|
All-Century Roster: Twins
By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor
|
For 60 years the Washington Senators, an original member of the
American League in 1901, were generally a poor franchise. Though they broke
through to win the pennant in 1924, '25 and '33 -- mostly due to the
pitching of Walter Johnson -- the Senators also had 34 seasons with a
sixth-place finish or worse.
 | | | Kirby Puckett rounds the bases after winning Game 6 of the 1991 World Series.(Allsport) | |
There were quality players suiting up in Washington but the team was
rarely strong enough to keep up with the New York Yankees, Philadelphia
Athletics and Boston Red Sox.
In 1961, the first version of the Senators vanished with a move to
Minnesota. The new Twins were quickly competitive due to some outstanding
pitching and the quality hitting duo of Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew.
A World Series entry came in 1965 when Zoilo Versalles was the AL MVP.
In 1969 and '70, the Twins won the first two AL West division
championships. The success faded over the next 16 years but in 1987,
Minnesota experienced its greatest baseball moment. The upstart Twins, with
a scrappy bunch of players reaching their prime, created some genuine
enthusiasm upsetting the Cardinals in the World Series.
The same story returned in 1991 with generally the same group of players
making for an amazing World Series. Since then, though, the promise has
faded as far as possible as the team heads into a new century with a
bare-bones roster filled out by marginal prospects kept to meet financial
constraints.
Lineup
| Earl Battey, C, 1961-67 |
| Battey rarely had a long period of good health but remained one of the most
durable catchers of the early '60s. He was a four-time All-Star and
three-time Gold Glove winner. He had the highest batting average (.280) of
any catcher in 1962 and in 1963 put together his best power season with 26
homers and 84 RBI. |
| Kent Hrbek, 1B, 1981-94 |
| Hrbek hit a game-winning, 12th-inning homer at Yankee Stadium in his first
game and went on to continue thrilling his hometown fans. Though only once
an All-Star (1982), Hrbek was a consistent producer and an outstanding
first baseman. His grand slam in Game 6 of the 1987 World Series
highlighted his career. He hit 293 homers, second to Harmon Killebrew's 473
as a Twin. His 1,086 RBI are also second in team history. |
| Rod Carew, 2B, 1967-78 |
| In a dozen seasons with the Twins, Carew won seven batting titles and hit
.334 overall. He has the top three and four of the top five single-season
batting averages in Twins history. In 1977, he chased the immortal .400
mark, winding up at .388 in a MVP year. He was AL Rookie of the Year in
1967 and won his first batting title in '69. The Panamian-born Carew was a
terrific bunter known for his ability to place bunts precisely for base
hits. He also exhibited great speed and in 1969 stole home seven times
to tie a record. |
| Joe Cronin, SS, 1928-34 |
| Cronin developed as the best hitting shortstop in the game by 1930 and
later became the Washington Senators' player-manager in 1933 and '34.
Cronin had more than 100 RBI each season from 1930-34. In 1930, he was
named the majors' player of the year by The Sporting News after
hitting .346 with 126 RBI and 127 runs. After continuing his player-manager
career in Boston, Cronin became the President of the American League in 1959. |
| Gary Gaetti, 3B, 1981-90 |
| Gaetti was a central figure in the Twins' surprising rise to prominence as
he played Gold Glove defense at the hot corner and turned himself into a
slugger at the plate. After having just five homers and 65 RBI in a full
1984 season, Gaetti hit 34 homers and drove in 108 in 1986. When the Twins
won the World Series, in 1987, he set a career best with 109 RBI and hit 31
homers. He's one of six Twins with 200 homers and one of five with 750 RBI.
He started four triple plays as a Twin. |
| Kirby Puckett, OF, 1984-95 |
| Puckett became an inspirational story and the most beloved Twin ever with a
dozen-year career of excellence. He's one of just nine players to get four
hits in their first game. He continued to thrill with his fence-climbing
outfield play that brought six Gold Gloves and his strong bat which made
him a 10-time All-Star and the Twins' career leader in hits, doubles, total
bases and runs. Puckett's brightest moment came in Game 6 of the 1991 World
Series. He went 3-for-4, robbed Atlanta's Ron Gant of an extra-base hit by
leaping to the top of the plexiglass that then adorned the top of the
outfield wall and hit an 11th-inning, game-winning home run to send the
Series to a seventh game. |
| Goose Goslin, OF, 1921-30, '33, '38 |
| >From 1924-28, Goslin never hit less than .334 for the Senators and led the
league in batting in '28 at .379. He also had at least 100 RBI in each of
those seasons and topped the AL with 129 in 1924, keeping Babe Ruth from
winning the Triple Crown. If the fences at Griffith Stadium hadn't been so
deep, Goslin might have been more prominent for his power. He hit 248
homers in his career, but in 1926 he hit 17 on the road and zero at home. |
| Tony Oliva, OF, 1962-76 |
| Oliva is the only player ever to win batting titles in each of his first
two full seasons. He hit .323 in 1964 and .321 in '65, also leading the
league in hits each year and scored over 100 runs each season. He was an
All-Star six times in his 15 Minnesota seasons and won a third batting
title in 1971. He had moderate power, having hit 220 homers but knee
problems (including seven surgeries) limited him after 1971, cutting short
his Hall of Fame chances. |
| Harmon Killebrew, DH, 1961-74 |
| Killebrew actually began his career as a second baseman but moved to the
corners of the infield, the outfield and eventually designated hitter as
his power blossomed. He's the greatest right-handed power hitter in
American League history, having hit 573 homers, all but 14 with the
Senators-Twins. He passed 40 homers eight times and 100 RBI 10 times. He
was an 11-time All-Star and the AL MVP in 1969 when he hit 49 homers, drove
in 140 runs, walked 145 times and had the best on-base percentage in the AL
(.430), rare for a batter of his power. |
Pitchers
| Walter Johnson, SP, 1907-27 |
| The "Big Train" was discovered in a rural Idaho semi-pro league and signed
for $100 and train fare. Johnson took his blazing sidearm fastball to
Washington, earning respect from many as the greatest pitcher in history.
Playing for teams that finished in the bottom half of the standings for
half of his 21 seasons, Johnson still won 416 games. His 110 shutouts are
20 more than anyone else. And when matched up with the other dominant aces
of his era, Johnson was usually at his best, winning 1-0 games 38 times.
He's one of seven pitchers with 3,500 strikeouts and one of five original
members of the Hall of Fame. |
| Frank Viola, SP, 1982-89 |
| The left-handed changeup artist struggled in his first two seasons with
Minnesota but in 1984 started a string of five seasons with at least 16
wins. He won 18 in '84 and '85 and after going 17-10 in the regular season
in 1987, he was named MVP of the World Series. Viola's career reached a
peak in 1988 when he went 24-7 with a 2.64 ERA to win the AL Cy Young
Award. He was traded to the Mets the next season when a contract dispute
divided the team but his 112 wins are fourth best in team history. |
| Jim Kaat, SP, 1961-73 |
| In the Twins' first run of prominence, Kaat emerged as one of the better
right-handers in the AL. He won 18 games for the 1965 Twins who reached the
World Series and in 1966 he had his best season going 25-13 and being named
AL pitcher of the year by The Sporting News at a time when only one
Cy Young Award was given and it went to Sandy Koufax. The 25 wins remain a
team record. Kaat continued to be a bit better than a .500 pitcher through
the rest of his Twins years and his 189 victories are the best in team
history. |
| Camilo Pascual, SP, 1954-66 |
| It took the "Little Potato" six major-league seasons to get close to a
winning record but once he harnessed his ability, he went on to lead the AL
in strikeouts from 1961-63 and was a three-time All-Star and two-time
20-game winner. He was 57-84 as a Senator but was much better in Minnesota,
going 88-57. He led the AL in shutouts in 1959, '61 and '62. |
| Jim Perry, SP, 1963-72 |
| Perry was always solid as a part-time starter through the first six seasons
of this Twins career. But when he joined the rotation, making 36 starts in
1969, he became a 20-game winner. In 1970, he led the AL with 24 wins.
Perry won 128 games for Minnesota, third most in team history. His 3.15 ERA
is also No. 3 in the Twins era. |
| Rick Aguilera, RP, 1989-99 |
| When the Twins were at their best in 1991, Aguilera also reached a
pinnacle, saving a career best 42 games. He saved 30 or more games five
times for Minnesota. His 254 saves are, by more than double, the most in
team history. |
| Bench |
| Sam Rice, Bob Allison, Chuck Knoblauch, Buddy Myer, Roy Smalley,
Lyman Bostock, Vic Power, Brian Harper, Larry Hisle, Greg Gagne, Tom
Brunansky, Zoilo Versalles, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas, John Castino, Doug
Corbett, Gary Ward, Matt Lawton, Pat Meares, Paul Molitor, Pete Runnels,
Roy Sievers, Jim Lemon, John Stone, Stan Spence, Joe Judge, Clyde Milan,
Mickey Vernon, Ossie Bluege, Buddy Lewis, Eddie Yost, Joe Kuhel, Bucky
Harris, Cecil Travis, George Case, Heinie Manush |
| Best season |
| Without such a fantastic finish, the 1991 season might not have risen to the top of team history, having been passed by the 102-win 1965 team, or the strong 1933 team.
There were no expectations of success
in 1991, considering that the team had finished seventh in the AL West in
1990. But on came an inspirational crew led by Kirby Puckett. The Twins won
95 regular-season games, beat Toronto in the ALCS then won what some
consider to be the greatest World Series ever, beating the Atlanta Braves
in seven games. Five games were decided by one run, four in the final
at-bat and three of them in extra innings. Game 7 was a classic with Jack
Morris pitching a 10-inning shutout. Dan Gladden hustled for a double on a
broken-bat hit, was sacrificed to third and scored on pinch-hitter Gene
Larkin's bloop single over the drawn-in infield to win the Series. |
| |
| Worst season |
| Even the 97-loss 1999 Twins, who were stocked with players
who would still have been in the minors in most other organizations,
weren't the worst the franchise has seen. In the team's infancy, the
Washington Senators of 1904 were terrible. They lost 113 of 151 games to
finish 55 1/2 games back of the then Boston Pilgrims. The team had three
20-game losers and not a batter who hit better than .262. |
| Best individual season, player |
| Rod Carew was a finesse guy, a singles
hitter. But in his MVP season of 1977, Carew had 323 total bases, an
amazing total for a guy often thought of as a bunter and slap hitter. He
led the league with a .388 average, 128 runs, 239 hits, 16 triples and a
.452 on-base percentage. He also stole 23 bases, hit a career best 14
homers and drove in 100 runs for the only time in his career. |
| |
| Best individual season, pitcher |
| The pinnacle of Walter Johnson's brilliant
career came in 1913 when he won 36 games with a 1.09 ERA. It was his fourth
of 10 consecutive 20-win seasons. His 243 strikeouts led the AL, one of a
dozen strikeout crowns. He pitched 11 shutouts and opponents hit just .187
against him. He had a 56-inning scoreless streak, which stood as a record
for six decades. |
|
|
|