Rich Rollins

Soon after his brief stint in Syracuse, Rollins was promoted to the Twins and made his major league debut on June 16, 1961 against the Chicago White Sox. He finished the game 1-for-4 in Minnesota's 6–1 win. Rollins spent the rest of the season with the Twins as a little-used bench player, batting .294 with 3 RBI in 13 games. During spring training, Rollins started in both shortstop and third base. Twins owner Calvin Griffith saw Rollins' potential in third base, and recommended that Rollins should be given the job over more experienced players like Harmon Killebrew, and John Goryl. Griffith stated that it was Rollins' "sincerity and steadiness" on how he handled the position that proved that he could start in the American League. Having got the job, Rollins responded by hitting .486 over the Twins' first 10 games. Playing in 159 games, Rollins finished the season hitting .298 with 16 home runs and 96 RBI, production that would earn him the nickname, at least among his teammates, of Pie, after Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame third baseman, Pie Traynor Rollins was also compared to former longtime Senators third baseman Ossie Bluege.

Rollins finished eighth in the American League MVP voting and also received the most All-Star Game votes of any American League player, starting both games that year. Rollins represented the Twins well in the games, reaching base three times in six plate appearances and scoring the AL's only run in their 3–1 loss in the July 10 game. Supporting his MVP candidacy and All-Star appearances, Rollins finished in the Top 10 in the league in singles (second), plate appearances (third), sacrifice flies (third), hits (sixth), at-bats (sixth), runs (seventh), on-base percentage (seventh), runs batted in (ninth), and batting average (tenth).