The Minnesota Twins started play in 1961 after leaving Washington D.C. where they were known as the Washington Senators. Even though Calvin Griffith’s team started playing in Met Stadium in 1961 the team had a player on the roster that made his major league debut in game one of a doubleheader on September 22, 1940 in Shibe Park as the starting left fielder for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 5-4 loss to the Washington Senators. Valo went on to play for the Kansas City A’s, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and the Washington Senators in 1960 before playing for the Twins. When Valo appeared in his first game in a Twins uniform on April 21, 1961 at Met Stadium against who else but the Washington Senators he was playing in his 1,724th game. Elmer Valo appeared in just 33 games for Minnesota and only had 36 plate appearances. Valo was used strictly as a pinch-hitter except for one blow out game in which he pinch-hit and then stayed in the game as a left fielder and had four PA’s. The Twins released Valo on June 17, 1961 and he signed on with the Phillies again where he played out the 1961 season and then retired from baseball. An oddity about Elmer Valo is that he played for Philly when the Athletics moved to Kansas City, he was a Brooklyn Dodger when they moved to Los Angeles and he was with the Washington Senators when they moved to Minnesota to become our Twins. Elmer Valo SABR Bio.
Vic Wertz who debuted for the Detroit Tigers on April 15, 1947 against the St. Louis Browns played 35 games for the Twins in 1963 before retiring from the game. Vic Wertz SABR Bio.
Wally Post also played briefly for Minnesota in 1963 appearing in just 21 games after being purchased by the Twins from the Cincinnati Reds. The Twins released Post after the 1963 season and Post went on to play one more year, this time in Cleveland. Wally Post SABR Bio.
| Rk | Player | Year | From ? | From | To | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Pos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elmer Valo | 1961 | 1940 | 1961 | 1961 | 40-40 | 33 | 36 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .156 | /*H7 |
| 2 | Vic Wertz | 1963 | 1947 | 1963 | 1963 | 38-38 | 35 | 50 | 44 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | .136 | /*H3 |
| 3 | Wally Post | 1963 | 1949 | 1963 | 1963 | 33-33 | 21 | 49 | 47 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | .191 | /9H7 |
All three of these players were born in the 1920’s which is just around the corner. It is hard to believe that in the next few years we will have future Twins players born 100 or more years after the “old time” Twins were born. Elmer Valo, Vic Wertz and Wally Post are all deceased and though they were not All-Stars in Minnesota they each had long baseball careers and played a part in the history of the Minnesota Twins and deserve to be remembered for their contributions to Twins lore.