Bostock is a tragic tale for sure, but he only really had one Twins HoF / Baseball HoF worthy season aided by the highest BABIP and by far the highest ISO of his career.

A very good player lost to soon to tragic ...

Remembering the player and his talent  , Griffith trading him because of salary , just like he did with others ,  there is a difference in the current ownership , that they have paid some good players to stay but have paid way to much to other players that nobody else wanted ...

The difference between Calvin and the Pohlad's is Calvin Griffiths only business was baseball.  Before free agency and the explosion of salaries he had some very good Twins teams and players.  The Pohlad's have way more money.  Carl Pohlad spent some money.  After he was gone it has gone the other way.  Bostock was a very good player but not enough for the Twins Hall of Fame.  But down the road who knows.

2 hours ago, nddan67 said:

The difference between Calvin and the Pohlad's is Calvin Griffiths only business was baseball.  Before free agency and the explosion of salaries he had some very good Twins teams and players.  The Pohlad's have way more money.  Carl Pohlad spent some money.  After he was gone it has gone the other way.  Bostock was a very good player but not enough for the Twins Hall of Fame.  But down the road who knows.

Just a comparison of lifetime batting average for players who are in the Twins Hall of Fame.

Cesar Tovar: Twins lifetime batting average = .281

Michael Cuddyer: Twins lifetime batting average = .272

Zolio Versalles: Twins lifetime batting average = .250

Lyman Bostock: Twins lifetime batting average = .318

Bostock outhit 3 bona fide Twins Hall of Famers by 37, 46, 68 points respectively, an average of 50.33 batting average points per player for 3 existing THOFers!

Before he was traded, we were on the field for camera day. I asked him if he was going to stay a Twin. He said if it was up to him he would. He talked to everyone that day....

He was a gem! Oh, if I could go back, take the pen from Calvin and sign those two guys Carew and Bostock and Hisle, Bill Campbell, Danny Ford and Glenn Adams!

Wonderful player. Tragic ending. But 3 seasons doesn't get you into a HOF

Too small sample size (3 yrs). Lyman left via FA, not traded. Rodney Cline was traded.

Huge fan of Lyman Bostock.  Remember when I heard about his death.  Was devastated for a while.

14 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Before he was traded, we were on the field for camera day. I asked him if he was going to stay a Twin. He said if it was up to him he would. He talked to everyone that day....

He was never traded.  It WAS up to him.  He left as a  free agent,

20 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

A very good player lost to soon to tragic ...

Remembering the player and his talent  , Griffith trading him because of salary , just like he did with others ,  there is a difference in the current ownership , that they have paid some good players to stay but have paid way to much to other players that nobody else wanted ...

Overpaying lesser players is a result of spending more. Look how much money the Dodgers waste. Chris Taylor makes $13m to be a glorified late game defensive replacement who gets one start a week. Has a .593 OPS since start of last year. Clayton Kershaw gets $7m to sit on IL just because he’s Clayton Kershaw. And because they have a heavy luxury tax bill, that $7m hits like $14m for a guy who barley plays and they knew he’d barely play when they signed him this winter 

19 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

Just a comparison of lifetime batting average for players who are in the Twins Hall of Fame.

Cesar Tovar: Twins lifetime batting average = .281

Michael Cuddyer: Twins lifetime batting average = .272

Zolio Versalles: Twins lifetime batting average = .250

Lyman Bostock: Twins lifetime batting average = .318

Bostock outhit 3 bona fide Twins Hall of Famers by 37, 46, 68 points respectively, an average of 50.33 batting average points per player for 3 existing THOFers!

Batting average is certainly important, but it's not the only stat. Especially in a Hall of Fame setting where longevity is very important. I don't think Luis Arraez will be in Twins Hall of Fame for hitting .314 over four years and winning a batting title. 

4 hours ago, William Malone said:

Batting average is certainly important, but it's not the only stat. Especially in a Hall of Fame setting where longevity is very important. I don't think Luis Arraez will be in Twins Hall of Fame for hitting .314 over four years and winning a batting title. 

I don’t think Luis Arraez was ever a defensive wizard, or had a line like 36 doubles, 12 triples and 14 Hr = 62 extra base hits. Nor had 90 RBIs. Nor did he ever hit for Bostock’s averages of .323 and .336 in his two prime years. The unfortunate part is we’ll never know if the career trajectory that Lyman had established from 24-27 would have carried through. I think it would have but there we have it. 

Keep in mind that Kirby Puckett was cut a lot of slack in being elected to Cooperstown with an involuntary shortened career. 

For me, Lyman Bostock was one of the best hitters in Twins history. Yes, I love high batting averages (just look at the current Twins .198, .198, .220, .160, .218, .241, .245, etc. and you’ll understand why). The Twins current batting averages just listed can never, ever yield a winning team in any era.

The 1977 Twins with Carew .388, Bostock .336, Adams .338, Hisle .302 by definition leads to runs in droves and winning, even with a sorry pitching staff. That team had a .282 team average. That’s fun!!!

The other 70s Twins teams that I grew up on always hit with guys like Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Steve Braun, Steve Brye, Roy Smalley, Mickey Hatcher, Glenn Adams, Ken Landreaux, Jim Holt, Bobby Darwin.

I truly believe that Lyman Bostock, for the 4 years and, if he had lived, was a better hitter than Michael Cuddyer, Versalles and Tovar. And they all deserve their HOF status.

8 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

He was never traded.  It WAS up to him.  He left as a  free agent,

I think it was really up to the all time king of cheapskates, Calvin Griffith. Had he retained Carew, Bostock (for only 500K for gosh sakes), Hisle, Bill Campbell, Tom Burgmeier, Adams, Cubbage, Dave Goltz and continued to build pitching, he would have made up those modest salaries in attendance and concessions, parking etc. To be paying Bostock $20,000 in one of the finest offensive seasons of the 1970s puts the onus on Calvin, not Lyman.

21 minutes ago, Greglw3 said:

I don’t think Luis Arraez was ever a defensive wizard, or had a line like 36 doubles, 12 triples and 14 Hr = 62 extra base hits. Nor had 90 RBIs. Nor did he ever hit for Bostock’s averages of .323 and .336 in his two prime years. The unfortunate part is we’ll never know if the career trajectory that Lyman had established from 24-27 would have carried through. I think it would have but there we have it. 

Keep in mind that Kirby Puckett was cut a lot of slack in being elected to Cooperstown with an involuntary shortened career. 

For me, Lyman Bostock was one of the best hitters in Twins history. Yes, I love high batting averages (just look at the current Twins .198, .198, .220, .160, .218, .241, .245, etc. and you’ll understand why). The Twins current batting averages just listed can never, ever yield a winning team in any era.

The 1977 Twins with Carew .388, Bostock .336, Adams .338, Hisle .302 by definition leads to runs in droves and winning, even with a sorry pitching staff. That team had a .282 team average. That’s fun!!!

The other 70s Twins teams that I grew up on always hit with guys like Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Steve Braun, Steve Brye, Roy Smalley, Mickey Hatcher, Glenn Adams, Ken Landreaux, Jim Holt, Bobby Darwin.

I truly believe that Lyman Bostock, for the 4 years and, if he had lived, was a better hitter than Michael Cuddyer, Versalles and Tovar. And they all deserve their HOF status.

 

And the 1977 Twins you mentioned were only slightly better than last year's Twins. 84 wins vs 82 wins. More or less the same team. Did the Twins have a bunch of good batting averages last year?

22 hours ago, JBK said:

Too small sample size (3 yrs). Lyman left via FA, not traded. Rodney Cline was traded.

Maybe, but he was as a hitter what he was. It might be instructive to find the list of other players that averaged .318 over 3 consecutive years with one team and had over 600 plate appearances in 2 of them in the decade of the 1970s.

Did the assassins bullet that killed him do anything to diminish the immense talent he had?

And he had no choice to leave via free agency considering he played for an owner that, after the reserve clause was nullified, never, ever made any attempt to re-sign any player of value including Dave Goltz, Danny Ford, Rod Carew, Lyman Bostock, Larry Hisle, Tom Burgmeier, Bill Campbell, Gary Ward, Bert Blyleven.

23 hours ago, Mrs. Baseball said:

Wonderful player. Tragic ending. But 3 seasons doesn't get you into a HOF

Disagree. Show me 3 seasons of accomplishment from Tovar, Versalles or Cuddyer that equal the very lofty .318 batting average that Bostock had in his 3 seasons, punctuated by 62 extra base hits in a season. You’re basically penalizing Lyman for getting killed or being forced out of Minnesota by a super cheap owner paying him $20,000 for one of the best offensive seasons in Twins history. With the talent he had, he likely would have put up several more great seasons for the Twins if not for the (Corey Provus) aforementioned super-cheap owner who made no attempt to pay or retain any of his stars after the reserve clause died.

11 minutes ago, William Malone said:

And the 1977 Twins you mentioned were only slightly better than last year's Twins. 84 wins vs 82 wins. More or less the same team. Did the Twins have a bunch of good batting averages last year?

That’s so off!!! The 1977 Twins had no pitching except their ace Dave Goltz. Look it up! With the 2024 Twins pitching staff, that 1977 team would have won 100 games or more.

On 4/22/2025 at 4:11 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Before he was traded, we were on the field for camera day. I asked him if he was going to stay a Twin. He said if it was up to him he would. He talked to everyone that day....

Quality human being who donated his early Angels salary to charity because he felt so sheepish about his slow start!

14 minutes ago, Greglw3 said:

Maybe, but he was as a hitter what he was. It might be instructive to find the list of other players that averaged .318 over 3 consecutive years with one team and had over 600 plate appearances in 2 of them in the decade of the 1970s.

Did the assassins bullet that killed him do anything to diminish the immense talent he had?

And he had no choice to leave via free agency considering he played for an owner that, after the reserve clause was nullified, never, ever made any attempt to re-sign any player of value including Dave Goltz, Danny Ford, Rod Carew, Lyman Bostock, Larry Hisle, Tom Burgmeier, Bill Campbell, Gary Ward, Bert Blyleven.

Nobody is denying his talent. But HoF enshrinement is often tied to longevity. And if you start grading guys on a handicap then you'll wind up letting a massive wave of people. He was a really good player. And it's not his fault he had to leave. But it still happened. Regardless of who's fault it is. 

6 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

I think it was really up to the all time king of cheapskates, Calvin Griffith. Had he retained Carew, Bostock (for only 500K for gosh sakes), Hisle, Bill Campbell, Tom Burgmeier, Adams, Cubbage, Dave Goltz and continued to build pitching, he would have made up those modest salaries in attendance and concessions, parking etc. To be paying Bostock $20,000 in one of the finest offensive seasons of the 1970s puts the onus on Calvin, not Lyman.

Pretty sure that had he stayed his salary would have been more than $20k.  Say what you will about the $20k number but by rule it was not below the league minimum for a 3rd year player and not terribly far from the 1977 norm for a player not eligible for arbitration or free agency.