mikelink45

Have you ever heard of the Kansas City Antelopes? They were a baseball team before the Cincinnati club that has been give credit for being the first baseball club. They played from the end of the Civil War into the 1870s. We might not have recognized the game – the pitchers tossed underhand, they wore no gloves, and a ball caught on the first bounce was considered an out. When the cowbells rang a run scored. Hurls tossed to strikers and bad fielding with bare hands caused many muffs. And there were no fences and no bleachers. Fans sat in on the ground, the ball and players often mixing with the spectators.
 
The most famous game in their decade and a half history (and the third game they played) came when they played the Atchison Pomeroys and Wild Bill Hickok, a regular fan, was asked to umpire. With both six guns firmly on his hip the arguments were limited and the fans behaved. Previously KC had lost and when a return engagement was scheduled there was a riot and the game had to be called. With the legendary James Butler Hickok there was no worry about something like that happening again. When he was asked if he could be fair, he said, I am a US Marshall and to prove he was serious, he studied a rule book the day before.
 


When the game ended after two hours and fifty three minutes, it was a 48 – 28 win by the Antelopes, Wild Bill bowed to the crowd, left the field in a carriage pulled by two white horses, and went and played poker. He umpired one more game in Hays City.

The love that the fans and now the media have for Willians Astudillo is great. It is fun, inspiring, laughable and also good baseball. Out of nowhere Astudillo has risen to mythic levels for his speed, his body, his smile, his hitting skills, and his ability to play everywhere. It got me thinking – who else has had this unique position on the Twins roster – beloved for the style and character that they bring to the team.
 
Puckett was a similar build and a similar smile. If we forget the off the field issues we see Puckett in that ambassador of baseball position. Of course Puckett was also a HOF centerfielder and hitter who would have been great even if he did not smile so much. But his HOF ballot was stamped with a collective smile and laugh. He was beloved within the game and brought joy – one stat that still cannot be measured.
 
Hrbek enjoyed his life and gave us a lot including some professional wrestling moves on the field, but he cannot rank with the two above.
 
Going back in history I am reminded of the great Piranhas. Thanks to Ozzie Guillen for this wonderful label. The Piranhas were four players who were all fast and played the kind of ball that Ron Gardenhire really enjoyed – as did the fans. The names are not exceptional in Twins history – Jason Bartlett, Jason Tyner, Luis Castillo and the head piranha – Nick Punto. Guillen said, "All those piranhas -- blooper here, blooper here, beat out a ground ball, hit a home run, they're up by four. They get up by four with that bullpen? See you at the national anthem tomorrow. When I sit down and look at the lineup, give me the New York Yankees. Give me those guys because they've got holes. You can pitch around them, you can pitch to them. These little guys? Castillo and all of them? People worry about the catcher, what's his name, Mauer? Fine, yeah, a good hitter, but worry about the little [guys], they're on base all the time.”
 
Punto was an all-around utility player who did not have the same charisma with the fans as he did with the manager, but he lasted a long time on the skills and work ethic that he did possess.
Going to the early days of the franchise it was Cesar Tovar that everyone loved. Cesar played everywhere and he played better than Punto and any other Jack-of-all-trades player in team history. He is the first Twin to have an every position day and he did it well.
 
César Leonardo Tovar, nicknamed "Pepito" and "Mr. Versatility", was a Venezuelan professional baseball player. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and New York Yankees. He shined shoes in Venezuela before signing as a ballplayer at age 19. Billy Martin called him “my little leader” and used Tovar to motivate the team. In twelve years the 5’ 9” Tovar hit .278 with 46 homers and 226 stolen bases. The Twins got him because Pete Rose came up for the Reds and took the position that Tovar was going to have. ony Oliva said, “Tovar plays the game hard. He runs, he chases down groundballs, dives at the ball, steals bases. And he sure can hit.”
 
When Carl Yaztrezemski missed getting a unanimous vote for MVP in 1967, it was Max Nichols, beat writer who gave Tovar his vote. ““He played six positions for the Twins and I saw him win games for them at all six positions. We didn’t have the best of player relations on our club, but Tovar never got mixed up in any of the clubhouse politics. He kept plugging away, no matter where they put him, and to me he did a tremendous job. If I wanted to be a ‘homer,’ I would have voted for Harmon Killebrew. But Tovar was my choice and, if I had to do it all over again, I’d vote for him again.” Billy Martin said he would have had his vote too!
 
Five times he got the only hit to ruin no-hitter bids. Then he was traded to Philadelphia where they wanted him to keep 3B warm until Mike Schmidt took over. Then Billy Martin took over for the Rangers and said get me Tovar, “I didn’t want him back just because I had him before. That’d be foolish sentiment. I wanted him because of his leadership and his hustle and his ability. He’s always played for me – given 100 percent – and I know he will. The little guy can beat you so many ways – his bat, his feet, his brains, his hustle.”
 
Will Astudillo have a career to match Tovar? I know that like Punto and Tovar that when he is given a chance he will hustle and produce. Like Hrbek and Puckett he can be a winner.

The home opening games:
We have a long history of opening games now and I got to wondering what our record is. Here is the summary of games.
 
1961 – Our first opening game was 1961 and who did we play – the new replacement Washington Senators. Pascual pitched and went 8 innings with three runs and reliever Moore gave up two and lost the game. Mincher and Green hit HRs. 3 – 5
1962 – Los Angeles Angels clobbered us 12 – 5. Jim Kaat started and gave up 4 in 4. Versalles, Green and Rollins hit HRs.
1963 – we lost our third straight opener – 4 – 5 to Cleveland. Pascual 5 runs in 7 innings. Green had a third opening game HR in three seasons and Vic Power added a HR.
1964 – finally we won, playing the Senators again and winning 7 – 6. Pleis won, but Kaat started and made it for 2/3 inning giving up 4 runs. Rollins, Oliva and Mincher slugged HRs.
1965 – Two in a row – this time 5 – 4 against the Yankees. Kaat went nine innings, but we won in 10 and a pitcher named Fosnow got the win. No HRs.
1966 – We beat KC 2 – 1. Mudcat Grant pitched a full game and won. No HRs
1967 – we beat the Tigers 5 – 3. Four in a row. Boswell went seven and Merritt ended the game and got the win. Allision and Versalles hit HRs.
1968 – Versus the Senators for the third opener in our short history. We won 13 – 1. Jim Merritt pitched a complete game. Killebrew, Hernandez and Tovar HRs.
1969 – We beat the Angels 6 – 0 giving us six openers in a row. Tommy Hall threw a complete game shutout. No HRs
1970 – Oakland went down 8 – 2. Kaat complete game win. No HRs.
1971 – The Brewers broke the winning streak 2 – 7. Perry went only 4.1 innings and took the loss. No HRs.
1972 – Back to winning 8 – 4 over Oakland. Blyleven complete game win. Darwin HRs for Twins.
1973 – Oakland 8 – 4 again – déjà vu. Kaat won, Hisle and Darwin HRs.
1974 – Twins over White Sox – 3 – 1. Blyleven wins and Hisle HRs.
1975 – The Angels beat us 3 – 7. Goltz gave up six.
1976 – White Sox beat us 1 – 4. Blyleven start and loss.
1977 – Oakland beat us 2 – 3. Thormodsgard (WHO?) was our opening day starter. Carew hit a HR.
1978 – We beat the Mariners 14 – 5. Zahn pitched complete game victory.
1979 – the Angels shut us out 0 – 6. Goltz loss giving up 5 in 4.1 innings.
1980 – Beat the Angels 8 – 1. Zahn complete game win and Smalley HR.
1981 – Loss to Oakland 1 – 5. Koosman 7 innings and 4 runs.
 
1982 – Seattle Mariners loss 7 – 11. Redfern loss, Engle and Gaetti HRs.
1983 – Loss to Detroit 3 – 11. A real WHO? – Havens starts and gives up 8 in 1.1 innings.
1984 – Detroit beat us 1 – 8. Williams ??? our starter. 6 in 6.1.
1985 – Angels beat us 0 – 5. Zahn beats his old team and Smithson continues the no-name set of opening starters and gives up 5 in 7.
1986 – We beat the Mariners 5 – 1. Blyleven won and that famous closer – Davis got the save. Gaetti and Brunansky HRs.
1987 – Victory over Oakland 5 – 4. Blyleven won and Frazier Save. Puckett HR.
1988 – Blue Jays lost 6 – 3. Blyleven one, Reardon save – three in a row, three different closers. Gladden and Gaetti HRs.
1989 – Viola lost to the Yankees 2 – 4.
1990 – Twins beat Angels 13 – 1. Tapani 8 shutout innings. Puckett and Harper HRs.
1991 – Twins shut out Angels 6 – 0. Tapani shut out.
 
1992 – Twins beat Texas 7 – 1. Tapani gave up one run and won. Mack HR.
1993 – White Sox won 5 – 10. Bad day for Tapani with 9 runs in 3 innings. Puckett and Winfield gave us two HOF HRs.
1994 – Loss 2 – 8 to the Angels. Tapani had another bad one – 7 runs in 3.1 innings. Munoz and Winfield HRs.
1995 – We beat the Oriols 7 – 4. Tapani gave up 3 in 5 innings and Aquilera saved.
1996 – Twins 8 – Tigers 6. Radtke six innings and one run. Stahoviak home run.
1997 – Twins 7 – Tigers 5. Radtke gave up 5 in 5 and Aquilera won. Pat Meares HR.
1998 – KC Royals won 5 – 9. Radke gave up 5 in 5 again. Ortiz HR.
1999 – We beat the Blue Jays 6 – 1. Radtke went seven for the victory.
2000 – Twins lost 7 – 0 to Tampa Bay. Radtke gave up 6 in 5 to continue a mediocre, at best, opening game record.
2001 – Twins 11 – Detroit 5. Radtke again 7.1 innings 3 runs. Mientkiewicz and Guzman HRs.
2002 – Twins 4 – Tigers 2. Radtke 6.2 – 2 runs.
2003 – Twins 2 – Blue Jay 7. Another no name opening day starter – Reed – pitched six and gave up 4. Mientkiewicz HR.
2004 – Twins beat Indians 7 – 4. Radtke 6 and 4 runs. Rincon won. Shannon Steward HR.
2005 – We lost to White Sox 1 – 5. Lohse lost 5.1 innings, 4 runs.
2006 – Twins 7 – Oakland 6. Radtke 7 Innings, 4 runs. Bautista and Morneau HR.
2007 – Twins 7 – Baltimore 4. Santana won. Six innings and four runs. Morneau and Hunter HRs.
2008 – Twins 3 – Angels 2. Livan Hernandez won.
2009 – Twins 1 – Mariners 6. Liriano lost – 7 innings, 4 runs.
2010 – Twins 5 – Boston 2. Pavano won and Kubel HR.
2011 – Twins 2 – Oakland 1. Pavano and Nathan for the Twins.
2012 – Twins 1 – Angels 5. Blackburn 6 innings, 5 runs. Willingham HR
2013 – Twins 2 – Tigers 4. Worley – remember him! – lost.
2014 – Twins 3 – Oakland 8. Correia and Deduno took the mound.
2015 – The Royals beat us 3 – 12. May started and gave up 5 in 5. Plouffe HR.
2016 – Twins 1 – White Sox 4. Gibson lost.
2017 – Twins 7 – Royals 1. Santana won. Sano HR
2018 – Twins 4 – Mariners 2. Gibson start, Duke win, Rodney save. Sano and Garver HR.
2019 – Twins 2 – Indians 0. Berrios start and won. Rogers Save.
The Twins have a 33 – 16 home opener record!
In Season openers there is a different set of statistics. Pedro Ramos started the very first season opener in 1961. Radtke had the most season opening starts and Blyleven was second.

I started out to explore Spring Training stories, but soon got caught up in a lot of the strange stories of baseball and had to share some of them. The stories are part of what makes baseball fun.
 
Spring Training is about getting ready for the season, but that does not mean this collection of athletes can’t generate some stories that might cause you to scratch your head from Ryan Klesko straining his back picking up a lunch tray – what was he eating? To Wade Boggs getting hurt pulling up his boots. Nolan Ryan was bitten by a Coyote, and George Brett broke a toe watching baseball on TV! Baseball is filled with weird injuries and not all in the spring, but this is when is starts and we better hope for health both on and off the field.
 
Former Twins have not been immune. Does anyone remember rookie of the year Marty Cordova who was traded after his Twins season and then was fried in a tanning bed in Baltimore in 2002!
 
Strange accidents can happen anytime, yet spring is different. Jose Cardenal asked out of a game because crickets kept him awake all night. Steve Kent injured himself with falling off his motorcycle and then came up with the really goofy excuse that he got hurt washing his truck – that alone disqualifies him for the HOF.
 
I know there have been some real tragedies – boating accidents, fans and players killed in vehicle accidents, but I would rather look at baseball’s lesser incidents – still accidents and injuries but not tragedies like the spring deaths in the 1800s when three died of consumption (TB).
 
Somethings are just weird, like Phil Hughes keeping the rib removed for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Brian Flynn, then a Royals reliever was on the roof placing some roof panels on to protect his roof and then fell through – causing many injuries. And A J Burnett broke the orbital bone in his eye while bunting. Cecil Upshaw got stuck in an awning, after catching his ring in the fabric when he was dared to jump up and touch it.
 
Former Texas Ranger Jeff Baker sprained his thumb in 2013 doing a High Five! Jerry Hairston got a good quote out of his goof up – "I wish I had a really good story," he told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. "I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, tripped on a bag and hit my head on a desk. I was hoping I was dreaming; I found out I wasn't. A lot of guys gave me grief. I guess my face has character. In the past month I wanted to pick a fight [suspended one game for his part in a brawl] and a desk finally beat me up."
 
Marc Rzepczynski was injured in a Golf game when a ball ricocheted and hit him in the eye and Elvis Andrus had to sit out because of reactions he got from a tattoo! Our old friend Francisco Liriano lost his $13 million contract when he “broke his right humerus slamming his arm into a door on Christmas Day in an attempt to scare his children, who were in the next room.” He got a one million dollar contract with lots of incentives instead.
 
Another former Twin Pitcher – Carl Pavano suffered a ruptured spleen from shoveling snow in Vermont in 2013. Also in 2013, current Twin – Lucas Duda broke his wrist in the off season moving furniture.
 
This spring the Mets Brandon Nimmo was sidelined after eating under-cooked chicken!
 
 
Did you know our own Martin Perez when he was with the Texans had his non-throwing elbow fractured when he was startled by a bull in Venezuela? He later said he killed and ate the bull.
 
But spring has many surprises like Kevin Millar straining his nose in a particularly strong sneezing fit and Sammy Sosa in 2004 injuring his back from sneezing? If that sounds bad what about Joel Peralta injuring himself getting out of his Camaro to pick up sandwiches? Pittsburgh’s Corey Hart needed stitches from cutting his toe in a hot tub in spring training.
 
Another former Twin in the weird injury category, Brian Duensing underwent surgery for an injured elbow when he was moving a bullpen chair that he was sitting on. HOF Rickey Henderson suffered frostbite after falling asleep with an icepack. And finally former Twins pitcher Joel Zumaya got an inflammation of the elbow in 2006 from playing the video game – Guitar Hero.
 
 
We can add Sano to this list with his cut from celebrating his teams championship. And now he misses both the ST and the opening month.
 
 
""Yeah, it's a little frustrating, I would say," Sano said Thursday, via the Twins. "Because I worked really hard in the offseason to get to Spring Training in shape and ready to go, and now this happened. But it's just a setback and we'll get it going next week."
 
 
Sano suffered a laceration on the back of his foot during a championship parade with his winter ball team in the Dominican Republic. One of his teammates slipped on a stage and bumped into Sano, who fell into metal stairs and suffered a cut that required 12 stitches." https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-sports/miguel-sano-frustrated-by-injury-keeping-him-out-of-spring-training-action 2019
 
"Twins third baseman Miguel Sanó will undergo surgery on Nov. 13 after suffering a stress reaction in his left shin in mid-August that never fully healed. He is expected to have a permanent titanium rod inserted into his left shin, and the surgery generally carries a six-to-eight week recovery period before a return to baseball activities" https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/miguel-sano-to-have-surgery-on-injured-shin-c260512716 2017
 
 
2013 - "The Minnesota Twins and their fans got they some bad early news in spring training.
They were looking forward to top prospect Miguel Sano as he prepared for what might have been his rookie season in the majors. Instead of becoming the team's top story for his performance, Sano became the top story of the spring because of an elbow injury that will require season-ending Tommy John surgery.
 
 
On Feb. 27, Sano felt some pain in his right elbow after making a throw across his body in the Twins' intrasquad game. The following day, he had an MRI that showed damage to the elbow. The result is Tommy John surgery for Sano and one of the biggest attractions at spring training shelved for the season."
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-xpm-2014-03-07-sns-rt-bbo-news-20130630-story.html
 
 
"Minnesota Twins slugging prospect Miguel Sano will have Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm and miss the 2014 season.
 
 
The 20-year-old third baseman had been trying to rehabilitate a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He was hurt in October while playing winter ball in his native Dominican Republic."
 
Why do we let him play winter ball?
 
2016 - ""Unless something happens where either we made a huge mistake in judgment, which I don't think is going to happen, or injuries hit us hard and we have to do some shuffling. But I would hope to avoid that," Molitor said. "Sometimes you've got to make changes according to how things go. Molitor said he's most concerned with Sano staying healthy, as there aren't many players with similar body types who have made the transition from infielder to outfielder."
 
Of course not all spring training stories end up in the training room. Souhan recounts, “Paul Molitor arrived in the spring of 1996, listened to Puckett in the clubhouse for a day, then said: “I appreciated the quality of what Kirby has to say. I underestimated the quantity.”
 
And finally you might enjoy Bill Becker’s memories of Tinker Field - https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/baseball/os-ghosts-of-spring-tinker-0307-20100306-story.html

What is the roster? This is a real chore - as you might have noticed as I examined each of the positions in the previous weeks.The Bench for the Best in Twins history is made up of people who fill roles and not just the best players of all time. From the bench to the starters I have tried to find the men who would truly represent the Twins best of all time based on where they played and how they fit the roles.
 
The Bench in today’s game has to have some special qualities. The easy one is backup catcher. Battey will back up Mauer so one position is set.
 
Bob Allison could play all three positions in the OF and 1B. He also Pinch hit 117 times so he is my number four outfielder on the bench.
 
To fill the bench, I am looking at pinch hitters and Rich Reese has the most pinch hit grand slams in a career – 3. Not a bad place to start. Randy Bush had the most pinch consecutive pinch hits in a season – 7. Steve Braun had 113 pinch hits good for 12th all time. He played for the Twins the first six years of his 15 year career and PH 90 of his 496 PH appearances with us. Since he appeared in LF, RF, 1B. 2B, SS, 3B during those years he has to be added to the bench.
 
Utility player is harder to define – Killebrew had his primary starts in three positions – 3B, LF, 1B and he was DH, RF, and 2B too. Quite a versatile player that is seldom recognized for that fact. But the ones that stand out are Nick Punto, Cesar Tovar, Steve Braun, Jerry Terrell, Ron Washington, Al Newman, Jeff Reboulet, Denny Hocking, and Michael Cuddyer.
 
• Cesar Tovar 8 years .281/.337/.377/.714 25.9 WAR Every position
• Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR Every Position except P/C/SS
• Steve Braun 6 years .284/.376/.381/.757 15 WAR Every position except P/C/CF
• Nick Punto 7 years .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR Every position except C/P/1B
• Jeff Reboulet 5 years .248/.335/.324/.659 5.8 WAR Every position except P
• Al Newman 5 years .231/.306/.275/.581 2.1 WAR Every position except P/C/RF
• Ron Washington 6 years .265/.294/.373/.667 1.5 WAR P/C/LF/RF
• Jerry Terrell 6 years .259/.295/.311/.606 0.9 WAR Every position except P/C
• Denny Hocking 11 years .252/.310/.351/.661 0.3 WAR Every position but C/P
I will take Tovar for Utility – Cuddyer did not play SS and that is really important for a Utility player.
 
My bench – four men
1. Earl Battey C
2. Bob Allison OF
3. Steve Braun – PH/Utility
4. Cesar Tovar – Utility
 
 
The Bullpen is the next big group so I would choose those who were in the discussion for the best closer.
1. Joe Nathan 7 years, 24 – 13 2.16 era, 260 saves 460 games, 463 innings 18.4 WAR
2. Rick Aquilera, 11 years, 254 saves, 3.50 era, 15.5 WAR.
3. Al Worthington 6 years 2.62 era 327 games 473 innings 88 saves and 10.1 WAR
4. Bill Campbell, 4 years, 3,13, 216 games, 460 innings, 7.6 WAR.
5. Mike Marshall 3 years 21 – 20 2.99 era, 162 games, 274 innings, 6.9 WAR
6. Eddie Guardado 12 years, 116 saves, 37 – 38 4.53 ERA, 648 games 704 innings. 9.5 WAR
7. Glen Perkins 35 – 25, 3.88, 120 saves, 409 games 624 innings (he was a starter for a while) and 8.8 WAR.
 
The Rotation is:
1. Johan Santana
2. Bert Blyleven
3. Brad Radtke
4. Jim Kaat
5. Jim Perry
That is 12 pitchers, a four man-bench and we have the following starters – second name is who would ranked second at each position in the look at all time leaders per position that I have just completed. This is also my batting order.
 
 
1. DH – Molitor – Thome
2. RF – Oliva – Brunansky
3. CF – Puckett – Hunter
4. 3B – Killebrew – Castino
5. 1B – Hrbek – Morneau
6. LF – Mack – Allison
7. SS – Cardenas – Versalles
8. 2B – Carew – Knoblauch
9. C – Mauer - Battey
 
One year manager - Billy Martin
GM Terry Ryan

The Best Twins General Manager and owner - really a difficult task - the manager, the owner, the GM, the players - who do you blame?
 
 
• Calvin Griffith. (1961 – 1984) It is not a long list since Calvin served as both owner and general manager. We won a World Series under Calvin, he moved the team to Minnesota, he insulted and lost Rod Carew.
 
• Howard Fox. (1985 – 1986) He was a member of the Twins organization for sixty years. When he was traveling secretary, he had a fight with Billy Martin on the team plane. After Calvin sold the team he stayed on as team president for two years under Pohlad.
 
• Andy MacPhail (Won WS twice in 1987 and 1991) Andy was the boy wonder. He was hired as VP for player development in 1984 and GM in 1985. He hired Tom Kelly, and traded for Jeff Reardon to close out games and pitchers Joe Niekro and Dan Schatzeder as well as outfielder Dan Gladden. Then after a last place finish in signed Jack Morris and we went on to another pennant while McPhail became Sporting News Executive of the Year. He then left for Chicago Cubs, which did not work out as well. Now he is president of the free spending Phillies.
 
• Terry Ryan (1995-2007, again from 2012 - 2016) From Janesville, WI, Ryan had an unsuccessful career as a pitcher, but became a prolific scout for the Mets where he developed his reputation for player evaluation. He was smart enough to trade Dave Hollins to Seattle for David Ortiz, but did not keep him long enough to see his true development. Stuck with tight budgets he often dumped vets, but was savvy enough to trade for Shannon Stewart when the team needed him. In 2002 the Twins were the victors over Oakland in the playoffs, and he was named executive of the year while the team was the Organization of the year. He left with a good reputation, but returned in 2012 and lost some of his luster as the changing times caught up with him.
 
• Bill Smith (2008-2011) was Ryan’s replacement. He was a loyal member of the front office and assistant to Ryan. However his star never rose and names like Matt Capps will forever stain his reputation. He was fired, the first GM to be fired by the team and Ryan came back.
 
• Terry Ryan became the second GM fired by the Twins, but then there are not very many and perhaps the first one would have been fired had he not owned the team.
 
• Rob Antony (interim 2016) A filler, not much to say.
 
• Thad Levine (2016-present) Too early to tell.
 
 
So how do I judge the best. We won world series under Griffith and MacPhail. Ryan and MacPhail both won Executive of the year.
 
 
Average wins per season under GM
Griffith 80 wins
Fox 79
MacPhail 71
Ryan – first round 85
Bill Smith 83
Terry Ryan – second round 71
 
 
At the end of this look and after reading a lot of material I conclude that I cannot really judge. MacPhail looked like the Wonderman, but his teams could not sustain. Was he the best? He could not do it with the Cubs and he went higher in the front office with the Phillies who have not done well, but have now tried to buy the championship. Ryan has the best average wins under his first stint.
 
 
Of course, this also reflects on the manager – these are the men who sign the players. They determine what the manager has to work with. It is really hard to figure out a really good metric for them. Was Calvin better than MacPhail – he has more wins per season – but long time Twins fans would faint at that decision.
 
 
I am not going to do a best owner – Calvin is here and was the owner until Carl Pohlad bought the team and then son Jim took over. Not a lot to look at and not a lot of difference. One WS under Calvin, 2 under the Pohlads. One contraction threat under the Pohlads, lots of racist statements from Calvin. The average wins per season does not vary much between the two families. So I have no choice in this and only hope the next one is the best.

The Best Twins General Manager and owner - really a difficult task - the manager, the owner, the GM, the players - who do you blame?
 
 
• Calvin Griffith. (1961 – 1984) It is not a long list since Calvin served as both owner and general manager. We won a World Series under Calvin, he moved the team to Minnesota, he insulted and lost Rod Carew.
 
• Howard Fox. (1985 – 1986) He was a member of the Twins organization for sixty years. When he was traveling secretary, he had a fight with Billy Martin on the team plane. After Calvin sold the team he stayed on as team president for two years under Pohlad.
 
• Andy MacPhail (Won WS twice in 1987 and 1991) Andy was the boy wonder. He was hired as VP for player development in 1984 and GM in 1985. He hired Tom Kelly, and traded for Jeff Reardon to close out games and pitchers Joe Niekro and Dan Schatzeder as well as outfielder Dan Gladden. Then after a last place finish in signed Jack Morris and we went on to another pennant while McPhail became Sporting News Executive of the Year. He then left for Chicago Cubs, which did not work out as well. Now he is president of the free spending Phillies.
 
• Terry Ryan (1995-2007, again from 2012 - 2016) From Janesville, WI, Ryan had an unsuccessful career as a pitcher, but became a prolific scout for the Mets where he developed his reputation for player evaluation. He was smart enough to trade Dave Hollins to Seattle for David Ortiz, but did not keep him long enough to see his true development. Stuck with tight budgets he often dumped vets, but was savvy enough to trade for Shannon Stewart when the team needed him. In 2002 the Twins were the victors over Oakland in the playoffs, and he was named executive of the year while the team was the Organization of the year. He left with a good reputation, but returned in 2012 and lost some of his luster as the changing times caught up with him.
 
• Bill Smith (2008-2011) was Ryan’s replacement. He was a loyal member of the front office and assistant to Ryan. However his star never rose and names like Matt Capps will forever stain his reputation. He was fired, the first GM to be fired by the team and Ryan came back.
 
• Terry Ryan became the second GM fired by the Twins, but then there are not very many and perhaps the first one would have been fired had he not owned the team.
 
• Rob Antony (interim 2016) A filler, not much to say.
 
• Thad Levine (2016-present) Too early to tell.
 
 
So how do I judge the best. We won world series under Griffith and MacPhail. Ryan and MacPhail both won Executive of the year.
 
 
Average wins per season under GM
Griffith 80 wins
Fox 79
MacPhail 71
Ryan – first round 85
Bill Smith 83
Terry Ryan – second round 71
 
 
At the end of this look and after reading a lot of material I conclude that I cannot really judge. MacPhail looked like the Wonderman, but his teams could not sustain. Was he the best? He could not do it with the Cubs and he went higher in the front office with the Phillies who have not done well, but have now tried to buy the championship. Ryan has the best average wins under his first stint.
 
 
Of course, this also reflects on the manager – these are the men who sign the players. They determine what the manager has to work with. It is really hard to figure out a really good metric for them. Was Calvin better than MacPhail – he has more wins per season – but long time Twins fans would faint at that decision.
 
 
I am not going to do a best owner – Calvin is here and was the owner until Carl Pohlad bought the team and then son Jim took over. Not a lot to look at and not a lot of difference. One WS under Calvin, 2 under the Pohlads. One contraction threat under the Pohlads, lots of racist statements from Calvin. The average wins per season does not vary much between the two families. So I have no choice in this and only hope the next one is the best.

Recently I was messing around on MLB.com for no particularly good or suspicious reason when I stumbled upon their top prospects list. Now, we all are familiar with prospects because as Twins fans, they sometimes bring us more hope than the major league team. But even cooler than the updated top prospects list was an archived top prospects list from 2011 that included their top 50 prospects of the year along with top 10 lists for each team. An oh boy does nothing brew my fair-trade espresso like looking back at old prospects lists and chuckling at how their careers actually turned out. Guys like Machado, Harper, and Trout were all in the top 10 and have been excellent so far while guys like Jacob Turner, Martin Perez, and Shelby Miller haven’t quite lived up to their hype. Baseball is a funny game and how good of a prospect a player oftentimes does not correlate to major league success. So buckle in and get ready for some weird nostalgia. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2011/
 
 

Aaron Hicks


 
I swear on my life that I didn’t plan this, but the news of Aaron Hicks’ new 7-year extension with the Yankees broke earlier this week and basically every part of that sentence just absolutely stings. Hicks was the OG toolsy centerfielder before Buxton was even in the picture and there was a lot to like about his game. Unfortunately, this story doesn’t end too well for us Twins fans; Hicks struggled in the majors for the Twins, was traded to the Yankees after the 2015 season for John Ryan Murphy, then struggled in 2016 for the Yankees before figuring it out in 2017 and is now coming off a fresh 4.9 fWAR season for the Yankees. There really isn’t any way that you can slice that trade that makes it look good for the Twins, but it does hurt a touch less considering how good the Twins OF is even without Hicks. And it makes me feel a little better if I think of it as a Hicks for Moya trade because good Lord, John Ryan Murphy was just awful for the Twins. Terry Ryan should have known not to trust a guy with 3 first names, but here we are. JRM was one of the worst Twins players I had ever seen and the only fond memory I have of him is when he got tossed in Houston after Jerry Layne’s ego got in the way of making a strike 3 call.
 
 

Kyle Gibson


 
What an interesting career Gibson has had so far. Gibby was originally taken as a 1st round college arm in 2009 because the Twins philosophy at the time was “take college pitchers in the 1st to get them here as quick as possible”. Gibby took a little longer than expected due to getting Tommy John surgery late in 2011, but he eventually debuted in 2013. After some solid yet unspectacular seasons in 2014 and 2015, the metaphorical feces hit the fan in 2016 and the first half of 2017 for Gibby as his standard groundball special became obsolete and hitters started to tee off on the poor guy. After being sent to AAA in 2017 and changing how he pitched (along with probably “finding himself” or something equally deep), Gibby started to strike people out and he pitched well in the 2nd half of 2017. All of this led to a full breakout 2018 campaign at the ripe age of 30 for the converted groundball man and he looks to stabilize the rotation again in 2019.
 
 

Miguel Sano


 
Here we have yet another unusual career path because God forbid a Twins prospect develops normally into a quality MLB player without a speed bump or 7 along the way. Sano was one of the few good moves made by Bill Smith as he was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2009 as a 16-year-old (allegedly, according to Joe Simpson). He mashed through the minors before losing an entire year in 2014 due to Tommy John surgery but skipped AAA the next year and made his MLB debut in 2015. And oh boy did he make a debut. He absolutely mashed to the tune of a 149 wRC+ and was seemingly crushing clutch homers every single night. 2016 was less kind to Sano as he struggled with injuries and dumbassery when the Twins attempted to move him to RF to keep elite third baseman Trevor Plouffe on the roster. 2017 was kinder as he made the All-Star game but still struggled with injuries later in the season. 2018 was just absolutely turrible in the full Charles Barkley sense of the word for him but let’s not dwell on the past. Sano is still around as a 25-year-old (allegedly also to the dude who cares about that kind of thing) with All-Star upside but needs to have a good 2019 year to show that he can stick in the Twins’ future plans.
 
 

Oswaldo Arcia


 
Oh man, Oswaldo Arcia, what a headache this guy was. All the talent in the world but couldn’t make contact, or hit the ball to left field, or field, or run… Really, it isn’t much of a surprise that this guy flamed out. Arcia is pretty much the cookie-cutter bust as he hung around for a few years with meh numbers and was finally DFA’d in 2016 when the team had enough finally. I mean seriously, when you can’t even make the 2016 Twins better, that isn’t a great sign for where you are skill-wise. Arcia bounced around to a number of teams that year and then chilled in Arizona’s minor league system in 2017 before going international to further his career. He was actually supposed to play in the AAA All-Star game in 2017 but didn’t end up going for some reason. I don’t know who would turn down a nice trip to Tacoma, Washington like that. Now we get to watch his brother, Orlando, do things for Milwaukee and then get the cold 1000-yard stare whenever the word “Arcia” is mentioned. Apparently, he signed a contract with a Mexican league team about 2 weeks ago, so that’s neat.
 
 

Joe Benson


 
Y’all remember Joe Benson? This absolute legend has all of 74 major league plate appearances and holds a career wRC+ of 67. Benson was in the minor league system for the Twins for what felt like forever but never really got a major shot until 2011. Ironically enough, Benson lost the starting centerfield job to Aaron Hicks in 2013 during spring training and was placed on waivers later that year to make room for P.J. Walters. Benson bounced around some other minor league teams afterward and was last recorded as signing with the Chicago Dogs in Indy ball. Also, as a fun fact to use whenever at the bar, Benson’s first career hit came off of Max Scherzer, so use that for a pickup line whenever you need.
 
That was not a fun trip down memory lane, but I do think it is necessary for us to check our hype on prospects occasionally. As fans, we always expect the perfect outcomes for them as we envision them as future All-Stars who lock down the team for years to come, but the truth is, they don’t always pan out, and that was a big reason for the Twins struggles in the early Target Field era, the Twins couldn’t develop an actual prospect to save their life. Under the new regime, however, a great number of excellent coaches and modern technologies have been implemented to make sure the next wave of top prospects in Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, and Brusdar Graterol, among others can succeed when they hit the majors.

The best starting pitcher in Twins history
1961 The starting pitchers had a history that began in Washington DC with the Senators. For all the starters there years with team, w-l, pct, era, SO/W and WAR. We started out with a very good starting staff. In the early years the started averaged 34 starts per year.
 
Camilo Pascual 13 years starting in DC – 145-141 .507 3.66 SO/W = 2.07. WAR 33.2
Jim Kaat 15 years beginning in DC . 190- 159/.544 3.34 2.54 SO/W WAR 30.7
Jack Kralick 5 years 34-32/.515 3.63 1.99 WAR 11.7
Pedro Ramos 7 years 78-112/.411 4.19 WAR 5.8
In 1962 Kaat, Kralick, and Pascual continued to dominate the rotation. In 1963 Dick Stigman, Lee Stange and Jim Perry came on as starters. In 1964 Kaat, Pascual, and Perry were joined by Mudcat Grant.
 
Jim Perry 10 years 128-90/.587 3.15 1.89 WAR 26.4 Great Career.
Mudcat Grant 4 years 50-35/.588 3.35 6.0 WAR
 
In 1965 Grant won 21 games, Jim Kaat 18, Perry 12, and Pascual who had injuries 9. It was our world series year. Pascual had a reduced place in the Rotation with 19 starts in 1966 and Jim Merritt and Dave Boswell shared one of the four rotation spots. In 1967 we had six starters with Kaat first and joined by Dean Chance as the number 2, Boswell, Merritt and Perry were other primary starters.
 
Jim Merritt 4 years 37-41/.474 3.03 3.90 great SO/W ratio WAR 11.4
 
Dave Boswell 7 years 67-54/.554 3.49 1.88 11.2 WAR
 
Dean Chance 3 years 41-34/.547 2.67 Great Era. 13.1 WAR he was a star.
 
In 1969 Dick Woodson, Bob Miller, and Tommy Hall made significant starts in support of Kaat, Chance, and Bowell. Tommy Hall was my favorite. Hall was six foot and weighed 150. I am six foot and 230, I cannot imagine. His nickname was The Blade. In nine years, his record was of 52-33 with 32 saves and he was with the Big Red Machine their first two years.
 
Tommy Hall 4 years 25-21/.543 3.00 2.32 WAR 6.6
 
In 1970 behind Kaat and Perry were Blyleven 25 games, Bill Zepp (love the name, but I cannot remember him), Luis Tiant, Dave Boswell. 1971 Perry, Kaat, Blyleven and an assortment. 1972 Blyleven, Perry and Woodson were the big three, Kaat and Dave Goltz were behind them.
 
Jim Kaat 15 of 25 years a Twin, 190-159/.544 3.34. 2.54 K/BB rate – amazing for that many years. 30.7 WAR for Twins.
 
Bert Blyleven 11 of 22 years with Twins. 149-138/.519 3.28 and an amazing K/BB rate 3.02 WAR 49.4.
 
In 1973 Blyleven started 40 games, Kaat 28, then Joe Decker 24, Dick Woodson 23, Mike Adams 22. 1974 Blyleven, Decker, Goltz and Albury were the top five. 1975 Blyleven and Jim Hughes were 1 – 2 then Goltz and Albury. Goltz was the ACE in 1976 with Bill Singer, Jim Hughes, and Pete Redfern. 1977 Goltz was backed by Paul Thormodsgard (yup – him), Geoff Zahn, Pete Redfern. 1978 Roger Erickson had the most starts, then Geoff Zahn, Dave Goltz and Roger Serum. 1979 had Jerry Koosman and Dave Goltz leading the rotation. Paul Hartzell, Roger Erickson, and Geoff Zahn completed the rotation.
 
Dave Goltz 8/12 years, 96 – 79/.549 3.48 1.80 K/BB and 24.6 WAR
 
Geoff Zahn 4 years 53-53/.500 3.90 1.37 and 9 WAR
 
Koosman and Zahn in 1980 with Erickson, Redfern, and Darrell Jackson. 1981 had 8 pitchers start and Redfern had the most starts 23 and Albert Williams 22.
 
Jerry Koosman 3/19 years, 39-35/.527 3.77 1.94 K/BB 11.1 WAR
 
Brad Havens was sort of our ACE in 1982 with Albert Wiliams, Bobby Castillo, and Rookie Frank Viola. 1983 Viola took over ACE position and was backed by Ken Schrom (I am amazed by the names in the rotations), Albert Williams, and Bobby Castillo. 1984 Mike Smithson 36 starts, Viola 35, John Butcher 34, Schrom 21. 1985 Smithson 35, Viola 36, Butcher 33, Schrom 26, and Blyleven was back – 14. 1985 Viola, Blyleven, Smithson dominated the rotation.
 
The Champion season, 1987, Blyleven, Viola and that famous Les Straker were 1,2,3 and Smithson 4!
 
Mike Smithson 4 years 47-48/.495 4.46 1.93 K over BB and 4.7 WAR
 
Frank Viola 8 years, 112-93/.546 3.86 2.33 K over BB and 11.6 WAR
 
1988 Viola, Blyleven were joined by Alan Anderson and behind them were Charlie Lea, Freddie Toliver, and Straker. 1989 Allan Anderson, Roy Smith, Shane Rawley, and Frank Viola were the main rotation. 1990 saw a rotation of Anderson, David West, Kevin Tapani, Mark Guthrie, Scott Erickson, and Roy Smith.
 
Allan Anderson 6 years, 49 – 54/.476 4.11 8.5 WAR
 
The WS year of 1991 Jack Morris started 35 games, it is his durability that made him HOF, Kevin Tapani, Scott Erickson, Allan Anderson, Guthrie and West were our starters.
 
Jack Morris, 1 year, 18 -12/.600. 3.43 1.77, 4.3 WAR
 
Kevin Tapani 7 years 75-63/.543. 4.06 2.84 19.2 WAR
 
 
Allan Anderson 6 years 49-54/.476 4.11 1.61 8.5 WAR
 
 
Scott Erickson 6 years 61-60/.504 4.22 1.44 12.7 WAR
 
 
John Smiley joined Erickson and Tapani in 1992 with Bill Krueger and Bob Kipper. We also had Pat Mahomes, Willie Banks, and Mike Trombley – three young pitchers who were the promise of the future! Tapani, Erickson and Willie Banks lead 1993 with Jim Deshaies and Eddie Guardado. 1994 the same except banks was replaced by Mahomes and someone named Carlos Pulido filled the rotation.
 
1995 Brad Radtke and Tapani lead the rotation with Erickson, Trombley, and Frankie Rodriguez. 1996 Rodriguez was joined by Rich Robertson, Radtke, Aldred and Aguilera. 1997 It was Radtke, Robertson, Naulty, Tewksbury, LaTroy Hawkins, and Scott Aldred. 1998 LaTroy Hawkins started 33 games, Eric Milton 32, Radke 32, and Tewksbury 25.
 
Brad Radke 12 years. 148 – 139/.516 4.22 3.30 great K over BB! 45.7 WAR
 
Rick Aquilar will eventually make his mark as a reliever but was 40 – 47 as a starter.
 
1999 it was Milton, Hawkins, and Radke. Joe Mays, Dan Perkins, and Mike Lincoln were three more starters. 2000 we had a solid rotation of five guys who dominated the starts. Santana, Mays, Milton, Radke, and Redman.
 
Eric Milton 6 years 57-51/.528 4.76 2.66 14.8 WAR
 
2001 Milton, Mays, Radtke over 30 starts, Todd Jones 24, Kyle Lohse 19 and Santana only 11. In 2002, Lohse, Milton and Rick Reed +30 starts, Santana 13, Radtke 21, Joe Mays 17, Matt Kinney 12. 2003 Santana got only 18 starts out of 45 appearances (will we do this to Romero too) Lohse, Kenny Rogers, Mays and Radtke got the starts.
 
Joe Mays 6 years 48-65/.425 4.85 1.56 10.7 WAR
 
Kyle Lohse 6 Years 51-57/.472 4.88 1.94 WAR 6.6
 
2005 Santana is let loose and is the ACE, with Lohse, Mays, and Radtke. 2006 Santana still the Ace, Carlos Silva, Radtke, Boof Bonser, and Scott Baker. 2007 Santana, Silva, and Bonser all have 30+ starts, Scott Baker and Matt Garza are next. 2008 Nick Blackburn takes over with the most starts, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins and Livan Hernandez.
 
Johan Santana 8 mostly under-utilized years 93-44/.679 3.22 3.79 K/BB 35.7 WAR
 
2009 Baker, Blackburn, Liriano, Slowey and Perkins. 2010 Pavano, Liriano, Baker, Blackburn and Slowey.
 
Scott Baker 7 years, 63-48/.568 4.15 3.44 WAR 15.8.
 
Francisco Liriano 7 years 50-52/.490 4.33 2.43 9.4 WAR
 
2011 Pavano was followed by Brian Duensing, Blackburn, Liriano, Baker. 2012
 
Kevin Slowey 5 years 39-29/.574 4.66 4.70 excellent k/BB rate. 4.4 WAR
 
Nick Blackburn 6 years 43-55/.439 4.85 1.92 3.2 WAR
 
Carl Pavano 4 years, 33-33/.500 4.32 3.08 2.6 WAR
 
2012 Scott Diamond had the most starts, Blackburn, Liriano, De Vries, Pavano in that order. What can I say about 2013 – Kevin Correia had the most starts, Mike Pelfrey was second, Scott Diamond third, Sam Deduno fourth. I think I will stop there.
 
So who are the best starters? Here they are ranked by WAR.
 
Johan will have an argument if we look at WAR per year 4.4, Blyleven 4.5, Radke 3.8, Pascual 2.6, Perry 2.6, Goltz 3.1, Dean Chance 3.3, and Koosman 3.7!
 
1. Bert Blyleven 11 of 22 years with Twins. 149-138/.519 3.28 and an amazing K/BB rate 3.02 WAR 49.4.
2. Brad Radke 12 years. 148 – 139/.516 4.22 3.30 great K over BB! 45.7 WAR
3. Johan Santana 8 mostly under-utilized years 93-44/.679 3.22 3.79 K/BB 35.7 WAR
4. Camilo Pascual 13 years starting in DC – 145-141 .507 3.66 SO/W = 2.07. WAR 33.2
5. Jim Kaat 15 years beginning in DC . 190- 159/.544 3.34 2.54 SO/W WAR 30.7
6. Jim Perry 10 years 128-90/.587 3.15 1.89 WAR 26.4 Great Career.
7. Dave Goltz 8/12 years, 96 – 79/.549 3.48 1.80 K/BB and 24.6 WAR
8. Kevin Tapani 7 years 75-63/.543. 4.06 2.84 19.2 WAR
9. Eric Milton 6 years 57-51/.528 4.76 2.66 14.8 WAR
10. Dean Chance 3 years 41-34/.547 2.67 Great Era. 13.1 WAR he was a star.
11. Scott Erickson 6 years 61-60/.504 4.22 1.44 12.7 WAR
12. Frank Viola 8 years, 112-93/.546 3.86 2.33 K over BB and 11.6 WAR
13. Jack Kralick 5 years 34-32/.515 3.63 1.99 WAR 11.7
14. Jim Merritt 4 years 37-41/.474 3.03 3.90 great SO/W ratio WAR 11.4
15. Dave Boswell 7 years 67-54/.554 3.49 1.88 11.2 WAR
16. Jerry Koosman 3/19 years, 39-35/.527 3.77 1.94 K/BB 11.1 WAR
 
To continue the debate WHIP leaders
1. Jim Merritt
2. Dean Chance
3. Johan Santana
4. Rick Aquilera
5. Bert Blyleven
6. Jim Perry
7. Mudcat Grant
 
Best ERA – Chance 2.67, Milton
 
Most Wins and I count Wins – good pitchers are in enough innings to dominate a game.
Jim Kaat 190
Bert Blyleven 149
Brad Radke 148
Camilo Pascual 145
Jim Perry 128
Frank Viola 112
 
Best Win Pct.
1. Johan Santana 679
2. Mudcat Grand 588
3. Jim Perry 588
Hits per nine innings
1. Dave Boswell 7.147
2. Johan Santana 7.345
3. Dean Chance 7.373
4. Jim Merritt 7.641
 
 
Strikeouts – okay Walter was part of our franchise.
1. Walter Johnson 3509
2. Bert Blyleven 2035
3. Camilo Pascual 1885
4. Jim Kaat 1851
5. Brad Radke 1467
6. Johan Santana 1381
7. Frank Viola 1214
8. Jim Perry 1025
9. Dave Goltz 887
 
 
My starting Rotation has the following:
1. Johan Santana
2. Bert Blyleven
3. Brad Radke
4. Jim Kaat
5. Jim Perry
Camilo Pascual just misses and Dean Chance did not pitch long enough to make my list.

Last full time position – Right Field – who fills out the rosters. For me Clemente epitomizes RF, the arm, the bat, the range so who do the Twins have?
 
In 1961 Bob Allison was there 150 games. He was written about in LF so I will not go into details here. Allison dominated 1962 as well with Tuttle and George Banks getting the other games. In 1963 it was Allison, Jimmie Hall and Wally Post. 1964 Tony Oliva sent Allison to 1B.
 
Tony Oliva was a dream. I loved to watch him. He was almost perfect in my eyes so my prejudice is showing. In 1965 he was backed up by Sandy Valdespino and Andy Kosco. In 1966 Hall and Allison picked up the games Oliva did not cover. 1967 Oliva still dominated. In 1968 Oliva had 126 games, Holt, Craig Nettles, Tovar and Kostro all had double figure appearances. Oliva was injured and missed 34 games. In 1969 he again joined the greats in the game leading the league in hits and doubles. Healthy in 1970 he played 154 games in RF and finished third for the batting title. He hit 325, with 23 home runs and 107 RBIs. He also led the AL in hits (204) for the fifth time, in doubles (36) for the fourth time, and finished second in MVP voting for the second time, this time to Baltimore's Boog Powell. In 1971, Oliva won his third AL batting title with a .337 average and led the league in slugging percentage (.546), but his knees began to ache and force him out of many games. Surgery took him off the field and Tovar took over RF in 1972 with Bobby Darwin. From there to the end he was DH.
 
Oliva 15 years .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR 1138 games out of 1676 in RF.
 
Bobby Darwin had the most starts in RF in 1973, Jim Holt had 21. Darwin had 142, Hisle 27 in 1974.
In 1975 Lyman Bostock was there 55 games, Steve Brye 51, Bobby Darwin 27, John Briggs 16, Mike Poepping 13! Dan Ford was there 139 games in 1976 with Brye and Hisle getting 18 each. Dan was there 135 in 1977 with Glenn Adams and Rich Chiles getting 20+ each. In the 1978 season Ford switched to center and Hosken Powell took over right. Then in 1979 it was Powell, Bombo Rivera, Willie Norwood, Dave Edwards, Rick Sofield and Glenn Adams, obviously an unsettled position. After a career year in 1979, Powell spiraled down in BA. Powell held on to RF in 1980 on the strength of 1979. And Dave Engle got the most starts in an Engle/Powell tandem in 1981.
 
Tom Brunansky was the number one RF starter in 1982 – 97 games, Engle and Gary Ward and Mickey Hatcher were all in more than 20 games. 1983 Brunansky 120, Hatcher 47. It was nearly all Brunansky in 1984, 1985, 1986, and in 1987 Brunansky was there 107 games, Randy Bush 73, Mark Davidson 33. In 1988 Brunansky was traded to the Cardinals for Tommy Herr. Big Mistake! Randy Bush took over right with Mark Davidson behind him
 
.
Tom Brunansky 7 years 163 HRs .250/.330/.452/.782 16.1 WAR
 
Randy Bush had the most games in RF in 1989 – 88, john Moses 63, Carmelo Castillo 61, and Gene Larkin 31. It was an unsettled position. 1990 had six players with 19 or more games in RF – John Moses, Shane Mack, Gene Larkin, Randy Bush, Carmelo Castillo and Pedro Munoz. Shane Mack was equally in all three OF positions in 1991 with Gene Larkin, Pedro Munoz, Randy Bush, Jarvis Brown and Kirby Puckett having 19 or more games there and still we won the WS.
 
1992 saw Pedro Munoz in RF 117 games and Larkin, JT Bruett, Randy Bush and Jarvis Brown having 18 or more. 1993 was another of those years I call a scrum. Puckett moved over from CF for 47, Pedro Munoz 41, Dave McCarty 34, DAVE WINFIELD 31, and Gene Larkin 25. In 1994 Puckett was in RF 95 games, but I have to put him in CF for this exercise. Munoz 19. Kirby kept RF in 1995 and it was Pedro Munoz last year.
 
 
Pedro Munoz 6 years .275/.316/.444/.760 minus -0.4 – I cannot rank him.
 
1996 saw four with more than 20 games starting with Matt Lawton and 60, Roberto Kelly, Denny Hocking, Ron Coomer. 1997 another mix – Lawton playing all three positions had 66 in RF, Roberto Kelly 57, Brent Brede 40, Rich Beckerr 14. 1998 Matt Lawton gave us a 100 game starter. Alex Ochoa and Orland Merced were next. Matt Lawton had 103 in 1999 and a big mix of 13+ by Marty Cordova, Coery Koskie, Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter, Denny Hocking. 2000 had Lawton bounce back and forth LF/RF with 83 games in RF, Midre Cummings 33, Brian Buchanan 24, Denny Hocking 19, Butch Huskey 15, and Chad Allen 13. Lawton continued was RF only 94 games in 2001 with Brian Buchanan and Bobby Kielty behind him. In conflict with the Twins over arbitration – “In February 2001, Twins general manager Terry Ryan stated that he did not plan on trading Lawton, contrary to other reports.[36] Furthermore, Twins manager Tom Kelley stated that he did not expect Lawton would be traded under any circumstances.[36] It was noted in spring training in 2001 that Lawton had gained 14 pounds (6.4 kg).[37] Lawton was taken out of the Twins starting lineup in May, due to lack of production.[38] As a member of the Twins that year, he batted .293 with 71 runs scored, 110 hits, 25 doubles, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 103 games played.” Wiki. In 2001 he was a Met.
 
Matt Lawton 7 years .277/.379/.428/.808 11.3 WAR
 
Dustin Mohr led in appearances in 2002 with Bobby Kielty, a Minnesota legend having 50, Cuddyer 25, Buchanan 24. Mohr and Kielty again in 2003 and Jacque Jones with Lew Ford in 2004. Jones, Cuddyer, and Ford – 2005, Cuddyer 142 in 2006 with Lew Ford 22. Cuddyer and Tyner in 2007. In 2008 Span had the most games in RF followed by Cuddyer and Kubel. Cuddyer was in 117 in 2009, Span 39 (playing mostly CF) and Kubel 30. Kubel then had 83 in 2010, Cuddyer 66, Repko 39. Cuddyer 77 in 2011, Kubel 50, Repko 27.
 
Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR 903/1427 appearances in RF.
 
Ben Revere started 84 games in RF in 2012 which blows the great arm qualification. Mastroianni 34, Parmelee 18, Plouffe 15. Parmelee had 68 in RF in 2013 and Ryan Doumit 32 and Oswaldo Arcia 20 with Chris Herrmann 21. Looking at that group I can see why we were 66 – 96. Oswaldo Arcia had 100 games backed by Parmelee and Chris Colbello and Chris Herrmann in 2014 – yikes. Torii Hunter was the primary starter in 123 RF games in 2015, but he is in the CF rankings.
 
Now we have Kepler and he does not fit in this ranking.
 
In fact most of the names above do not; the best I can come up with is:
1. Oliva 15 years .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR 1138 games out of 1676 in RF. 220 HR.
2. Tom Brunansky 7 years 163 HRs .250/.330/.452/.782 16.1 WAR
3. Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR 903/1427 appearances in RF.
4. Matt Lawton 7 years .277/.379/.428/.808 11.3 WAR

We are now at the point in the Major League Baseball calendar where exhibition games have commenced, teams are looking at how to fill out their 25-man roster, and the regular season is on the horizon. Although a few marquee free agents remain, I’m at a point where I feel good about how what could potentially be baseball’s worst division, is going to play out. The incumbent division winning Cleveland Indians are ready to defend their throne and it’ll be on a challenger to emerge.
 
Including current PECOTA projections (as of February 26, 2019) next to predicted records, here’s how this writer has the standings for the American League Central playing out:
 
1. Minnesota Twins 92-70 (83-79)
 
No team has done more in the division to take strides forward than the Twins for 2019. While that’s great in a vacuum, no team was also able to make bigger moves than Minnesota as well. I’ve dug deeper into why I think this is realistic in a secondary piece here, but the front office must be hoping what they’ve done is enough. Despite what’s being billed as a “wait and see” type approach, I’m all in on the Falvey and Levine being vindicated in their decision making.
 
2. Cleveland Indians 89-73 (96-66)
 
Quite opposite of the Twins, arguably no team within the division has gotten worse than the Indians. Cleveland loses Michael Brantley as well as Carlos Santana. They’ve replaced the latter with Edwin Encarnacion, but there’s no outfield to speak of, and significant reliance on repeat performances. Trevor Bauer, Jose Ramirez, and Francisco Lindor all posted career year’s in 2018, all while Cleveland mustered just 91 wins. Lindor will miss the beginning of the season, and despite the rotation still being among the best in baseball, it’s hard not wondering what else to fall in love with surrounding this team.
 
3. Chicago White Sox 73-89 (70-92)
 
One of the trendiest teams in baseball right now, the White Sox are being lauded for their stellar farm system. There’s no denying that Eloy Jimenez is a stud, and he’s backed by names like Kopech, Cease, and Robert. The first starter on that list is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery though, and there’s always an incredible amount of volatility when it comes to top prospects (ask Twins fans about that.) Manny Machado would’ve moved the needle for this franchise, but instead of going all in, Kenny Williams signed friends and family hoping that would be enough. Chicago will get there, and an 11-game jump in the win column from 2018 is no small task, but that’s about where the fun ends.
 
4. Kansas City Royals 69-93 (72-90)
 
Welcome to the dreaded middle ground. It was great for the Royals that they popped up and won a World Series, as the fanbase could be looking at mediocrity or worse for quite some time. The big-league club is void of any real star potential, and the farm system is among the worst in baseball. Kansas City can’t spend big with it making any sort of a difference, but they’ve also yet to hit on any prospects that put them in a better light going forward. If you’re a Royals fan, the highlight of the season is June 3rd when Dayton Moore will have the second overall pick in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft.
 
5. Detroit Tigers 62-100 (67-95)
 
If Kansas City is considered the dreaded middle ground, then Detroit is trending in a much better direction. The Tigers have a strong farm system headlined by pitching stalwarts, and they also hold the 5th overall pick this summer. There’s still plenty of questions surrounding both Michael Fulmer and Matthew Boyd, and Detroit is hoping to see Nicholas Castellanos take yet another step forward, but there’s some building blocks here. Miguel Cabrera is on his way to Cooperstown, but Niko Goodrum has provided some immediate intrigue in the infield. This team won’t be good in 2019, but they could certainly flip the script in the coming years.
 
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The Best Twins Centerfielder in history? The outfield is a challenge because so many times managers see them as interchangeable parts. But a great Centerfielder must have range and perhaps some flare. The NY press had a great time when there were three teams – and they had Mays, Mantle, and Snider.
 
Lenny Green Was our first year CF and Bill Tuttle backed him up when he was not playing out of position at 3B. The same two in 1962. Green was traded to the Angels for Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall.
 
Green would play 6 years for the Twins/Senators .270/.359/.384/.743. 7 WAR.
 
The phenom Jimmie Hall took over center in 1963 after an injury to Green, but Green started more games. Hall, Allison, and Oliva played Center in 1964 which would make quite an outfield with all three in the same game. Hall had the most by far, but lost time after being hit on the cheek in the All Star game by Bo Belinsky. Hall, Nossek, Oliva in 1965. Hall would play 8 years in MLB. His last four years were a minus -1 WAR. Hall was traded to Angels with Pete Cimino and Don Mincher for Dean Chance and Jackie Hernandez. After the trade his career was terrible. A Sabr article said, “Little is known about Hall’s life after his baseball career ended. He returned to Elm City, North Carolina, and made his living as both a woodworker and longhaul truck driver. When he wasn’t working, he was an outdoorsman who liked to hunt and fish. He also enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren. Hall stayed away from the game entirely, even refusing to return to Minneapolis in 2005 for a 40th-anniversary reunion of the 1965 team.” https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6ad8a4ec
 
Hall played 4 years. .269/.334/.481/.815 14.8 WAR
 
Ted Uhlaender took over with Hall and Oliva getting some action and kept the position in 1967, 1968, and 1969 with Tovar behind him. He was traded with Graig Nettles, Dean Chance and Bob Miller to the Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams in 1969.
 
Uhlaender was a Twin 5 years. .262/.306/.354/.661. 3.2 WAR.
 
1970 Tovar was the centerfielder, and I would have had him there all the time, but he was so versatile. Holt was the most frequent CF in 1971, but Jim Nettles and Tovar matched him. Then in 1972 we had Bobby Darwin at CF with Nettles and Brye next in line. Darwin lost the position quickly and Larry Hisle took over in 1973, with Brye having just a few less games there. Hisle divided his time between LF and CF so Brye had the most CF games in 1974. In 1975 Dan Ford dominated the position with Lyman Bostock taking the majority of other appearances.
 
Then in 1976 Bostock took over CF and Brye still had 57 games. 1977 Bostock, Hisle and Norwood shared the position. Bostock had a total of 17 putouts in a doubleheader which is a good example of his fielding prowess, which set an American League record for outfielders. Then in 1978 Bostock was gone from MN and one year later he was just gone. In Gary Indiana while visiting his uncle, the uncle Turner agreed to give Hawkins and her sister, Barbara Smith, a ride to their cousin's house. “Turner drove his vehicle, with Hawkins seated in the front passenger's seat. Bostock and Barbara Smith rode in the vehicle's back seat. Barbara Smith had been living with Hawkins while estranged from her husband, Leonard Smith. Unbeknownst to the group, Leonard Smith was outside Hawkins' home in his car, and observed the group's departure in Turner's car. According to Leonard Smith, his wife was frequently unfaithful to him, and though he did not know Bostock, he later said that upon seeing Bostock get into the back seat of Turner's vehicle with his wife, he concluded that the two were having an affair. In fact, however, Bostock had only met the woman 20 minutes previously, when he and his uncle arrived at Hawkins' home.” Wiki. The gunshot that was intended for the wife, caught Bostock, a killing blow and a great young man and his career were finished.
 
By 1978 Bostock had 3 years and .311/.365/.427 /.791. 10.3 WAR
 
Steve Brye had 7 years in MN .261/.311/.360/.671. 4.7 WAR.
 
In 1978 Dan Ford was in CF. In 1979 Kenny Landreaux was the centerfielder. 1980 was another of those years where it did not seem like we could make up our mind. Landreaux 67, Rick Sofield 51, Dave Edwards, Greg Johnston 14. I liked Landreaux but he was not here long enough to get in the conversation. Of course in 1981 Mickey Hatcher had 86 games and he is not going to be the best and Gary Ward had 19. Bobby Mitchell who I do not remember was in 115 games as our CF in 1982 With Brunansky and Eisenreich behind him. Then the who is Hell is he continued in 1983 with Darrell Brown 76, Bobby Mitchell 44, Tom Brunansky (in center?) 38, and Rusty Kuntz 27.
 
Kenny Landreaux 2 years, .294/.341/.435/.776 1.8 WAR
 
Sigh of relief – 1984 and Kirby Puckett was in Center! Finally. Kirby dominated the CF position in 1985, 1986 with no others having any claim. Then in the WS year Mark Davidson had 20 games behind Puckett. Moses was behind him in 1987 and in 1988. Puckett, Mack and Moses in 1990. Puckett, Mack and Jarvis Brown in 1991. Puckett, Bruett and Brown in 1992. 1993 Puckett had a strong backup with Mack getting 67 starts and Puckett was moved to RF. “Puckett woke up on March 28 without vision in his right eye. He was diagnosed with glaucoma and was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his professional career. Three surgeries over the next few months could not restore vision in the eye.” WIKI.
 
Puckett 12 years .318/.360/.477/.837 51.1 WAR
 
1995 Rich Becker took over CF with Alex Cole and Matt Lawton behind him. Becker stayed in control in 1996 with Roberto Kelly and Lawton behind him. 1997 Becker, Lawton and Darrin Jackson. 1998 Otis Nixon was in CF.
Rich Becker, 5 years. .267/.349/.379/.728. 6.5 WAR. Nixon was gone in 1999 and Torii Hunter was in CF with Jacque Jones getting substantial appearances. Hunter, Jones, Hocking were there in 2000. Torii with Kielty had 2001, 2002, and in 2003 Lew Ford backed up Hunter. Again, Hunter and Ford in 2004, 2005, and 2006 Tyner was behind Hunter and again in 2007. In 2008 Span was behind Hunter. Hunter was a first round pick, one of our best. As a free Agent Hunter went to the Angels, then at the end of his career reappeared in a Twins uniform. He had nine consecutive Gold Gloves!
 
Torii Hunter 12 years, .268/.321/.462/.783 26.4 WAR
 
2008 Carlos Gomez was in CF with Denard Span behind him (no wonder Denard left us). Same two in 2009. Span finally got the position he deserved in 2010 and Repko backed him with Revere. Revere started the most in center in 2011 and Span was second. Then in 2012 Span had most of the games and Revere a few. We traded Span for Alex Meyer.
 
Span had 5 years .284/.357/.389/ .746 17.2 WAR
 
Aaron Hicks took over in 2013 with Clete Thomas in 50, and Alex Pressley 28. Then Danny Santana got the most starts over Hicks in 2014 and Sam Fuld got too many too. Then in 2015 Hicks was pushed by Buxton and was soon to be a Yankee.
 
Who is the Best? Hicks could have been really good, but not for us; Gomez looked good but had a short shelf life, Eisenreich was exciting and faded fast.
 
1. Kirby Puckett 12 years .318/.360/.477/.837 51.1 WAR
2. Torii Hunter 12 years, .268/.321/.462/.783 26.4 WAR
3. Denard Span had 5 years .284/.357/.389/ .746 17.2 WAR
4. Bostock had 3 years and .311/.365/.427 /.791. 10.3 WAR
5. Jimmie Hall played 4 years. .269/.334/.481/.815 14.8 WAR
6. Lenny Green 6 years for the Twins .270/.359/.384/.743. 7 WAR
7. Rich Becker, 5 years. .267/.349/.379/.728. 6.5 WAR
8. Steve Brye had 7 years in MN .261/.311/.360/.671. 4.7 WAR
9. Uhlaender was a Twin 5 years. .262/.306/.354/.661. 3.2 WAR.
10. Kenny Landreaux 2 years, .294/.341/.435/.776 1.8 WAR
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11386-the-twins-best-left-fielder-in-history/
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11380-the-best-third-baseman-in-minnesota-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11367-the-best-first-baseman-in-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11377-the-best-ss-in-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11371-%7B%3F%7D/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11365-the-best-catcher-in-twins-history/

Last full time position – Right Field – who fills out the rosters. For me Clemente epitomizes RF, the arm, the bat, the range so who do the Twins have?
 
In 1961 Bob Allison was there 150 games. He was written about in LF so I will not go into details here. Allison dominated 1962 as well with Tuttle and George Banks getting the other games. In 1963 it was Allison, Jimmie Hall and Wally Post. 1964 Tony Oliva sent Allison to 1B.
 
Tony Oliva was a dream. I loved to watch him. He was almost perfect in my eyes so my prejudice is showing. In 1965 he was backed up by Sandy Valdespino and Andy Kosco. In 1966 Hall and Allison picked up the games Oliva did not cover. 1967 Oliva still dominated. In 1968 Oliva had 126 games, Holt, Craig Nettles, Tovar and Kostro all had double figure appearances. Oliva was injured and missed 34 games. In 1969 he again joined the greats in the game leading the league in hits and doubles. Healthy in 1970 he played 154 games in RF and finished third for the batting title. He hit 325, with 23 home runs and 107 RBIs. He also led the AL in hits (204) for the fifth time, in doubles (36) for the fourth time, and finished second in MVP voting for the second time, this time to Baltimore's Boog Powell. In 1971, Oliva won his third AL batting title with a .337 average and led the league in slugging percentage (.546), but his knees began to ache and force him out of many games. Surgery took him off the field and Tovar took over RF in 1972 with Bobby Darwin. From there to the end he was DH.
 
Oliva 15 years .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR 1138 games out of 1676 in RF.
 
Bobby Darwin had the most starts in RF in 1973, Jim Holt had 21. Darwin had 142, Hisle 27 in 1974.
In 1975 Lyman Bostock was there 55 games, Steve Brye 51, Bobby Darwin 27, John Briggs 16, Mike Poepping 13! Dan Ford was there 139 games in 1976 with Brye and Hisle getting 18 each. Dan was there 135 in 1977 with Glenn Adams and Rich Chiles getting 20+ each. In the 1978 season Ford switched to center and Hosken Powell took over right. Then in 1979 it was Powell, Bombo Rivera, Willie Norwood, Dave Edwards, Rick Sofield and Glenn Adams, obviously an unsettled position. After a career year in 1979, Powell spiraled down in BA. Powell held on to RF in 1980 on the strength of 1979. And Dave Engle got the most starts in an Engle/Powell tandem in 1981.
 
Tom Brunansky was the number one RF starter in 1982 – 97 games, Engle and Gary Ward and Mickey Hatcher were all in more than 20 games. 1983 Brunansky 120, Hatcher 47. It was nearly all Brunansky in 1984, 1985, 1986, and in 1987 Brunansky was there 107 games, Randy Bush 73, Mark Davidson 33. In 1988 Brunansky was traded to the Cardinals for Tommy Herr. Big Mistake! Randy Bush took over right with Mark Davidson behind him
 
.
Tom Brunansky 7 years 163 HRs .250/.330/.452/.782 16.1 WAR
 
Randy Bush had the most games in RF in 1989 – 88, john Moses 63, Carmelo Castillo 61, and Gene Larkin 31. It was an unsettled position. 1990 had six players with 19 or more games in RF – John Moses, Shane Mack, Gene Larkin, Randy Bush, Carmelo Castillo and Pedro Munoz. Shane Mack was equally in all three OF positions in 1991 with Gene Larkin, Pedro Munoz, Randy Bush, Jarvis Brown and Kirby Puckett having 19 or more games there and still we won the WS.
 
1992 saw Pedro Munoz in RF 117 games and Larkin, JT Bruett, Randy Bush and Jarvis Brown having 18 or more. 1993 was another of those years I call a scrum. Puckett moved over from CF for 47, Pedro Munoz 41, Dave McCarty 34, DAVE WINFIELD 31, and Gene Larkin 25. In 1994 Puckett was in RF 95 games, but I have to put him in CF for this exercise. Munoz 19. Kirby kept RF in 1995 and it was Pedro Munoz last year.
 
 
Pedro Munoz 6 years .275/.316/.444/.760 minus -0.4 – I cannot rank him.
 
1996 saw four with more than 20 games starting with Matt Lawton and 60, Roberto Kelly, Denny Hocking, Ron Coomer. 1997 another mix – Lawton playing all three positions had 66 in RF, Roberto Kelly 57, Brent Brede 40, Rich Beckerr 14. 1998 Matt Lawton gave us a 100 game starter. Alex Ochoa and Orland Merced were next. Matt Lawton had 103 in 1999 and a big mix of 13+ by Marty Cordova, Coery Koskie, Jacque Jones, Torii Hunter, Denny Hocking. 2000 had Lawton bounce back and forth LF/RF with 83 games in RF, Midre Cummings 33, Brian Buchanan 24, Denny Hocking 19, Butch Huskey 15, and Chad Allen 13. Lawton continued was RF only 94 games in 2001 with Brian Buchanan and Bobby Kielty behind him. In conflict with the Twins over arbitration – “In February 2001, Twins general manager Terry Ryan stated that he did not plan on trading Lawton, contrary to other reports.[36] Furthermore, Twins manager Tom Kelley stated that he did not expect Lawton would be traded under any circumstances.[36] It was noted in spring training in 2001 that Lawton had gained 14 pounds (6.4 kg).[37] Lawton was taken out of the Twins starting lineup in May, due to lack of production.[38] As a member of the Twins that year, he batted .293 with 71 runs scored, 110 hits, 25 doubles, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases in 103 games played.” Wiki. In 2001 he was a Met.
 
Matt Lawton 7 years .277/.379/.428/.808 11.3 WAR
 
Dustin Mohr led in appearances in 2002 with Bobby Kielty, a Minnesota legend having 50, Cuddyer 25, Buchanan 24. Mohr and Kielty again in 2003 and Jacque Jones with Lew Ford in 2004. Jones, Cuddyer, and Ford – 2005, Cuddyer 142 in 2006 with Lew Ford 22. Cuddyer and Tyner in 2007. In 2008 Span had the most games in RF followed by Cuddyer and Kubel. Cuddyer was in 117 in 2009, Span 39 (playing mostly CF) and Kubel 30. Kubel then had 83 in 2010, Cuddyer 66, Repko 39. Cuddyer 77 in 2011, Kubel 50, Repko 27.
 
Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR 903/1427 appearances in RF.
 
Ben Revere started 84 games in RF in 2012 which blows the great arm qualification. Mastroianni 34, Parmelee 18, Plouffe 15. Parmelee had 68 in RF in 2013 and Ryan Doumit 32 and Oswaldo Arcia 20 with Chris Herrmann 21. Looking at that group I can see why we were 66 – 96. Oswaldo Arcia had 100 games backed by Parmelee and Chris Colbello and Chris Herrmann in 2014 – yikes. Torii Hunter was the primary starter in 123 RF games in 2015, but he is in the CF rankings.
 
Now we have Kepler and he does not fit in this ranking.
 
In fact most of the names above do not; the best I can come up with is:
1. Oliva 15 years .304/.353/.476/.830 43.1 WAR 1138 games out of 1676 in RF. 220 HR.
2. Tom Brunansky 7 years 163 HRs .250/.330/.452/.782 16.1 WAR
3. Michael Cuddyer 11 years .272/.343/.451/.794 12.8 WAR 903/1427 appearances in RF.
4. Matt Lawton 7 years .277/.379/.428/.808 11.3 WAR

The Best Twins Centerfielder in history? The outfield is a challenge because so many times managers see them as interchangeable parts. But a great Centerfielder must have range and perhaps some flare. The NY press had a great time when there were three teams – and they had Mays, Mantle, and Snider.
 
Lenny Green Was our first year CF and Bill Tuttle backed him up when he was not playing out of position at 3B. The same two in 1962. Green was traded to the Angels for Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall.
 
Green would play 6 years for the Twins/Senators .270/.359/.384/.743. 7 WAR.
 
The phenom Jimmie Hall took over center in 1963 after an injury to Green, but Green started more games. Hall, Allison, and Oliva played Center in 1964 which would make quite an outfield with all three in the same game. Hall had the most by far, but lost time after being hit on the cheek in the All Star game by Bo Belinsky. Hall, Nossek, Oliva in 1965. Hall would play 8 years in MLB. His last four years were a minus -1 WAR. Hall was traded to Angels with Pete Cimino and Don Mincher for Dean Chance and Jackie Hernandez. After the trade his career was terrible. A Sabr article said, “Little is known about Hall’s life after his baseball career ended. He returned to Elm City, North Carolina, and made his living as both a woodworker and longhaul truck driver. When he wasn’t working, he was an outdoorsman who liked to hunt and fish. He also enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren. Hall stayed away from the game entirely, even refusing to return to Minneapolis in 2005 for a 40th-anniversary reunion of the 1965 team.” https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6ad8a4ec
 
Hall played 4 years. .269/.334/.481/.815 14.8 WAR
 
Ted Uhlaender took over with Hall and Oliva getting some action and kept the position in 1967, 1968, and 1969 with Tovar behind him. He was traded with Graig Nettles, Dean Chance and Bob Miller to the Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams in 1969.
 
Uhlaender was a Twin 5 years. .262/.306/.354/.661. 3.2 WAR.
 
1970 Tovar was the centerfielder, and I would have had him there all the time, but he was so versatile. Holt was the most frequent CF in 1971, but Jim Nettles and Tovar matched him. Then in 1972 we had Bobby Darwin at CF with Nettles and Brye next in line. Darwin lost the position quickly and Larry Hisle took over in 1973, with Brye having just a few less games there. Hisle divided his time between LF and CF so Brye had the most CF games in 1974. In 1975 Dan Ford dominated the position with Lyman Bostock taking the majority of other appearances.
 
Then in 1976 Bostock took over CF and Brye still had 57 games. 1977 Bostock, Hisle and Norwood shared the position. Bostock had a total of 17 putouts in a doubleheader which is a good example of his fielding prowess, which set an American League record for outfielders. Then in 1978 Bostock was gone from MN and one year later he was just gone. In Gary Indiana while visiting his uncle, the uncle Turner agreed to give Hawkins and her sister, Barbara Smith, a ride to their cousin's house. “Turner drove his vehicle, with Hawkins seated in the front passenger's seat. Bostock and Barbara Smith rode in the vehicle's back seat. Barbara Smith had been living with Hawkins while estranged from her husband, Leonard Smith. Unbeknownst to the group, Leonard Smith was outside Hawkins' home in his car, and observed the group's departure in Turner's car. According to Leonard Smith, his wife was frequently unfaithful to him, and though he did not know Bostock, he later said that upon seeing Bostock get into the back seat of Turner's vehicle with his wife, he concluded that the two were having an affair. In fact, however, Bostock had only met the woman 20 minutes previously, when he and his uncle arrived at Hawkins' home.” Wiki. The gunshot that was intended for the wife, caught Bostock, a killing blow and a great young man and his career were finished.
 
By 1978 Bostock had 3 years and .311/.365/.427 /.791. 10.3 WAR
 
Steve Brye had 7 years in MN .261/.311/.360/.671. 4.7 WAR.
 
In 1978 Dan Ford was in CF. In 1979 Kenny Landreaux was the centerfielder. 1980 was another of those years where it did not seem like we could make up our mind. Landreaux 67, Rick Sofield 51, Dave Edwards, Greg Johnston 14. I liked Landreaux but he was not here long enough to get in the conversation. Of course in 1981 Mickey Hatcher had 86 games and he is not going to be the best and Gary Ward had 19. Bobby Mitchell who I do not remember was in 115 games as our CF in 1982 With Brunansky and Eisenreich behind him. Then the who is Hell is he continued in 1983 with Darrell Brown 76, Bobby Mitchell 44, Tom Brunansky (in center?) 38, and Rusty Kuntz 27.
 
Kenny Landreaux 2 years, .294/.341/.435/.776 1.8 WAR
 
Sigh of relief – 1984 and Kirby Puckett was in Center! Finally. Kirby dominated the CF position in 1985, 1986 with no others having any claim. Then in the WS year Mark Davidson had 20 games behind Puckett. Moses was behind him in 1987 and in 1988. Puckett, Mack and Moses in 1990. Puckett, Mack and Jarvis Brown in 1991. Puckett, Bruett and Brown in 1992. 1993 Puckett had a strong backup with Mack getting 67 starts and Puckett was moved to RF. “Puckett woke up on March 28 without vision in his right eye. He was diagnosed with glaucoma and was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his professional career. Three surgeries over the next few months could not restore vision in the eye.” WIKI.
 
Puckett 12 years .318/.360/.477/.837 51.1 WAR
 
1995 Rich Becker took over CF with Alex Cole and Matt Lawton behind him. Becker stayed in control in 1996 with Roberto Kelly and Lawton behind him. 1997 Becker, Lawton and Darrin Jackson. 1998 Otis Nixon was in CF.
Rich Becker, 5 years. .267/.349/.379/.728. 6.5 WAR. Nixon was gone in 1999 and Torii Hunter was in CF with Jacque Jones getting substantial appearances. Hunter, Jones, Hocking were there in 2000. Torii with Kielty had 2001, 2002, and in 2003 Lew Ford backed up Hunter. Again, Hunter and Ford in 2004, 2005, and 2006 Tyner was behind Hunter and again in 2007. In 2008 Span was behind Hunter. Hunter was a first round pick, one of our best. As a free Agent Hunter went to the Angels, then at the end of his career reappeared in a Twins uniform. He had nine consecutive Gold Gloves!
 
Torii Hunter 12 years, .268/.321/.462/.783 26.4 WAR
 
2008 Carlos Gomez was in CF with Denard Span behind him (no wonder Denard left us). Same two in 2009. Span finally got the position he deserved in 2010 and Repko backed him with Revere. Revere started the most in center in 2011 and Span was second. Then in 2012 Span had most of the games and Revere a few. We traded Span for Alex Meyer.
 
Span had 5 years .284/.357/.389/ .746 17.2 WAR
 
Aaron Hicks took over in 2013 with Clete Thomas in 50, and Alex Pressley 28. Then Danny Santana got the most starts over Hicks in 2014 and Sam Fuld got too many too. Then in 2015 Hicks was pushed by Buxton and was soon to be a Yankee.
 
Who is the Best? Hicks could have been really good, but not for us; Gomez looked good but had a short shelf life, Eisenreich was exciting and faded fast.
 
1. Kirby Puckett 12 years .318/.360/.477/.837 51.1 WAR
2. Torii Hunter 12 years, .268/.321/.462/.783 26.4 WAR
3. Denard Span had 5 years .284/.357/.389/ .746 17.2 WAR
4. Bostock had 3 years and .311/.365/.427 /.791. 10.3 WAR
5. Jimmie Hall played 4 years. .269/.334/.481/.815 14.8 WAR
6. Lenny Green 6 years for the Twins .270/.359/.384/.743. 7 WAR
7. Rich Becker, 5 years. .267/.349/.379/.728. 6.5 WAR
8. Steve Brye had 7 years in MN .261/.311/.360/.671. 4.7 WAR
9. Uhlaender was a Twin 5 years. .262/.306/.354/.661. 3.2 WAR.
10. Kenny Landreaux 2 years, .294/.341/.435/.776 1.8 WAR
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11386-the-twins-best-left-fielder-in-history/
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11380-the-best-third-baseman-in-minnesota-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11367-the-best-first-baseman-in-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11377-the-best-ss-in-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11371-%7B%3F%7D/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11365-the-best-catcher-in-twins-history/

The best Left fielder in Twins history presents one more puzzle.
 
This is an addition. I got so caught up in Killebrew I forgot Jim Lemon. He played 120 games in LF in 1961 near the end of his career. I loved to watch him play. Lenny Green, Dan Dobbek and Joe Altobelli shared the rest of the leftfield games. He played seven years with the Senators before they moved. His career numbers Senators/Twins were .265 /334/.470/.805, but only 7.7 WAR because he was not a fleet fielder. He hit 38 and 33 HRs the years before they moved and 14 in 1961. In DC he teamed with Roy Siever to be the power tandum. His last year was with the Twins/Phillies/White Sox in 1963. He was a coach for us on the 1965 WS team.
 
Once again Killebrew is the on the best page. Because he played 22 years and in six positions he had enough time to spend as much time at 3B as any candidate, as much at first base and most of the candidates and he played 471 games in LF. His line of .256/.376/.509/.884 and 60.4 WAR has now been on three of my analyses. The only other significant place for him was DH 158 games, but the position did not begin until his last two years with the team.
 
He was not a great fielder, probably true in every position, but he was versatile enough to be in six positions. In was the primary LF in our first year. Lenny Green, Dan Dobbek, and Joe Altobelli also got a good number of games in the position. Harmon had 120 games so they started some and came in for defense in others.
In 1962 he went up from 120 games in Left to 151 and Lenny Green was his primary back up with 87 games and he was a terrific fielder and base runner. In 1963 Jimmie Hall got in 89 games behind Killebrews 137 and Lenny Green only 14. “Allison had 25 doubles, 35 home runs, 91 RBI, led the league in runs scored (99) and in OPS (.911), and earned his second All-Star berth.”wiki
 
In 1964 Killebrew 157 games, Bob Allison 27 and Lenny Green 6. In 1965 it was Bob Allison’s position with Sandy Valdespino and Jimmie Hall behind him. Hall was mostly in CF that year and Allison, Hall, Mincher, Killebrew, Oliva gave us an historic power lineup. He had a poor World Series except for game two when “His bases-loaded double against Sandy Koufax and a great backhand diving catch of a Jim Lefebvre fly ball were the main contributors to the Twins victory. This catch has been called the best catch in Twins history.” Wiki.
 
Allison only had 33 games in LF in 1966 and Jimmie Hall had 70, Andy Kosco 31, Sandy Valdespino 18. Allison “was hit by a pitch and missed 91 games, but returned at the end of the season to knock a pinch-hit three-run homer, sending the New York Yankees to the cellar in the American League.”
 
1967 Allison was in Left 139 games and Sandy Valdespino was in 64. 1968 Allison was backed up by Cesar Tovar and Jim Holt. The last year of the decade it was a scrum in LF – Allison 58 games, Craig Nettles (wrong position) 53, Ted Uhlaender 44, Charlie Manuel (you got to be kidding) 41, Cesar Tovar 40 and five more in single figures.
Allison only appeared in left 12 games in 1970 with Jim Holt and Brand Alyea getting the most appearances ahead of Cesar Tovar.
 
Allison finished with .255/.358/.471/.829 and 34 WAR for 13 years with the Senators/Twins. He had been Rookie of the Year. He had 528 appearances in LF. And also 196 CF, 631 RF. He will appear on another list.
His later history is perhaps best known. After retiring he worked for Coca Cola and faced a terrible disease that might have affected his latter years in the field – “Allison helped found the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota along with his wife Betty, sons Mark, Kirk, and Kyle, and former Twins' teammates Jim Kaat and Frank Quilici. He continued to battle this rare degenerative neurological disease for eight years, eventually losing his ability to walk, talk, write, and feed himself. Allison died of complications from ataxia on April 9, 1995 at the age of 60 in his Rio Verde, Arizona home.” Wiki.
 
Tovar took over LF in 1972 with Alyea behind him and Steve Brye third. Jim Holt had only 14 appearances in LF. In 1973 Brye took over LF and Tovar backed him up with Charlie Manuel third. Holt was back with 80 starts in 1973 and Larry Hisle had 50, Mike Adams 23. Then the mix and match continued in 1874 at Steve Braun had 108 games and Larry Hisle 74. Braun 106 and Hisle 41 in 1975.
 
Hisle took over LF in 1976 and Braun was behind him. 1977 was a fascinating combination of Larry Hisle 71 and Lyman Bostock 60 – two great players. Bob Gorinski got in 30.
 
Larry Hisle would be with the Twins five years .286/.354/.457/.811 17.2 WAR 470 LF games, 500 CF, 101 RF.
 
Lets just say things went down in 1978 with Willie Norwood 101 games, Rich Chiles (who?) 59, and Bombo Rivera 32! Bombo Rivera started in LF in 1979 in 61 games, Ken Landreaux 49, Glenn Adams 45, and Dave Edwards 36. Six others had single digits in LF with Hosken Powell the most interesting name.
 
Willie Norwood would be with the Twins four years .286 /.354/.457/.811 and despite decent numbers had a total WAR of minus – 1.3. He was not a good fielder.
 
In the new Decade 1980 dropped to seventh in LF appearances. Rick Sofield started 71, Landreaux 55, Dave Edwards 28 ant then Ron Jackson, Glen Adams, Gary Ward and Bombo. Hoping for Bombo 1981 had Gary Ward 62, Rick Sofield 33, Hosken Powell 12 and Mark Funderburk (Another great name) for 6.
 
Gary Ward owned Left in 1982 with 127 games and Mickey Hatcher had 26. The same two in 1983 with Hatcher in 11.
 
Bombo was with us three years .266/.327/.372/.699 2.5 WAR NS 103 games in left.
 
Gary Ward was with us 5 years 285/.333/.461/.794 10.6 WAR 354 games in left for us. Mickey Hatcher took over in 1984 with 100 games and Dave Meier had 41 and Darrell Brown 19. The same two held down third in 1985 with Randy Bush in 38 games.
 
Mickey Hatcher – 6 years .284/.315/.383/.697 3.7 WAR
 
Then Randy Bush took over in 1986 with Billy Beane - Yes that Billy Beane .217/.258/.303/.561 in two years with the Twin and then on to Moneyball. We got him for Tim Teufel. Behind Billy was Mickey and Mark Davidson.
Then in 1987, the world series year we had Dan Gladden 105 games, Tom Brunansky 58, Mark Davidson 36. Gladden and Moses in 1988, Gladden, Moses and Bush in 1989, Gladden, Shane Mack, and Moses in 1990. Gladden, Mack, and Pedro Munoz in 1991,
 
Gladden would be 5 years .268/.318/.382/.700 5.7 WAR and into the radio booth after two years in Detroit.
Shane Mack took over in 1992 backed by Darren Reed. Mack split time with Pedro Munoz and Dave McCarty in 1993 and again in 1994, the strike year. He did play 180 games at CF, 180 RF, as well as 352 in LF. It is hard to separate OF since they switch so much.Mack was out greatest Rule V pick.
 
Mack was a Twin 5 years, .309/.375/.479/.854 19.6 WAR 352 games in left.
 
Marty Cordova took over in 1995 with Jerald Clark second in Left. And had 145 appearances in 1996, Rich Becker 15. Cordova had less in 1997 and Matt Lawton picked up the rest. Cordova still had LF in 1998 with Alex Ochoa, Denny Hocking, Chris Latham and Matt Lawton sharing the rest. Cordova had been Rookie of the Year and looked good, but like Castino his back ruined his career. “Between 1997 and 2000, he missed 240 games while on the injured list.” Wiki
 
Cordova played five years with the Twins .277/.348/.451/.799. 5.8 WAR
 
In 1999 Chad Allen took over with Hocking having the second most. Allen lasted one year and Jacque Jones took over in 2000 playing 90 games and Matt Lawton 67. Denny Hocking, Midre Cummings, Chad Allen, John Barnes, Brian Buchanan and TORII HUNTER all had games in left that year.
 
Chad Allen was with the Twins three years and had good stats 275/.332/.401/.732. But his fielding must have been bad because he finished with a minus -0.9 WAR.
 
2001 Jacque Jones, Chad Allen and Bobby Keilty. Jacque had 137 games. He had 143 games in Left in 2002 with Dustin Mohr and Bobby Kielty getting the rest. In 2003 Jacque had 90 games and Shannon Stewart had 46. Dustan Mohr and Lew Ford had a few. Then Jacque Jones moved to RF in 2004 and Lew Ford and Shannon Stewart split LF with Michael Restovich and Mike Ryan grabbing a few games. Shannon Stewart took over in 2005 with 125 games in LF and Lew Ford getting the rest. Jacque was in RF again. With Stewart, Hunter, Jones we had one of our best fielding and hitting OFs. Then Jacque turned down arbitration and signed with the cubs.
Jaccque Jones .279/.327/.455/.782 11.9 WAR in 7 years 461 games in LF.
 
2006 Lew Ford 64 games, Rondell White 38, Shannon Stewart 34, Jason Tyner 33, Jason Kubel 30. Then Kubel took over in 2007 84 games, Tyner 47, Ford 35, White 16, and Josh Rabe. Finally, cough, cough, we got a steady left fielder in 2008 when Delmon Young was acquired.
 
Lew Ford was with us 5 years and in 494 games hit .272/.349//.402/.750 8.3 WAR
 
Shannon Stewart was with us 4 years 333 games and hit .294/.354/.418/.772 and 4.9 WAR
 
2009 we backed off a little with Delmon getting 98 games and Span getting 74 which means a lot of defensive subs, and Jason Kubel 29 games. In 2010 Delmon was back out there for 149 games and Kubel 16. In 2012 we had one of those audition years like we have seen with other positions too. Young got in 75 games, Rene Tosoni 38, Jason Repko 24, Ben Revere 13, Joe Benson 11, Jason Kubel 9, Brian Dinkelman 5, and Trevor Plouffe 3! Wow, an entire lineup of LFs.
 
Delmon Young’s line looks good, .287/.324/.429/.753 but total WAR for 4 years was 1. With a -5,4 defensive WAR
None passed the test and in 2012 Josh Willingham played there 119 games, Darin Mastrioanni 25, Ryan Doumit 16, and Matt Carson (who?) 15. In 2013 Willingham played 72 games, Oswaldo Arcia 56, Clete Thomas 26 and Mastroianni 19. In 2014 we traded WIlllingham to KC for Jason Adam (P).
 
In Willingham’s three years his numbers are not as good as I remember, of course his 35 HR year is what is most memorable. .232/.353/.446/.799 4.8 WAR
 
 
Before he was traded Willingham had 53 games in 2014, Kubel 36, Schafer 34, Parmelee 22, Nunez 16, Herrman 12, Sam Fuld 10, and Aaron Hicks 2. Lots to sort out there, but hardly one great LF that year.
Eddie Rosario took over with 86 games in 2015 and he is the current LF so I will stop here. Rosario has a career left to define him and he could rise high on this list.
 
Here I am at the end of another long trail of players. This is my best guess and biased top ten.
1. Killebrew in 471 games set the standard. 256/.376/.509/.884 and 60.4 WAR
2. Mack was a Twin 5 years, .309/.375/.479/.854 19.6 WAR 352 games in left.
3. Bob Allison .255/.358/.471/.829 and 34 WAR for 13 years
4. Larry Hisle five years .286/.354/.457/.811 17.2 WAR 470 LF games, 500 CF, 101 RF.
5. Shannon Stewart was with us 4 years 333 games and hit .294/.354/.418/.772 and 4.9 WAR
6. Jacque Jones .279/.327/.455/.782 11.9 WAR in 7 years 461 games
7. Dan Gladden 5 years .268/.318/.382/.700 5.7 WAR
8. Lew Ford was with us 5 years and in 494 games hit .272/.349//.402/.750 . 8.3 WAR
9.Marty Cordova played five years with the Twins .277/.348/.451/.799. 5.8 WAR
10. Delmon Young’s 287/.324/.429/.753 total WAR for 4 years was 1 (I just had to get Delmon on the list).

The Best Twins Centerfielder in history? The outfield is a challenge because so many times managers see them as interchangeable parts. But a great Centerfielder must have range and perhaps some flare. The NY press had a great time when there were three teams – and they had Mays, Mantle, and Snider.
 
Lenny Green Was our first year CF and Bill Tuttle backed him up when he was not playing out of position at 3B. The same two in 1962. Green was traded to the Angels for Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall.
 
Green would play 6 years for the Twins/Senators .270/.359/.384/.743. 7 WAR.
 
The phenom Jimmie Hall took over center in 1963 after an injury to Green, but Green started more games. Hall, Allison, and Oliva played Center in 1964 which would make quite an outfield with all three in the same game. Hall had the most by far, but lost time after being hit on the cheek in the All Star game by Bo Belinsky. Hall, Nossek, Oliva in 1965. Hall would play 8 years in MLB. His last four years were a minus -1 WAR. Hall was traded to Angels with Pete Cimino and Don Mincher for Dean Chance and Jackie Hernandez. After the trade his career was terrible. A Sabr article said, “Little is known about Hall’s life after his baseball career ended. He returned to Elm City, North Carolina, and made his living as both a woodworker and longhaul truck driver. When he wasn’t working, he was an outdoorsman who liked to hunt and fish. He also enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren. Hall stayed away from the game entirely, even refusing to return to Minneapolis in 2005 for a 40th-anniversary reunion of the 1965 team.” https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6ad8a4ec
 
Hall played 4 years. .269/.334/.481/.815 14.8 WAR
 
Ted Uhlaender took over with Hall and Oliva getting some action and kept the position in 1967, 1968, and 1969 with Tovar behind him. He was traded with Graig Nettles, Dean Chance and Bob Miller to the Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams in 1969.
 
Uhlaender was a Twin 5 years. .262/.306/.354/.661. 3.2 WAR.
 
1970 Tovar was the centerfielder, and I would have had him there all the time, but he was so versatile. Holt was the most frequent CF in 1971, but Jim Nettles and Tovar matched him. Then in 1972 we had Bobby Darwin at CF with Nettles and Brye next in line. Darwin lost the position quickly and Larry Hisle took over in 1973, with Brye having just a few less games there. Hisle divided his time between LF and CF so Brye had the most CF games in 1974. In 1975 Dan Ford dominated the position with Lyman Bostock taking the majority of other appearances.
 
Then in 1976 Bostock took over CF and Brye still had 57 games. 1977 Bostock, Hisle and Norwood shared the position. Bostock had a total of 17 putouts in a doubleheader which is a good example of his fielding prowess, which set an American League record for outfielders. Then in 1978 Bostock was gone from MN and one year later he was just gone. In Gary Indiana while visiting his uncle, the uncle Turner agreed to give Hawkins and her sister, Barbara Smith, a ride to their cousin's house. “Turner drove his vehicle, with Hawkins seated in the front passenger's seat. Bostock and Barbara Smith rode in the vehicle's back seat. Barbara Smith had been living with Hawkins while estranged from her husband, Leonard Smith. Unbeknownst to the group, Leonard Smith was outside Hawkins' home in his car, and observed the group's departure in Turner's car. According to Leonard Smith, his wife was frequently unfaithful to him, and though he did not know Bostock, he later said that upon seeing Bostock get into the back seat of Turner's vehicle with his wife, he concluded that the two were having an affair. In fact, however, Bostock had only met the woman 20 minutes previously, when he and his uncle arrived at Hawkins' home.” Wiki. The gunshot that was intended for the wife, caught Bostock, a killing blow and a great young man and his career were finished.
 
By 1978 Bostock had 3 years and .311/.365/.427 /.791. 10.3 WAR
 
Steve Brye had 7 years in MN .261/.311/.360/.671. 4.7 WAR.
 
In 1978 Dan Ford was in CF. In 1979 Kenny Landreaux was the centerfielder. 1980 was another of those years where it did not seem like we could make up our mind. Landreaux 67, Rick Sofield 51, Dave Edwards, Greg Johnston 14. I liked Landreaux but he was not here long enough to get in the conversation. Of course in 1981 Mickey Hatcher had 86 games and he is not going to be the best and Gary Ward had 19. Bobby Mitchell who I do not remember was in 115 games as our CF in 1982 With Brunansky and Eisenreich behind him. Then the who is Hell is he continued in 1983 with Darrell Brown 76, Bobby Mitchell 44, Tom Brunansky (in center?) 38, and Rusty Kuntz 27.
 
Kenny Landreaux 2 years, .294/.341/.435/.776 1.8 WAR
 
Sigh of relief – 1984 and Kirby Puckett was in Center! Finally. Kirby dominated the CF position in 1985, 1986 with no others having any claim. Then in the WS year Mark Davidson had 20 games behind Puckett. Moses was behind him in 1987 and in 1988. Puckett, Mack and Moses in 1990. Puckett, Mack and Jarvis Brown in 1991. Puckett, Bruett and Brown in 1992. 1993 Puckett had a strong backup with Mack getting 67 starts and Puckett was moved to RF. “Puckett woke up on March 28 without vision in his right eye. He was diagnosed with glaucoma and was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his professional career. Three surgeries over the next few months could not restore vision in the eye.” WIKI.
 
Puckett 12 years .318/.360/.477/.837 51.1 WAR
 
1995 Rich Becker took over CF with Alex Cole and Matt Lawton behind him. Becker stayed in control in 1996 with Roberto Kelly and Lawton behind him. 1997 Becker, Lawton and Darrin Jackson. 1998 Otis Nixon was in CF.
Rich Becker, 5 years. .267/.349/.379/.728. 6.5 WAR. Nixon was gone in 1999 and Torii Hunter was in CF with Jacque Jones getting substantial appearances. Hunter, Jones, Hocking were there in 2000. Torii with Kielty had 2001, 2002, and in 2003 Lew Ford backed up Hunter. Again, Hunter and Ford in 2004, 2005, and 2006 Tyner was behind Hunter and again in 2007. In 2008 Span was behind Hunter. Hunter was a first round pick, one of our best. As a free Agent Hunter went to the Angels, then at the end of his career reappeared in a Twins uniform. He had nine consecutive Gold Gloves!
 
Torii Hunter 12 years, .268/.321/.462/.783 26.4 WAR
 
2008 Carlos Gomez was in CF with Denard Span behind him (no wonder Denard left us). Same two in 2009. Span finally got the position he deserved in 2010 and Repko backed him with Revere. Revere started the most in center in 2011 and Span was second. Then in 2012 Span had most of the games and Revere a few. We traded Span for Alex Meyer.
 
Span had 5 years .284/.357/.389/ .746 17.2 WAR
 
Aaron Hicks took over in 2013 with Clete Thomas in 50, and Alex Pressley 28. Then Danny Santana got the most starts over Hicks in 2014 and Sam Fuld got too many too. Then in 2015 Hicks was pushed by Buxton and was soon to be a Yankee.
 
Who is the Best? Hicks could have been really good, but not for us; Gomez looked good but had a short shelf life, Eisenreich was exciting and faded fast.
 
1. Kirby Puckett 12 years .318/.360/.477/.837 51.1 WAR
2. Torii Hunter 12 years, .268/.321/.462/.783 26.4 WAR
3. Denard Span had 5 years .284/.357/.389/ .746 17.2 WAR
4. Bostock had 3 years and .311/.365/.427 /.791. 10.3 WAR
5. Jimmie Hall played 4 years. .269/.334/.481/.815 14.8 WAR
6. Lenny Green 6 years for the Twins .270/.359/.384/.743. 7 WAR
7. Rich Becker, 5 years. .267/.349/.379/.728. 6.5 WAR
8. Steve Brye had 7 years in MN .261/.311/.360/.671. 4.7 WAR
9. Uhlaender was a Twin 5 years. .262/.306/.354/.661. 3.2 WAR.
10. Kenny Landreaux 2 years, .294/.341/.435/.776 1.8 WAR
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11386-the-twins-best-left-fielder-in-history/
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11380-the-best-third-baseman-in-minnesota-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11367-the-best-first-baseman-in-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11377-the-best-ss-in-twins-history/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11371-%7B%3F%7D/

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11365-the-best-catcher-in-twins-history/

The best Left fielder in Twins history presents one more puzzle.
 
This is an addition. I got so caught up in Killebrew I forgot Jim Lemon. He played 120 games in LF in 1961 near the end of his career. I loved to watch him play. Lenny Green, Dan Dobbek and Joe Altobelli shared the rest of the leftfield games. He played seven years with the Senators before they moved. His career numbers Senators/Twins were .265 /334/.470/.805, but only 7.7 WAR because he was not a fleet fielder. He hit 38 and 33 HRs the years before they moved and 14 in 1961. In DC he teamed with Roy Siever to be the power tandum. His last year was with the Twins/Phillies/White Sox in 1963. He was a coach for us on the 1965 WS team.
 
Once again Killebrew is the on the best page. Because he played 22 years and in six positions he had enough time to spend as much time at 3B as any candidate, as much at first base and most of the candidates and he played 471 games in LF. His line of .256/.376/.509/.884 and 60.4 WAR has now been on three of my analyses. The only other significant place for him was DH 158 games, but the position did not begin until his last two years with the team.
 
He was not a great fielder, probably true in every position, but he was versatile enough to be in six positions. In was the primary LF in our first year. Lenny Green, Dan Dobbek, and Joe Altobelli also got a good number of games in the position. Harmon had 120 games so they started some and came in for defense in others.
In 1962 he went up from 120 games in Left to 151 and Lenny Green was his primary back up with 87 games and he was a terrific fielder and base runner. In 1963 Jimmie Hall got in 89 games behind Killebrews 137 and Lenny Green only 14. “Allison had 25 doubles, 35 home runs, 91 RBI, led the league in runs scored (99) and in OPS (.911), and earned his second All-Star berth.”wiki
 
In 1964 Killebrew 157 games, Bob Allison 27 and Lenny Green 6. In 1965 it was Bob Allison’s position with Sandy Valdespino and Jimmie Hall behind him. Hall was mostly in CF that year and Allison, Hall, Mincher, Killebrew, Oliva gave us an historic power lineup. He had a poor World Series except for game two when “His bases-loaded double against Sandy Koufax and a great backhand diving catch of a Jim Lefebvre fly ball were the main contributors to the Twins victory. This catch has been called the best catch in Twins history.” Wiki.
 
Allison only had 33 games in LF in 1966 and Jimmie Hall had 70, Andy Kosco 31, Sandy Valdespino 18. Allison “was hit by a pitch and missed 91 games, but returned at the end of the season to knock a pinch-hit three-run homer, sending the New York Yankees to the cellar in the American League.”
 
1967 Allison was in Left 139 games and Sandy Valdespino was in 64. 1968 Allison was backed up by Cesar Tovar and Jim Holt. The last year of the decade it was a scrum in LF – Allison 58 games, Craig Nettles (wrong position) 53, Ted Uhlaender 44, Charlie Manuel (you got to be kidding) 41, Cesar Tovar 40 and five more in single figures.
Allison only appeared in left 12 games in 1970 with Jim Holt and Brand Alyea getting the most appearances ahead of Cesar Tovar.
 
Allison finished with .255/.358/.471/.829 and 34 WAR for 13 years with the Senators/Twins. He had been Rookie of the Year. He had 528 appearances in LF. And also 196 CF, 631 RF. He will appear on another list.
His later history is perhaps best known. After retiring he worked for Coca Cola and faced a terrible disease that might have affected his latter years in the field – “Allison helped found the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota along with his wife Betty, sons Mark, Kirk, and Kyle, and former Twins' teammates Jim Kaat and Frank Quilici. He continued to battle this rare degenerative neurological disease for eight years, eventually losing his ability to walk, talk, write, and feed himself. Allison died of complications from ataxia on April 9, 1995 at the age of 60 in his Rio Verde, Arizona home.” Wiki.
 
Tovar took over LF in 1972 with Alyea behind him and Steve Brye third. Jim Holt had only 14 appearances in LF. In 1973 Brye took over LF and Tovar backed him up with Charlie Manuel third. Holt was back with 80 starts in 1973 and Larry Hisle had 50, Mike Adams 23. Then the mix and match continued in 1874 at Steve Braun had 108 games and Larry Hisle 74. Braun 106 and Hisle 41 in 1975.
 
Hisle took over LF in 1976 and Braun was behind him. 1977 was a fascinating combination of Larry Hisle 71 and Lyman Bostock 60 – two great players. Bob Gorinski got in 30.
 
Larry Hisle would be with the Twins five years .286/.354/.457/.811 17.2 WAR 470 LF games, 500 CF, 101 RF.
 
Lets just say things went down in 1978 with Willie Norwood 101 games, Rich Chiles (who?) 59, and Bombo Rivera 32! Bombo Rivera started in LF in 1979 in 61 games, Ken Landreaux 49, Glenn Adams 45, and Dave Edwards 36. Six others had single digits in LF with Hosken Powell the most interesting name.
 
Willie Norwood would be with the Twins four years .286 /.354/.457/.811 and despite decent numbers had a total WAR of minus – 1.3. He was not a good fielder.
 
In the new Decade 1980 dropped to seventh in LF appearances. Rick Sofield started 71, Landreaux 55, Dave Edwards 28 ant then Ron Jackson, Glen Adams, Gary Ward and Bombo. Hoping for Bombo 1981 had Gary Ward 62, Rick Sofield 33, Hosken Powell 12 and Mark Funderburk (Another great name) for 6.
 
Gary Ward owned Left in 1982 with 127 games and Mickey Hatcher had 26. The same two in 1983 with Hatcher in 11.
 
Bombo was with us three years .266/.327/.372/.699 2.5 WAR NS 103 games in left.
 
Gary Ward was with us 5 years 285/.333/.461/.794 10.6 WAR 354 games in left for us. Mickey Hatcher took over in 1984 with 100 games and Dave Meier had 41 and Darrell Brown 19. The same two held down third in 1985 with Randy Bush in 38 games.
 
Mickey Hatcher – 6 years .284/.315/.383/.697 3.7 WAR
 
Then Randy Bush took over in 1986 with Billy Beane - Yes that Billy Beane .217/.258/.303/.561 in two years with the Twin and then on to Moneyball. We got him for Tim Teufel. Behind Billy was Mickey and Mark Davidson.
Then in 1987, the world series year we had Dan Gladden 105 games, Tom Brunansky 58, Mark Davidson 36. Gladden and Moses in 1988, Gladden, Moses and Bush in 1989, Gladden, Shane Mack, and Moses in 1990. Gladden, Mack, and Pedro Munoz in 1991,
 
Gladden would be 5 years .268/.318/.382/.700 5.7 WAR and into the radio booth after two years in Detroit.
Shane Mack took over in 1992 backed by Darren Reed. Mack split time with Pedro Munoz and Dave McCarty in 1993 and again in 1994, the strike year. He did play 180 games at CF, 180 RF, as well as 352 in LF. It is hard to separate OF since they switch so much.Mack was out greatest Rule V pick.
 
Mack was a Twin 5 years, .309/.375/.479/.854 19.6 WAR 352 games in left.
 
Marty Cordova took over in 1995 with Jerald Clark second in Left. And had 145 appearances in 1996, Rich Becker 15. Cordova had less in 1997 and Matt Lawton picked up the rest. Cordova still had LF in 1998 with Alex Ochoa, Denny Hocking, Chris Latham and Matt Lawton sharing the rest. Cordova had been Rookie of the Year and looked good, but like Castino his back ruined his career. “Between 1997 and 2000, he missed 240 games while on the injured list.” Wiki
 
Cordova played five years with the Twins .277/.348/.451/.799. 5.8 WAR
 
In 1999 Chad Allen took over with Hocking having the second most. Allen lasted one year and Jacque Jones took over in 2000 playing 90 games and Matt Lawton 67. Denny Hocking, Midre Cummings, Chad Allen, John Barnes, Brian Buchanan and TORII HUNTER all had games in left that year.
 
Chad Allen was with the Twins three years and had good stats 275/.332/.401/.732. But his fielding must have been bad because he finished with a minus -0.9 WAR.
 
2001 Jacque Jones, Chad Allen and Bobby Keilty. Jacque had 137 games. He had 143 games in Left in 2002 with Dustin Mohr and Bobby Kielty getting the rest. In 2003 Jacque had 90 games and Shannon Stewart had 46. Dustan Mohr and Lew Ford had a few. Then Jacque Jones moved to RF in 2004 and Lew Ford and Shannon Stewart split LF with Michael Restovich and Mike Ryan grabbing a few games. Shannon Stewart took over in 2005 with 125 games in LF and Lew Ford getting the rest. Jacque was in RF again. With Stewart, Hunter, Jones we had one of our best fielding and hitting OFs. Then Jacque turned down arbitration and signed with the cubs.
Jaccque Jones .279/.327/.455/.782 11.9 WAR in 7 years 461 games in LF.
 
2006 Lew Ford 64 games, Rondell White 38, Shannon Stewart 34, Jason Tyner 33, Jason Kubel 30. Then Kubel took over in 2007 84 games, Tyner 47, Ford 35, White 16, and Josh Rabe. Finally, cough, cough, we got a steady left fielder in 2008 when Delmon Young was acquired.
 
Lew Ford was with us 5 years and in 494 games hit .272/.349//.402/.750 8.3 WAR
 
Shannon Stewart was with us 4 years 333 games and hit .294/.354/.418/.772 and 4.9 WAR
 
2009 we backed off a little with Delmon getting 98 games and Span getting 74 which means a lot of defensive subs, and Jason Kubel 29 games. In 2010 Delmon was back out there for 149 games and Kubel 16. In 2012 we had one of those audition years like we have seen with other positions too. Young got in 75 games, Rene Tosoni 38, Jason Repko 24, Ben Revere 13, Joe Benson 11, Jason Kubel 9, Brian Dinkelman 5, and Trevor Plouffe 3! Wow, an entire lineup of LFs.
 
Delmon Young’s line looks good, .287/.324/.429/.753 but total WAR for 4 years was 1. With a -5,4 defensive WAR
None passed the test and in 2012 Josh Willingham played there 119 games, Darin Mastrioanni 25, Ryan Doumit 16, and Matt Carson (who?) 15. In 2013 Willingham played 72 games, Oswaldo Arcia 56, Clete Thomas 26 and Mastroianni 19. In 2014 we traded WIlllingham to KC for Jason Adam (P).
 
In Willingham’s three years his numbers are not as good as I remember, of course his 35 HR year is what is most memorable. .232/.353/.446/.799 4.8 WAR
 
 
Before he was traded Willingham had 53 games in 2014, Kubel 36, Schafer 34, Parmelee 22, Nunez 16, Herrman 12, Sam Fuld 10, and Aaron Hicks 2. Lots to sort out there, but hardly one great LF that year.
Eddie Rosario took over with 86 games in 2015 and he is the current LF so I will stop here. Rosario has a career left to define him and he could rise high on this list.
 
Here I am at the end of another long trail of players. This is my best guess and biased top ten.
1. Killebrew in 471 games set the standard. 256/.376/.509/.884 and 60.4 WAR
2. Mack was a Twin 5 years, .309/.375/.479/.854 19.6 WAR 352 games in left.
3. Bob Allison .255/.358/.471/.829 and 34 WAR for 13 years
4. Larry Hisle five years .286/.354/.457/.811 17.2 WAR 470 LF games, 500 CF, 101 RF.
5. Shannon Stewart was with us 4 years 333 games and hit .294/.354/.418/.772 and 4.9 WAR
6. Jacque Jones .279/.327/.455/.782 11.9 WAR in 7 years 461 games
7. Dan Gladden 5 years .268/.318/.382/.700 5.7 WAR
8. Lew Ford was with us 5 years and in 494 games hit .272/.349//.402/.750 . 8.3 WAR
9.Marty Cordova played five years with the Twins .277/.348/.451/.799. 5.8 WAR
10. Delmon Young’s 287/.324/.429/.753 total WAR for 4 years was 1 (I just had to get Delmon on the list).

Our best third baseman is another challenge. This completes the infield reviews it is not an easy task to find the best. I might choose Harmon for both first and third and he played so long that he has as many games at both positions as the others that he is competing with.
 
 
In 1961 Bill Tuttle played 3B 85 games and batted 5th behind Zoilo. He played one more full time year at 3B before leaving MLB. Bill suffered from cancer that was the result of chewing tobacco and from his playing days until he died in Anoka at age 35. This was the only year he played 3B, otherwise he was an outfielder. There was a lot of action at 3B that year with Harmon getting 45 games and Ted Lepcio, Reno Bertoia, and Jose Valdivielso dividing up the many opportunities.
 
Harmon Killebrew is often thought of as our third baseman, but in 1962 Rich Rollins played the bag and Harmon was in LF. George Banks is the other person who got on 3rd, but only for six games. 1963 was the same two with Johnny Goryl (future manager) getting a handful. In 1964 Goryl backed up Rollins and Frank Kostro got a few games in at the hot corner. Rollins held third again in 1965 with Harmon Killebrew getting 43 games there, but mostly playing at first.
 
In 1966 Harmon started at 3rd base 107 times and Rich Rollins got in 63. In 1967 Harmon went back to first and Rollins and Cesar Tovar split the most games at third. Ron Clark, Jackie Hernandez, Frank Quilici, Harmon Killebrew 3, and Frank Kostro were all there at times.
 
Reversing the previous year, in 1968 Tovar and Rollins again split third, but Tovar was in the most games of the two. The same backups with one addition, Craig Nettles, 23 years old got in 5 games! Considering Nettles career, he might have been our best if we had kept him. Rich Rollins was left available in the Expansion draft and went to the Seattle Pilots.
 
 
Rich Rollins played 8 years for the Twins .272/.333/.394/.727 Not considered a great glove man he still accumulated 11.9 WAR and appeared in 2 all star games.
 
 
1969 had a long menu of players – Killebrew 105 games, Quilici 84 (lots of defensive replacements), Rick Renick 31, Cesar Tovar – now an outfielder 23 and Craig Nettles 21. In 1970 Killebrew 139 was backed up by Danny Thompson, Rick Renick, and Quilici.
 
 
Harmon Killebrew 21 years a Twin, 258/.378/.514/.892 – 573 HRs (pre Peds) 60.4 WAR. In a total of 2435 games Harmon played 970 at first, 791 at third and 471 in the OF. He was HOF and much more versatile than many assume. It is hard to take Harmon out of the conversation – Rich Rollins had 828 games at third – Harmon had almost as many.
 
 
A new name entered the listing in 1971 when Steve Braun played in 73 games, Killebrew 64, Eric Soderholm 20, Danny Thompson 17. Soderholm and Braun split 1972. Craig Nettles was gone. He would win numerous gold gloves and is considered one of the top 3 defensive 3B of all time, plus he set the AL record for HRs by a third baseman. He was traded to the Indians along with Dean Chance and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.
 
 
1973 Braun was in 101 games, Soderholm 33, Terrell 30, Dan Monzon 14. Then in 1974 Soderholm was in 130, Terrell 21 and Braun 17 with most of his time in Left Field. In 1975 it was still Soderholm with Dave McKay and Terrell in support. And that was the end of the Soderholm era.
 
 
Soderholm was with us 5 years and played 760 games at third. .257/.336/.389/.725 10.5 WAR
 
 
Mike Cubbage took over at third after the Twins acquired him in a trade in 1976. He kept the lead at third in 1977 with Jerry Terrell continuing to be the bench man. In 1978 with Cubbage still holding third a new name – Larry Wolfe appeared and was in 81 games at third. In 1979 John Castino grabbed third = 143 games and Cubbage was in 62 and was Rookie of the Year. The same ratio in 1980.
 
In 1981 Cubbage was gone, Castino was in 98 games and starting to have back pains. Gary Gaetti got in 8 games, Pete Mackanin 4.
 
Mike Cubbage played in 452 games at third in five years with the Twins. .266/.336/.378/.715 6.8 WAR
 
In 1982 Gaetti took over for Castino with 142 games while Castino got in to only 22. 1983 Castino played 2B and Gaetti had third. It would be the last full year for Castino.
 
Castino was with the Twins for six years - .278/.329/.398/.727 15.2 WAR 416 appearance at third, 232 at second.
Now it was Gaetti’s world. 154 games in 1984, 156 – 1985, 156 – 1986, 150 in 1987. Smalley and Newman were backups to third in the WS year. 1988 – 115 games and Al Newman got in 60. The same two dominated 1989, 1990, but by the WS year 1991 Gaetti was gone. After hitting just 229 he was allowed to leave as a free agent and went to the Angels.
 
Gary Gaetti played 10 years for the Twins. .256/.307.437/.744 and 27.2 WAR In 19 seasons he played 2282 games out of 2507 at third base.
 
Mike Pagliarulo was the third baseman for the WS run in 1991 and Scott Leius and Al Newman backed him up. Then in 1992 Leius took over 125 games, Pagliarulo 37 and Jeff Reboulet 22. 1993 had Pags back on third 79 games, Terry Jorgenson 45, Jeff Reboulet 34, Chip Hale 19. After the Auditions in 1994 Leius was back at third, Chip Hale played 21 games. In 1995 Leius was the starter and Reboulet, Stahoviak and Coomer were in line behind him. Then in 1996 Dave Hollins took over the bag with Reboulet, Todd Walker, and Coomer behind him.
Scott Leius was with us 6 years. .244/.316/.353/.669 4.8 WAR In his career he was 445 games at third and 557 total.
 
1997 Ron Coomer now had the bag with Todd Walker and Dennis Hocking in support. In 1998 Cooomer and Brent Gates shared the bag with Hocking and Jon Shave next in line. A guy named Corey Koskie showed up for 10 games. As you probably expected Corey Koskie was in the lead in 1999 with 79 games, Brent Gates had 61, Ron Coomer 57. Finally in 2000 the corner belonged to Koski with Jason Maxwell next in line ahead of Hocking. 2001 was the same. 2002 was the end of Maxwell and it was Hocking and Cuddyer behind Koskie. 2003 Koskie, Hocking and Chris Comez. 2004 still Koskie and a shifting line behind him – Cuddyer, Terry Tiffee and Alex Prieto. Punto made the list this year too.
 
Koskie in seven years out of nine he played for the Twins and had a line of 280/.373/.463/.836 He played 3B 908/928 games. WAR 22.2. Third was probably the right spot for the former hockey player and Canadian. Like Mauer and Morneau he suffered a concussion and this really ended his career.
 
Ron Coomer played 391 games at third and played 6 years for MN. 278/315/.431/.746 WAR 2.5
 
2005 things were in transition again – this time Michael Cuddyer held the hot corner with Luis Rodriguez, Tiffee, Castro and Punto in line behind him. In 2006 Nick Punto was at third 89 games, Tony Batista 50, Luis Rodrigues 29 and Terry Tiffee and Scott Baker had a few games. 2007 Punto was at third 108 games, Luis Rodriguez, Brian Buscher and Jeff Cirillo had games there as well as Tommy Watkins – soon to be our minor league manager.
Brian Bushcher with 64 games, Mike Lamb 55, Brendan Harris 34, Matt Tolbert, Nick Punto and Matt Macri had substantial games in this audition year – 2008. The auditions continued in 2009 with Joe Crede, Brendan Harris, Tolbert, Buscher, Punto all showing their skills. Since that did not work we held another audition year – 2010 with Danny Valencia 81 games, Nick Punto 48, Brendan Harris 27, Michael Cuddyer 14, Matt Tolbert 14, Alexi Casilla 14, and Luke Hughes 2.
 
They liked what they saw and finally settled on Danny Valencia in 2011 with Luke Hughes number 2. But that did not work out and in 2012 Danny was third on the list behind Trevor Plouffe and Jamey Carroll. Plouffe settled in with 120 games in 2013 and Jamey Carroll and Eduardo Escobar were behind him. In 2014 Carroll was gone, Plouffe was backed by Escobar and Nunez. 2015 Plouffe and Nunez held the bag. Then the auditions began again – 2016 Plouffe 63, Sano 42, Nunez 33, Ecobar 23, Polanco 9, Beresford 3, and Danny Santana 1. Then in 2017 we began the Sano era, but Escobar started almost as many games.
 
Nick Punto had seven of his 14 years with Minnesota. .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR He played 360 games at third, 408 at second and 337 at short.
 
Trevor Plouffe seven years in Minnesota. .247/.308/.420/.727 8.6 WAR.
 
 
There are the choices: Which do you want?
1. Harmon Killebrew 21 years, 258/.378/.514/.892 – 573 HRs 60.4 WAR. 791 games at third
2. Castino six years - .278/.329/.398/.727 15.2 WAR 416 appearance at third
3. Gary Gaetti 10 years .256/.307.437/.744 and 27.2 WAR 19 seasons 2282/2507 at third base.
4. Koskie seven years. 280/.373/.463/.836 WAR 22.2 3B 908/928 games.
5. Rich Rollins played 8 years.272/.333/.394/.727. 11.9 WAR 828 games at third.
6. Soderholm 5 years. .257/.336/.389/.725. 10.5 WAR 760 games at third
7. Trevor Plouffe seven years. .247/.308/.420/.727 8.6 WAR. 611 games at 3B.
8. Nick Punto seven years with. .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR 360 games at third.
9. Mike Cubbage five years. .266/.336/.378/.715 6.8 WAR 452 games at third
10. Scott Leius 6 years. .244/.316/.353/.669 4.8 WAR 445 games at third.
11. Ron Coomer 6 years .278/315/.431/.746 WAR 2.5 391 games at third
 

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The best Shortstop in Twins history This is a challenging position. No HOF candidates.

 
 
The first year of the Twins Zoilo Vesalles was the dominate Shortstop – 129 games. Jose Valivielso backed him up. Versalles was in 160 games in 1962, 159 – 1963, 160 – 1964, 160 in the World Series year of 1965 when he was the MVP of the league, he dropped to 135 with Cesar Tovar behind him in 1966, 159 in 1967. After developing a Hemotoma on his back, a lifelong condition, his average dropped and he was sent with Mudcat Grant to the Dodgers for an old Johnny Roseboro, Bob Miller, and Ron Perranoski. But Zoilo, nicknamed Zorro set the Twins standard.
 
 
Versalles played 9 of his 12 years with the club including two in DC before the move. .250/.296/.383/.679 14.7 WAR.
 
 
1968 was a scrum year. Lots of players trying to establish themselves at SS – Jackie Hernandez, Ron Clark, Rick Renick and Cesar Tovar. Even Frank Quilici and Rod Carew got in some games at SS. Then in 1969 we found the next infield anchor – Leo Cardenas who played there 160 games. Then he came back for 160 in 1970, and 153 in 1971. A five time all – star and slick fielder, he tied the American League record with 570 assists and his fielding percentage was the highest in AL history. Then Calvin traded him for relief pitcher Dave LaRoche. This allowed the Angels to then trade Jim Fregosi, their shortstop to the Mets for Nolan Ryan. Just think if we had skipped that intermediary step and sent Cardenas for Ryan!
 
 
In three years out of a 16 year career Cardenas hit .263/.325/.394/.719 with 11.1 WAR.
Danny Thompson took over at SS in 1972 and had the looks of a really good player, but of course, he died of Leukemia at the Mayo in Rochester at age 29. In 1973 he played in 95 games at short and Jerry Terrell 81. In 1974, the Leukemia weakening him he played 88 games at short, Luiz Gomez got in 74, Jerry Terrell 34, and Sergio Ferrer 20. Then in 195, the year before he died, he played 100 games at SS with the same three coming in late game or starting the other games. In 1976 Danny played in 34 games and then he was gone.
 
 
Danny Thompson’s line for six years .251/.289/.316/.605 with 2.4 WAR.
 
 
Next to grab hold of the position was Roy Smalley in 1976. We got Smalley in a trade along with Mike Cubbage and pitchers Jim Gideon and Bill Singer for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. Why he would or could trade Thompson is another Calvin mystery. Why we traded Blyleven was a difficult thing to do, but a SS is important. Smalley was in 103 games under his uncle, manager Gene Mauch. He played in 150 games in 1977, 157 in 1978, 161 in 1979, and 125 in 1980 with Pete Mackinin, John Castino, and Lenny Faedo playing in the rest. In 1981 injuries limited him to 37 games and in 1982 he got in 4 games and was traded for Greg Gagne, and Pitchers Paul Boris and Ron Davis from the Yankees.
 
 
The rest of 1981 saw Chuck Baker, Pete Mackinin, Ron Washington, and Lenny Faedo at SS. In 1982 Ron Washington was our primary SS, Lenny Faedo the backup. In 1983 Washington remained number one, but there were multiple players getting time at short. Faedo was in 51 games, Houston Jiminez in 36, the newly acquired Gagne 10, and Gaetti 3.
 
 
Then in 1984 this streak of forgettables continued with Houston Jiminez and the number one, Washington number two then Faedo and Chris Speier. Finally, in 1985 Greg Gagne grabbed the position. With Roy Smalley back having been with the Yankees and the White Sox. He got in 49 games, Espinoza 31 and Ron Washington 31. The same four held the position in 1986 and Smalley took over DH with 114 games there.
 
 
In the championship season of 1987 Gagne was backed up by Al Newman and Smalley played there 4 games with the rest as DH or PH. This ended the Smalley era.
 
 
Roy Smalley in his two stints with the Twins played for us 10 years 262/.350/.401/.750 20.9 WAR
 
 
Gagne had no one looking over his shoulder in 1988 The others to play short were Al Newman – 28, Steve Lombardozzi – 11 and then Doug Baker, Gary Gaetti, and Tommy Herr. In 1989 the same top two with Baker the only other SS.
 
 
Starting the new decade – 1990 the top two stayed the same and Scott Leius became the third option. That stayed the same in 1991 with Knoblauch getting in 2 games at short. 1992 Gagne stayed at Short, but Al Newman was replaced by Jeff Reboulet and Donnie Hill. Gagne had been on both world series teams and hit a three run homer in game one of 1991, but in 1992 the Twins were only going to give out one big contract – Kirby Puckett and refused to give Gagne a raise. He left for KC.
 
 
Greg Gagne played 10 years for the Twins .249/.292/.385/.677 12.7 WAR.
 
 
Pat Meares was the next player that the Twins put at SS along with Reboulet, Hocking and Lieu in 1993. The same four were at the top of the list in 1994, 1995, 1996, and in 1997.1998 it was just Meares and Hocking. Meares left in FA to Pittsburgh.
 
 
Pat Meares was a 12th round draft choice and played six years with the Twins .265/.301/.381/.682 6.0 WAR
1999 became the year of Cristian Guzman with Denny Hocking the back up. The same two in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and in 2004 the back up was Nick Punto. Guzman had come from the Yankees in the Knoblauch trade. He led the league in triples three times and it was a pleasure to see him on the bases. The year he had 20 triples was the first time that number had been reached in 70 years. He left as a FA
 
 
Guzman played six years with the Twins .266/.303/.382/.685 WAR 7.5
 
 
In 2005 Juan Castro and Jason Bartlett split SS with Punto behind them. The same three in 2006, but Bartlett asserted himself as number one. Bartlett was SS in 138 games in 2007, with Punto and Casilla playing the rest.
 
 
In 2007 Bartlett lead the league in errors – 26 and then was part of the trade to get us Delmon Young!
Bartlett played 5 or his 10 years as a Twin 271/.340/.361/.702 8.9 WAR
 
 
2008 Nick Punto (the leader of the Piranhas) 61, Brendan Harris 55, Adam Everett 44, and Matt Tolber 14 split the SS position. 2009 saw Punto and Harris split the position with Orlando Cabrera. Then in 2010 we had a lead SS again – JJ Hardy with the other SS candidates sliding down the list.
 
 
2011 and Hardy is gone – that was quick, but we had Tsuyoshi Nishioki and he started 60 games, Trever Plouffe 45, Alexi Casilla 36 and Matt Tolber 31. Lots of maneuvering! With Nishioki gone, Hardy gone, we turned to our minor leagues and stared Brian Dozier at SS 83 games. Hard to remember or easy to forget. Others had innings and games at SS too in 2012. Pedro Florimon 43, Jamey Carroll (our oldest SS ever) 37, and Eduardo Escobar 6.
Lets call that a bad year too.
 
 
2013 Pedro Florimon takes the position 133 games, Escobar 38, and Doug Bernier 20. 2014 Escobar takes the position with Danny Santana playing in 34 games and Florimon 31 plus Eduardo Nunez 20. 2015 Escobar and Santana split the position with Nunez filling in and Polanco getting 4 games.
 
 
2016 Escobar gets the most games, but Nunez gets in 51 at short and Polanco 47. Polanco takes over in 2017, Adrianza is primary back up and Escobar gets only 16 because he is not primarily at third.
I just cannot choose the best out of the mess that is ten years of revolving door at SS and Polanco has a ways to go year.
 
 
Who is best – here are the candidates and my ranking – what do you think?
1. Cardenas 3 years .263/.325/.394/.719 with 11.1 WAR
2. Versalles 9 years 250/.296/.383/.679 14.7 WAR.
3. Roy Smalley 10 years 262/.350/.401/.750 20.9 WAR
4. Greg Gagne10 years .249/.292/.385/.677 12.7 WAR.
5. Bartlett 5 years 271/.340/.361/.702 8.9 WAR
6. Guzman 6 years.266/.303/.382/.685 WAR 7.5
7. Pat Meares 6 years.265/.301/.381/.682 6.0 WAR
8. Danny Thompson 6 years .251/.289/.316/.605 2.4 WAR.
 
 

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Our best third baseman is another challenge. This completes the infield reviews it is not an easy task to find the best. I might choose Harmon for both first and third and he played so long that he has as many games at both positions as the others that he is competing with.
 
 
In 1961 Bill Tuttle played 3B 85 games and batted 5th behind Zoilo. He played one more full time year at 3B before leaving MLB. Bill suffered from cancer that was the result of chewing tobacco and from his playing days until he died in Anoka at age 35. This was the only year he played 3B, otherwise he was an outfielder. There was a lot of action at 3B that year with Harmon getting 45 games and Ted Lepcio, Reno Bertoia, and Jose Valdivielso dividing up the many opportunities.
 
Harmon Killebrew is often thought of as our third baseman, but in 1962 Rich Rollins played the bag and Harmon was in LF. George Banks is the other person who got on 3rd, but only for six games. 1963 was the same two with Johnny Goryl (future manager) getting a handful. In 1964 Goryl backed up Rollins and Frank Kostro got a few games in at the hot corner. Rollins held third again in 1965 with Harmon Killebrew getting 43 games there, but mostly playing at first.
 
In 1966 Harmon started at 3rd base 107 times and Rich Rollins got in 63. In 1967 Harmon went back to first and Rollins and Cesar Tovar split the most games at third. Ron Clark, Jackie Hernandez, Frank Quilici, Harmon Killebrew 3, and Frank Kostro were all there at times.
 
Reversing the previous year, in 1968 Tovar and Rollins again split third, but Tovar was in the most games of the two. The same backups with one addition, Craig Nettles, 23 years old got in 5 games! Considering Nettles career, he might have been our best if we had kept him. Rich Rollins was left available in the Expansion draft and went to the Seattle Pilots.
 
 
Rich Rollins played 8 years for the Twins .272/.333/.394/.727 Not considered a great glove man he still accumulated 11.9 WAR and appeared in 2 all star games.
 
 
1969 had a long menu of players – Killebrew 105 games, Quilici 84 (lots of defensive replacements), Rick Renick 31, Cesar Tovar – now an outfielder 23 and Craig Nettles 21. In 1970 Killebrew 139 was backed up by Danny Thompson, Rick Renick, and Quilici.
 
 
Harmon Killebrew 21 years a Twin, 258/.378/.514/.892 – 573 HRs (pre Peds) 60.4 WAR. In a total of 2435 games Harmon played 970 at first, 791 at third and 471 in the OF. He was HOF and much more versatile than many assume. It is hard to take Harmon out of the conversation – Rich Rollins had 828 games at third – Harmon had almost as many.
 
 
A new name entered the listing in 1971 when Steve Braun played in 73 games, Killebrew 64, Eric Soderholm 20, Danny Thompson 17. Soderholm and Braun split 1972. Craig Nettles was gone. He would win numerous gold gloves and is considered one of the top 3 defensive 3B of all time, plus he set the AL record for HRs by a third baseman. He was traded to the Indians along with Dean Chance and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.
 
 
1973 Braun was in 101 games, Soderholm 33, Terrell 30, Dan Monzon 14. Then in 1974 Soderholm was in 130, Terrell 21 and Braun 17 with most of his time in Left Field. In 1975 it was still Soderholm with Dave McKay and Terrell in support. And that was the end of the Soderholm era.
 
 
Soderholm was with us 5 years and played 760 games at third. .257/.336/.389/.725 10.5 WAR
 
 
Mike Cubbage took over at third after the Twins acquired him in a trade in 1976. He kept the lead at third in 1977 with Jerry Terrell continuing to be the bench man. In 1978 with Cubbage still holding third a new name – Larry Wolfe appeared and was in 81 games at third. In 1979 John Castino grabbed third = 143 games and Cubbage was in 62 and was Rookie of the Year. The same ratio in 1980.
 
In 1981 Cubbage was gone, Castino was in 98 games and starting to have back pains. Gary Gaetti got in 8 games, Pete Mackanin 4.
 
Mike Cubbage played in 452 games at third in five years with the Twins. .266/.336/.378/.715 6.8 WAR
 
In 1982 Gaetti took over for Castino with 142 games while Castino got in to only 22. 1983 Castino played 2B and Gaetti had third. It would be the last full year for Castino.
 
Castino was with the Twins for six years - .278/.329/.398/.727 15.2 WAR 416 appearance at third, 232 at second.
Now it was Gaetti’s world. 154 games in 1984, 156 – 1985, 156 – 1986, 150 in 1987. Smalley and Newman were backups to third in the WS year. 1988 – 115 games and Al Newman got in 60. The same two dominated 1989, 1990, but by the WS year 1991 Gaetti was gone. After hitting just 229 he was allowed to leave as a free agent and went to the Angels.
 
Gary Gaetti played 10 years for the Twins. .256/.307.437/.744 and 27.2 WAR In 19 seasons he played 2282 games out of 2507 at third base.
 
Mike Pagliarulo was the third baseman for the WS run in 1991 and Scott Leius and Al Newman backed him up. Then in 1992 Leius took over 125 games, Pagliarulo 37 and Jeff Reboulet 22. 1993 had Pags back on third 79 games, Terry Jorgenson 45, Jeff Reboulet 34, Chip Hale 19. After the Auditions in 1994 Leius was back at third, Chip Hale played 21 games. In 1995 Leius was the starter and Reboulet, Stahoviak and Coomer were in line behind him. Then in 1996 Dave Hollins took over the bag with Reboulet, Todd Walker, and Coomer behind him.
Scott Leius was with us 6 years. .244/.316/.353/.669 4.8 WAR In his career he was 445 games at third and 557 total.
 
1997 Ron Coomer now had the bag with Todd Walker and Dennis Hocking in support. In 1998 Cooomer and Brent Gates shared the bag with Hocking and Jon Shave next in line. A guy named Corey Koskie showed up for 10 games. As you probably expected Corey Koskie was in the lead in 1999 with 79 games, Brent Gates had 61, Ron Coomer 57. Finally in 2000 the corner belonged to Koski with Jason Maxwell next in line ahead of Hocking. 2001 was the same. 2002 was the end of Maxwell and it was Hocking and Cuddyer behind Koskie. 2003 Koskie, Hocking and Chris Comez. 2004 still Koskie and a shifting line behind him – Cuddyer, Terry Tiffee and Alex Prieto. Punto made the list this year too.
 
Koskie in seven years out of nine he played for the Twins and had a line of 280/.373/.463/.836 He played 3B 908/928 games. WAR 22.2. Third was probably the right spot for the former hockey player and Canadian. Like Mauer and Morneau he suffered a concussion and this really ended his career.
 
Ron Coomer played 391 games at third and played 6 years for MN. 278/315/.431/.746 WAR 2.5
 
2005 things were in transition again – this time Michael Cuddyer held the hot corner with Luis Rodriguez, Tiffee, Castro and Punto in line behind him. In 2006 Nick Punto was at third 89 games, Tony Batista 50, Luis Rodrigues 29 and Terry Tiffee and Scott Baker had a few games. 2007 Punto was at third 108 games, Luis Rodriguez, Brian Buscher and Jeff Cirillo had games there as well as Tommy Watkins – soon to be our minor league manager.
Brian Bushcher with 64 games, Mike Lamb 55, Brendan Harris 34, Matt Tolbert, Nick Punto and Matt Macri had substantial games in this audition year – 2008. The auditions continued in 2009 with Joe Crede, Brendan Harris, Tolbert, Buscher, Punto all showing their skills. Since that did not work we held another audition year – 2010 with Danny Valencia 81 games, Nick Punto 48, Brendan Harris 27, Michael Cuddyer 14, Matt Tolbert 14, Alexi Casilla 14, and Luke Hughes 2.
 
They liked what they saw and finally settled on Danny Valencia in 2011 with Luke Hughes number 2. But that did not work out and in 2012 Danny was third on the list behind Trevor Plouffe and Jamey Carroll. Plouffe settled in with 120 games in 2013 and Jamey Carroll and Eduardo Escobar were behind him. In 2014 Carroll was gone, Plouffe was backed by Escobar and Nunez. 2015 Plouffe and Nunez held the bag. Then the auditions began again – 2016 Plouffe 63, Sano 42, Nunez 33, Ecobar 23, Polanco 9, Beresford 3, and Danny Santana 1. Then in 2017 we began the Sano era, but Escobar started almost as many games.
 
Nick Punto had seven of his 14 years with Minnesota. .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR He played 360 games at third, 408 at second and 337 at short.
 
Trevor Plouffe seven years in Minnesota. .247/.308/.420/.727 8.6 WAR.
 
 
There are the choices: Which do you want?
1. Harmon Killebrew 21 years, 258/.378/.514/.892 – 573 HRs 60.4 WAR. 791 games at third
2. Castino six years - .278/.329/.398/.727 15.2 WAR 416 appearance at third
3. Gary Gaetti 10 years .256/.307.437/.744 and 27.2 WAR 19 seasons 2282/2507 at third base.
4. Koskie seven years. 280/.373/.463/.836 WAR 22.2 3B 908/928 games.
5. Rich Rollins played 8 years.272/.333/.394/.727. 11.9 WAR 828 games at third.
6. Soderholm 5 years. .257/.336/.389/.725. 10.5 WAR 760 games at third
7. Trevor Plouffe seven years. .247/.308/.420/.727 8.6 WAR. 611 games at 3B.
8. Nick Punto seven years with. .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR 360 games at third.
9. Mike Cubbage five years. .266/.336/.378/.715 6.8 WAR 452 games at third
10. Scott Leius 6 years. .244/.316/.353/.669 4.8 WAR 445 games at third.
11. Ron Coomer 6 years .278/315/.431/.746 WAR 2.5 391 games at third
 

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Our best third baseman is another challenge. This completes the infield reviews it is not an easy task to find the best. I might choose Harmon for both first and third and he played so long that he has as many games at both positions as the others that he is competing with.
 
 
In 1961 Bill Tuttle played 3B 85 games and batted 5th behind Zoilo. He played one more full time year at 3B before leaving MLB. Bill suffered from cancer that was the result of chewing tobacco and from his playing days until he died in Anoka at age 35. This was the only year he played 3B, otherwise he was an outfielder. There was a lot of action at 3B that year with Harmon getting 45 games and Ted Lepcio, Reno Bertoia, and Jose Valdivielso dividing up the many opportunities.
 
Harmon Killebrew is often thought of as our third baseman, but in 1962 Rich Rollins played the bag and Harmon was in LF. George Banks is the other person who got on 3rd, but only for six games. 1963 was the same two with Johnny Goryl (future manager) getting a handful. In 1964 Goryl backed up Rollins and Frank Kostro got a few games in at the hot corner. Rollins held third again in 1965 with Harmon Killebrew getting 43 games there, but mostly playing at first.
 
In 1966 Harmon started at 3rd base 107 times and Rich Rollins got in 63. In 1967 Harmon went back to first and Rollins and Cesar Tovar split the most games at third. Ron Clark, Jackie Hernandez, Frank Quilici, Harmon Killebrew 3, and Frank Kostro were all there at times.
 
Reversing the previous year, in 1968 Tovar and Rollins again split third, but Tovar was in the most games of the two. The same backups with one addition, Craig Nettles, 23 years old got in 5 games! Considering Nettles career, he might have been our best if we had kept him. Rich Rollins was left available in the Expansion draft and went to the Seattle Pilots.
 
 
Rich Rollins played 8 years for the Twins .272/.333/.394/.727 Not considered a great glove man he still accumulated 11.9 WAR and appeared in 2 all star games.
 
 
1969 had a long menu of players – Killebrew 105 games, Quilici 84 (lots of defensive replacements), Rick Renick 31, Cesar Tovar – now an outfielder 23 and Craig Nettles 21. In 1970 Killebrew 139 was backed up by Danny Thompson, Rick Renick, and Quilici.
 
 
Harmon Killebrew 21 years a Twin, 258/.378/.514/.892 – 573 HRs (pre Peds) 60.4 WAR. In a total of 2435 games Harmon played 970 at first, 791 at third and 471 in the OF. He was HOF and much more versatile than many assume. It is hard to take Harmon out of the conversation – Rich Rollins had 828 games at third – Harmon had almost as many.
 
 
A new name entered the listing in 1971 when Steve Braun played in 73 games, Killebrew 64, Eric Soderholm 20, Danny Thompson 17. Soderholm and Braun split 1972. Craig Nettles was gone. He would win numerous gold gloves and is considered one of the top 3 defensive 3B of all time, plus he set the AL record for HRs by a third baseman. He was traded to the Indians along with Dean Chance and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.
 
 
1973 Braun was in 101 games, Soderholm 33, Terrell 30, Dan Monzon 14. Then in 1974 Soderholm was in 130, Terrell 21 and Braun 17 with most of his time in Left Field. In 1975 it was still Soderholm with Dave McKay and Terrell in support. And that was the end of the Soderholm era.
 
 
Soderholm was with us 5 years and played 760 games at third. .257/.336/.389/.725 10.5 WAR
 
 
Mike Cubbage took over at third after the Twins acquired him in a trade in 1976. He kept the lead at third in 1977 with Jerry Terrell continuing to be the bench man. In 1978 with Cubbage still holding third a new name – Larry Wolfe appeared and was in 81 games at third. In 1979 John Castino grabbed third = 143 games and Cubbage was in 62 and was Rookie of the Year. The same ratio in 1980.
 
In 1981 Cubbage was gone, Castino was in 98 games and starting to have back pains. Gary Gaetti got in 8 games, Pete Mackanin 4.
 
Mike Cubbage played in 452 games at third in five years with the Twins. .266/.336/.378/.715 6.8 WAR
 
In 1982 Gaetti took over for Castino with 142 games while Castino got in to only 22. 1983 Castino played 2B and Gaetti had third. It would be the last full year for Castino.
 
Castino was with the Twins for six years - .278/.329/.398/.727 15.2 WAR 416 appearance at third, 232 at second.
Now it was Gaetti’s world. 154 games in 1984, 156 – 1985, 156 – 1986, 150 in 1987. Smalley and Newman were backups to third in the WS year. 1988 – 115 games and Al Newman got in 60. The same two dominated 1989, 1990, but by the WS year 1991 Gaetti was gone. After hitting just 229 he was allowed to leave as a free agent and went to the Angels.
 
Gary Gaetti played 10 years for the Twins. .256/.307.437/.744 and 27.2 WAR In 19 seasons he played 2282 games out of 2507 at third base.
 
Mike Pagliarulo was the third baseman for the WS run in 1991 and Scott Leius and Al Newman backed him up. Then in 1992 Leius took over 125 games, Pagliarulo 37 and Jeff Reboulet 22. 1993 had Pags back on third 79 games, Terry Jorgenson 45, Jeff Reboulet 34, Chip Hale 19. After the Auditions in 1994 Leius was back at third, Chip Hale played 21 games. In 1995 Leius was the starter and Reboulet, Stahoviak and Coomer were in line behind him. Then in 1996 Dave Hollins took over the bag with Reboulet, Todd Walker, and Coomer behind him.
Scott Leius was with us 6 years. .244/.316/.353/.669 4.8 WAR In his career he was 445 games at third and 557 total.
 
1997 Ron Coomer now had the bag with Todd Walker and Dennis Hocking in support. In 1998 Cooomer and Brent Gates shared the bag with Hocking and Jon Shave next in line. A guy named Corey Koskie showed up for 10 games. As you probably expected Corey Koskie was in the lead in 1999 with 79 games, Brent Gates had 61, Ron Coomer 57. Finally in 2000 the corner belonged to Koski with Jason Maxwell next in line ahead of Hocking. 2001 was the same. 2002 was the end of Maxwell and it was Hocking and Cuddyer behind Koskie. 2003 Koskie, Hocking and Chris Comez. 2004 still Koskie and a shifting line behind him – Cuddyer, Terry Tiffee and Alex Prieto. Punto made the list this year too.
 
Koskie in seven years out of nine he played for the Twins and had a line of 280/.373/.463/.836 He played 3B 908/928 games. WAR 22.2. Third was probably the right spot for the former hockey player and Canadian. Like Mauer and Morneau he suffered a concussion and this really ended his career.
 
Ron Coomer played 391 games at third and played 6 years for MN. 278/315/.431/.746 WAR 2.5
 
2005 things were in transition again – this time Michael Cuddyer held the hot corner with Luis Rodriguez, Tiffee, Castro and Punto in line behind him. In 2006 Nick Punto was at third 89 games, Tony Batista 50, Luis Rodrigues 29 and Terry Tiffee and Scott Baker had a few games. 2007 Punto was at third 108 games, Luis Rodriguez, Brian Buscher and Jeff Cirillo had games there as well as Tommy Watkins – soon to be our minor league manager.
Brian Bushcher with 64 games, Mike Lamb 55, Brendan Harris 34, Matt Tolbert, Nick Punto and Matt Macri had substantial games in this audition year – 2008. The auditions continued in 2009 with Joe Crede, Brendan Harris, Tolbert, Buscher, Punto all showing their skills. Since that did not work we held another audition year – 2010 with Danny Valencia 81 games, Nick Punto 48, Brendan Harris 27, Michael Cuddyer 14, Matt Tolbert 14, Alexi Casilla 14, and Luke Hughes 2.
 
They liked what they saw and finally settled on Danny Valencia in 2011 with Luke Hughes number 2. But that did not work out and in 2012 Danny was third on the list behind Trevor Plouffe and Jamey Carroll. Plouffe settled in with 120 games in 2013 and Jamey Carroll and Eduardo Escobar were behind him. In 2014 Carroll was gone, Plouffe was backed by Escobar and Nunez. 2015 Plouffe and Nunez held the bag. Then the auditions began again – 2016 Plouffe 63, Sano 42, Nunez 33, Ecobar 23, Polanco 9, Beresford 3, and Danny Santana 1. Then in 2017 we began the Sano era, but Escobar started almost as many games.
 
Nick Punto had seven of his 14 years with Minnesota. .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR He played 360 games at third, 408 at second and 337 at short.
 
Trevor Plouffe seven years in Minnesota. .247/.308/.420/.727 8.6 WAR.
 
 
There are the choices: Which do you want?
1. Harmon Killebrew 21 years, 258/.378/.514/.892 – 573 HRs 60.4 WAR. 791 games at third
2. Castino six years - .278/.329/.398/.727 15.2 WAR 416 appearance at third
3. Gary Gaetti 10 years .256/.307.437/.744 and 27.2 WAR 19 seasons 2282/2507 at third base.
4. Koskie seven years. 280/.373/.463/.836 WAR 22.2 3B 908/928 games.
5. Rich Rollins played 8 years.272/.333/.394/.727. 11.9 WAR 828 games at third.
6. Soderholm 5 years. .257/.336/.389/.725. 10.5 WAR 760 games at third
7. Trevor Plouffe seven years. .247/.308/.420/.727 8.6 WAR. 611 games at 3B.
8. Nick Punto seven years with. .248/.323/.324/.648 10.3 WAR 360 games at third.
9. Mike Cubbage five years. .266/.336/.378/.715 6.8 WAR 452 games at third
10. Scott Leius 6 years. .244/.316/.353/.669 4.8 WAR 445 games at third.
11. Ron Coomer 6 years .278/315/.431/.746 WAR 2.5 391 games at third
 

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The best Shortstop in Twins history This is a challenging position. No HOF candidates.

 
 
The first year of the Twins Zoilo Vesalles was the dominate Shortstop – 129 games. Jose Valivielso backed him up. Versalles was in 160 games in 1962, 159 – 1963, 160 – 1964, 160 in the World Series year of 1965 when he was the MVP of the league, he dropped to 135 with Cesar Tovar behind him in 1966, 159 in 1967. After developing a Hemotoma on his back, a lifelong condition, his average dropped and he was sent with Mudcat Grant to the Dodgers for an old Johnny Roseboro, Bob Miller, and Ron Perranoski. But Zoilo, nicknamed Zorro set the Twins standard.
 
 
Versalles played 9 of his 12 years with the club including two in DC before the move. .250/.296/.383/.679 14.7 WAR.
 
 
1968 was a scrum year. Lots of players trying to establish themselves at SS – Jackie Hernandez, Ron Clark, Rick Renick and Cesar Tovar. Even Frank Quilici and Rod Carew got in some games at SS. Then in 1969 we found the next infield anchor – Leo Cardenas who played there 160 games. Then he came back for 160 in 1970, and 153 in 1971. A five time all – star and slick fielder, he tied the American League record with 570 assists and his fielding percentage was the highest in AL history. Then Calvin traded him for relief pitcher Dave LaRoche. This allowed the Angels to then trade Jim Fregosi, their shortstop to the Mets for Nolan Ryan. Just think if we had skipped that intermediary step and sent Cardenas for Ryan!
 
 
In three years out of a 16 year career Cardenas hit .263/.325/.394/.719 with 11.1 WAR.
Danny Thompson took over at SS in 1972 and had the looks of a really good player, but of course, he died of Leukemia at the Mayo in Rochester at age 29. In 1973 he played in 95 games at short and Jerry Terrell 81. In 1974, the Leukemia weakening him he played 88 games at short, Luiz Gomez got in 74, Jerry Terrell 34, and Sergio Ferrer 20. Then in 195, the year before he died, he played 100 games at SS with the same three coming in late game or starting the other games. In 1976 Danny played in 34 games and then he was gone.
 
 
Danny Thompson’s line for six years .251/.289/.316/.605 with 2.4 WAR.
 
 
Next to grab hold of the position was Roy Smalley in 1976. We got Smalley in a trade along with Mike Cubbage and pitchers Jim Gideon and Bill Singer for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. Why he would or could trade Thompson is another Calvin mystery. Why we traded Blyleven was a difficult thing to do, but a SS is important. Smalley was in 103 games under his uncle, manager Gene Mauch. He played in 150 games in 1977, 157 in 1978, 161 in 1979, and 125 in 1980 with Pete Mackinin, John Castino, and Lenny Faedo playing in the rest. In 1981 injuries limited him to 37 games and in 1982 he got in 4 games and was traded for Greg Gagne, and Pitchers Paul Boris and Ron Davis from the Yankees.
 
 
The rest of 1981 saw Chuck Baker, Pete Mackinin, Ron Washington, and Lenny Faedo at SS. In 1982 Ron Washington was our primary SS, Lenny Faedo the backup. In 1983 Washington remained number one, but there were multiple players getting time at short. Faedo was in 51 games, Houston Jiminez in 36, the newly acquired Gagne 10, and Gaetti 3.
 
 
Then in 1984 this streak of forgettables continued with Houston Jiminez and the number one, Washington number two then Faedo and Chris Speier. Finally, in 1985 Greg Gagne grabbed the position. With Roy Smalley back having been with the Yankees and the White Sox. He got in 49 games, Espinoza 31 and Ron Washington 31. The same four held the position in 1986 and Smalley took over DH with 114 games there.
 
 
In the championship season of 1987 Gagne was backed up by Al Newman and Smalley played there 4 games with the rest as DH or PH. This ended the Smalley era.
 
 
Roy Smalley in his two stints with the Twins played for us 10 years 262/.350/.401/.750 20.9 WAR
 
 
Gagne had no one looking over his shoulder in 1988 The others to play short were Al Newman – 28, Steve Lombardozzi – 11 and then Doug Baker, Gary Gaetti, and Tommy Herr. In 1989 the same top two with Baker the only other SS.
 
 
Starting the new decade – 1990 the top two stayed the same and Scott Leius became the third option. That stayed the same in 1991 with Knoblauch getting in 2 games at short. 1992 Gagne stayed at Short, but Al Newman was replaced by Jeff Reboulet and Donnie Hill. Gagne had been on both world series teams and hit a three run homer in game one of 1991, but in 1992 the Twins were only going to give out one big contract – Kirby Puckett and refused to give Gagne a raise. He left for KC.
 
 
Greg Gagne played 10 years for the Twins .249/.292/.385/.677 12.7 WAR.
 
 
Pat Meares was the next player that the Twins put at SS along with Reboulet, Hocking and Lieu in 1993. The same four were at the top of the list in 1994, 1995, 1996, and in 1997.1998 it was just Meares and Hocking. Meares left in FA to Pittsburgh.
 
 
Pat Meares was a 12th round draft choice and played six years with the Twins .265/.301/.381/.682 6.0 WAR
1999 became the year of Cristian Guzman with Denny Hocking the back up. The same two in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and in 2004 the back up was Nick Punto. Guzman had come from the Yankees in the Knoblauch trade. He led the league in triples three times and it was a pleasure to see him on the bases. The year he had 20 triples was the first time that number had been reached in 70 years. He left as a FA
 
 
Guzman played six years with the Twins .266/.303/.382/.685 WAR 7.5
 
 
In 2005 Juan Castro and Jason Bartlett split SS with Punto behind them. The same three in 2006, but Bartlett asserted himself as number one. Bartlett was SS in 138 games in 2007, with Punto and Casilla playing the rest.
 
 
In 2007 Bartlett lead the league in errors – 26 and then was part of the trade to get us Delmon Young!
Bartlett played 5 or his 10 years as a Twin 271/.340/.361/.702 8.9 WAR
 
 
2008 Nick Punto (the leader of the Piranhas) 61, Brendan Harris 55, Adam Everett 44, and Matt Tolber 14 split the SS position. 2009 saw Punto and Harris split the position with Orlando Cabrera. Then in 2010 we had a lead SS again – JJ Hardy with the other SS candidates sliding down the list.
 
 
2011 and Hardy is gone – that was quick, but we had Tsuyoshi Nishioki and he started 60 games, Trever Plouffe 45, Alexi Casilla 36 and Matt Tolber 31. Lots of maneuvering! With Nishioki gone, Hardy gone, we turned to our minor leagues and stared Brian Dozier at SS 83 games. Hard to remember or easy to forget. Others had innings and games at SS too in 2012. Pedro Florimon 43, Jamey Carroll (our oldest SS ever) 37, and Eduardo Escobar 6.
Lets call that a bad year too.
 
 
2013 Pedro Florimon takes the position 133 games, Escobar 38, and Doug Bernier 20. 2014 Escobar takes the position with Danny Santana playing in 34 games and Florimon 31 plus Eduardo Nunez 20. 2015 Escobar and Santana split the position with Nunez filling in and Polanco getting 4 games.
 
 
2016 Escobar gets the most games, but Nunez gets in 51 at short and Polanco 47. Polanco takes over in 2017, Adrianza is primary back up and Escobar gets only 16 because he is not primarily at third.
I just cannot choose the best out of the mess that is ten years of revolving door at SS and Polanco has a ways to go year.
 
 
Who is best – here are the candidates and my ranking – what do you think?
1. Cardenas 3 years .263/.325/.394/.719 with 11.1 WAR
2. Versalles 9 years 250/.296/.383/.679 14.7 WAR.
3. Roy Smalley 10 years 262/.350/.401/.750 20.9 WAR
4. Greg Gagne10 years .249/.292/.385/.677 12.7 WAR.
5. Bartlett 5 years 271/.340/.361/.702 8.9 WAR
6. Guzman 6 years.266/.303/.382/.685 WAR 7.5
7. Pat Meares 6 years.265/.301/.381/.682 6.0 WAR
8. Danny Thompson 6 years .251/.289/.316/.605 2.4 WAR.
 
 

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Kyler Murray has set the internet buzzing with his two-sport potential. The A’s hope he chooses baseball, the NFL wants him for football. So it got me thinking about baseball players and their second sports. According to Wiki there are 70 Athletes who played in both MLB and NFL.
 
 
Bo Jackson was the second Heisman Trophy winner to play in both – Vic Janowicz was the first with the Pirates and the Red Sox!
 
Deion Sanders is in the NFL HOF, if he had stayed with baseball maybe he could have been in that too. There are six other NFL HOF players who were in MLB – Red Badgro (on the 1927 Yankees – football team, and the St Louis Browns), Paddy Driscoll (played for the cubs and two NFL teams), George Halas (coach, owner of the Bears was on the 1919 Yankees), Ernie Nevers (Duluth Eskimos, Stanford, both NFL and College HOF played with the St Louis Browns), Ace Parker (Philadelphia A’s and 3 NFL teams) and of Course Jim Thorpe. Thorpe was also an Olympic hero and played for multiple teams in both NFL and MLB.
 
None are in the MLB HOF but Jackson played in 694 major league games and 38 games with the Raiders – without injury he might have been the first to make both HOFs. He made the All Star game in both sports. Deion Sanders played in 641 games in MLB and 188 in NFL with four teams in each sport and made the HOF. Sanders is the only person to be in both the World Series and the Superbowl.
 
Cal Hubbard is the exception in that he did make both NFL and MLB Hall of Fame, but he did so as a linebacker and an umpire.
 
Tim Tebow is trying hard to be the next one on this list.
 
But there is another list – NBA and MLB. In this list is Danny Ainge the GM and president of the Celtics, the team he played for as a guard. He also appeared for the Toronto Blue Jays Frank Baumholtz played for Cleveland in the NBA forerunner and was fifth, behind Jackie Robinson for ROY.
 
Gene Conley was a pitcher for the Milwaukee braves and played for the Boston Celtic. He was part of the Braves World Series championship and the Celtics three NBA titles in 1959 – 1961.
 
The Rifleman, Chuck Connors helped the Rochester Royals win the championship before joining the Celtics and then the Dodgers! DeBusschere was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983 as a knick and then pitched for the White Sox from 1962-63.
 
Dick Groat, the 1960 NL MVP was also on the Fort Wayne Pistons for one year. Steve Hamilton played in MLB for 12 years including the 1963 and 1964 champion Yankees and in 1958 – 1960 he was a powerforward on our Minneapolis Lakers.
 
Mark Hendrickson was in 114 NBA games and pitched for ten years for five MLB teams.
 
Cotton Nash was an all-American then played for the Lakers and San Francisco Warriors during the 1964-65 season. Two years later he played 13 games as a first baseman and left fielder for the White Sox and Twins.
 
Ron Reed was a 19 year major league reliever and during his rookie year he was also a forward for the Detroit Pistons. Howie Schultz was rejected by the army because he was too tall. He played first base from 1943 – 1948 and then switched to the NBA and got a championship ring from the Lakers in the 1951 – 1952 season.
 
Not the NBA but Lou Brock, Bob Gibson and Fergie Jenkins -- who once played for the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters. David Winfield was drafted by the NFL and the NBA!
 
There were others in this category but who was the best? Bo Jackson is who I expected to win, but the Stats tell other stories. Of course this list only tells you of their MLB success and not their corresponding success in the other league. As I said there are HOF NFL players on this list, no HOF NBA players.
 
Dick Groat .286/.330/.366/.696 WAR 36.7
Gene Conley 91 - 96 .487/3.82 WAR 15.7
Ron Reed 146-140 .510/3.46 WAR 24.9
Bo Jackson - .250/.309/.474/.784 WAR 7
Deion Sanders .263/.319/.392/.711 WAR 5.5
Mark Hendrickson 58-74/.439/ 5.03 WAR 4.1
Ernie Nevers 6-12 .333/4.64 WAR 1.5
Cotton Nash .188/.316/.188/.503 WAR 0.0
Jim Thorpe .252/.286/.362/.648 WAR -0.1
George Halas .091/.091/.091/.182 WAR -0.4
Paddy Driscoll .107/.167/.143/.310 WAR -0.5
Chuck Connors .238/.280/.302/.582 WAR -0.9
Red Badgro .257/.307/.366/.674 WAR -1.1
Vic Janowicz .214/.267/286/.552 WAR -1.2
Ace Parker .179/.231/.242/.472 WAR -1.8
Danny Ainge .220/.264/.269/.533 WAR -2.0
 

The Twins Best Second basemen
The second base slot has changed dramatically in this era. With all the strikeouts and flyballs there are fewer double plays, fewer ground balls, and if there is the shift complicates who is where. But I will not emphasize those changes, I just want to look at the names and skills of the people who players second in our history.
 
 
Billy Martin – that controversial manager (Twins and Yankees) that succeeded everywhere but off the
field. The original Spark plug player who had so much drive he pushed everyone else too. He was the very first Minnesota Twin second baseman and played there 108 games in 1961. Another former manager, Billy Gardner, played 41 games, Ted Lepcio 22 games, Jose Valdivielso 15 games, Rich Rollins, Billy Consolo, Jim Snyder and Bill Tuttle also played multiple games at the position.
 
 
By 1962, as often happened with Billy – he was gone and former Purdue QB Bernie Allen had the bag for every game! Allen was third in ROY ballots.
 
 
In 1963 Bernie got some days off and only played second in 128 games. Johnny Goryl, another future manager, played there 34 games and to my great shock – VIC POWER – the outstanding fielding first baseman played second 18 times!
 
 
1964 looks like one of the first base years. Bernie Allen only played 71 games there, Minnesotan Jerry Kindall (future gopher coach) played 51, Johnny Goryl 28, Jim Snyder 25, and then Jay Ward, Bill Bethea, Frank Kostro and Bud Bloomfield rounded out the field of eight.
 
 
1965 and Jerry Kindall took over for 106 games and Frank Quilici played 52. Rich Rollins 16 and Bernie Allen 10, Frank Kostro 7 and Cesar Tovar 4. Tovar played everywhere and in one game he did play all nine positions.
1966 Bernie Allen had the most starts – 89 and Tovar was second with 74. That year Tovar also played SS, LF, and CF. Rich Rollins had 4 games there.
 
 
1967 Rod Carew took over and started 134 games, Tovar played 35, and Frank Quilici 13.
1968 Carew played 117, Quilici (49) beat out Tovar (19) for second place and Ron Clark played 9.
1969 Carew played 118, Tovar 41, and Quilici 36.
 
 
The sixties had a variety of players and it wasn’t until Carew that we had a long term answer at the position. Martin started it, went to coaching, went to managing and then went elsewhere. Bernie Allen brought his football status for a while and Carew took over the position.
 
 
Jerry Kindall played for us for two years and you wonder why when you look at his line - .183/.254/.262.516 over his career he played 511 games at second and ended his nine year career with a (-3) WAR. As it says in Wiki – since 1920 “2,000 at-bats has a lower career batting average than Kindall's .213”. He had something special and went to Arizona as their baseball coach. “Kindall is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the author of Baseball: Play the Winning Way and co-editor of The Baseball Coaching Bible.”
 
 
Billy Martin played 11 years in MLB, the last one with the Twins. 246/.275/.361/.636 and (-1) WAR for that year. In 1969 he managed the Twins and then followed that up with 15 more managerial years.
 
 
Following the Kindall model, Frank Quilici played for us five years as a second baseman with the line .214/.281/.287/.569 and a five year WAR total of (-0.5).
 
 
So for those three players we have an accumulate WAR of (-4.5).
 
 
Along comes the All American boy, Purdue QB, Bernie Allen and he plays 5 of his 12 years with the Twins – 246/.316/.366/.682 and 3.2 WAR – almost enough to erase the other three on this list. Wiki has a summary of his college career, “Allen played college baseball for the Boilermakers, where he twice named Team MVP. A winner of 6 varsity letters, Allen was also a quarterback on the football team, selected as Team MVP in 1960. He platooned at quarterback in 1959, leading the Boilermakers to a 5-2-2 record and six weeks in the Top 15.[2] Earning the starting job in 1960, Allen led the Boilermakers to a record of 4-4-1 (2-4 Big Ten) and wins over #12 Notre Dame, Ohio State and #1 Minnesota, the AP and UPI National Champion.”
 
 
Cesar Tovar deserves some recognition here. He was with us 8 of his 12 years with a line of 281/.337/.377/.714 and would be the best except he was never the starter at second. In all he earned 25.9 WAR with the Twins, but he played everywhere – his career totals for appearances are: OF (all three positions) 945; 3B 227; 2B 215; SS 77; DH 90; and one game at C, P, and 1B.
 
 
So, the best of the sixties belongs to Rod Carew who plays 12 of his 19 seasons with the Twins. He hits - .334/.393/.448/.841, accumulates WAR 63.8 with the Twins, and he will play 1184 games at first and 1130 at 2B.
Jump to the seventies.
 
Who starts the most in 1970? Danny Thompson 81, Frank Quilici 74, and Rod Carew 45 with Tovar, and Minnie Mendoza getting the rest. Order was restored in 1971 with Carew at 2b 142 games and Steve Braun there 28. Danny Thompson plays 3 and Tovar came in from LF to play 2.
 
 
1972 Carew and Braun are still one and two and three is Dan Monzon. Monzon and Terrell are Carew’s caddies in 1973. In 1974 Monzon is out, Terrell is two and Luis Gomez and Sergio Ferrer get the crumbs. !975 Carew continues to dominate the bag, the same old backups continue to share what is available.
 
 
Then in 1976 there is a shakeup. Carew is at first and Bob Randall starts 153 games and Terrell 31, Gomez 8, Carew 7, and Cubbage 2. It seems strange to have Carew with so few, but this is the future.
 
 
With open season at second Randall holds on in 1977 to start 101 games and a new name – Rob Wilfong gets 66 games, Gomez, Terrell, Carew, and Sam Perlozzo share the rest. In 1978 the order stays the same Randall gets 115, Wilfong 80, Cubbage 5, Carew 4. And the decade ends with Wilfong taking the lead 133 games, Randall 71, and Cubbage 1.
 
 
Randall plays five years for the Twins and has a 3.8 WAR with a slash line of .257/.310/.311/.621. Not bad for the position.
 
 
Danny Thompson played 5 of 7 years with the Twins and had a 2.4 WAR. He is one of the sad stories in Twins lore as he died of leukemia at age 26. “Thompson appeared in 98 games in 1976 and went 1 for 3 in his final start for the Rangers on September 29, appropriately at shortstop in Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium. In his final game on October 2, less than ten weeks before his death, he was used as a pinch hitter.”
 
 
The only choice for the decade of the seventies is Rod Carew – the same as the sixties.
The 1980s
 
Rob Wilfong leads of the new decade at second base with 120 games at 2B and Pete Mackanin appeared in games. 1981 the same two dominated with 93 and 31. John Castino got in 4 and chuck Baker 3.
 
 
In 1982 John Castino took over the lead with 96 and Ron Washington played 37. Larry Milbourne was in for 26 and Wilfong was only in 22. Castino was the only one to have a positive WAR that year at second. In 1983 had 132 games and Tim Teufel was second with 18 and Ron Washington had 14. Rob Wilfong was gone.
 
 
Then Tim Teufel took over in 1984 with 157 and Ron Washington was his back up. Like the previous decades there was a constant turn over looking for the right guy. Teufel held on to 1985 with Ron Washington and Steve Lombardozzi splitting the rest of the appearances -26 and 24.
 
 
Like the previous seasons the understood took over for the leader and Lombardozzi was the 1986 starter with Alvaro Espinoza (not related to the philosopher) as understudy. Ron Washington, Chris Pittaro, Greg Gagne, and Gary Gaetti all had a turn. Steve kept the starting position as the team headed to the world series in 1987 and Al Newman was his primary backup. Although Pittaro and Gagne got a taste of the bag.
 
 
1988 kept Lombardozzi in the lead, 90, but Tommy Herr appeared and was in 73. Of course, Tommy fits with the great, not necessarily positive, characters in Twins history. The Cardinals traded him for Tom Brunansky. This was not a bargain for us. The Argus Leader wrote, “Herr didn’t hide that he wasn’t thrilled to be in Minnesota, announced midway through the season he wouldn’t return in ’89, and batted just .263 with one homer. He spent half the season on the DL, and teammates and media questioned the seriousness of his injuries. He was traded to the Phillies for Shane Rawley and Tom Nieto after the season.” No one came close to whining and complaining about being in MN. He will not be considered for our best. Al Newman stepped in for him and Greg Gagne and an outfielder named Dan Gladden played second.
 
 
The end of the decade the mix is really symptomatic of the 80s – now we start Wally Backman from the Mets. “Still uncomfortable with Steve Lombardozzi playing second and what seemed like a cast of thousands batting second, Minnesota sent three pitching prospects to the New York Mets on Dec. 7 for the 29-year-old Backman.
Almost immediately, Backman announced that he was thrilled to be with the Twins and bought a house on Lake Minnetonka.
 
 
"Tommy Herr never wanted to play here, so he didn't fit in with the rest of us," says first baseman and clubhouse leader Kent Hrbek. "Backman does fit in. You can see the difference just in the fact that Wally wants to have fun. Already, Backman and (Dan) Gladden are pulling pranks on each other." LA Times. Al Newman had the exact same number of games at second as Wally – 84, Doug Baker got in 25 times and Chip Hale 16.
Where do I start looking for the best of this decade?
 
John Castino played six years and lost his career on a bad back. .278/.329/.398/.727 and 15.2 WAR are pretty good, but he played 416 games at 3B and 232 at second.
 
Tim Tuefel in three seasons with the Twins was .265/.342/.409/.751and 5.5 WAR looks okay. In 11 seasons he played 806 games at second.
 
 
Steve Lombardozzi had a lot of promise, but produced .233/.307/.345/.652 and 4 WAR in four years. But to put it in perspective, the team was willing to trade Brunansky for Herr because they wanted to replace him.
 
 
Rob Wilfong was with us six years - .262/.322/.360/.681 and 5.3 WAR for the Twins. In 11 years he was at Second 839 games.
 
 
Wally Backman was in 87 games for the Twins, he does not qualify.
 
 
I know it is not a well-remembered name, but Tim Tuefel was the second baseman of the 80s and that is a statement about the team and the decade.
 
 
1990s
Al Newman began the decade with Fred Manique (a name I cannot remember) playing a significant number of games in reserve. Nelson Liriano also played many games at second. In the one game category were Chip Hale, Doug Baker, and OF – Kirby Puckett!
 
 
Al did not keep the starting job, in 1991 our last WS championship year we found a second baseman to make us forget the 80s and perhaps at the end also forget Tommy Herr. His name was Chuck Knoblauch. Al Newman was backup and I always enjoy the scrubs at the end of the list – this time they are Gene Larkin (you got to be kidding) and Mike Pagliarulo.
 
 
Or Course Knoblauch kept the position in 1992 and Jeff Reboulet was his primary backup. Donny Hill got in two games and so did that Kirby Puckett character again. Knoblauch again dominated 1993 with Chip Hale behind him, Reboulet next and Denny Hocking making a token stop at second. The same top two in 1994 with Jeff Reboulet. 1995 was the same but the scrubs were Brian Raabe and Puckett again. 1996 continued the stability with the same top three and then Todd Walker appears, Hocking and Raabe. In 1997 the only change were in number 2 and 3 – Hocking and Walker moving up.
 
 
1998 breaks up that lovely consistency and Todd Walker with all the promise in the world took over at the bag and Knoblauch was on his way to the big Apple from the Minneapple. Hocking and Brent Gates were two and three. The same three finished the decade with someone named Cleatus Davidson as the scrub.
 
 
I am afraid there is no doubt – this decade was Knoblauch’s. His line was .304/.391/.416/.807 for seven seasons with a WAR of 38. He was on his way to a potential HOF career until he got the yips in NY.
 
 
Todd Walker the heir apparent would have five years in MN with 285/.341/.413/.754 and 1.8 WAR. Like Ortiz he did not get along with Kelly’s ideas and seemed to be disliked for his college degree. He would play 12 years and get 10.5 WAR so he never achieved his first round draft expectations.
 
 
2000s
 
The new best second baseman was Jay Canizaro 90, Hocking 47, Jason Maxwell 30, Todd Walker 19, and Luis Rivas 14. Luis took over in 2001 with Hocking behind him and Jason Maxwell behind him Rivas was still the leader with 93 games in 2002, with Hocking, Canizaro, and the scrubs were Warren Morris and David Lamb. The Rivas years solidified in 2003 with Luis starting 134 games and Hocking, was followed by Chris Gomez, Alex Prieto, Michael Cuddyer, and (this must be a joke) Mientkiewicz. In 2004 Michael Cuddyer moved up to second at second with 48 games there. Augie Ojeda, was third followed by the famous Nick Punto! Jose Offerman and Jason Bartlett got token games too.
 
 
You could see it coming. In 2005 Rivas was second at second and Nick Punto was first. Behind them were Luis Rodriguez, Brent Abernathy, BRET BOONE, Michael Cuddyer and Juan Castro (no relation to Jason that I know). Luis Castillo played in 142 games in 2006, Followed by Punto, Rodriguez, Alexi Casilla. In 2007, Castillo’s days were numbered as we got into another scrum at second. Castillo 85, Casilla 52, Punto 25, Rodriguez 21.
Alexi Casilla was the primary starter in 2008, followed by Brendan Harris, Nick Punto, and Matt Tolbert. Then some appearances by Matt Macri, Brian Buscher, and Howie Clark. Alexi was in the next scrum – 2009 with 72 games, Punto 63, Tolbert 36, Harris 11, and one for Cuddyer.
 
 
Carew and Knoblauch were easy. Here is another tough choice.
 
Nick Punto was with the Twins seven years - .248/.323/.324/.648 and 10.3 WAR While he played all over, his 408 games at second are the most of any position in his 1122 games played.
 
Jay Canizaro .255/.308/.373/.682 for two years and (-0.4) WAR.
 
Luis Rivas was with the Twins 6 of 8 years. .262/.307/.383/.690 (-0.9) total for those six years.
 
Luis Castillo played 2 of his 15 years with the Twins. .299/.357/.363/.720 and 3.7 WAR for those two years.
 
Alexi Casilla played 7 of 9 years with the Twins .250/.305/334/.639 3.6 WAR
 
Base on WAR Rivas and Canizaro are out. Nick Punto was more productive in the same number of years than Casilla so I have to say that Luis Castillo was the best of the decade.
 
 
2010s
 
Orlando Hudson began our last decade with 123 games, Alexi Casilla had 24, Matt Tolbert 20, Nick Punto 12, then Plouffe and Cuddyer and Harris. 2011 was another scrum, we obviously were looking for something – Casilla 56, Hughes 37, Tolbert 36, Cuddyer 17, Plouffe 17, Brian Dinkleman 11, and Nishioka 6.
 
 
2012 Alexi Casilla was back on top with 95, Jamie Carroll had 66, Eduardo Escobar 8, Plouffe 4, Hughes 3, Nishioka 3, and Darin Mastriani 1.
 
 
In 2013 Dozier took over and was at second for 146 games. Jamie Carroll, Doug Bernier, Mastrioanni finished up. 2014 Dozier had 156 games and Escobar, Bernier, and Nunez had the rest. In 2015 the dominance was established and the same names appeared. The same was true for 2016, except the other names included Polanco, Danny Santana, and James Beresford. 2017 was the same except the other guys were Adrianza, Escobar, Goodrum (now a Tiger), and Santana.
 
 
There is no real discussion here. This is Dozier’s decade. .248/.325/.447/.772 and 23.9 WAR.
 
 
The choices come down to Rod Carew who plays 12 of his 19 seasons with the Twins. He hits - .334/.393/.448/.841, accumulates WAR 63.8 with the Twins, and he will play 1184 games at first and 1130 at 2B.
 
Or Knoblauch.304/.391/.416/.807 for seven seasons with a WAR of 38.
 
Or Dozier 248/.325/.447/.772 and 23.9 WAR
 
I would take Carew/Knoblauch/Dozier and there is no 4 or 5.
 
Compared to 108 first base candidates there were 77 men who played at second.
 

 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11367-the-best-first-baseman-in-twins-history/
 

https://twinsdaily.com/blogs/entry/11365-the-best-catcher-in-twins-history/

Best First Baseman in Twins history?
This is really tough because 1B seems to be the plug and play position. Can’t run – 1B, no room at DH – 1B. Need a rest 1B. So for the most part slow, lumbering, powerful describes the position, but then there are the exceptions like Keith Hernandez who set the bar for the leagues and Joe Mauer who set the fielding bar for the Twins. But note – Hernandez might have been a fielding whiz, but 1B fielding does not get you into the HOF. So how to analyze 1B? To begin with how many games did the player start at that position, remember it can be a fill in for another position player to get a bench player on the field.
 
In 1961, Harmon Killebrew played at first base for 119 games. I know we think of 3B, but the big slugger was able to come across the field too. To illustrate my point about how 1B is a fill-in position the following players were also on the bag during 1961, Bob Allison, Don Mincher, Julio Becquer, Joe Altobelli, and Ron Howard.
 
In 1962 Harmon was removed for the man I argue was the best glove at the position in our history – Sorry Joe! – but Vic Power was amazing there. Don Mincher was his primary backup, Harmon played there 4 games and played in Left Field (surprise) for 151 games. Jim Snyder got one game at the bag.
 
1963 saw Vic Power dominate the bag with Mincher his backup and 38 year old Vic Wertz who hit the famous ball that Willie Mays caught in the world series was there for six games.
 
1964, the 36 year old Power lost the job to Bob Allison – yes the great left fielder of the Twins started 93 games at first, Don Mincher started 76, Power 12 and then the list is Minnesota Native, Jerry Kindall, Frank Kostro, and Rich Reese.
 
In 1965 perennial understudy Don Mincher started 99 games and Harmon Killebrew came back to the bag for 72 games. The other names are Rich Reese, Bob Allison, Andy Kosko. This was our World Series team.
Don Mincher started 130 games in 1966 and was backed up by Harmon Killebrew 42 games and Harmon played 3B 107 games that year.
 
In 1967 Mincher was gone and Harmon had the bag for 160 games. Rich Reese was his understudy at first. Rich Reese took the lead in 1968 with 87 games, Killebrew was at 3B for 11 games and 1B for 77. Bob Allison had 17 games and then the parade at the base had Frank Kostro, Craig Nettles (famous 3B for the Yankees and a 3B glove wizard – he also played 3b, LF, RF, CF that year), Keith Hernandez, Jim Holt, Frank Quilici, and Cesar Tovar!
 
1969 we were back to Rich Reese with 118 games and Killebrew going between 3B and 1B playing at first for 81 games. Rounding out 1B was Cotton Nash, Bob Allison, and Jim Holt. The new decade looked quite similar with Rich Reese getting 146 games in 1970 and Harmon Killebrew coming over from 3B 28 times and Bob Allison for seven. Then Jim Holt, Cotton Nash, and Hall of Famer Rod Carew for one game.
 
 
The first base men of the sixties break down to these:
Killebrew 969 games out of 22 years in MLB, 791 games at 3B, 7 seasons in LF so he is primarily a 1B player. Of course he is in the HOF, his WAR is 60.4. .256/.376/.509/.884 with 573 HRs makes him hard to beat.
Don Mincher played 13 years, 7 with the Twins. 8.3 WAR with Twins. .244/.340/.479/.819 He hit 200 HRs in his career. 617 games.
Vic Power played three of his twelve years in MN. 1.7 WAR in MN. 278/.305/.398/.703 In fielding he was 62 Runs above average according to BR. He was in 301 games for us.
Rich Reese was with the Twins of 10 of his 11 years in MLB. 3.2 WAR for those ten years is not very great. He had 640 appearances at first.
Bob Allison was the primary 1B only one years, but appeared at first in 145 games and therefore is not really in the running despite his great skills.
Rich Reese 95 and Harmon Killebrew 90 games dominated first in 1971 with Jim Holt and George Thomas as other players.
1972 Killebrew had 130 games at first and obviously was replaced for defensive purposes because Rich Reese is credited with 98 games at first. In addition the other 1B appearances were by Rick Renick, Jim Holt (he seems to have a long career of one appearance), and Jim Nettles (Craig’s brother).
 
1973 surprises me. While Killebrew got 57 games, Joe Lis (?) was the primary starter for 96, Jim Holt got 33, Reese 17 and Craig Kusick 11.
 
Kusick took over in 1974 starting 75 games, Jim Holt played 67, Killebrew 33 and DH for 57, Pat Bourgue 21, Joe Lis 18, and Jerry Terrell 2.
 
Kusick was still the primary 1B in 1975 but barely. He was in 51 games, John Briggs 49, Tom Kelly 43 (his only MLB year!), Rod Carew 14, Steve Braun 9, Danny Walton 7. A typical merry-go-round at the bag.
 
Then in 1976 Rod Carew put another HOF players at first base. He was at first for 152 games, Kusick for 24 and no one else! Not much changes in 1977 with Carew at first for 151 games, Kusick for 23 and Jerry Terrell 1. The Rod Carew show continued in 1978 with Rod in 148 games, Kusick 27 and Jose Morales in 2.
 
The decade of the seventies ended with Cal Griffiths big racist mouth chasing Carew to California and first base went to Ron Jackson who started 157 games, Danny Goodwin, Craig Kusick 8, and Mike Cubbage, Jose Morales, and Roy Smalley one each.
 
 
For the seventies we can disregard the players I looked at for the sixties even though some certainly were the major players in this decade. The new first base men – the starters were:
Craig Kusick played for the Twins 7 years and accumulated 3.6 WAR, .236/ .343/.394/.738 He played at first 238 games.
Rod Carew played 19 seasons, 12 with the Twins 1184 games at First. 334/.393/ .448/.841 and 63.8 WAR with the Twins.
Joe Lis played two years with the Twins and his .238/ .321/.374/.695 (-0.4) WAR is hardly worthy of being on the list.
 
The last first baseman of the group is Ron Jackson. He played for the Twins for 3 of his 10 MLB years and batted .268/.325/.409/.734 with 2.8 WAR and played first 552 times in 8 years
Summing up the 1970’s we come up with HOF number 2 as the best – Rod Carew and then a lot of names and not much to show.
 
Ron Jackson will lead off the new decade in 1980 with 119 games at first followed by Mike Cubbage at 73, Danny Goodwin 13, Pete Mackanin 4, Roy Smalley 3, Jose Morales 2, and Jesus Vega 2.
 
The 1981 season was a merry-go-round with Danny Goodwin starting 40, Ron Jackson 36, Tim Corcoran 16, Kent Hrbek 13, Pete Mackanin 10, Mickey Hatcher 7, Sal Butera 1, and Roy Smalley 1. At least there were some really recognizable names among the eight!
 
1982 put Kent Hrbek at the forefront with 138 games, Jesus Vega (who I do not remember) played 18 and Greg Wells 10. Hrbek owned the base now and in 1983 he had 137 games with Scott Ullger as his backup and playing 30 games. Then Mickey Hatcher 7, Randy Bush 3. Hrbek 148 games, Hatcher 17 and Randy Bush 2 in 1984.
In 1985 it is amazing that there are 9 names at first base when Hrbek played 156 games and Mike Stenhouse played 8, with Mickey Hatcher 4. Lots of substitutions, I guess. Anyway, the rest of the nine are Randy Bush, Mark Funderburk, Gary Gaetti, Tim Laudner, Roy Smalley, and Ron Washington. Not sure how they did this unless they had one game of musical chairs.
 
1986 was simpler – Hrbek 146, Hatcher 22, Bush 3. In the World Series Year of 1987 Hrbek played in 137, Gene Larkin was 26, Randy Bush 9, Tim Laudner 7. A Very Big year – our second World Series and first victory with Hrbek using his wrestling moves to handle St Louis. I was in a bar with Cardinal fans in Sierra Vista Arizona during that game – what a hoot!
 
In 1988 Hrbek only played in 105 games so Gene Larkin got to play in 60, Bush 6, Kelvin Torve (anyone remember him?) 4 and Tim Laudner 3.
 
The last season of the eighties decade was another merry-go-round with 8 players at first. Hrbek played in 89, Gene Larkin 69, Randy Bush 25, Tim Laundner 11, Paul Sorrento 5, Gaetti, Brian Harper, and John Moses two each.
 
 
The eighties were the Hrbek decade.
Hrbek played for the Twins for 14 years. .282/.367/ 481/.848 with 38.6 WAR. He played 1609 games at first.
Danny Goodwin played three years for the Twins .242/.312/.372 /.684 (-1.3) WAR and 61 games at 1B.
The nineties still had Hrbek 120 games at first, Larkin 28, Sorrento 15, Bush 6, Moses 6, Gaetti and Harper two each. In 1991, the next World Series victory Hrbek had 128 games, Larkin 39, Sorrento 13, Bush 12, Harper 1, and Al Newman 1. It is a reminder that we actually had a bench in those days.
 
1992 Hrbek 104, Larkin 55, Terry Jorgenson 13, Randy Bush 8, and Chili Davis 1.
 
1993 we dropped to fifth in our division with 71 wins and Hrbek was on first 115 games. Dave McCarty was the new hope and he played first in 36 games with Larkin 18, Jorgenson 9, David Winfield – Hall of Famer – 5, Randy Bush 4, Mike Maksudian 4, and Chip Hale 1.
 
1994 Hrbek played only 72 games at first, Dave McCarty 32, Steve Dunn 12, Jeff Reboulet 10, Chip Hale 7. Hrbek was done.
 
1995 we set a new record with 11 players spending some time at First. Scott Stahoviak played 69 so he is the starter of record for this year. Dan Masteller 48, Ron Coomer 22, McCarty 18, Reboulet 17, Jerald Clark 11, Kevin Maas 8, Steve Dunn, Pedro Munoz, and Chip Hale 3 each, and Matt Merullo 1.
 
1996 Scott Stahoviak took over and started 114 games, but the Coomer was on his tail with 57, and Hall of Famer Paul Molitor snuck in and played first 17 games. Jeff Reboulet 13, Chip Hale 6, and Denny Hocking 1. With out team playing on the wrong end of the standings things were shaking up and in 1997 Stahoviak held on for 81 games, but he was being pushed by Greg Colburn who started 64, and Brent Brede 15. Paul Molitor took the bag for 14 games, and a guy named David Ortiz for 11, Ron Coomer 9, Terry Steinback 2, and Denny Hocking 1.
 
1998 David Ortiz – soon to be a Hall of Famer got to start 70 games, but he was not good enough to start more so Ron Coomer got 54 starts. And Coomer out homered Ortiz 15 – 9! Orlando Merced got 38 games, Molitor 9, Doug Mientkiewicz 8, Stahoviak 4, Hocking 2, Gates 1 and Jon Shave 1.
 
Ending the decade of the nineties Mientkiewicz took over with 110 games, Coomer 71, Gates 5, Hocking 2, and David Ortiz was allowed to start 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
 
So here we have a tough decision – does Hrbek own this decade too?
Stahoviak played for the Twins for five years and got a total of 1 WAR. .256/.335/.410/.745 and 268 games at first.
David Ortiz toiled six years with the Twins – 266/.348/461/.809 2.6 WAR.
 
Ron Coomer .278/ .315/.431/.746 for six years with 2.5 WAR and 408 games at first in his career.
Doug Mientkiewicz for seven years hit .275/.367/.408/.776 with WAR 6.4 WAR. An excellent fielder who ranks with Power and Mauer for the best gloves. Doug did more in the 2000s than the 90s but this field is weak despite David Ortiz so Mientkiewicz is my choice for the 90s – otherwise it is Hrbek again.
 
A new decade and a new century. We wipe the slate clean – it has to be good, right? Mientkiewicz only plays 3 games in 2000 and Ron Coomer grabs first playing 124 games, David Ortiz gets in 27, Hocking 12, Butch Huskey 9, Matt LeCroy 3, Casey Blake 3, and Chad Allen 1. Just think if they had given Ortiz all the games the last 5 had!
2001 and the team actually played 500 which is a big jump from the last few seasons. Mientkiewicz is back at First for 148 games, Denny Hocking played 11, and David Ortiz gets 8, Cuddyer 5, Casey Blake 3, LeCroy 2. Doug is okay, but we will all wonder why Ortiz gets the shuffle – actually we know – it is the genius Tom Kelly. Tom was a great manager, but he blew this opportunity with Ortiz because the Twins Way was not David’s.
 
2002 we were in first place in our division Mientkiewicz started 143 games, Ortiz 15, LeCroy 8, Cuddyer, Hocking and Todd Sears six each, Bobby Keitly 5, and Casey Blake 3.
 
2003 and another first place. Mientkiewicz played 139 games, LeCroy 17, Sears 14, Hocking 10, Morneau 7, Cuddyer 5. In 2004 this order changes as Mientkiewicz playes 77 games and Morneau 61 and why was LeCroy in 23 games? Cuddyer 10, Jose Offerman 7 and Terry Tiffee 1.
 
2005 Morneau takes over and plays first in 138 games. LeCroy is primary back up with 23 appearances and Terry Tiffee (I really cannot remember him) played 13, with Cuddyer getting in 8. In 2006 Morneau is again, the man. He was in 153 games. Other appearances at first base were Cuddyer 6, Phil Nevin 5, Tiffee 3, and Luis Rodriquez 1.
 
2007 Morneau 143 and then a list of mostly unknowns – Jeff Cirillo 8, Garrett Jones 8, Cuddyer 4, Rodriguez 3, and LeCroy 1. 2008 Morneau starts 155 games. Other appearances at first are by Mike Lamb, Brian Buscher, Howie Clark, Cuddyer, Bendan Harris, and Matt Macri.
 
Finishing the decade in 2009 Morneau played in 123 games at first, Cuddyer 34, Buscher 13, Harris 3, Justin Huber and Matt Tolbert 1.
 
So the 00 decade ended with only one true option – Justin Morneau.
 
Morneau played 11 seasons with the Twins - .278/.347/.485/.832 and 23.3 WAR while playing 1324 games at first in his career.
 
The final decade is the one we are finishing up – the tens or teens.
 
2010 Cuddyer plays the most at first 84 games while Morneau has 77 as a concussion ruins a great career. Talbert, Harris and Morales get the crumbs.
 
2011 Morneau hangs on to get 56 games, Cuddyer 46, Luke Hughes 36, Chris Parmelee 20, and Joe Mauer makes his first appearances at the bag for 18 games. Plouffe plays one game at first. The winds of change are in the air.
 
2012 Morneau gets his games up to 99 and Parmelee 38, Mauer 30. The scraps go to Plouffe for three and one each for Doumit, Burroughs, and Hughes.
 
2013 Morneau is still the man – 112 games, followed by Chris Calabello 26, Parmelee 23, Mauer 8, and Plouffe 2.
2014 in the midst of a string of last place finished, the big news is that Joe Mauer is now the first baseman. He has 100 games at first, Parmelee 33, Colabello 23, Kendrys Morales 13, and Kennys Vargas 13. Joe will be the man from now on and in 2015 he started 137 games at first and the team finished second and above 500. Kennys Vargas 18, Trevor Plouffe 17, Chris Hermann and Miguel Sano got two each.
 
2016 Mauer 95, Vargas 32, Byung Ho Park 24, Plouffe 13, Beresford 6 and Kepler 2.
 
2017 we finish second and above 500 and Mauer starts 125 games with Vargas backing him up and playing in 40 games, Miguel Sano played first in 9, Chris Giminez 7, Ehire Adrianza 4, and Mitch Garver 3.
 
I will stop there. We know Mauer will finish his career and there really is no doubt that he is the first baseman of the 10s. He has 11 seasons as a catcher where he was hall of fame caliber and 8 as our best first baseman, but no longer HOF. His line .306/.388/.439/.827 is outstanding and puts him in the HOF conversation.
 
But this is hard – you choose - here are the best Minnesota first basemen by decades again – I find that it is hard to sort out their first base stats from catcher, LF, RF, 3B, 2B, and all the other positions that many of them played.
 
Two are in the Hall of fame, one might join them, one would have if his career had not been damaged by injury.
• 1960s – Harmon Killebrew
• 1970s – Rod Carew
• 1980s – Kent Hrbek
• 1990s – Mientkiewicz
• 2000s – Morneau
• 2010s – Mauer
Nice list – who do you want?
 
For those of you counting - there were 108 players who were on first base in the 56 years!