Nostalgia - Which Twins players do you miss the most?

[strumdatjag]

Most of mine have been covered,  but here is one big omission - Jim Kaat (on the field but even more - in the booth!). 

[big dog]

3 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

Tony, the Killer, and Carew.

Singing is in a different thread, please.

[big dog]

3 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

Tony, the Killer, and Carew.

"Danny Thompson, what a shame"

[USAFChief]

1. Kirby

1A. Torii Hunter

2. Tony O.

3. Brad Radke

4. Eddie Guardado

5. Kent Hrbek

[cjj td]

6 hours ago, big dog said:

Okay, that's a PFA way to start my day. Thanks.

You're welcome.  Happy to enhance your day.

[D. Hocking]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:28 PM, cjj td said:

The Gary Gaetti Cült of 514 Cottonwood, Grand Forks, ND, USA, Earth (angelfire.com)

 

Must visit site for any Gary Gaetti worshipers.

Nice - although I feel this website would be best viewed on the Netscape or AOL browser with the sound of a dial-up modem in the background.

[Cave Bear]

Frank Viola - Never threw the same speed twice. Ranks up there with Santana and Liriano (before injury)

[HoskenPowell]

Roy Smalley. I was a young kid the year he started out like his hair was on fire.....at the all Star break he would have been Al MVP. He cooled down a bit but gave the Twins nation something to cheer about on a not so good team.   I believe it was 79. Carew was with the Angels and the team needed that jolt so save fans.   Also remember Hosken Powell and Bombo Rivera in the OF.....they were awful , but fun to watch!  Lyman Bostok was taken way too young to senseless act of violence down in Gary IN in 78........went to visit family and a skirt and got shot by a jealous fool.  He was a good up and coming player.  Sad.

[Someone]

Dave Goltz

Greg Gagne

Dan Gladden

Cesar Tovar

Earl Battey

 

[Matthew Lenz]

Oh man there are so many! Off the top of my head I immediately think of Luis Arraez, Eduardo Escobar, Denard Span, and Pat Neshek.

[saviking]

Harmon Killebrew .. 

[Brad Helgeson]

On 4/4/2023 at 8:31 AM, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Reading some articles lately about previous Twins players got me thinking... which Twins players do I miss the most?

I am not talking stats or performance (who doesn't want a prime Mauer, Puckett, or Carew in the lineup), I am talking about the players themselves.  Guys that had an impact on the Twins and Minnesota in general.  For me, there are a couple of names that jump out:

Jim Thome - How can you not love this guy?  At the age he was playing for the Twins, the amount of hours he put into his body just to be able to swing the bat every day.  The calmness and leadership he brought to the team.  Leader in every sense of the word.

Mickey Hatcher - The Mick.  Trying to catch the dropped ball that went up through the Metrodome ceiling?  Seeing him climb up into the stands after the last game of the season, basically stripping down to his underwear, giving everything to the fans, then sitting down and having a beer with them.  Looked and acted like a total goofball.  Pretty par for MN.  The levity he would bring today would be fantastic.

Kent Hrbek - Easy choice here, but for me not as much for on field accomplishments.  A Minnesota Blue Blood, this guy once threatened to to quit baseball to become a masked wrestler under the name "Tyrannosaurus Rex".  Kirby Puckett once sponsored a slow pitch softball team, Puckett and Hrbek would just show up at the diamond unannounced to watch them play. Turning down a huge (at that time) contract from the Tigers to stay in Minnesota.   You don't see this type of player-fan relationships anymore...

I would be interested to hear about who you miss and why.  Let's have it!

Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer 

[Finlander]

Any pitcher who scoffed at the idea of a 5 inning start and who might growl at being taken out of a game. And they had the stuff to back it up. Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, Jim Kaat, Jim Perry, Frankie V, Johan Santana...yes, the game has changed, financial investments in players are more significant so they're more protected now. But I miss the era of having that "horse" on the staff, and we've had a few good ones.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I miss my North Carolina hometown friend, Mark Davidson, since he and his wife Linda moved to South Carolina. We used to talk baseball a lot. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I miss La Tortuga. 

[JD-TWINS]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:30 PM, I wish the twins were good said:

Sooo fun to watch him mystify batters with pin-point fastball after they saw his change-up. Sooo good - made you smile watching him for 6-7 innings. Only pitcher I know that threw his change-up letter high routinely. He’d throw a high fastball - a curveball - then 3 straight change-ups & nobody ever got on his change-up. Excellence!! Humility!

[JD-TWINS]

4 hours ago, Brad Helgeson said:

Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer 

Oliva was electric to watch in the day - free swinger like Puckett and just pounded balls into the OF gaps. Justin Morneau & Oliva added  to your group above for me.

[JD-TWINS]

Arms to watch:

Blyleven - 242 complete games - 60 shutouts!!

Kaat - 180 complete games - 31 shutouts

Santana - 2 Cy Young’s 

Perry - Cy Young

Frank Viola - Cy Young

Morris - 175 complete games - 28 shutouts

Joe Nathan - 7 yrs. 24-13 record, 4 yrs under 2.00 ERA, 540 appearances, & 260 saves

Rick Aguilera  - 8 yrs. as reliever, 6 yrs under 3.00 ERA, 526 appearances, 280 saves

 

[MMMordabito]

Torii Hunter

Joe Nathan

Johan Santana

Jacques Jones

Eduardo Escobar

Brian Dozier

Willians Astudillo

Eddie Rosario

Luis Arraez

[I wish the twins were good]

5 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Sooo fun to watch him mystify batters with pin-point fastball after they saw his change-up. Sooo good - made you smile watching him for 6-7 innings. Only pitcher I know that threw his change-up letter high routinely. He’d throw a high fastball - a curveball - then 3 straight change-ups & nobody ever got on his change-up. Excellence!! Humility!

Unquestionable all timer. Probably in that Tony O territory where you wonder what pedestal he'd be on historically if he stayed healthy and could have  extended his career another 5-6 years. But had a half a decade stretch of being the best in the biz. He got me hooked on baseball as an older teen and I'm still hooked 20-odd years later.

[jkcarew]

Dan Gladden.

[ashbury]

9 minutes ago, I wish the twins were good said:

Unquestionable all timer. Probably in that Tony O territory where you wonder what pedestal he'd be on historically if he stayed healthy and could have  extended his career another 5-6 years. But had a half a decade stretch of being the best in the biz. He got me hooked on baseball as an older teen and I'm still hooked 20-odd years later.

I still remember my (at the time) teen-age daughter ogling him on the warmup mound at a game in Oakland.

[IndianaTwin]

Oliva is my all-time favorite player, but I didn’t go to my first Twins game until 1977, so it would have to be him. 

Otherwise, Joe Nathan. Aside from the “pfbfbfbfb” thing when he was on the mound, he was a welcoming autograph signer for my young sons, usually posing for pictures as well. I also always got the sense that he set the tone for others, who figured that if the superstar willingly signs, they could too. I’m talking about Juan Rincon, Jose Mujares, etc. 

[IndianaTwin]

And fun post. More like this, please. 

[Longdistancetwins]

Cesar (RIP).  And we wouldn’t be having these endless discussions of who should bat leadoff. 

[Longdistancetwins]

6 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Arms to watch:

Blyleven - 242 complete games - 60 shutouts!!

Kaat - 180 complete games - 31 shutouts

Santana - 2 Cy Young’s 

Perry - Cy Young

Frank Viola - Cy Young

Morris - 175 complete games - 28 shutouts

Joe Nathan - 7 yrs. 24-13 record, 4 yrs under 2.00 ERA, 540 appearances, & 260 saves

Rick Aguilera  - 8 yrs. as reliever, 6 yrs under 3.00 ERA, 526 appearances, 280 saves

 

Thanks for including Aggie!

[Met Stadium Usher]

Bob Allison, the first #4, who played all out.
Earl Battey, a slow runner but excellent hitter who was a wise and skilled catcher.
Zoilo Versalles, MVP shortstop in '65, the sparkplug of that team.
Mudcat Grant, who was a wonderful pitcher, and just plain cool.
Ron Perranoski, the Polish Ambassador, as Halsey Hall would say. (Add Halsey too, to this list!)
 

And of course, Rodney, Tony, Kitty, Kirby, and especially Harmon.

[wsnydes]

5 hours ago, Met Stadium Usher said:

Bob Allison, the first #4, who played all out.
Earl Battey, a slow runner but excellent hitter who was a wise and skilled catcher.
Zoilo Versalles, MVP shortstop in '65, the sparkplug of that team.
Mudcat Grant, who was a wonderful pitcher, and just plain cool.
Ron Perranoski, the Polish Ambassador, as Halsey Hall would say. (Add Halsey too, to this list!)
 

And of course, Rodney, Tony, Kitty, Kirby, and especially Harmon.

Welcome to TD!

[Doctor Wu]

14 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Oliva was electric to watch in the day - free swinger like Puckett and just pounded balls into the OF gaps. Justin Morneau & Oliva added  to your group above for me.

Tony Oliva was one of the greats! One of my biggest thrills as a young was meeting Oliva at a spring training game in Orlando, back in the late 1960s. My grandfather knew Tony and introduced us. Talk about a thrill! So happy that he finally got in the Hall of Fame.

[Doctor Wu]

15 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Welcome to TD!

Some great picks there, especially Mudcat Grant. Those 1960s Twins teams were fun!