Larry Hisle, A Very Good Twins Hitter Who Stood In The Shadow Of Rod Carew

[Al from SoDak]

The mid-70s Twins could do one thing: score runs. Larry Hisle was a big reason why.

Of course, the Minnesota Twins had some excellent batting teams and good offenses in the mid-1970s, led by Rod Carew. Some of these years also included the last couple of healthy and productive seasons from Tony Oliva. They scored a ton of runs in that era.

But there were other contributors beyond those Hall of Famers, including a collection of talented outfielders. That group had lesser-known productive members such as Steve Braun and Bobby Darwin and well-known players such as Dan Ford and Lyman Bostock. The years in the table below coincide with All-Star Larry Hisle’s tenure in Minnesota. Let’s take a deeper look at Hisle’s story.

YEAR	RUNS SCORED	RUNS SCORED LEAGUE RANK	RUNS ALLOWED	AL WEST DIVISION FINISH
1973	738	4th (tied)	692	3rd
1974	673	5th	669	3rd
1975	724	3rd	736	4th
1976	743	1st	704	3rd
1977	867	1st	776	4th

Larry Eugene Hisle was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, on May 5, 1947. His mother, a big baseball fan, named him Larry after Larry Doby, the first African American to play in the American League. Sadly, both Hisle's parents died at an early age, and Larry lived with his aunt for a period before being adopted. He channeled his grief into sports. When he was tired of his training, he would remember his mother, who wanted him to give his best.

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Hisle in the second round of the 1965 Major League Amateur Draft, the inaugural modern-day draft. As a youngster, Hisle was proficient in basketball and baseball but turned down a basketball scholarship offer from Ohio State to sign with the Phillies. He would later attend Ohio State but did not play sports there.

After two minor league seasons, the six-foot-two, 190-pound Hisle debuted with the Phillies on April 10, 1968. He got two hits in his first MLB at-bat against Claude Osteen. He also scored a run in that debut game, a 2-0 Phillies win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite that promising start, Hisle was sent to the minor leagues after only 12 plate appearances. In 1969, he got extensive playing time and finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting. His first home run came on April 21, 1969, against Gary Gentry of the New York Mets. His rookie season statistics compared favorably to Willie Mays's 18 years earlier. Hisle had 20 home runs and 56 RBIs that season with a 124 OPS+. However, Hisle had a disappointing sophomore season in 1970, which resulted in him playing much of 1971 and all of 1972 in the minor leagues. He was traded three times in that difficult period. In October 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers, then a year later, in October 1972, to the Cardinals, then shortly after that, in November 1972, to the Twins, where he found a home.

Larry Hisle had an immediate impact on the Twins. While with the Twins, the right-handed Hisle played all three outfield positions, primarily left field. His OPS+ was positive (meaning above the major league median, 100 being the median) in every season with the Twins. Hisle’s OPS+ numbers started at 114 in 1973, then proceeded to 131, 143, 111, and 144 in the next four seasons. His excellent 1977 season was his best with the Twins. He was selected to the All-Star team and finished 12^th in voting for Most Valuable Player, while his 119 RBIs led the American League. That season, he hit .302/.369/.533 and had 28 home runs.

Hisle’s Twins highlights include a five-hit game in 1973, three five-RBI games, and two four-run games in May 1976. But perhaps his most notable achievement was hitting for the cycle on June 4, 1976.

Modern Twins fans might be interested to learn that Baseball Reference lists Jacque Jones and Eddie Rosario as two of the ten most similar players to Hisle. That comparison should give recent fans an idea of Hisle’s baseball abilities.

After the 1977 season, a couple of the top Twins outfielders, Hisle and Lyman Bostock, were granted free agency. They left for greener pastures, leaving large shoes to fill the Twins lineup. For his part, Hisle signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. He had an All-Star season in 1978 when he hit .290/.374/.533 with 34 home runs and 115 RBIs. His MVP vote totals increased from the prior season; he finished third in 1978. After that success, he unfortunately suffered a significant rotator cuff injury in 1979. He played very little thereafter. 1982 ended up being his final season. 

After his playing career, Larry Hisle was the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1992 to 1995, which included their two World Series championship seasons of 1992 and 1993. During the 1993 season, Toronto batters (John Olerud, Paul Molitor, and Roberto Alomar) would finish 1-2-3 in batting average in the American League.

As of 2019, Hisle was the Manager of Youth Outreach with the Milwaukee Brewers and the President of Major League Mentoring in Milwaukee.

Larry Hisle was a talented player with two excellent seasons – 1977 and 1978. He finished his career with a respectable batting slash line of .273/.347/.452 and 166 home runs with 674 RBIs. His career OPS+ was an impressive 123, and he achieved a WAR of 25.0. Hisle was a splendid batter who contributed to the Twins' offensive success of the mid-1970s. With those great offenses in 1976 and 1977, it seems like they should have been more successful. Patrick Reusse surmised in Tales from the Minnesota Sport Beat that, at least in 1977, “They just couldn’t pitch."

What are your memories of the 1970s Twins? Besides Carew, who was the offensive catalyst for those teams? Start the discussion below. 

For more Twins history, please check out my previous entries at Remembering Random Twins.

Sources include www.baseball-reference.com, www.sabr.org, and www.wikipedia.org.

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[big dog]

"Modern Twins fans might be interested to learn that Baseball Reference lists Jacque Jones and Eddie Rosario as two of the ten most similar players to Hisle. That comparison should give recent fans an idea of Hisle’s baseball abilities."

I think that wildly understates Hisle's abilities- I really don't get how BR could make that reference, unless it was listing Twins outfielders. Hisle was a much better hitter with a much better peak, especially looking at his Twins years.

Hisle: a six-year stretch (5 Twins, 1 Brewers) of OPS+ ranging from 114 to 153, with an average of 133. His worst year was 111. Four of the six years were over 130. Career: 123

Rosario: his best streak was four years ranging between 107 and 119 (his best year ever). His best stretch was 33 games with the Braves when he had 134, but his total for the full year was 99. Career: 100. Gedouttahere.

Jones: best year ever was 123 (Hisle's career average). Next-best was 108. Career: 98. Seriously?

Larry Hisle had a really, really good stretch of six years as a very good major league hitter.

I'll wait for the Rosario Fan Club to remind me of Eddie's occasional great plays, neglecting to list his various throws to the wrong base/dugout. All three of them were respectable outfielders- Hisle might have been a little lighter in the field, but the bat played really well for a long time. I don't get that BR comp at all.

[Linus]

Thanks for the article. I agree with big dog - neither Rosario or Jones were as good as Hisle. The Twins were amazing in the 70s with the bats. Bostock was a pure joy to watch play. 

[Craig Arko]

2025 Twins could sure use someone with Hisle’s skill set.

[IndianaTwin]

Selective memory, perhaps, but I would take Larry Hisle over any of the guys in his top 10 similarity scores. One of my favorites as a kid.  

[TwinsChupacabra]

They had lots of contributors to the bat heavy team of the mid-70's.  One of them was Glenn Adams who batted .338 in the first year with the Twins in 1977.  (Bostock batted .336 that year). He still shares the team record for RBI in a game. Considering all the big hitters in team history, that is quite a feat.   

[Parfigliano]

3 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

2025 Twins could sure use someone with Hisle’s skill set.

TC would be happy as a pig in mud with a peak Rosario type right now.

[Teflon]

The '77 Twins were so much fun! What a blow in '78 to lose both Hisle AND Bostock. Hisle's salary deservedly increased ten-fold with the Brewers and Bostock's went up 20-fold with the Angels so I actually felt good for those two even though it was crushing for the Twins. It was apparent that Calvin Griffith couldn't afford to operate an MLB franchise in the new free-agent economy but he still hung on tenuously for another half-dozen years - agonizing years for Twins fans. (We were rewarded with Willie Norwood, Hosken Powell and Bombo Rivera as our new outfield options)

Living in SE Minnesota, I got Brewers games on the radio from La Crosse (the excellent Bob Uecker and Merle Harmon) so could still follow Larry's career every night in '78. He helped lead the Brewers to their first-ever 90+ win season (and first-ever winning record) in a super-competitive AL East division where the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles were all formidable. That Brewers team also featured a 21-year-old Paul Molitor and a 22-year-old Robin Yount. Such an enjoyable era in baseball! (Outside of Minnesota)

[GNess]

Larry Hisle could rake!

[TopGunn#22]

Big Dog, that was my first impression as well when reading the Baseball Reference comps for Larry Hisle.  I appreciate you "bringing the receipts" on those fallacious comps !!

Hisle was a 4-tool player.  He could hit, hit with power, run and catch the ball.  He didn't throw very well, but that's why he spent most of his time in LF.  By the time he moved to the Brewers, he split time between LF and DH.

After that wonderful 1977 season, the onslaught of free agency really nailed the Twins losing both Lyman Bostock to the Angels and Hisle to the Brewers.  Compounding that was Calvin Griffith's ill-advised comments in Waseca that forced him to trade Rod Carew to the Angels after the 1978 season.  BAM!  Just like that Carew, Bostock and Hisle were GONE !

Somehow, the Twins were respectable in 1979 but then came the lean years of 1980-1983.  By 1984 they were putting things back together with a true youth movement, that eventually led to 2 World Series Championships after Calvin finally sold the Twins to the Pohlad family.

And now, once again, we Twins fans stand vigil, waiting for another sale of the team, hoping that whoever the new owners are, that they would be able to keep the Larry Hisle's and Lyman Bostock's that will eventually emerge as the next wave of Twins stars.