Killebrew or Puckett?

[mickeymental]

killebrew or puckett? yes!

[USAFChief]

killebrew or puckett? yes!

No.

 

Killebrew AND Puckett!

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

I met Harmon after he retired and he was the most genuine, humble man, so mindful of and grateful for the attention he received from the fans.

 

I took my step-daughter to the dome and we walked down to the rail to take a picture of Kirby.  He waved at her and she fumbled with the camera and became flustered.  He motioned for her to calm down and kept waving until she could take the picture.

 

I'll take either one of them in a heartbeat miss the feeling I used to get when they stepped to the plate in a key situation.

[Doomtints]

 

Puckett led the league in batting once, RBI once and hits 4 times. Harmon led the league in HR SIX times and RBI 3 times.

I also must have missed Puckett’s MVP season. Harmon’s was in 1969.

 

Yearly accolades:

 

Puckett: All Star Game MVP, ALCS MVP, Silver Slugger (x6), Batting Title, Gold Glove (x6), All Star (x10)

 

Killebrew: MVP, All Star (x13)

 

"Accolade" = award, no?

[Doomtints]

 

Are you familiar with what OPS+ does?

It accounts for the differences in era.

 

I know what it "does" and I know it does not account for any such thing. It's year by year only. It's literally OPS / league OPS * 100.

 

A player with a very high OPS+ is simply very far from average for that given year, and that given year only. This could be because that player is very good that year, or because the league in that year isn't. OPS+ and ERA+ measure outliers, like a bell curve.

[ken]

Yearly accolades:

 

Puckett: All Star Game MVP, ALCS MVP, Silver Slugger (x6), Batting Title, Gold Glove (x6), All Star (x10)

 

Killebrew: MVP, All Star (x13)

 

"Accolade" = award, no?

If you are counting batting titles, don't you also have to count HR titles. Killebrew had 5 of them, 3 RBI titles,6 times in top 5 of MVP. I think you have really misrepresented Killebrew's accolades.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Better hitter: KIllebrew

Better defender: Puckett

Nicer guy off the field: Killebrew

Nicer guy on the field: Puckett

Face of franchise: Push

Junk in the trunk: Push

Yearly Accolades (Batting titles, etc.): Puckett

Rings: Puckett

bWAR: Puckett

 

Long story short: Two cornerstone players from different eras. The Twins franchise is lucky to have two such storied players since the start of the expansion era. People will argue, but I can't think of many teams that have more than one, if even one, player of similar stature.

Killebrew had more bWAR in a Twins uni than Puckett. It’s close, though.

 

Also, yearly accolades? You realize Killebrew led the league in homers roughly 140 times, right?

[Devereaux]

Same. Out of the mean streets. Played 150 games a year - in center field. Loved to be in the batter's box. Batted first, then third. Told people to "get on my back." Came through in clutch situations. Brought fans to the Metrodome.

 

Not an obvious stud early, Puckett worked in a factory and made his path through junior college. Always spoke of the value of hard work, and of realizing his fortune to make a living playing a game. Made Minnesota his home.

 

I am old enough to remember watching Harmon in the on-deck circle and being thrilled to see him at the plate. But no one in any sport will ever compare to Kirby for me.

 

My Mount Rushmore has Killebrew, Oliva, Puckett and probably Hrbek or Hunter.

 

Kirby is my all time favorite sports player. Nobody else is even close. I can't imagine many kids growing up watching the 87 and/or 91 Twins feel much different than me.

 

Kirby, Killer, Carew and Johan are my Twins Mount Rushmore.

 

[AceWrigley]

It's almost an impossible choice but I'll go with Harmon Killebrew just because he was the first Twins marquee player and all of Twnkiedom would come to a standstill when he came up to bat. You could be at the bank or hardware store, the radio would be on, and everything would come to a halt as everyone listened to Halsey and Herb call another Killebrew at bat. And if anyone asked what was going on, the reply would be, "Killebrew's up", like . .. duh. Awesome.