37. Zoilo Versalles
From Cuba, Zolio Versalles (or “Zorro” as he was commonly known as) would first suit up for the Washington Senators as a 19-year-old and win the starting job at Shortstop the first year the franchise moved to Minnesota. Versalles is a very interesting baseball player to talk about here, and perhaps at first glance, his position here might seem very low especially for a former MVP.
Let’s look at that first.
In ’65, Versalles led the American League in bWAR (7.2) had his best defensive season by far, led the AL in Runs Scored, Doubles and Triples. Basically, he earned that MVP, but in every other season not only was he not in MVP contention he wasn’t even at a table near the conversation for a single vote. He also has a sub .300 On Base Percentage (.296) as a Twin and an overall bWAR of 14.6 in Minnesota so essentially nearly half of that number took place in his MVP season with the rest taking 959 Games to accumulate.
The Twins inducted Versailles into their Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Bullet Points
- Position: Short Stop
- Acquired: Signed as an Amateur Free Agent before the 1958 Season.
- Departed: Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers with Mudcat Grant for Bob Miller, Ron Perranoski and John Roseboro 11/28/67.
- Games Played: 1109
-
Notable Statistics: 570 Runs Scored
1,061 Hits
190 Doubles
58 Triples
87 Home Runs
406 Runs Batted In
85 Stolen Bases
.250/.296/.383 Slash Line
14.7 bWAR
7 Playoff Games
3 Runs Scored
8 Hits
1 Double
1 Triple
1 Home Run
4 Runs Batted In
1 Stolen Base
.286/.333/.500 Slash Line -
Major Accolades and Awards: MVP (1965)
All-Star (1963 & 1965)
Highest bWAR for a Position Player (1965)
Highest Defensive bWAR for a Position Player (1965)
Most At Bats (1965)
Most Plate Appearances (1965)
Most Runs Scored (1965)
Most Total Bases (1965)
Most Doubles (1965)
Most Triples (1963, 1964 & 1965)
Most Extra Base Hits (1965)
Highest Power-Speed # (1965)
Most Assists (1962)
Most Putouts by a Shortstop (1962 & 1965)
Most Assists by a Shortstop (1962)
Most Double Plays by a Shortstop (1962 & 1965)
Most Total Zone Runs by a Shortstop (1965)
Highest Range Factor per Game by a Shortstop (1962)
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