May 15, 2010 – The Twins preach to their pitchers that the batter should earn his way on base via a hit, just throw the ball over the plate and take your chances that the batter will hit it to one of your fielders. In recent years, the Twins pitching staff has always been one of the league leaders in fewest bases on balls allowed.
But the shoe is on the other foot when it comes to the Twins hitters where the coaching staff tries to teach patience at the plate, after all, a walk is just as good as a hit. Plus, the more pitches you see, the better the odds are of the batter getting a hit and the quicker the pitcher reaches their so called pitch limits. This year the Twins hitters have taken that advice to heart and after 32 games they have walked 147 times and are on pace for about 700 walks which would be the most not only in Twins history but in franchise history. The 1956 Senators walked 690 times and the most walks by a Twins team was the 1962 Twins when they walked to first base 649 times. Let’s take a look at the top 10 career Twins and Senators batters that believed that a walk was indeed as good as a hit.
Minnesota Twins
| Rank | Player | Bases on Balls | Plate Appearances | Base on Ball % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harmon Killebrew | 1,321 | 8,018 | 16.48% |
| 2 | Kent Hrbek | 838 | 7,137 | 11.74% |
| 3 | Bob Allison | 641 | 4,641 | 13.81% |
| 4 | Rod Carew | 613 | 6,980 | 8.78% |
| 5 | Roy Smalley | 549 | 4,675 | 11.74% |
| 6 | Chuck Knoblauch | 513 | 4,571 | 11.22% |
| 7 | Kirby Puckett | 450 | 7,831 | 5.75% |
| 8 | Tony Oliva | 448 | 6,879 | 6.61% |
| 9 | Matt Lawton | 408 | 3,150 | 12.95% |
| 10 | Tom Brunansky | 394 | 3,760 | 10.48% |
Washington Senators
| Rank | Player | Bases on Balls | Plate Appearances | Base on Ball % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddie Yost | 1,274 | 7,461 | 17.08% |
| 2 | Joe Judge | 943 | 8,906 | 10.59% |
| 3 | Buddy Myer | 864 | 7,028 | 12.29% |
| 4 | Mickey Vernon | 735 | 7,769 | 9.46% |
| 5 | Ossie Bluege | 723 | 7,452 | 9.70% |
| 6 | Clyde Milan | 685 | 8,312 | 8.24% |
| 7 | Sam Rice | 680 | 9.879 | 6.89% |
| 8 | Buddy Lewis | 573 | 5,937 | 9.65% |
| 9 | Joe Kuhel | 530 | 5,234 | 10.13% |
| 10 | Goose Goslin | 488 | 5,810 | 8.40% |