Who is on your Top 50 Minnesota Twins list?
Following are opinions from Mille Lacs County Times editor-sports editor Gary Larson, reporter Luther Dorr and former Times intern Logan Marxhausen who’s now on the sports staff at the St. Cloud State University Chronicle. Note: This feature is written on Monday each week.
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•Question: On Friday Fox Sports North and the Minnesota Twins released the names of the “50 Greatest Twins” in honor of the Twins’ 50th anniversary. The players were voted on by a panel of print, radio and television journalists who have covered the Twins. (The list is printed on this page.) What do you think of the list in general and were there any omissions or names you felt should not have been included?
-Dorr: When you list 50 names for a team that has been in existence only 50 years you are bound to include most players who should be on the list. There were some on the list I didn’t think should be there, players who played only a year or two with the Twins, but I haven’t seen the rules that were in place for being eligible for the list. When I first made my way through the list I quickly eliminated 36 of the names, including Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor who, although great players, were only here a short while – Molitor for three and Winfield for two. I crossed off the names of managers Billy Martin, Gene Mauch, Sam Mele, Frank Quilici and Tom Kelly right away, along with coach Rick Stelmaczek who has been with the team at the Met, the Metrodome and now Target Field. Nothing wrong with those guys, all of them good baseball men. But they weren’t in my top 50.
-Marxhausen: The list was long and extensive and touched a lot of bases concerning the Twins organization throughout the history of the club. I felt that it did represent the Twins awfully well. Sure players like Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Jack Morris made the list while not having a long stint with the Twins. Each player that deserves mentioning was present on the list. It is hard to distinguish between some of the players and their contributions, but I thought the list was just and fair.
-Larson: Oh, how quickly they forget. I was 13 when the Twins arrived from Washington and several players from those Twins teams from 1960-1969 are on my list of “50 Greatest Twins.” But, those on the panel must have forgotten about them. How about:
-Outfielder Jimmie Hall, who played four seasons in Minnesota. Hall, a left-handed batter, slammed 98 home runs and drove in 391 during his stay. In 1963 he hit 33 home runs and drove in 80 runs. That homer total usually generates more runs-batted-in but Hall was competing with the likes of Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, Don Mincher, Rich Rollins and Earl Battey to bring Twins runners home.
-First baseman Mincher, who in seven seasons with the Twins hit 92 home runs and drove in 270. “Big Don Mincher,” as he was often introduced, came to the Twins via one of the team’s best trades, ever. In April of 1960 the Griffith family sent an ageing Roy Sievers to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Earl Battey, a back-up to Sherm Lollar in Chicago, Mincher and $150,000. Calvin G. loved that cash! With Killebrew missing nearly two months of the 1965 American League pennant season with an injury, Mincher picked up some of the slack and finished with 22 home runs and 65 RBI.
-Third baseman Rich Rollins, who had a .272 batting average, hit 71 home runs and drove in 369 runs over eight seasons with the Twins. Rollins batted .298 with 16 homers and 98 RBI in 1962. And, he wore glasses!
-Right-handed pitcher Dave Boswell, who had a 67-54 record in seven seasons with the Twins. In 1967 he was 14-12, with 204 strikeouts, and in 1969 he was 20-12, with 190 Ks. And, who can forget that August 1969 night when Boswell, who had punched Allison, was knocked out by manager Billy Martin outside a Detroit nightclub? An arm injury suffered during the American League Championship Series at the end of that 1969 season ended Boswell’s career.
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•Question: Here’s a toughie. List in order who you think are the Twins’ seven best players ever, regardless of position. Include players who spent much or all of their careers with the Twins, excluding players such as Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Jack Morris.
-Dorr: It’s a task that is almost impossible after you get past the top three. Some of the players who made my first cut but didn’t make the final seven are Kent Hrbek, Torii Hunter, Joe Nathan, Camilo Pascual, Jim Perry and Frank Viola. In the No. 7 spot I put the tandem of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau and, barring injury, if this poll takes place 10 years from now those two will likely be higher than they are. You could make a good case for putting them higher even now. Morneau is having a dream year so far and is not only one of the best hitters around but has turned into a great fielder. I put Kirby Puckett at No. 6. He had a great career here, albeit one cut short by losing sight in one eye at an early age. If he had played a few more years I probably would have him higher. At No. 5 I have Bert Blyleven, who made his debut as a 19-year-old, striking out 9 in seven innings, and then had a great career, including a comeback later in Minnesota when the team won its first World Series. I put Jim Kaat at No. 4. He once won 25 games here and was a great pitcher on the 1965 World Series team. He was also a good hitter and won 16 straight Gold Gloves, although not all of them here. I just liked the way he played the game. The No. 3 player for me is Tony Oliva who won three batting titles and also had his career cut short by a knee injury and a finger injury. He was a very good outfielder, with a gun for an arm, and an instinctive base runner who also hit with power to all fields. No. 2 for me is Rod Carew who won seven batting titles with the Twins and once stole home seven times in one season and once hit .388. He was a great bunter, turned into a good fielder, and seem to glide as he was going from first to third on a single. Harmon Killebrew is No. 1 for me. He hit 559 homers with the Senators/Twins and in the 11 seasons from 1959 to 1969 hit more than 40 homers six times, leading the league in homers six times and RBIs three times. In three of those years he was injured or he might well have had three more 40-homer seasons. That he was a classy, no-excuse guy doesn’t enter into the equation but he is about as good a guy as Minnesota has seen, with Oliva in the same category.
-Marxhausen: At No. 7, it’s center fielder Torii Hunter. The defense that Hunter put up for the Twins included the most diving catches I have ever seen an outfielder make. His continuous relentlessness to catch the ball and make the best play in the outfield brought Hunter to my seventh spot. At No. 6, I’ve got Jim Kaat, a great left-handed pitcher who put in many long innings of work with a Twins jersey on his back. He won a gold glove every season except the first season with the Twins. Kaat pitched against the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax in three games of the 1965 World Series. What match-ups they must have been. He won 25 games in 1966. At No. 5, it’s Tony Oliva, who played 15 seasons with the Twins, making the All-Star team eight times with three batting titles. Kent Hrbek with his power and dedication made it to the fourth spot on my list. With nagging injuries that cut his career short, Hrbek still had a huge impact on the two World Series teams in 1987 and 1991. He played his whole career with the Twins, hitting 293 home runs over 14 seasons. Harmon Killebrew, my No. 3 pick, came over with the Washington Senators. When he retired after 22 seasons, he had the second most home runs by a right-handed batter. At No. 2, is Rod Carew, with his goofy looking batting stance. His 12 seasons with the Twins brought countless awards with many hits as he finished his career with a .328 batting average. Kirby Puckett is at No. 1. In his 12 seasons he was a six-time gold glove winner, he won the Silver Slugger Award six times, he was a 10-time selection for the All-Star Game and, of course, a member of the two World Series championship teams.
-Larson: My list is nearly identical to Luther’s and includes several of Logan’s choices. Our top three are the same, but, I’ve got Puckett at No. 4, Kaat at No. 5 and Blyleven at No. 6. And, I like Luther’s decision to combine Mauer and Morneau at No. 7. Even if Mauer and Morneau have good, but not great, seasons during the rest of their years with Minnesota, they’ve already done enough to be considered among the Twins’ best. Wouldn’t you love a batting order of Carew, Oliva, Mauer, Killebrew, Morneau and Puckett?
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•Question: The Twins have picked up a nasty trait of leaving runners on base, especially with the bases loaded. Are they good enough to overcome the problem and is there a cure?
-Dorr: Back in 2008 when the Twins led the league, if not all of baseball, in average with runners on base, it was said by many that they were good because they hit with men on base. They did have a great year but last year I wrote that it was unlikely to continue and it didn’t. And this year the team has been unbelievably bad so far, especially with the bases loaded. They’re now hitting .169 with the bases loaded, last or near last in the Major Leagues, after failing three times Sunday in that situation against a woeful Milwaukee pitching staff. A good case in point came during the previous home stand when the bases were loaded with Denard Span, Orlando Hudson and Joe Mauer coming up. Even a double play, I thought, might get a run in with Span at the plate. But he hit a come-backer to the mound for a 1-2-3 double play, Hudson made an out and Mauer didn’t get to hit. There are times when I’ve hoped for a double play just to score a run with no outs. Sure, they’re probably better than .169, but I’m wearying of the refrain that they have just won two of three in a series, or hearing that the other pitcher should get credit, or that they must be doing something right because they’re in first place. I’m not a professional manager or hitting coach but I wish some players would start hitting first-pitch fastballs more than they do. Of course, I’ve been saying that for three years. Nobody, not even Joe Mauer, is a better hitter when the count is 0-1. Players who are failing with runners in scoring position have track records that say they will eventually do better. So, yes, they are good enough to overcome the problem. And part of the cure might be not letting so many hitable fastballs sail by unmolested.
-Marxhausen: Believe it or not the Twins have always had the chronic problem of moving players on base to home plate. It seems like the mentality of the Twins is so close to being that of champions, but is still missing the key element of hitting in clutch situations. The problem is hard to diagnose, but the cure may be as simple as the team’s lineup of experienced players who will solve the calamity as the season continues.
-Larson: Dr. Larson, baseball psychologist, may be able to help the Twins out on this one. Two options, fellas. The first is ignore those guys on the bases. They’re unfriendly ghosts, who just want to frighten you and make you look like you choked at the plate. The second option, boys, is to look at those base runners as friends….friends you want to bring back to your den (the dugout) and share baseball stories with.
With the Twins sporting a 26-18 record into the Yankee series, should this trait of leaving runners in scoring position concern us? Yup, because sooner or later these things catch up with a team. Better pitch selection and less anxiety at the plate are the cures.
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