What Player Made You Fall in Love With the Twins?

[twinsfansd]

On 12/18/2021 at 6:52 PM, RJA said:

I couldn't agree more.  I have so many great memories of listening to Herb while fishing on beautiful summer nights.  Thank you for mentioning Herb.

Yes, Herb. Without Herb, I would not have been an every day with my transistor radio glued to my ear fan. Thanks for the memories.

[IndianaTwin]

11 hours ago, Eris said:

.... Cleaning up after the cows taught me the need to work hard in school. 

I tell people that I went to college thinking I was majoring in math education, but really, it was "anything but dairy farming." I value greatly the experiences and what I learned, but I didn't want to spend years and years at it. I'm thankful for those who do, and I certainly recognize some of the life lessons and skill development that my kids missed out on!

 

[East Coast Twin]

No one player but the 1984 Twins made me a baseball fan.

[Danielspr]

Hard to put just one, having met all the players in spring training for years. Be it Pepito aka Cesar, Zorro aka Zoilo, Little Potato aka Camilo, Mudcat, Tony O, Earl, Bobby et al. As a kid, I emulated and admired all of them! 

[IndianaTwin]

22 hours ago, bootsday said:

wynegarcarewrandallcubbagesmalleyhislebostockfordcarneal 

but my favorite will always be hrbek 

nowilfongorgoltz?

[Longdistancetwins]

On 12/20/2021 at 7:46 PM, Eris said:

I pondered your comments for awhile and have wondered how it is that when I think about my first exposure to the Twins, On a team with 5 Hall of Famers, I think of Danny Thompson. As you have pointed out Danny Thompson’s stats are not that good (Nick Punto was a lot better as a glove first player). 
 

Here is my explanation. I started listening to the Twins as a 9 year old while helping my family with chores growing up on a dairy farm in Southern Minnesota, near New Ulm. I envisioned the game through the eyes and voices of Herb Carneal and Halsie Hall. (Ray Christenson was also an announcer, but I don’t remember him). If Danny Thompson left a memorable impression on me it is because Mr Carneal and Hall made it so. I have looked for articles that touch upon what Danny Thompson meant to the Twins. The best answer I can give is that he was a great clubhouse teammate with a lot of grit. The following article touches upon some of this. 
 

https://www.oklahoman.com/article/5466464/remembering-danny-thompson-an-osu-cowboy-the-twins-could-never-forget/amp
 

 

For those who are subscribers, The Athletic did a story on Danny Thompson last year, just out of the blue:

https://theathletic.com/1976368/2020/08/06/a-lucky-man-how-danny-thompson-refused-to-let-cancer-stop-him/?source=user_shared_article

 

[William K Johnson]

Harmon Killebrew

[Tyler Omoth]

When I was nine, my older brother and I collected baseball cards. He told me that it was more fun if you chose  one player to focus on. I said I'd do Kent Hrbek, but he shot that down because Herbie was his guy. This was 1984. He said, "What about that little guy that's started playing centerfield? He looks like he might be pretty good." That made me start paying attention to Kirby and it turned out that my brother was right.

[adorduan]

Harmon, no last name needed. I had a crappy transistor radio, but I could get WNAX a powerful AM station out of Yankton SD. Happily listened as he seemed to hit a HR every other game.?

[Nine of twelve]

7 hours ago, adorduan said:

Harmon, no last name needed.

There are only a handful of Minnesotans, whether native or adopted, for whom no last name is needed. Four come immediately to mind: Harmon, Kirby, Prince, and, of course, Hubert.

[darwin22]

Started following the Twins as a kid...early 1970s and although Rod Carew was my favorite player, the player I "liked the most" was Bobby Darwin.  Not sure how many remember him, but he had a solid ( I may be biased) 3+ years with the Twins (1972-74) as their starting RF.  Although Darwin whiffed a lot...he had some MAJOR pop hitting 20+HRs with solid RBI numbers before being traded to Milwaukee in 1975.  I also think, please correct me if wrong......that he is the ONLY player other than Killebrew to hit a HR into the upper deck bleachers at Met Stadium.