Minnesota Twins Top 10 Right Fielders

Between 1961-2018 there have been 70 players that have played at least 10 games in left field for our Minnesota Twins. However, to qualify for this list which ranks them in Baseball-Reference WAR order the player must have played left field in at least 51% of their games while wearing a Twins uniform. This eliminates players like Kirby PuckettBob Allison, Torii Hunter and Cesar Tovar who played right field at different points in their careers. Tony O is the Twins all-time leader in games played in right field.

 

Tony Oliva

 

Results
Rk Player WAR/pos G AB R H HR RBI BA OPS
1 Tony Oliva 43.1 1676 6301 870 1917 220 947 .304 .830
2 Tom Brunansky 16.1 916 3313 450 829 163 469 .250 .782
3 Michael Cuddyer 12.8 1139 4072 606 1106 141 580 .272 .794
4 Matt Lawton 11.3 771 2672 423 739 72 384 .277 .808
5 Max Kepler 6.9 419 1446 199 337 56 190 .233 .730
6 Bobby Darwin 5.3 490 1817 210 467 70 282 .257 .735
7 Dustan Mohr 2.5 261 782 111 202 22 85 .258 .726
8 Bombo Rivera 2.5 257 627 85 167 8 64 .266 .699
9 Hosken Powell 2.3 442 1468 192 383 13 127 .261 .671
10 Roberto Kelly 1.8 173 569 80 175 11 84 .308 .808
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/22/2018.
 

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Twins Top 10 Catchers

Twins Top 10 First Baseman

Twins Top 10 Second Basemen

Twins Top 10 Third Baseman

Twins Top 10 Shortstops

Twins Top 10 Right Fielders

Twins Top 10 Center Fielders

Twins Top 10 Left Fielders

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – Waldrop, Liriano, Lawton, & Vega

These guys made their major league debuts as Minnesota Twins on September 5.

 

Kyle Waldrop

Kyle Waldrop (P) – September 5, 2011 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (25th) of the 2004 MLB June Amateur Draft. Waldrop debuted at Target Field in a 4-0 loss to the White Sox pitching 1.2 innings (40 pitches) of relief and allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk.

 

Francisco Liriano

Francisco Liriano (P) – September 5, 2005 – Traded by the San Francisco Giants with Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan to the Minnesota Twins for A.J. Pierzynski and cash on November 14, 2003. Debuted in the Metrodome in relief in a 7-0 loss to the Rangers. Liriano threw 17 in his one inning of relief giving up a run on a home run to Gary Matthews, the first man he faced but he did strike out the next two batters.

 

Matt Lawton

Matt Lawton (OF) – September 5, 1995 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 1991 amateur draft. Debuted in a Tigers 6-4 win over the Twins at the Dome as a pinch-hitter but was struck out by Mike Christopher looking.

Jesus Vega (1B) – September 5, 1979 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins from the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1977 minor league draft. Debuted at the old Met in a 8-3 Twins victory over the visiting Royals as a pinch-hitter but flew out to right field.

You can check out other Major League Debuts as Twins that I have done by going here.

Best players drafted by Minnesota Twins by round

I went through the history of the Minnesota Twins June Amateur draft choices to see who the best players were that the club drafted, signed and the player debuted with Minnesota across his chest. The player may or may not have played his entire career with the Twins but the WAR numbers are for their entire careers. Why are they ranked by WAR you may ask? Simple, I know of no other way to rank them, so right or wrong, I have chosen B-R WAR.

Twenty five of the 61 rounds shown have no players that qualified meaning that no one ever drafted in that round has made it to the majors with Minnesota. So if the Twins draft you in one of those rounds in the future, the odds are very much against you. Unless you have followed the Twins since day one, you might not recognize or remember some of these players.

The Twins trials and tribulations with finding starting pitching

The Minnesota Twins have a long history of problems developing starting pitching. Using 100 starts as a barometer, since 1961 the Twins have signed and developed just 11 pitchers in their system that have gone on to get 100 or more starts in a Twins uniform. The only first round pick in the bunch is Pete Redfern, three round tw0 picks, two round three picks, one fourth round pick, one fifth round pick, Brad Radke was an eighth round pick, one 29th round pick and an amateur free agent (Dave Boswell).

Since the June amateur free agent draft started in 1965 the Twins have drafted 31 pitchers in round 1 or as round 1 supplementary/compensation picks. Actually part of the Twins issues with starting pitching relates to spending money or the lack there of. The first two right-handed pitchers drafted by the Twins in round 1 were Dick Ruthven in 1972 and Tim Belcher (first overall pick) in 1983 who both refused to sign with Minnesota and went on to have long careers in MLB. The first left-handed pitcher drafted in round 1 to start any games was Eddie Bane and his Twins career lasted 25 starts. As I mentioned earlier, the draft started in 1965 but the Twins only drafted starting pitching in round 1 twice (Ruthven in 1972 and Bane in 1973) between 1965-1981. The first RHP that they drafted in round 1 that actually started a number of games (45 in Twins career) was Willie Banks who the team drafted in 1987. Since 2000 they have drafted a pitcher in round 1 a total of 17 times.

Starting pitching signed and developed by the Twins since 1961

Brad Radke
Rk Player GS From To Age G W L IP ERA
1. Brad Radke 377 1995 2006 22-33 378 148 139 2451.0 4.22
2. Bert Blyleven 345 1970 1988 19-37 348 149 138 2566.2 3.28
3. Frank Viola 259 1982 1989 22-29 260 112 93 1772.2 3.86
4. Dave Goltz 215 1972 1979 23-30 247 96 79 1638.0 3.48
5. Scott Baker 159 2005 2011 23-29 163 63 48 958.0 4.15
6. Scott Erickson 153 1990 1995 22-27 155 61 60 979.1 4.22
7. Dave Boswell 150 1964 1970 19-25 187 67 54 1036.1 3.49
8. Nick Blackburn 137 2007 2012 25-30 145 43 55 818.2 4.85
9. Allan Anderson 128 1986 1991 22-27 148 49 54 818.2 4.11
10. Pete Redfern 111 1976 1982 21-27 170 42 48 714.0 4.54
11. Roger Erickson 106 1978 1982 21-25 114 31 47 712.0 4.10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/20/2016.

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If you can’t find, sign, and develop your starting pitching, you only have a few options at your disposal, you could make a trade, you can sign a free agent, or you can find one on the waiver wire (ha, ha, ha). 

The option I want to write about here is the Twins attempts to trade for starting pitching since the turn of the century, a total of 17 years. Trading for starters hasn’t exactly gone as planned either.

Frankie Sands never played for the Twins but he might have, had it not been for a crazy bounce

(Photo by: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

The most famous eye issue in Minnesota Twins history has to be the Kirby Puckett glaucoma issue that led to the future Hall of Famer’s premature retirement. In a meaningless fall game against the Indians at the Metrodome on September 28, 1995 with the Twins in last place and 42 games out of first place, Puckett was hit in the face by a fastball from Dennis Martinez in the bottom of the first inning. When Puckett who was the DH that afternoon and in the third spot in the batting order stepped to the plate, Chuck Knoblauch was on third base after he too was hit by a Martinez pitch leading off the game. Knobby stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball to center by Matt Lawton. On a 0-2 count Martinez hit Puckett in the face and blow shattered his jaw and put him out of play for the rest of the season. My wife and I were at that game along with just 9,440 others and when Puckett fell to the ground the silence was amazing, you could have heard a pin drop before Indians catcher Tony Pena and the Twins medical staff rushed to Puckett’s aid.

At spring training camp the following March he was batting well, but on March 28 he woke up unable to see out of his right eye. Doctors discovered he had glaucoma. The problem could not be corrected, even after four surgeries, and on July 12, 1996, he announced his retirement as a player.

This past summer Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Matt Imhof was injured in a freak accident when he was struck in the face by a resistance band that was anchored to a wall following a minor league game in Florida. The mounted base broke off the wall and damaged Imhof’s right eye. Doctor’s were unable to save the eye. At last report Imhof had not decided if he would continue his professional baseball career as a pitcher. Imhof, a left-hander was a Phillies second round selection in the June 2014 draft.

Phillies prospect Matt Imhof loses his right eye

Almost 50 years ago back in the fall of 1968 a freak injury caused a Minnesota Twins minor league catching prospect to also lose an eye playing the game he loved.

Many players can say that they played ball in the Minnesota Twins minor league system but few can say that they were good enough and fortunate enough to wear a MLB Minnesota Twins uniform. Because of a tragic accident nearly fifty years ago on October 6, 1968 catcher Franklyn Sands big league dreams took a sharp detour and his dreams of becoming a big leaguer would never happen and his life was forever chnaged.

The Bahamas are not exactly a hot-bed for major league talent but at last count six players born in the Bahamas have worn a big league uniform. According to some, Frank Sands was one of the best catchers to ever come out of the Bahamas when the Houston Astros signed Sands to a contract to play pro ball as a 17-year old and sent him to play class A ball in Bismarck-Mandan in the Northern league in 1966.  After the 1966 season the Astros chose not to protect Sands and the Minnesota Twins drafted him and assigned him to AAA Denver in 1967 where he appeared in just 46 games. The following season the Twins organization decided to send Sands to play class A ball for the Wilson Tobs. Sands caught 116 of the teams 139 games and gained a reputation as a good receiver with a whip like arm but his hitting remained a work in progress.

Then on October 6, 1968 while taking part in the Twins Florida Instructional League tragedy struck, here is how B-R Bullpen describes the incident.

“Sands was warming up pitcher Tom Hall. Hall bounced a breaking ball in the dirt, and it caromed up and off Sands’ mitt into his cheekbone. A sliver of bone punctured his eye from the inside. Sands knew immediately that he had lost the eye. Scipio Spinks observed, “After his accident, it was mandatory for catchers to wear a mask while warming up pitchers.”

Frank spent four weeks in the hospital, and as soon as he got out, the first thing he wanted to do was put on his uniform and get out for batting practice. He was determined to come back, despite the obstacle he faced in batting with impaired depth perception. Twins owner Calvin Griffith liked the young man very much and gave him every opportunity. In fact, Griffith said that Sands would have a job for life with the organization if he wanted it.”

Sands reported for spring training in 1969, this time as a pitcher but was farmed out early in training camp to the class A Orlando Twins where he appeared in just three games pitching just four innings before breaking his arm throwing a pitch. Frank Sands professional baseball career was over but he still caught in the Bahamas Baseball Association for several years playing a game he loved.

Scipio Spinks was a pitcher and a teammate of Sands in the Northern League in 1966 and today is a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here is what Scipio wrote in a e-mail to me about Frankie Sands.

“It’s been a long time, he mostly hung out with Roy Bethel and other Bahamian players. He was a very good catcher and had a cannon for an arm, very friendly and sure of himself, I threw to him some as he was a very good catcher. He wasn’t a good hitter though and he struggled at the plate. We only played together for a few years as he was ruled 5 by the Twins, I believe he could have become a decent hitter and I do believe he would have made it to the Big Leagues.”

Franklyn Sands (Sporting News March 29, 1969 P7)

There have been some serious eye injuries in American Sports history and each of them ended up changing the way the game was played in some fashion. 

The Worst & Most Infamous Eye Injuries in American Sports History

Twins career OBP and OPS leaders

Twins Career OBP Leaders

Joe Mauer

Rk Player OBP PA From To G AB H HR BB IBB SO BA OPS
1 Joe Mauer .401 5578 2004 2014 1298 4833 1540 109 676 115 660 .319 .860
2 Rod Carew .393 6980 1967 1978 1635 6235 2085 74 613 99 716 .334 .841
3 Chuck Knoblauch .391 4573 1991 1997 1013 3939 1197 43 513 19 453 .304 .807
4 Chili Davis .385 1163 1991 1992 291 978 276 41 168 24 193 .282 .862
5 Harmon Killebrew .383 8018 1961 1974 1939 6593 1713 475 1321 152 1314 .260 .901
6 Matt Lawton .379 3150 1995 2001 771 2672 739 72 408 31 335 .277 .808
7 Steve Braun .376 2830 1971 1976 751 2429 689 35 356 24 285 .284 .757
8 Shane Mack .375 2434 1990 1994 633 2161 668 67 200 5 381 .309 .854
9 Corey Koskie .373 3257 1998 2004 816 2788 781 101 385 39 647 .280 .836
10 Doug Mientkiewicz .367 2505 1998 2004 643 2147 590 43 300 23 308 .275 .776
11 Kent Hrbek .367 7137 1981 1994 1747 6192 1749 293 838 110 798 .282 .848
12 Lyman Bostock .366 1577 1975 1977 379 1436 456 18 112 12 138 .318 .812
13 Paul Molitor .362 1885 1996 1998 422 1700 530 23 146 23 186 .312 .794
14 Bob Allison .361 4643 1961 1970 1236 3926 999 211 641 25 842 .254 .840
15 Kirby Puckett .360 7831 1984 1995 1783 7244 2304 207 450 85 965 .318 .837
16 Lenny Green .359 1754 1961 1964 485 1514 406 27 204 5 113 .268 .742
17 Denard Span .357 2671 2008 2012 589 2354 669 23 254 6 321 .284 .746
18 Luis Castillo .357 1036 2006 2007 227 933 279 3 85 0 86 .299 .720
19 Earl Battey .356 3161 1961 1967 853 2762 768 76 328 35 315 .278 .765
20 Shannon Stewart .354 1523 2003 2006 333 1373 404 29 120 7 172 .294 .772
21 Larry Hisle .354 2764 1973 1977 662 2437 697 87 251 19 478 .286 .811
22 Josh Willingham .353 1364 2012 2014 324 1132 263 61 184 9 347 .232 .799
23 Tony Oliva .353 6880 1962 1976 1676 6301 1917 220 448 131 645 .304 .830
24 Roy Smalley .350 4676 1976 1987 1148 3997 1046 110 549 31 606 .262 .750
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2015.

To qualify for this Twins career OBP leaders list the player had to have a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Minnesota Twin and have a OBP equal to or greater than .350 . The players above made the cut, anyone on this list surprise you? Joe Mauer is the Twins career OBP leader and yet he still takes a lot of abuse for his hitting. I think we need to appreciate Joe Mauer for the hitter he is. Just missing the cut, Lew Ford

 

Twins Career OPS Leaders

Harmon Killebrew

Rk Player OPS PA From To G AB H 2B 3B HR BB BA OBP SLG
1 Harmon Killebrew .901 8018 1961 1974 1939 6593 1713 232 21 475 1321 .260 .383 .518
2 Chili Davis .862 1163 1991 1992 291 978 276 61 3 41 168 .282 .385 .476
3 Joe Mauer .860 5578 2004 2014 1298 4833 1540 309 22 109 676 .319 .401 .459
4 Shane Mack .854 2434 1990 1994 633 2161 668 119 24 67 200 .309 .375 .479
5 Kent Hrbek .848 7137 1981 1994 1747 6192 1749 312 18 293 838 .282 .367 .481
6 Rod Carew .841 6980 1967 1978 1635 6235 2085 305 90 74 613 .334 .393 .448
7 Bob Allison .840 4643 1961 1970 1236 3926 999 167 41 211 641 .254 .361 .479
8 Kirby Puckett .837 7831 1984 1995 1783 7244 2304 414 57 207 450 .318 .360 .477
9 Corey Koskie .836 3257 1998 2004 816 2788 781 180 13 101 385 .280 .373 .463
10 Justin Morneau .832 5350 2003 2013 1278 4749 1318 289 16 221 501 .278 .347 .485
11 Tony Oliva .830 6880 1962 1976 1676 6301 1917 329 48 220 448 .304 .353 .476
12 Don Mincher .824 1762 1961 1966 590 1511 369 73 9 90 220 .244 .341 .483
13 Jimmie Hall .815 2102 1963 1966 573 1885 507 73 16 98 191 .269 .334 .481
14 Lyman Bostock .812 1577 1975 1977 379 1436 456 78 26 18 112 .318 .366 .446
15 Larry Hisle .811 2764 1973 1977 662 2437 697 109 23 87 251 .286 .354 .457
16 David Ortiz .809 1693 1997 2002 455 1477 393 108 3 58 186 .266 .348 .461
17 Matt Lawton .808 3150 1995 2001 771 2672 739 163 13 72 408 .277 .379 .428
18 Chuck Knoblauch .807 4573 1991 1997 1013 3939 1197 210 51 43 513 .304 .391 .416
19 Josh Willingham .799 1364 2012 2014 324 1132 263 55 2 61 184 .232 .353 .446
20 Marty Cordova .799 2620 1995 1999 628 2322 643 139 14 79 233 .277 .348 .451
21 Michael Cuddyer .794 4555 2001 2011 1139 4072 1106 239 35 141 411 .272 .343 .451
22 Paul Molitor .794 1885 1996 1998 422 1700 530 102 17 23 146 .312 .362 .432
23 Gary Ward .794 1681 1979 1983 417 1543 439 80 20 51 115 .285 .333 .461
24 Torii Hunter .793 4894 1997 2007 1234 4492 1218 259 26 192 319 .271 .324 .469
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2015.

To qualify for this Twins career OPS leaders list the player had to have a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances as a Minnesota Twin and have a OPS equal to or greater than .790 . AJ Pierzynski just missed the cut at .788 . Number three on this list is Joe Mauer and we continue to bash him for not hitting more home runs.

Twins hitters with best BB per PA %

Today we take a look through Minnesota Twins history and see what hitters were most likely to draw a walk during their Twins career. To make this list the player had to play in at least 162 games in a Twins uniform. IBB are included.

Harmon Killebrew

NAME BB PA % OF TIME WALKED PER PA GAMES
1. Harmon Killebrew 1321 8018 16.47% 1939
2. Jim Thome 95 582 16.32% 179
3. Chili Davis 168 291 14.45% 291
4. Bob Allison 641 4643 13.81% 1236
5. Bobby Kielty 102 750 13.60% 224
6. Josh Willingham 184 1364 13.49% 324
7. Craig Kusick 187 1398 13.38% 473
8. Matt Lawton 408 3150 12.95% 771
9. Steve Braun 356 2830 12.58% 751
10. Don Mincher 220 1762 12.49% 590
11. Glenn Borgmann 177 1423 12.44% 442
12. Joe Mauer 676 5578 12.12% 1298
13. Doug Mientkiewicz 300 2505 11.98% 643
14. Corey Koskie 385 3257 11.82% 816
15. Bobby Mitchell 82 694 11.82% 183
16. Kent Hrbek 838 7137 11.74% 1747
17. Roy Smalley 549 4676 11.74% 1148
18. Lenny Green 204 1754 11.63% 485
19. Butch Wynegar 358 3188 11.23% 794
20. Chuck Knoblauch 513 4573 11.22% 1013

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

I noted earlier that IBB were included in the table above, so here are a couple of trivia questions for you.

1. Four Twins drew 100 or more IBB during their Twins career, can you name them?

2. I played in 618 Twins games and had 1,876 plate appearances but no opposing pitcher ever saw fit to give me an intentional free pass, who am I?

A month to remember for Chris Colabello

Chris Colabello
Chris Colabello

Minnesota Twins 1B and outfielder Chris Colabello had a month to remember in April and now he ranks at the top of the list of some pretty good players that knew how to knock in runs for the Minnesota Twins. Some interesting names on this list of Twins that had 20 or more RBI in the first month of the season.

Rk Player Split Year G RBI PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB BB SO BA OBP OPS
1 Chris Colabello April/March 2014 24 27 102 95 11 28 9 0 3 0 6 26 .295 .343 .827
2 Kirby Puckett April/March 1994 25 26 116 112 14 39 11 0 2 0 2 10 .348 .371 .871
3 Ron Coomer April/March 2000 22 23 92 83 14 22 4 0 5 0 7 9 .265 .326 .820
4 Brant Alyea April/March 1970 17 23 60 53 7 22 4 0 5 1 7 7 .415 .483 1.257
5 Justin Morneau April/March 2008 27 22 110 97 12 26 4 0 6 0 11 16 .268 .345 .840
6 Kent Hrbek April/March 1982 22 22 100 86 18 27 5 2 8 0 13 15 .314 .404 1.102
7 Dave Hollins April/March 1996 25 22 103 82 19 24 4 0 7 1 19 18 .293 .437 1.034
8 Matt Lawton April/March 2000 26 22 118 102 18 38 9 0 3 5 14 12 .373 .449 .998
9 Paul Molitor April/March 1996 25 21 114 101 24 39 7 1 2 5 11 10 .386 .439 .973
10 Pat Meares April/March 1996 24 21 95 84 16 27 4 3 3 3 6 19 .321 .372 .920
11 Doug Mientkiewicz April/March 2001 23 21 87 79 14 30 6 1 6 0 6 14 .380 .425 1.134
12 Harmon Killebrew April/March 1971 21 21 91 81 7 26 6 0 3 2 10 16 .321 .396 .902
13 Torii Hunter April/March 2002 27 20 115 105 23 39 5 0 9 5 8 21 .371 .409 1.085
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/2/2014.

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It will be interesting to see how many RBI Colabello will end up with in 2014. Harmon Killebrew wih 119 and Kirby Puckett with 112 ended up leading the league in RBI’s in the season they had 20 or more RBI’s in April. Dave Hollins on the other hand had 22 RBI in April and finished the season with 53. Strangely enough Dave Hollins, Paul Molitor, and Pat Meares all had 20 or more RBI in April of 1996 and yet the team finished the season at 78-84 with Paul Molitor and Marty Cordova ending up with over 100 RBI.

A nice record to have for Chris Colabello but it is a long season so it will be fun to watch to see if Colabello can maintain his RBI pace or if this past month is just an anomaly.

You can check out a nice article written about Colabello and his history by Dan Cook of WCCO Radio here.

Taking a look at hitting streaks

Former Twins outfielder Micheal Cuddyer set a Colorado Rockies team record recently when he had a 27 game hitting streak from May 28 through June 30 for the Colorado Rockies. During his streak Cuddyer hit .372 with 6 home runs, 19 RBI and 17 runs scored. The longest Twins hitting streaks this season belong to Joe Mauer with 15 gamer and a 10 gamer, Trevor Plouffe with a 12 gamer and Justin Morneau with an 11 game hitting streak. The Twins have had some pretty good hitting streaks over the years but the longest streak of 31 games goes way back to 1980 and belongs to Ken Landreaux.

 Twins hitting streaks over 15 games

Ken Landreaux

Rk Strk Start End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OPS
1 Ken Landreaux 1980-04-23 1980-05-30 31 125 13 49 5 1 2 19 .392 .937
2 Brian Harper 1990-07-06 1990-08-04 25 99 14 38 12 0 2 16 .384 .981
3 Lenny Green 1961-05-01 1961-05-28 24 94 14 34 9 2 0 11 .362 .955
4 Torii Hunter 2007-04-11 2007-05-09 23 94 17 35 12 0 5 19 .372 1.054
5 Cristian Guzman 2002-08-01 2002-08-25 23 97 16 35 5 0 2 12 .361 .841
6 Marty Cordova 1996-06-05 1996-06-29 23 91 16 35 10 0 2 18 .385 1.007
7 Kirby Puckett 1993-09-26 1994-04-20 23 97 16 34 8 0 2 21 .351 .895
8 Kent Hrbek 1982-04-17 1982-05-13 23 91 14 28 6 2 5 17 .308 .949
9 Shane Mack 1992-07-26 1992-08-18 22 88 13 40 4 1 1 9 .455 1.057
10 Ben Revere 2012-07-16 2012-08-07 21 90 17 34 5 1 0 13 .378 .862
11 Chuck Knoblauch 1991-09-02 1991-09-25 20 80 10 32 4 1 0 7 .400 .923
12 Ted Uhlaender 1969-08-16 1969-09-07 20 88 16 27 5 0 1 16 .307 .748
13 Nick Punto 2006-07-04 2006-07-28 19 75 12 30 6 2 0 12 .400 .979
14 David Ortiz 2002-07-17 2002-08-06 19 74 17 31 5 0 7 18 .419 1.258
15 Brian Harper 1993-07-20 1993-08-12 19 74 9 29 7 0 1 11 .392 .971
16 Roy Smalley 1979-04-29 1979-05-20 19 81 19 36 3 1 6 16 .444 1.234
17 Bob Allison 1964-06-12 1964-06-28 19 64 14 31 8 0 7 11 .484 1.530
18 Bobby Kielty 2002-09-18 2003-04-21 18 62 10 22 6 1 5 13 .355 1.132
19 Chuck Knoblauch 1997-08-07 1997-08-26 18 79 8 28 2 1 2 6 .354 .867
20 Gary Gaetti 1983-05-06 1983-05-27 18 76 9 25 5 0 3 8 .329 .887
21 Rod Carew 1974-09-07 1974-09-27 18 70 12 26 4 1 1 5 .371 .988
22 Rod Carew 1973-05-30 1973-06-19 18 77 17 31 3 4 3 8 .403 1.122
23 Trevor Plouffe 2012-06-30 2012-07-19 17 67 13 22 4 0 4 11 .328 .951
24 Jacque Jones 2001-09-30 2002-04-12 17 63 16 26 2 0 6 13 .413 1.230
25 Cristian Guzman 2001-06-08 2001-06-26 17 74 16 29 3 1 3 12 .392 1.004
Rk Strk Start End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OPS
26 Paul Molitor 1998-08-31 1998-09-19 17 75 12 25 3 2 3 12 .333 .909
27 Chuck Knoblauch 1993-07-29 1993-08-18 17 69 12 27 5 1 1 4 .391 .978
28 Kent Hrbek 1991-08-11 1991-08-30 17 62 13 26 6 0 4 16 .419 1.203
29 Kent Hrbek 1990-08-21 1990-09-07 17 68 10 23 2 0 3 15 .338 .900
30 Kirby Puckett 1988-09-15 1988-10-02 17 72 17 33 8 0 2 19 .458 1.126
31 Kent Hrbek 1982-05-25 1982-06-13 17 69 12 28 1 2 5 19 .406 1.120
32 Tony Oliva 1970-05-13 1970-06-02 17 73 9 23 5 0 1 13 .315 .775
33 Tony Oliva 1964-07-16 1964-08-01 17 77 11 28 5 1 2 4 .364 .935
34 Orlando Cabrera 2009-09-19 2009-10-06 16 73 21 30 5 1 2 16 .411 1.010
35 Joe Mauer 2008-08-04 2008-08-24 16 63 13 22 0 1 1 10 .349 .870
36 Justin Morneau 2006-06-22 2006-07-09 16 59 13 26 5 0 6 16 .441 1.308
37 A.J. Pierzynski 2002-05-26 2002-06-14 16 60 12 24 7 2 2 7 .400 1.096
38 Matt Lawton 2000-04-13 2000-04-30 16 59 11 26 6 0 1 11 .441 1.121
39 Chili Davis 1991-07-21 1991-08-07 16 61 13 25 7 0 6 17 .410 1.313
40 Kirby Puckett 1991-07-06 1991-07-26 16 64 10 28 3 1 1 13 .438 1.033
41 Kirby Puckett 1986-04-16 1986-05-03 16 74 23 32 5 1 10 20 .432 1.394
42 Gary Gaetti 1984-08-05 1984-08-19 16 65 9 22 4 0 1 9 .338 .814
43 Mickey Hatcher 1983-07-20 1983-08-27 16 62 11 25 5 0 1 12 .403 .948
44 Dave McKay 1975-08-29 1975-09-17 16 60 4 20 3 0 0 10 .333 .743
45 Danny Thompson 1973-04-28 1973-05-17 16 65 7 22 4 1 1 11 .338 .810
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2013.

Some pretty exceptional hitters on this list. Who appears on this list the most often? Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett each had four streaks of 16 games or longer. The biggest surprise on this list has to be Nick Punto with his 19 gamer back in 2006, the eighth longest hitting streak in Twins history.

Just for fun let’s take a look at what opposing hitters have the longest hitting streak when they face Twins pitchers over the years.

Twins opponent hitting streaks of 20 games or more

Ron LeFlore

Rk Strk Start End Games AB R H HR RBI BA OPS Tm
1 Ron LeFlore 1977-08-03 1981-09-11 26 108 29 43 2 13 .398 1.010 DET-CHW
2 David DeJesus 2008-09-11 2011-04-10 25 105 16 40 2 15 .381 1.027 KCR-OAK
3 Magglio Ordonez 2002-08-19 2003-09-10 23 90 19 32 10 20 .356 1.112 CHW
4 Jim Thome 1994-07-08 1996-07-18 22 90 20 36 7 16 .400 1.210 CLE
5 Ichiro Suzuki 2006-05-01 2008-08-06 20 89 17 40 2 3 .449 1.046 SEA
6 Paul Konerko 2006-07-26 2007-07-08 20 75 15 29 6 16 .387 1.180 CHW
7 Carlos Lee 2003-07-02 2004-07-27 20 82 14 31 4 17 .378 1.010 CHW
8 Rey Sanchez 1999-04-21 2001-04-07 20 74 13 33 0 12 .446 1.090 KCR
9 Rocky Colavito 1963-07-03 1964-07-22 20 78 17 34 9 25 .436 1.403 DET-KCA
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2013.

Those of you that remember Ron LeFlore should take a few minutes to read this story published earlier this year. Even if you never heard of LeFlore, check it out.

They came to play

The major league baseball season is a real grind, you are scheduled to play 162 games in about 185 days give or take and that includes travel time. I am not even going to mention spring training and the post season. Many of us go to work Monday through Friday but we usually have week-ends off and a few holiday scattered in to re-charge our batteries. Once the baseball season starts the player’s life is totally baseball, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that playing baseball is tougher than a normal job that we all do, I am just saying that it is not as easy as many of us would like to think. I know, I know, we would all still gladly trade places with any player out there.

Baseball is a marathon, you need to keep chugging along, working through illness and injury while you strive for peak performance and you do this in front of the general public and all the writers and reporters that are out there every day looking for something they can put on TV or in the paper. Ability is critical but if your team doesn’t also have durability you are probably headed for a long season.

The Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken Jr. holds the major league record for consecutive games played with 2,632 in a streak that started on May 30, 1982 and ended on September 19, 1998. Think about that, every game from 1982 to 1998, an amazing streak and a record I am sure will never be broken.

Justin MorneauSo that takes me to why I am writing this post, what is the Minnesota Twins record for most consecutive games played and who holds the record? The Twins have played in Minnesota for 52 years and yet the Twins record for consecutive games played stands at 319, a far cry from 2,632. I think many of you will be surprised to learn that the Minnesota Twins consecutive games played record holder is still playing for the Twins today and is none other than Justin Morneau, yes the same guy that has not played more than 135 games since 2008. Let’s take a look at the Twins six longest consecutive games played streaks and see who owns them. Some of the “gamers” on this list will probably surprise you.

  1. 319 games – Justin Morneau (1B/DH) – Streak started on June 29, 2007 and ended on June 20, 2009.
  2. 249 games – Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B, and OF) – Streak started on September 21, 1965 and ended on July 4, 1967.
  3. 245 games – Harmon Killebrew (3B/1B) – Streak started on September 23, 1968 and ended on July 7, 1970.
  4. 230 games – Gary Gaetti (3B/OF) – Streak started on September 29, 1983 and ended on June 22, 1985.
  5. 210 games – Roy Smalley (Shortstop) – Streak started on April 6, 1979 and ended on June 2, 1980. Smalley’s streak would actually have stood at 254 and in second place on this list had he not chose to sit out the last day of the 1978 season.
  6. 203 games – Cesar Tovar (played all over) – Streak started on September 4, 1966 and ended on May 4, 1968.

In the Twins 52 year history only 5 players have appeared in every game that the Twins played that particular season so it is a fairly rare occurrence with only one player accomplishing this feat twice. The most recent occurrence was Justin Morneau appearing in all 163 games in 2008 and that was 24 years after Gary Gaetti appeared in all 162 games in 1984. In 1979 Roy Smalley played in all 162 games, Harmon Killebrew did it twice playing in 162 games in 1966 and again in 1969 and Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games in 1967.

The list of players that have led the Twins in games played over the years is an interesting list indeed. Who has led the Twins in games played the most frequently? That would be Kirby Puckett who did it eight times including five years in a row.

2012 – Joe Mauer played in 147 of a possible 162 games.

2011 – Danny Valencia played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

2010 – Michael Cuddyer played in 157 of a possible 162 games.

2009 – Michael Cuddyer played in 153 of a possible 163 games.

2008 – Justin Morneau played in all 163 games.

2007 – Torii Hunter played in 160 of a possible 162 games.

2006 – Justin Morneau played in 157 of a possible 162 games.

2005 – Lew Ford played in 147 of a possible 162 games.

2004 – Lew Ford played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

2003 – Torii Hunter played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

2002 – Jacque Jones played in 149 of a possible 161 games.

2001 – Luis Rivas & Corey Koskie played in 153 of a possible 162 games.

2000 – Cristian Guzman & Matt Lawton played in 156 o fa possible 162 games.

1999 – Todd Walker played in 143 of a possible 161 games.

1998 – Matt Lawton played in 152 of a possible 162 games.

1997 – Chuck Knoblauch played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1996 – Paul Molitor played in 161 of  a possible 162 games.

1995 – Karby Puckett & Marty Cordova played in 137 of a possible 144 games.

1994 – Chuck Knoblauch played in 109 of a possible 113 games.

1993 – Kirby Puckett played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1992 – Kirby Puckett played in 160 of a possible 162 games.

1991 – Chili Davis played in 153 of a possible 162 games.

1990 – Gary Gaetti played in 154 of a possible 162 games.

1989 – Kirby Puckett played in 159 of a possible 162 games.

1988 – Kirby Puckett played in 158 of a possible 162 games.

1987 – Kirby Puckett played in 157 of a possible 162 games.

1986 – Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games.

1985 – Kirby Puckett played in 161 of a possible 162 games.

1984 – Gary Gaetti played in all 162 games.

1983 – Gary Gaettti and Gary Ward played in 157 of a possible 1962 games.

1982 – Gary Ward played in 152 of a possible 162 games.

1981 – John Castino  played in 101 of a possible 110 games.

1980 – John Castino played in 150 of a possible 161 games.

1979 – Roy Smalley played in all 162 games.

1978 – Roy Smalley played in 158 of a possible 162 games.

1977 – Rod Carew played in 155 of a possible 161 games.

1976 – Rod Carew played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1975 – Rod Carew played in 143 of a possible 159 games.

1974 – Rod Carew played in 153 of a possible 163 games.

1973 – Rod Carew played in 149 of a possible 162 games.

1972 – Bobby Darwin played in 145 of a possible 154 games.

1971 – Cesar Tovar played in 157 of a possible 160 games.

1970 – Cesar Tovar played in 161 of a possible 162 games.

1969 – Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games.

1968 – Cesar Tovar played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

1967 – Cesar Tovar played in all 164 games.

1966 – Harmon Killebrew played in all 162 games.

1965 – Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 162 games.

1964 – Tony Oliva played in 161 of a possible 163 games.

1963 – Zoilo Versalles played in 159 of a possible 161 games.

1962 – Zoilo Versalles played in 160 of a possible 163 games.

1961 – Bob Allison played in 156 of a possible 162 games.

When I looked back over the entire franchise history going back to 1901 for the Washington Senators I found that there was a true “iron man”  who currently stands number 9 on the MLB all-time consecutive games played list with 829 games. Senators 3B Eddie Yost started his streak on August 30, 1949 and he played in every game through May 11, 1955. That is a lot of games.

Prince FielderThe current active MLB consecutive game streak is in the firm grasp of Detroit Tiger 1B Prince Fielder who stands at 343 and counting. Actually Fielder has missed just 1 game (September 13, 2010) since September 3, 2008 and if he had not skipped that game due to a stomach virus his streak would be at 669 today. The man has been in the big leagues since 2005 and full time since 2006. Since 2006 he has played in 157, 158, 159, 162, 161, 162, and 162 games. An amazing streak for a man his size.