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
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 |
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Best Seasons by Starting Pitchers
(must have started at least 75% of games)
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 |
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Best Seasons by Relief Pitchers
(must have started at least 75% of games)
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 |
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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.
Surprised of lack of anything from the sixties. Al Worthington, Jim Perry,Jim Kaat, Harmon Killebrew……….
They didn’t miss the lists by much.
This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing, Mr. Swol.
Very nice of you to say Matt, thank you.