A Folkloric History of the Twins’ Accursed Number 13

The number 13 is widely regarded as unlucky, at least in the United States. The various reasons for that reputation lie beyond the scope of this write-up. All that matters is that people hold it to be unlucky.

Some hotels don’t have a 13th floor, skipping from 12 to 14. The Indianapolis 500 and Formula One both banned the number. The Motion Picture Association of America recommends not watching the 2009 comedy Year One until 13 years of age.

Baseball, never an institution to buck superstition, also believes in the unluckiness of the number 13—or at least, they used to. There was a pretty consistent number scheme in the earliest days of players donning numbers on their uniforms. Numbers one through eight went to the starting lineup with one being the leadoff hitter and eight going to the eight hitter. Nine was for the backup catcher, and 10 through 14 went to pitchers.

Except 13. They sometimes skipped 13.

In the 95 years that the Twins and Senators have worn numbered jerseys, there have only been 24 seasons in which a player has worn 13.

Prior to the 1990s, the number was worn sparingly. John Roseboro was an All-Star in 1969 wearing it. Milo Candini and Sid Hudson shared the number in 1947. Dick Woodson rocked it from 1972 through 1974. A few others wore it, but there’s not much to write about.

In 1991, though, Mike Pagliarulo wore the number as a member of the Twins’ most recent World Series team. He was a solid piece at third base who flourished (if you’re a certain type of fan, you might want to close your eyes and randomly scroll down a little) in a platoon role. He wore the number until his trade to Baltimore in August 1993.

Basically every player to wear 13 from Pags to today has become something of a legend in the Twin Cities—but often for the wrong reasons.

Todd Walker (1996)
Walker donned number 13 for 25 games as a rookie. As the eighth overall pick two years prior and the seventh overall prospect in baseball per Baseball America, his debut was highly anticipated. Walker had a solid career, but failed to meet his lofty expectations. He famously did not get along with Tom Kelly, who allegedly was his ticket out of town. That’s a bit of legend in itself. Walker had worn 12 in college and probably wanted that, but took 13 in deference to veteran bench piece Chip Hale, before taking over his preferred number in 1997. The lessons here: never piss off the manager, and never defer to Chip Hale.

Jason Kubel (2014)
It was nearly 20 years until someone wore 13 again. Kubel, like Walker, was a highly-touted prospect before obliterating his knee in the Arizona Fall League in 2004. For a few years, he carved out a nice niche as Minnesota’s designated hitter and occasional outfielder. He spent a couple of years in Arizona and Cleveland before returning to Minnesota in 2014, as a 32-year-old coming off of a tough 2013.

When he returned to the Twins, his 16 jersey had been given to Josh Willingham, so Kubel took 13. He lasted 45 games, hitting an empty .224 and playing bad left-field defense, totaling -1.3 bWAR before his June release. He never played in MLB again. Never defer to Josh Willingham, either.

Ehire Adrianza (2019-2020)
Adrianza probably got off the best of anyone on this list. The utility infielder, like Kubel, also wore 16 for the Twins before surrendering it to Jonathan Schoop in 2019. Not much ill came of Adrianza during his time wearing 16. In fact, he got better—just not actually good. He was just a standard utility infielder who had a nice 2019 and left the team after 2020. But he did develop something of a cult following. He was your mother’s favorite Twin, etc. You know, standard middle infield stuff. Glad he’s back in the organization. Good for him.

Travis Blankenhorn (2021)
Bad for him. Just reading this name probably sends shivers down your spine. If you’ve repressed what happened on Apr. 21, 2021, let me remind you: the Twins' season died.

Blankenhorn got his first action of the year pinch-running for Josh Donaldson as the Manfred Man in the top of the 10th inning at Oakland, in an episode of overmanaging by Rocco Baldelli. Byron Buxton homered, driving in Blankenhorn from second base, which required a light jog that even Donaldson would have been able to do just fine.

In the bottom of the inning, Blankenhorn stayed in the game at second base and Luis Arraez moved to third. Alex Colomé loaded the bases on a couple of two-out walks, and back-to-back errors by Blankenhorn and Arraez allowed the A’s to win it in a walkoff.

Blankenhorn never got into another game as a Twin. His name sounds like a confused dad trying to self-censor while cursing out rush-hour traffic, and his brief stint with the team left us all with that same tangle of emotions and ejaculations.

Trevor Larnach (2022)
For some reason, Larnach decided to switch from number 24 to 13 ahead of the 2022 season. Apparently, one year was enough, because he switched to 9 the following season. He battled through groin and core injuries all year, and wasn’t the best at communicating about it. He was also alleged to be a bad tipper.

Joey Gallo (2023)
If Adrianza was your mother’s favorite player, Gallo was your father's, uncle's, and grandfather’s least favorite player. Gallo signed quickly after the Twins (and the rest of the league) believed that they had lost out on bringing Carlos Correa back. Some consolation prize. The club was hoping that the three-true-outcome slugger would have a bounce-back year after struggling under the New York City lights, but those hopes went for naught.

Strikeout after strikeout after strikeout. After strikeout. Gallo was cursed and a fan favorite, if only because the absurdity of his game did nothing, if not make you feel things. Good things, bad things, they’re all things.

Manuel Margot (2024)
It’s hard to find a more frustrating sequel to Gallo, but Margot might have done it. Once an elite defender in center field and a competent bat against lefties, Margot completely lost his ability even to play left field reliably and set the all-time record for pinch-hitting at-bats in a season without a single hit. I mean, my gosh, what more do you want?

The Twins have had a number 13 every year since 2019. I’m hoping and praying they assign it again this year, because I can’t wait to see what they do to top Margot.