Best seasons by Twins position players & pitchers

As the Twins prepare for their 59th season of play in Minnesota we should look back and be thankful for some great seasons these players have given us in the past. I am using B-R Play Index to come up with the ten greatest seasons by Minnesota Twins players over the years and I am once again using WAR as the tool to do this. I think you might be surprised at some of these.

Best Seasons by Position Players

Rod Carew
Results
Rk Player WAR/pos Year Age G AB R H HR RBI BA OPS Pos
1 Rod Carew 9.7 1977 31 155 616 128 239 14 100 .388 1.019 *3/H4D
2 Chuck Knoblauch 8.7 1996 27 153 578 140 197 13 72 .341 .965 *4/DH
3 Rod Carew 7.9 1975 29 143 535 89 192 14 80 .359 .919 *43H/D
4 Joe Mauer 7.8 2009 26 138 523 94 191 28 96 .365 1.031 *2D/H
5 Kirby Puckett 7.8 1988 28 158 657 109 234 24 121 .356 .920 *8/H
6 Rod Carew 7.5 1974 28 153 599 86 218 3 55 .364 .879 *4/H
7 Bob Allison 7.4 1963 28 148 527 99 143 35 91 .271 .911 *9/8H
8 Zoilo Versalles 7.2 1965 25 160 666 126 182 19 77 .273 .781 *6
9 Kirby Puckett 7.1 1992 32 160 639 104 210 19 110 .329 .864 *8/DH45
10 Rod Carew 7.0 1973 27 149 580 98 203 6 62 .350 .881 *4/H
11 Tony Oliva 7.0 1970 31 157 628 96 204 23 107 .325 .878 *9/8H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/27/2018.

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Best Seasons by Starting Pitchers

(must have started at least 75% of games)
Bert Blyleven
Results
Rk Player WAR Year Age GS CG SHO W L W-L% IP SO ERA
1 Bert Blyleven 9.8 1973 22 40 25 9 20 17 .541 325.0 258 2.52
2 Johan Santana 8.7 2004 25 34 1 1 20 6 .769 228.0 265 2.61
3 Frank Viola 8.1 1987 27 36 7 1 17 10 .630 251.2 197 2.90
4 Bert Blyleven 7.9 1974 23 37 19 3 17 17 .500 281.0 249 2.66
5 Frank Viola 7.7 1988 28 35 7 2 24 7 .774 255.1 193 2.64
6 Johan Santana 7.6 2006 27 34 1 0 19 6 .760 233.2 245 2.77
7 Johan Santana 7.2 2005 26 33 3 2 16 7 .696 231.2 238 2.87
8 Jerry Koosman 7.2 1979 36 36 10 2 20 13 .606 263.2 157 3.38
9 Kevin Tapani 6.8 1991 27 34 4 1 16 9 .640 244.0 135 2.99
10 Joe Mays 6.6 2001 25 34 4 2 17 13 .567 233.2 123 3.16
11 Brad Radke 6.6 1999 26 33 4 0 12 14 .462 218.2 121 3.75
12 Dave Goltz 6.6 1978 29 29 13 2 15 10 .600 220.1 116 2.49
13 Jim Merritt 6.6 1967 23 28 11 4 13 7 .650 227.2 161 2.53
14 Bert Blyleven 6.5 1971 20 38 17 5 16 15 .516 278.1 224 2.81
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/27/2018.

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Best Seasons by Relief Pitchers

(must have started at least 75% of games) 
Doug Corbett: (Photo by Jeff Goode/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Results
Rk Player WAR SV Year Age G W L IP SO ERA
1 Doug Corbett 5.7 23 1980 27 73 8 6 136.1 89 1.98
2 Mike Marshall 4.5 32 1979 36 90 10 15 142.2 81 2.65
3 Ron Perranoski 4.5 31 1969 33 75 9 10 119.2 62 2.11
4 Bill Campbell 4.0 19 1974 25 63 8 7 120.1 89 2.62
5 Joe Nathan 3.9 44 2004 29 73 1 2 72.1 89 1.62
6 Tom Hall 3.9 4 1970 22 52 11 6 155.1 184 2.55
7 J.C. Romero 3.6 1 2002 26 81 9 2 81.0 76 1.89
8 Bill Dailey 3.6 21 1963 28 66 6 3 108.2 72 1.99
9 Joe Nathan 3.3 39 2008 33 68 1 2 67.2 74 1.33
10 Joe Nathan 3.3 36 2006 31 64 7 0 68.1 95 1.58
11 LaTroy Hawkins 3.1 2 2003 30 74 9 3 77.1 75 1.86
12 Joe Nathan 3.0 47 2009 34 70 2 2 68.2 89 2.10
13 LaTroy Hawkins 3.0 14 2000 27 66 2 5 87.2 59 3.39
14 Mike Marshall 3.0 21 1978 35 54 10 12 99.0 56 2.45
15 Joe Nathan 2.9 37 2007 32 68 4 2 71.2 77 1.88
16 Doug Corbett 2.9 17 1981 28 54 2 6 87.2 60 2.57
17 Stan Williams 2.9 15 1970 33 68 10 1 113.1 76 1.99
18 Mike Trombley 2.8 1 1998 31 77 6 5 96.2 89 3.63
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/27/2018.

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How many of these seasons do you remember and which one is your favorite and why? I have been around to see them all.

German born Navy vet 65-68 and served aboard the Shangri La CVA-38. I run https://Twinstrivia.com, best MN Twins historical web site there is. Stop by daily and check out OTD in Twins history and much more. Live in Minnesota and Florida depending on what time of the year it is.

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