TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
| Rk | Player | #Matching |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harmon Killebrew | 35 |
| 2 | Justin Morneau | 20 |
| 3 | Tony Oliva | 18 |
| 4 | Kent Hrbek | 16 |
| 5 | Bob Allison | 15 |
| 6 | Kirby Puckett | 13 |
| 7 | Gary Gaetti | 13 |
| 8 | Tom Brunansky | 11 |
| 9 | Don Mincher | 9 |
| 10 | Torii Hunter | 9 |
| 11 | Eddie Rosario | 8 |
| 12 | Corey Koskie | 8 |
| 13 | Jacque Jones | 8 |
| 14 | Jimmie Hall | 8 |
| 15 | Brian Dozier | 8 |
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Eddie Rosario is climbing this list pretty quickly.
Although WAR is not always the best answer on how good a player is/was, I find it useful in doing player comparisons. The B-R tool regards a WAR of 2+ as a starter, 5+ an All-Star and 8+ as MVP worthy. Remember too what I am doing here covers position players only, we will leave the pitchers for another day.
First Base – Having watched the Minnesota Twins for many a year I was pretty sure what Twins player had the best season in team history and when I put Play Index to work, sure enough it verified for me that Hall of Famer Rod Carew and his 1977 season in which he made a run at hitting .400 at the age of 31 stood at the top. If you missed seeing Carew play ball in Minnesota I feel bad for you because you missed out on seeing one of the best baseball players ever. There have been eleven seasons by Twins players when someone had a WAR of 7.0 or greater, Carew had four of them.
We all know that strikeout rates are up all across baseball for the last few years but today we will look at Minnesota Twins batters and their strikeout rates going back to 1961. We used B-R’s amazing Play Index to find what we were looking for.
The top two all time Twins leader in strikeouts are Harmon Killebrew with 1,314 and Joe Mauer with 1,034. Mauer? What the heck? Longevity can do strange things to numbers and the devil is in the details.
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 Puckett, Bob 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.
| 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 |
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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.
0 – The lowest number worn by a Twins player or field staff is 0 (zero), worn by catcher Junior Ortiz back in 1990 and 1991.
3 – Worn only by Hall of Fame Twins player Harmon Killebrew and retired on May 4, 1975.
4 – Hall of Famer Paul Molitor wore the number 4 as a Twins player in 1996-1998 and as a coach in 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2014 and as a manager from 2015-2018.
6 – Worn by four former Twins players, Billy Consolo, Ted Lepcio, Jim Snyder, and Vic Wertz before Tony Oliva. Tony-O had his number 6 retired on July 14, 1991.
10 – Nine different Twins players wore the number 10 before manager Tom Kelly strapped it on his back from 1987-2001 as the Twins skipper. The Twins retired TK’s number 10 on September 8, 2012.
13 – Ten different Twins players and field staff have worn unlucky number 13, the first player being Bill Tuttle back in 1961 and the last player being Jason Kubel in 2014.
14 – Worn by four players and a manager before Kent Hrbek took the number 14 to glory. Twins retired the number on August 13, 1995.
25 – Hall of Fame and one time Twins player Jim Thome wore the number 25 on his back in 2010-2011.
28 – Worn by 14 different players including Bert Blyleven. The first player to wear the number 28 was Pedro Ramos and the last was Jesse Crain 2004-2010. Bert’s number 28 was retired on July 16, 2011.
29 – The seventh and final player to wear the number 29 was Rod Carew. The Twins retired this number 29 on July 19, 1987.
32 – MLB Hall of Famer and one time Twins player Dave Winfield wore the number 32 in 1993-1994.
34 – Nine players wore the number 34 before Kirby Puckett put it on in 1984 and no one has worn the number since Kirby took it off for the last time in 1995. The number was retired on May 25, 1997.
38 – MLB Hall of Famer and one time Twins pitcher Steve Carlton wore the number 38 in 1987-1988.
42 – Only three Twins players (Gerry Arrigo, Jim Manning and Buzz Stephen) wore the number 42 before the number was retired across MLB in 1997.
47 – Hall of Fame pitcher and one time Twins pitcher Jack Morris wore the number 47 in 1991.
73 – The lowest number that has never been worn by a Twins player or field staff.
83 – In the Minnesota Twins 58 year history Twins players and field staff have worn 83 different numbers.
99 – The highest number worn by a Twins player was 99 and it was worn by Logan Morrison.
Three players were on the active roster for the Twins but never played in a game for the team: Chuck Schilling, who wore number 18, in 1966; Maurice Ogier, who wore number 17, in 1968; and Dave May, who wore number 20, in 1977. Ogier and May never played in the majors.
Information is courtesy of historian and Minnesota Twins official scorer Stew Thornley’s website
Francis Ralph Quilici was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 11, 1938 and passed away on May 14, 2018 in Burnsville, Minnesota from kidney disease complications. The out-going Frank Quilici always had a smile on his face and was always willing to talk baseball.
After high school Quilici went to Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, but his stay there was short, just one semester due to financial difficulties. He returned to Chicago and got a job and continued playing ball. Frank caught a break when a scout told him he could help him walk-on to the baseball team at Western Michigan.
Quilici took advantage of the offer and his freshman roommate turned out to be none other than Jim Bouton. Quilici hit .400 his Junior year and was named second-team All-American. The New York Yankees offered Quilici a $28,000 signing bonus but Frank passed it up keeping his promise to his father that he would finish school. In his Senior year Quilici was named first team All-American with a .369 average. Western Michigan had some good baseball teams and finished fifth in the 1959 and 1961 seasons.
The Yankees lost interest in Quilici but Minnesota Twins scout Dick Wiencek who also signed Bert Blyleven, Graig Nettles, Dick Woodson and others quickly signed Quilici to a $15,000 bonus after graduation and the Twins sent him off to the Class D- Appalachian League Wytheville Twins to start his pro career in 1961, There, Quilici played with future Twins like Tony Oliva, Jim Manning, Ted Uhlaender, and Bill Whitby. Quilici worked his way up through the Twins system with stops in places like Erie, Wilson, Charlotte, and Denver. Quilici, known more for his glove work than his bat, spent the entire 1964 season with the AA Charlotte Hornets playing in 140 games and hitting a respectable .261 average with 25 doubles and 60 RBI. That season earned him his first spring training invite in 1965 with the parent club Minnesota Twins.
Guido, as Frank was known, started the 1965 season with the AAA Denver Bears under manager Cal Ermer. Quilici was playing well in Denver in 1965 hitting .277 in July when the Twins came calling. The Twins had Jerry Kindall playing second base but he was hitting under .200 and then suffered a leg injury so Quilici was on his way to Minnesota to start his big league career. The Twins were losing to the California Angels 5-1 at Met Stadium in the first game of a double-header when Manager Sam Mele had Quilici enter the game as the second baseman in the top of the eighth inning. In his first big league at bat in the ninth inning off Bob Lee, Frank fouled out to the first baseman.
In the second game of the DH Quilici started at second base hitting lead-off and hit a double to left off Angels starter Ken McBride for his first big league knock and ended up scoring later in the inning on a bases loaded double by Bob Allison.
Quilici’s first taste of the big leagues was one for the ages as the Minnesota Twins won the American League pennant and went on to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1965 World Series and Frank went on to start at second base in all seven games. In game one, Quilici tied an MLB record when he had two hits (double and a single) off future Hall of Fame Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale in the third inning when the Minnesota lads scored six times and went on to an 8-2 win.
Quilici spent all of 1966 with the AAA Denver Bears where he played for manager Cal Ermer. Ermer said that Quilici was a “winner” and when Ermer replaced the fired Sam Mele as Twins skipper early in 1967 it didn’t take Ermer long to bring Frank up to the big leagues again but now as more in a utility player role. Quilici played for Minnesota through the 1970 season and appeared briefly in the 1970 ALCS series against the Baltimore Orioles.
On the eve of the 1971 season the Minnesota Twins released the soon-to-be 32-year-old Frank Quilici but his tenure with the Twins organization did not end as Twins owner Calvin Griffith offered him a job as a Twins coach under manager Bill Rigney. On July 6, 1972 Twins owner Calvin Griffith sent Bill Rigney packing after a 36-34 start to the 1972 season and moved the 33-year-old Quilici into the managers seat where he would be the youngest manager in baseball. Frank Quilici managed the Twins to a 280-287 record from 1972-1975 before he too was let go by Griffith. But Frank didn’t go far as he was hired as a broadcaster to team up with the great Herb Carneal to do Twins games on the radio from 1976-1977 and again from 1980-1982. After that Quilici took a position at Western Diversified Insurance where he would go on to become a VP. Baseball and the Twins called him back in 1987 to team up with Dick Bremer to do some Twins TV broadcasting.
Frank Quilici remained a Minnesota Twins ambassador and a baseball fan his entire life and devoted a lot of his time to the community and charitable causes. Frank had a kidney transplant in 2012 and was honored with the Kirby Puckett Award for Alumni Community Service in 2013 for his passion in promoting organ donorship. He was also a former member of the board of directors for the Twins Community Fund, the Killebrew Foundation and a number of other boards.
Frank Quilici is survived by his wife Lila and children, Kelly, Kolleen, Tony and Nick and numerous grand-children.
I had a few opportunities to work with and talk with Frank for some interviews I did with him back in 2009 when I first met him and he was a wonderful person who loved baseball and most of all loved life and enjoyed his time with family and friends to the very end. We will all miss you Frank Quilici!
Frank Quilici article by Pat Reusse
Second baseman Brian Dozier extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a lead-off double last night in a 10-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. The knock handed Dozier a share of the club record hitting streak to start the season, along with Kirby Puckett (1994) and Josh Willingham (2012). Dozier has now hit safely in 22 consecutive games, dating back to September 22. Dozier added a third-inning single to finish 2-for-4. He’s hitting .376 (35-for-93) during the streak.
In the past 57 seasons the Minnesota Twins have walked off their opponents 403 times. Kirby Puckett leads the Minnesota Twins in career walk-off’s wins by delivering the winning run in some manner 11 times, it might have been on a hit, walk, HBP, error or a sacrifice. Second on the list is Harmon Killebrew. I guess that is why these guys are Hall of Fame players.
The Twins have walked off their opponent with a single a total of 196 times. Rod Carew did it seven times and is the leader in this category and it has been done five times by Alexi Casilla, Harmon Killebrew, Brian Harper, Larry Hisle, Kent Hrbek and Jacque Jones.
The Twins have hit 108 walk-off home runs and Justin Morneau leads the pack here with five and is followed Gary Gaetti, Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva and Kent Hrbek with four each. One was an inside the park job by Tim Teufel.
The Twins have walked off their opponents with doubles 35 times and Kirby Puckett did it 3 times, the following players each did it twice, Cristian Guzman, Rich Reese, Tony Oliva, Eduardo Escobar, Shannon Stewart, Glenn Borgmann and Tom Brunansky.
The Sacrifice Fly has led to 25 Twins walk-off wins with only Zoilo Versalles and Cristian Guzman doing it more than once.
The Twins have walked-off opponents 12 times on an opposing team error.
The Twins have walked-off their opponent 11 times when they drew a bases-loaded walk.
The Twins have had six walk-off triples and no one has more than one.
The Twins have celebrated a walk-off win six times after a simple ground out.
The Twins have two walk-off wins via getting hit by a pitch (Paul Molitor and Max Kepler).
The first player to deliver a walk-off win was Zoilo Versalles and the most recent to do it is Byron Buxton.
Kirby Puckett becomes the first major league player ever to sign a contract that calls for an average salary of $3 million per year when he inks a pact with the Twins for $9 million over three years.
Just a short 28 years ago this was huge money, the minimum MLB salary back then was $68,000. Jumping forward to 2017 the minimum salary for a MLB player was $535,000 a year. The highest paid player in 2017 I believe was pitcher Clayton Kershaw at $33 million.
Oh! How times have changed.
Puckett Hits the Jackpot: First $3 Million Man
Don’t forget to check out our Today in Twins History page daily to see what kinds of Twins history took place that day and everyday.