Nostalgia - Which Twins players do you miss the most?

[Doctor Wu]

19 hours ago, Matthew Lenz said:

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.

Good pick of Pat Neshek, He'd still look good in our bullpen!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

16 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

Torii Hunter

Joe Nathan

Johan Santana

Jacques Jones

Eduardo Escobar

Brian Dozier

Willians Astudillo

Eddie Rosario

Luis Arraez

What a great list of kind players who gave us so many wonderful memories. Thanks.

[Number3]

22 hours ago, saviking said:

Harmon Killebrew .. 

Number 3

Also don't forget Earl Battey. Was a real good catcher on some great teams and had a great name for a catcher. Could have been Earl Battery but was close.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Pat Neshek is one of those guys that reminds us of how magical baseball can be.  Getting hurt and relearning to pitch with that funky release.  Taking full advantage of every opportunity given to him.  Carving out a long career.  Really cool story.

But also one of the most down to earth, baseball loving individuals you will ever see.  His autograph collection is fairly known, but how he acquires them is really cool.  Direct interactions with fans, trading cards and sigs over his website.  He is like a big kid just loving what he does.  Big respect for this guy!

[twinfan]

Kaat (my all time favorite Twin), Pasqual, Killer, Allison, Battey, Zolio and Mudcat who got us our first pennant. Carew and Kirby from the middle era and now I'll miss Arraez (as we all will).

[MMMordabito]

5 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

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.

I never got to see Tony Oliva play other than to hit ground balls to the BAA teams that his grandsons were on.  My son ended up on the same traveling basketball team as one of his grandsons one season.  He came to a lot of the tournaments both home and away.  He's so nice to every parent and child from the other teams that would recognize him and want a picture.  His son Ric that played the guitar when Mudcat Grant sang "What a Wonderful World" at Harmon Killebrew's memorial is really nice guy as well.

[Doctor Wu]

19 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Pat Neshek is one of those guys that reminds us of how magical baseball can be.  Getting hurt and relearning to pitch with that funky release.  Taking full advantage of every opportunity given to him.  Carving out a long career.  Really cool story.

But also one of the most down to earth, baseball loving individuals you will ever see.  His autograph collection is fairly known, but how he acquires them is really cool.  Direct interactions with fans, trading cards and sigs over his website.  He is like a big kid just loving what he does.  Big respect for this guy!

I used to enjoy reading Pat's blog back when he was with the Twins. Any idea if he still posting anything? And is he totally out of baseball at this point?

[nclahammer]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:48 AM, Doctor Wu said:

Amen to Mickey Hatcher! He was one of my favorite Twins back in the day. 

And the playing of the song "Oh Mickey" when he would bat or do something good on the field?  Am I imaging this, or did they actually play it at the Dome.  This was before the advent of the walk up song.

[Doctor Wu]

1 hour ago, nclahammer said:

And the playing of the song "Oh Mickey" when he would bat or do something good ont he field?  Am I imaging this, or did they actually play it at the Dome.  This was before the advent of the walk up song.

I honestly can't remember, but yes that song DID come out about the same time. I also remember a friend of mine re-writing the lyrics of "It's Tricky" by Run DMC to "It's Mickey" and presenting it to him on a big card for his birthday at a spring training game in March one year! Hatcher was a cool player. I hated it when they traded him in '87, but I ended up liking the addition of Dan Gladden. And what a timely home run by Hatcher for LA during the '88 world series. Everyone remembers the Kirk Gibson walk-off homer, but Hatcher's homer was also big. 

[stringer bell]

I’ve followed the Twins since they arrived in ‘61. I had a couple favorite players in every era. My all-time favorite is Michael Cuddyer.