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Was Zoilo Versalles A "One Hit Wonder"

Paul D

Entry posted by Paul D in Baseball in the 50's and 60's ·

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Was Zoilo Versalles a One-Hit Wonder?

When the Washington Senators relocated to Minneapolis/St. Paul for the 1961 season they brought a team that had finished 7th, 8th, 8th, 8th, and 5th the previous 5 years. After the move the team finished 7th in 1961, then 2nd, 3rd and 6th in the 10 team American League.

The 6th place 1964 team had a starting lineup of Earl Battey-catching, Bob Allison, Bernie Allen, Zoilo Versalles, and Rich Rollins in the infield, and had an outfield of Harmon Killebrew, Jimmy Hall and Tony Oliva. Their most used subs were Don Mincher, Jerry Kindall and Jerry Zimmerman. The starting rotation was Camilo Pascual, Jim Kaat, Dick Stigman, Mudcat Grant and Lee Stange. Coming out of the bullpen was closer Al Worthington, along with Gerry Arrigo, Jim Perry, Bill Pleis and Johnny Klippstein.

The 1965 team didn’t have a lot of turnover from the 1964 team. Don Mincher took over at first base and Jerry Kindall at second, Bob Allison played left field instead of 1st base and the rest of the lineup was the same as 1964. Because of injuries Harmon Killebrew only played in 113 games. 1964 starter, Lee Stange, was traded to the Cleveland Guardians along with George Banks for Mudcat Grant. Besides Grant, the other starters were Jim Perry, who went from a reliever to a starter, Jim Kaat and Camilo Pascual. Dave Boswell, got an occasional start. The bullpen still had Worthington, Klippstein, Pleis, and added Stigman (a converted starter) and Jerry Fosnow, who came to the Twins in an offseason trade with the Cincinnati Reds for Gerry Arrigo. Cesar Tovar would also come over in the trade, but he would spend most of 1965 with the Denver Bears.

While there were not a lot of personnel changes from 1964 to 1965 the team would go from a 79-83-1 record good for 6th place to a 102-60 record that would win the AL pennant.

WAR leaders in 1964 (batters only) according to Baseball Reference were: Oliva 6.8, Allison 6.4, Killebrew 4.7, Hall 4.0 and Rollins 3.0. For the 1965 season the WAR leaders were: Versalles 7.2, Oliva 5.4, Killebrew 4.4, Hall 4.3 and Allison 4.2.

Jimmy Hall would show an increased WAR from 1964 of 0.3, but the major increase would come from Zoilo Versalles, who went from 2.5 in ‘64 to 7.2 in ‘65.

Versalles would go on to win the American League Most Valuable Player award with 19 of the 20 votes. Tony Oliva would receive the other vote.

While Versalles would have a solid baseball career, he never had another year that came close to approaching 1965.

In 1965 he had career highs in plate appearances in (728), runs scored (126), hits (182), doubles (45), 2nd most triples (12), 2nd most home runs (19), most RBI’s (77) and stolen bases (27), 2nd highest Batting Average (.273), best OBP (.319), Slugging Pct. (.462), OPS (.781), OPS+ (115), and Total Bases (308). He led the American League in plate appearances, runs scored, doubles, triples, and total bases. He did make the All-Star team and won a gold glove that year.

Versalles would never come close to repeating his accomplishments of 1965. The Twins would have some success by finishing 2nd in 1966 and 1967 and would again with the pennant in 1969, but Versalles would only have a WAR of 1.6 in 1966, -1.6 in 1967 and would be traded prior to the 1968 season to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Mudcat Grant, for Bob Miller, Ron Peranoski and John Roseboro.

In Zoilo’s entire 12 seasons in MLB he had a total WAR of 12.6 with only 5.4 of his total over his other 11 seasons.

Sadly, he passed away at age 55 in 1995 while living in Bloomington, MN.

Zoilo would be the 1st of only 2 players in MLB history with the name Zoilo, the other would be Zoilo Almonte who played a total of 47 games (as an outfielder/DH) for the New York Yankees in 2013 and 2014.

While Zoilo had 7 seasons as the Twins primary shortstop, would you consider him a “One Hit Wonder”?

29 Comments

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RpR

RpR 3,608

Posted

It would be absurd to call him a one-hit wonder.

Twice All Star, twice Gold Glove, and twice he received MVP votes.

Like some  players, his ability dropped  steeply in a short time.

Schmoeman5

Schmoeman5 3,193

Posted

3 hours ago, RpR said:

It would be absurd to call him a one-hit wonder.

Twice All Star, twice Gold Glove, and twice he received MVP votes.

Like some  players, his ability dropped  steeply in a short time.

So in other words. A 2 hit wonder

Schmoeman5

Schmoeman5 3,193

Posted

33 minutes ago, RpR said:

Your sarcasm is sixth grade level.

It wasn't sarcasm. Your post stated 2 gold gloves 2 all-star appearances and 2 years where he received MVP votes. =2 good years

Rod Carews Birthday

Rod Carews Birthday 4,583

Posted

I don't know that I would call him a one hit wonder, but it is extremely unusual for a player to win an MVP award but really not having any other year that would make him close.  He was unquestionably great in 1965, but at best OK outside of that.  Strange and unfortunate.

Met Stadium Usher

Met Stadium Usher 53

Posted

Zoilo was one of my favorite Twins back in the day. He was an acrobatic fielder with a bit of a scattershot arm. I can still visualize him in action. He could make plays you never would expect, meanwhile throwing the ball away on routine grounders. 

He had a very brief but glorious peak, and then mysteriously forgot how to hit as the Year of Pitcher era starting coming along ('67-'68). Of course, many established players floundered at the plate during that time. It was said that Billy Martin was his greatest backer, and he worked hard to bring Zoilo's game up to big league standards. 

A brief memory: one year in the 1970s, long after he retired, Zoilo was on duty at the Twins/'CCO booth at the State Fair. My brother and I recognized him sitting at a table by himself without any schedules, bumper stickers or other stuff to hand out.  When we came in he asked us if we spoke Espanol, which we did not. He signed whatever State Fair-ish souvenirs we had, and that was that. Other folks would poke their head in, not recognize him, and leave. That had to have been a long day for the former MVP! A few  years ago, my brother and I reminisced about meeting him.  For sure he would have had signage, goodies to hand out, and a bilingual partner nowadays. 

Karbo

Karbo 5,472

Posted

I remember him well. I can't call him a great player, other than 65 and 66, but he certainly was an above average fielder back then. Keep in mind back then the SS was there for defense, and hitting was a bonus!

FanSince1961

FanSince1961 33

Posted

Suggesting he was a "one-hit wonder" is an insult to ZV's career.  He was most definitely an impact player.  His opportunity to play all 9 positions in one game is a testament to his versatility.  If you saw him play I don't think you'd write a headline like that.

saviking

saviking 1,091

Posted

All I know is he won the MVP in my first year as a Twins fan. He will always have a place in my most revered Twins players and made a big impression on me even if it was only one year. 

Karbo

Karbo 5,472

Posted

27 minutes ago, FanSince1961 said:

Suggesting he was a "one-hit wonder" is an insult to ZV's career.  He was most definitely an impact player.  His opportunity to play all 9 positions in one game is a testament to his versatility.  If you saw him play I don't think you'd write a headline like that.

I remember Tovar playing all 9 positions but I don't remember Zoilo doing it.

Paul D

Paul D 117

Posted

1 hour ago, FanSince1961 said:

Suggesting he was a "one-hit wonder" is an insult to ZV's career.  He was most definitely an impact player.  His opportunity to play all 9 positions in one game is a testament to his versatility.  If you saw him play I don't think you'd write a headline like that.

Fan, if you read the article you will see that I intentionally didn't call him a one-hit wonder. The title and last paragraph was to get readers to express their opinion on the question.

Personally, as a Red Sox fan back then, I would take him in a heartbeat, even if it wasn't his 1965 season.  In that era there were not a lot of SS that could hit. The Sox had Don Buddin and he couldn't hit or field. A true "no hit wonder".

And the readers are correct about Tovar. I have already written a blog piece that will be about that subject.

Otaknam

Otaknam 1,243

Posted

2 hours ago, FanSince1961 said:

Suggesting he was a "one-hit wonder" is an insult to ZV's career.  He was most definitely an impact player.  His opportunity to play all 9 positions in one game is a testament to his versatility.  If you saw him play I don't think you'd write a headline like that.

 

44 minutes ago, Paul D said:

Fan, if you read the article you will see that I intentionally didn't call him a one-hit wonder. The title and last paragraph was to get readers to express their opinion on the question.

Personally, as a Red Sox fan back then, I would take him in a heartbeat, even if it wasn't his 1965 season.  In that era there were not a lot of SS that could hit. The Sox had Don Buddin and he couldn't hit or field. A true "no hit wonder".

And the readers are correct about Tovar. I have already written a blog piece that will be about that subject.

I think that was Cesar Tovar who played all positions in one game, not Versalles. 

arby58

arby58 3,609

Posted

The most telling statistic was a 7.2 WAR in 1965, and a combined 5.4 WAR over his other 11 MLB seasons. If that isn't a one hit (defined as MLB season) wonder, it's pretty close.

Paul

Paul 42

Posted

He was the player I most admired and tried to emulate. When I was a 14 yr old I saved up my money and went to A&B sporting goods in downtown Mpls to purchase the model glove he used. It turned out they 1 left which I bought. The salesman told me Zoilo bought his gloves there and had recently been in to buy 2 new ones. He said Zoilo threw his glove away whenever he made an error.

laloesch

laloesch 1,849

Posted

On 1/9/2024 at 11:23 AM, FanSince1961 said:

Suggesting he was a "one-hit wonder" is an insult to ZV's career.  He was most definitely an impact player.  His opportunity to play all 9 positions in one game is a testament to his versatility.  If you saw him play I don't think you'd write a headline like that.

Not really.  He was mediocre for most of his career except 1963, 64, and 65.  

old nurse

old nurse 4,495

Posted

From 1962 to 1969 Versailles accumulated 14 fWAR  that was 12 best over that time frame. In the context of the times he always was an adequate shortstop. 

Oldschoolball

Oldschoolball 2

Posted

To me this is a disrespectful question to pose. As has been stated, not only are we talking about the first Latino MVP in the history of the game, which in and of itself tells you were not dealing with a typical player, much less a "one-hit wonder", but if you look at the trajectory of his career even before 65 all the way up to the severe back injury he suffered in 1966, he was pace to set offensive records at the shortstop position in terms homers and extra-base hits. His range at shortstop was incredible (granted, that lead to many throwing errors), and he was a base-stealing threat. Not sure what else you can do as a player to demonstrate your worth. Had he played in today's game, with the guaranteed money that exists in the game, he could have rested up that back to allow it to heal properly, but back then everything was year-to-year contracts, no guaranteed money, and guys had to work in the offseason to support their families (he had 6 daughters). Others have already mentioned the WAR statistics, gold gloves and All-Star appearances...with all due respect, this is a disrespectful question to pose to me...those who know the game know he was far from a one-hit wonder...

Oldschoolball

Oldschoolball 2

Posted

On 1/9/2024 at 1:57 PM, Ricky Vaughn said:

If I remember correctly back problems were a problem for him after 1965.

They absolutely were...changed his entire career

Paul D

Paul D 117

Posted

2 hours ago, Oldschoolball said:

To me this is a disrespectful question to pose. As has been stated, not only are we talking about the first Latino MVP in the history of the game, which in and of itself tells you were not dealing with a typical player, much less a "one-hit wonder", but if you look at the trajectory of his career even before 65 all the way up to the severe back injury he suffered in 1966, he was pace to set offensive records at the shortstop position in terms homers and extra-base hits. His range at shortstop was incredible (granted, that lead to many throwing errors), and he was a base-stealing threat. Not sure what else you can do as a player to demonstrate your worth. Had he played in today's game, with the guaranteed money that exists in the game, he could have rested up that back to allow it to heal properly, but back then everything was year-to-year contracts, no guaranteed money, and guys had to work in the offseason to support their families (he had 6 daughters). Others have already mentioned the WAR statistics, gold gloves and All-Star appearances...with all due respect, this is a disrespectful question to pose to me...those who know the game know he was far from a one-hit wonder...

Please don't take the title the wrong way. The whole concept of a blog is to get your inner juices working and get people to participate in discussions. I would never disrespect an MVP, but it is a topic that got a number of responses and that is the ultimate goal. 

If I picked the wrong title for the blog I am truly sorry, but it in naming my blogs I look for a phrase that may get someone to read and comment. If no one read or commented I would have wasted all the time it took me to pick the topic, research it and them put it together so that I don't embarass myself.

I'm hoping others will jump in and contribute just as I am attempting!

Oldschoolball

Oldschoolball 2

Posted

7 minutes ago, Paul D said:

Please don't take the title the wrong way. The whole concept of a blog is to get your inner juices working and get people to participate in discussions. I would never disrespect an MVP, but it is a topic that got a number of responses and that is the ultimate goal. 

If I picked the wrong title for the blog I am truly sorry, but it in naming my blogs I look for a phrase that may get someone to read and comment. If no one read or commented I would have wasted all the time it took me to pick the topic, research it and them put it together so that I don't embarass myself.

I'm hoping others will jump in and contribute just as I am attempting!

Understood!

ashbury

ashbury 60,679

Posted

On 1/8/2024 at 10:59 AM, RpR said:

It would be absurd to call him a one-hit wonder.

Twice All Star, twice Gold Glove, and twice he received MVP votes.

Like some  players, his ability dropped  steeply in a short time.

Concur.  He was an All-Star two seasons before his supposed "one" hit.

Similar story with Roger Maris.  People say he was all about 1961.  This ignores his winning MVP in 1960.  People, sheesh.

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