Rich Rollins Was An Under-Appreciated Part Of Some Great 1960s Twins Teams

[Al from SoDak]

Rich Rollins was one of the original Minnesota Twins, debuting in the team's 1961 season.

The All-Star Game was held recently, and it always makes me recall past Twins who were good enough and fortunate enough to be selected for this showcase. I am of the age that I became a Twins fan in the early 1980s. I feel knowledgeable about Twins players and events that have happened since then, but less so about the early years of the team, especially if the player involved is not Tony, the Killer, or Carew. Today, I will learn about and discuss one-time All-Star (or was it two-time All-Star?) Rich Rollins.

Richard John Rollins was born on April 16, 1938, in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, but soon moved to the Cleveland area. He played collegiately for Kent State in Ohio. In college, he played primarily second base and was named all-conference three times. After college, he received interest from only one major league team, the Washington Senators. He had a tryout and was subsequently signed as an amateur free agent before the 1960 season (a few years before a Major League Draft was instituted). 

Rollins played two years in the minor leagues in 1960 and 1961. He was called up to the Twins in their inaugural season of 1961 and debuted on June 16, 1961, against the White Sox. He played third base and went 1-4 at the plate. He singled in the eighth inning against future Hall of Famer Early Wynn. The Twins won the game 6-1. Rollins played only 13 games for the Twins that season, but things would improve in 1962.

1962 was a wonderful year for Rich Rollins. He started the season going 2-3 in his first game and never looked back. His hot start kept him in the lineup virtually every day. At the end of April, he batted .354/.429/.631 for an OPS of 1.059. Those numbers were unsustainable for almost everyone, and he did, in fact, go down, but at the first All-Star break, he was still hitting .318/.390/.500 for an OPS of .890. 

I say first All-Star break because for four years, from 1959 to 1962, there were two All-Star Games. In 1962, they were held on July 10 and July 30. Money was the motivation for the second All-Star Game. Most proceeds from the second game were invested into the players' pension fund. However, after a short four years, players and owners decided to scrap the second game because it diluted the exclusivity of being an All-Star and lowered the spectacle of the game itself. The pension and how it was funded were major issues going forward, especially after Marvin Miller was hired as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1966. There was a players’ strike in 1972, which largely revolved around the pension topic. 

Back to Rich Rollins. He was so good in the first half of 1962 that he earned the most All-Star Game votes of any American League player. He started at third base (ahead of future Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson) in the first All-Star Game of 1962 and batted leadoff. He went 1-2, was hit by a pitch, and scored the lone run in a 3-1 National League win. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Roger Maris. The hit was against Bob Purkey, a 23-game winner that season for the Cincinnati Reds. In 1962’s second All-Star Game 20 days later, Rollins again played third and led off in the American League’s 9-4 win. Rollins was 1-3 with a first-inning single against future Twins pitching coach Johnny Podres.

Rollins finished the 1962 season at .298/.374/.428 and received enough MVP votes to place eighth. He finished 10th in batting average in the American League.

The 1962 season was also memorable for Rollins outside of baseball. The fascinating story is presented on Rollins' biography at Sabr.org and before that by Seth Boster, “Rich Rollins: Minnesota Twins’ Least Likely (and most grateful) All-Star” in the Pioneer Press. “I was rooming in Minneapolis in ’62. One o’clock at night, I get this knock on the door. I’m up reading a book; I’m the only one in the apartment, and this gal is at the door in tears, and her father had just been killed in an automobile accident. She just needed someone to talk to. She knocked on the door, and we went out for coffee. We returned at 3 a.m., and that was the first time I met her.” On February 9, 1963, Rollins and former United Airlines stewardess Lynn Maher of Newport Beach, California, were married. They had six children.

Rollins’ baseball career continued with quality play in 1963 and 1964, hitting a combined .288/.346/.424. He had a career-high ten home runs in 1964. However, his numbers began to dip in 1965 despite continued regular usage. He started the season slow but managed to play 140 games with 522 plate appearances, but his numbers dropped to .249/.309/.333. By the 1965 World Series, the Twins decided to utilize another option at third base, and Rollins was limited to three pinch-hitting opportunities. He had one walk, no hits, and scored no runs. Harmon Killebrew was the other third-base option. Killebrew started all seven games at third base despite starting only 40 games at third in the regular season.

In 1966, Rich Rollins was part of a Twins lineup that tied a major league record. The team blasted five home runs in the seventh inning of a June 9th game against the Kansas City Athletics. The Twins were losing 4-3 when the seventh inning began. After an Earl Battey single, Rollins hit a one-out home run. Zoilo Versalles immediately followed Rollins’ home run with another. Then Sandy Valdespino grounded out. But after Valdespino, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher, and Harmon Killebrew all hit dingers for five home runs in the inning. That AL record has been matched twice, by the Yankees in 2000 and the Astros in 2002. (Interestingly, the feat of five home runs in an inning has occurred five times in the National League, with four coming against the Cincinnati Reds in 1939, 1949, 1961, and 2006.)

Rollins’ numbers from 1966 to 1968 continued a downward slide. After the 1968 season, there was an expansion draft as the Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals entered the American League. Seattle selected Rollins as the 26th pick in the AL draft. (The Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres entered the National League simultaneously. With the leagues being separate then, there were two separate expansion drafts for each league.) 

Rollins played 58 games for Seattle in 1969 and hit .225/.270/.326. He finished his career in 1970 with the Brewers (who moved from Seattle after a single season) and Cleveland. As such, he was able to finish his career at home.

During his ten-year major league career, Rollins batted .269/.328/.388 with 77 home runs, 399 RBI, and an OPS+ of 98. Rollins was in the top ten in batting average in 1962 and 1963. He led the AL in triples with 10 in 1964. At his peak, Rollins was good enough to garner MVP votes in two seasons (eighth in 1962 and 21st in 1963).

After his playing career, Rollins ran baseball camps, was a minor league instructor, opened a baseball school in Rochester (MN), served as a scout for the Cleveland Indians, worked for the Indians tickets sales department, and then actually worked for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Rollins was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. Much of this information is summarized in the SABR article linked above. Those who want a deeper dive into Rich Rollins should check that out.

Rich Rollins and Minnesota came to Major League Baseball at the same time. He had great seasons in 1962 and 1963 and played on the 1965 World Series team. Unfortunately, he and the Twins did not win the 1965 Series, but he was a talented player on some good teams. I know fans of that era remember him fondly and appreciate his contributions to the Twins’ early successes. 

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[Dave Mona]

Nice writeup. I was the Minneapolis Tribune Twins beat writer in 1968. Rich Rollins was one of the nicest players on the team...very popular with teammates. Early in his career he became a spring training favorite of owner Calvin Griffith who lobbied successfully for him to be part of ther major league team .Last I heard, Rich, now 86, and Lynn still live in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. Not surprisingly, Lynn was one of the nicest of the player's wives.