Bobby Darwin

[Greglw3]

Bobby Darwin was a power hitter for the Twins in the early 70s, playing mostly RF.

Strangely, he played for 1 PA for the Angels, at age 19, in 1962.

His next appearance in the big leagues was 7 years later in 6 games for the Dodgers in 1969 but no PA and 1 run scored. It looks like Darwin pitched in 4 games for the Angels/Dodgers in 1962/69, quite poorly, then switched to the OF.

In 1971, he got 22 PA for the Dodgers before coming to the Twins in 1972 and becoming a full time player, jumping from 22 PA in 1971 to 562 with the Twins in 1972.

I was able to experience some of the thrills of Bobby Darwin's short, but very productive stint with the Twins via Herb Carneal and Larry Calton. I remember Calton’s trademark "Man oh man oh man" when Darwin would launch a long home run (or any of the Twins).

Darwin went from ~ 23 PA in 10 years to thriving with the Twins, powering his way to 80, 90, 94 RBIs in the 72-74 seasons. He also launched 22, 18 and 25 home runs respectively. The 80 RBIs and 22 HR in 1972 are particularly noteworthy as 1972 was one of the most extreme "year of the pitcher" years in my lifetime.

I have fond memories of Bobby Darwin, Herb Carneal and Larry Calton filling a significant part of my life as a Twins fan with joy.

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[Doctor Wu]

Another good article about an ex-Twins player, and an obscure one at that. Looking at the stats, Darwin seemed like a pretty good player, but I have to admit that I have absolutely no memory of him at all!

[jccracraft]

I recall him as described. Good article. Thx. Interesting to look at his OPS, which is on the low side. Too me that has become the go to stat line.

[stringer bell]

Darwin's made the majors as a pitcher and converted to outfield after that. That first plate appearance was while he still was considered a pitcher. He wisely switched to the outfield, but it took a long time for him to get back to MLB.