December 30, 2009 – The Minnesota Twins have had 12 managers since the team moved here from Washington after the 1960 season. I thought that it would be interesting to see how many games each of them had played at the major league and minor league level before they moved into “management” so to speak and to see if there is any correlation between playing experience and managing a team at the major league level. The games listed below are strictly games played and not coached or managed either in the minors or majors.
| Name | Major league positions played | Major league games | Minor league games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cookie Lavagetto ** | 3B, 2B, 1B, SS | 1,043 | 523 |
| Sam Mele | OF, 1B | 1,046 | 340 |
| Cal Ermer | 2B | 1 | 904 |
| Billy Martin * | 2B, SS, 3B, OF | 1,021 | 510 |
| Bill Rigney * | 2B, 3B, SS, 1B | 654 | 641 |
| Frank Quilici | 2B, 3B, SS, 1B | 405 | 715 |
| Gene Mauch | 2B, SS, 3B | 304 | 1,061 |
| John Goryl | 2B, 3B, SS | 276 | 1,266 |
| Billy Gardner | 2B, SS, 3B | 1,034 | 1,150 |
| Ray Miller | P | 0 | 371 |
| Tom Kelly | 1B, OF | 49 | 1,143 |
| Ron Gardenhire | SS, 2B, 3B | 285 | 659 |
* = made one All-star team
** = made four All-star teams