew doesn't lap the field or immediately come to my mind. The first is I didn't get to see him play. The other is that even when I do think of him, it's almost like he's bigger than the Twins. If the question was who is Mr. Baseball, I think he'd come more to my thoughts than for Mr. Twin. If that makes sense.

I predict if this is asked in 2033, the answer will be Mauer. And for me that's true right now, even if I know Killebrew is a "better" answer.

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