Welcome to part two of this series, in which we look at the all-decade teams comprised of only guys selected to an All-Star team in that decade. You can refer to part 1 for the full methodology. Without further ado, let’s dig into the 1970s. Can they overthrow the 1960s all-decade team?

The 1970s Twins Teams

In the 1970s, we saw the tail ends of the careers of storied greats like Killebrew, Oliva, and Carew. The team swung trades for Butch Wynegar, Roy Smalley, and Larry Hisle. The 1970s featured some great new players as well, with John Castino winning Rookie of the Year. Gene Mauch became the Manager. But, the 70s also featured more vacancies on it’s all-decade roster.

Let’s take a look at the team.

Starting Pitchers

SP1 - Bert Blyleven - 1973 - He was the ace of the all-decade team. In 1973, he made his lone All-Star appearance for the team. He put up a remarkable 9.7 WAR, pitching 25 complete games, including 9 shutouts. He threw 325 innings at a 2.52 ERA and an even better 2.32 FIP. He led the league in ERA+, pitching 56% better than the typical pitcher. He was second in strikeouts. Shockingly, he finished just 7th in Cy Young voting despite generating 2 WAR more than the next best pitcher. Circle him.

SP2 - Jim Perry - 1970. season led him to the #2 starter position on the 70s all-decade team. He led the league in starts and wins, pitched 278 innings of 3.04 ERA ball, and pitched 13 complete games. He finished the season with 3.2 WPA. As a hitter, he posted a better OPS than Christian Vasquez and Kyle Farmer. He also won the Cy Young that year. His brother Gaylord also won a Cy Young two years later, making Jim part of baseball history for multiple reasons, as this is the only time brothers have each won a Cy Young.

There were no other pitchers - starters or relievers - selected for an All-Star team in the 70s. Let’s look at the lineup.

Lineup

C - Butch Wynegar - 1977. He put up a 96 OPS+ as a catcher and put up good defense, accumulating 1.5 WAR on the fielding side of things. He took more walks than strikeouts, and caught 144 games. Not bad for a second-year player.

1B - Rod Carew - 1977. What a season. Carew won MVP, finished with a 1.019 OPS, and led the league in hits (239), runs (128), triples (16), batting average (.388), OBP (.449), and intentional walks (15). His .388 BA was the highest since Ted Williams 20 years earlier. At mid-season, he was hitting above the .400 mark. He was also a slightly better than average defender. 1977 was also Carew’s third time leading the league in WAR. He was truly his era’s Mike Trout.

2B - Rod Carew - 1975. Another season, another position, another All-Star nod. This was his second season leading the league in WAR. He also led the league in hits (218), winning his 5th batting title. He was snubbed for MVP, finishing 9th. Did you know that Rod was born on a train, and delivered by a doctor named Rodney Cline? And his mom named him Rodney Cline Carew after the doctor? I didn’t either.

SS - Roy Smalley - 1979. It was his lone All-Star selection. He played all 162 games, and led the league in plate appearances. He had the same number of strikeouts and walks (80), and hit 10% better than league average. He had a .959 OPS at the All-Star break, and was the odds-on favorite for MVP, but regressed during the second half. In an era where most shortstops were slap hitters, Smalley had 55 extra base hits, and was a good fielder as well. He also offered team leadership, mentoring others. A fan of the weight room, he helped Wynegar bulk up, which improved his hitting as well. He helped pitchers with their mechanics and positioning. Supposedly, he felt like he needed to prove his worth as he was Manager Gene Mauch’s nephew, and he was traded to the Twins at Mauch’s request.

OF - Tony Oliva - 1970. He finished runner-up for MVP while leading the league in hits (204), doubles (36), and hitting 37% better than league average. This was his last healthy season, as he wrecked his knee on a diving play the following season, requiring 8 operations to attempt to resolve the damage. However, his career would never be the same. Sound familiar, Twins fans?

OF - Larry Hisle - 1977. He had a great season, hitting .302 with a .902 OPS. He led the league in RBIs, stole 21 bases, and hit 44% better than average, receiving MVP votes. This was the middle year of a three-year peak where he averaged 5 WAR a season. While he hit great, he was not a strong fielder, and finished the season with 5.2 WAR. He became a free agent following the season after having contract disputes with the Pohlads. He went from making around $40K to receiving a $3M contract with the Brewers where he played 5 additional seasons.

The other positions were filled by replacement players.

Overall, the 70s all-decade team took a step back from the 60s. They put up 50.9 WAR, and with the 52 replacement wins, finished the decade with 102.9 wins overall. Advantage: 1960s.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when we will look at the 1980s all-decade team.

Comment below if you remember these 70s teams, and what you think of this exercise.