With the All-Star break upon us, and no meaningful baseball for almost a week, I thought it could be a fun exercise to look at Twins All-Stars through the years (and decades). More than that, I was curious to see which decade has produced the best players. So, over the next several days, I will be writing a series of articles about these all-decade teams, and then looking at which team is the best.

For methodology, I will be looking at all Twins that made an All-Star team. Then, I will attempt to construct a roster with just those players. I will be calling these all-decade teams. If an all-decade team cannot fill a full roster, I will look at just the positions they could fill, and the openings would be filled by replacement players. If a player played multiple positions, I will only use the position they made the All-Star team at. If they were an All-Star at multiple positions in different seasons, they are fair game to be used twice - once at each position. If their career spanned multiple decades, they can be on multiple all-decade teams. I will limit SP to three, RP to three, and for OF positions, I will use them interchangeably. Finally, I will will look at the bWAR for each of those players’ best All-Star season in that decade and determine that all-decade team’s win total. For the 2020s, I’ll have to get a little unconventional. Since we are only halfway through this decade and cannot come close to filling out a full roster, I’ll double their bWAR to try to get close to parity.

By the end of this series, we will see which decade had the best win total through this completely arbitrary methodology.

Each article will look at one decade, from the team’s move to Minnesota in the 60s through today. Which team will come out on top?

Today, we will looking at the 1960s, with another decade being featured each day. Without further ado, let’s dig in!

The 1960s Twins Teams

1960 saw the Washington Senators move from Washington DC to Minnesota, changing their name to the Twins. Coming from DC, they came pre-loaded with guys like Harmon Killebrew, Jim Kaat, and Bob Allison. They also developed guys like Jimmie Hall, Tony Oliva, and Rod Carew, and traded for guys like Dean Chance and Cesar Tovar. The ‘60s Twins teams had a veritable who’s who of All-Stars, and a number of players in the Twins (and Baseball) Hall of Fame. They made it to the World Series in 1965 before losing to the Dodgers. They made it to the ALCS again in 1969 with Billy Martin as Manager. These teams were well before my time, but my dad talks all the time about these guys, and how how much he loved them as a kid.

But how was the all-decade team? Let’s look at the roster.

Starting Pitchers

For starting pitchers, we have the 1963 version of Camilo Pascual, the 1962 version of Jim Kaat, and the 1967 season for Dean Chance.

SP1 - Camilo Pascual - 1963. Pascual threw 267 innings with 14 complete games and struck out 7.2/9, which in those days was pretty good. In fact, it led the league! The curveball specialist pitched back to back shutouts three times that season, and 1963 also ended his 6-year run of having the highest collective pitching WAR in baseball. After he retired, he became a scout and signed Jose Conseco and Alex Cora.

SP2 - Jim Kaat - 1962. Kitty Kaat threw 16 complete games and 5 shutouts in 1962, with a 3.13 ERA and was 30% better than league average. The dominant lefty went on to become the all-time Twins leader in Wins and Ks, won 16 Gold Glove awards, was a part of the ’65 team that went to the World Series, and was eventually elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.

SP3 - Dean Chance - 1967. He was a horse in 1967, leading the league in starts, complete games (18), innings pitched (283), and a 2.73 ERA bolstered by a 2.56 FIP. He there a no-hitter on 8/25/67, and a rain-shortened perfect game on 8/6. Imagine that level of performance, twice in a month. Must have been magical to see.

Relief Pitchers

There were no relief pitchers selected, but of course, relief pitchers weren’t really a thing in the 60s.

Lineup

The lineup was even more impressive than the starting pitching.

C - Earl Battey - 1963. This was Earl’s second of four All-Star appearances. He put up an .845 OPS and was 34% better than an average hitter. He took almost as many walks as strikeouts, and was solid behind the dish, winning a gold glove. He hit 26 HR as a catcher, and shockingly, that was just 4th best on the team that year. Have I mentioned the 60s had some great teams and even better players? Battey also gathered down ballot MVP votes, and eventually went on to play in the ’65 World Series-losing team.

1B - Harmon Killebrew - 1965. It was actually sort of a down year for him, but it was still very good. He slugged .501, finished with a 145 OPS+, and took 72 walks. When I was a kid, I was always very excited to bike to a gas station and see they had Killebrew root beer for sale. Turns out he was incredible at hitting, and the Killer was the best slugger in baseball for much of his tenure.

2B - Rod Carew - 1969. In his age-23 season, he won his first batting title, put up an .853 OPS, and received down-ballot MVP votes. Oh, and he stole home seven times. Not a misprint, just incredible. Five times, he did it in the first inning. And, he did it by mid-July. He was a key reason the Twins won the AL West title that season. Sadly, Carew began the Twins trend of suffering a debilitating injury the following season, shredding his knee in a collision at 2nd base.

3B - Harmon Killebrew - 1961. In 1961, Hammerin’ Harmon Killebrew was incredible manning the hot corner. He finished with an OPS over 1.000, took 107 walks, launched 46 HR, and knocked in 122. He even stole a base. His WRC+ was 160.

SS - Zoila Versailles - 1965. In his MVP-winning 1965 season, he led the league in WAR (7.2), plate appearances (728), runs (126), doubles (45), triples (12), and total bases (308). He hit to a 115 OPS+ as a slick-fielding shortstop, and he won his second Gold Glove that season as well. In the World Series, he led the team with 8 hits, including a three-run bomb. He was also the first latin-born player to win the MVP. He suffered a back injury and declined shortly after this season, but that year, he was great.

OF - Harmon Killebrew - 1964. The 60s all-decade team benefits greatly from the incredible slugger’s positional flexibility (or moving down the defensive spectrum). He makes his third appearance on this team playing the outfield. In 1964, he took the home run crown, finished with a .924 OPS, took 93 walks, and also led the league in HBP.

OF - Jimmie Hall -1965. He had an .810 OPS, had a 79/51 K/BB ratio, and played solid defense. As part of the ’65 World Series team, he received 7 ABs and struck out in 5 of them. He was beaned and declined after the season, turning into a role player. Yet another promising player derailed by injuries.

OF - Tony Oliva - 1964. He led the league in hits (217), runs (109), doubles (43), batting average (.323), and total bases. He also won Rookie of the Year, and came in 4th in MVP voting. Tough to beat.

This all-decade team accumulated 62.3 WAR. As replacement-level teams win approximately 52 games according to BBRef, the 1960s all-decade team would have come through with 114.3 wins.

Did the 60s have the best Twins players of all time? Can another decade top 114.3 wins? Check back tomorrow to see how the 70s showed up! And, comment below to share your thoughts on this activity.