Our All-Time Top 50 Minnesota Twins have been revised to reflect the 2022 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 Minnesota Twins.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, Minnesota had a decent year, though was mildly disappointing. There is one new entrant into the top 50, with no other fluctuation.
As always, we present our top five, which had no changes.
2. Rod Carew
5. Joe Mauer
You can find the entire list here.
The only new entry is Outfielder, Byron Buxton, who enters at #47, who knocks out Bump Hadley from the Top 50. Notably, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco almost made this portion of the list.
We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.
20. Rod Carew
Rod Carew arrived in the California organization via a blockbuster trade in early 1979, bringing a legendary resume that included seven batting titles and a league MVP. While he had already established himself as a generational icon in Minnesota, he proved that his scientific approach to hitting was not dependent on his surroundings.
In 1979 and 1983, he batted over .300 each season and maintained an on-base percentage north of .380. He showed the organization he was a foundational professional by earning an All-Star selection in every one of his first six seasons with the club, helping lead the Angels to their first two American League West titles in 1979 and 1982.
The 1985 campaign provided the ultimate punctuation for his historic career. On August 4th, against his former club in Minnesota, Carew recorded his 3,000th career hit, a line-drive single that cemented his status among the game's immortal hitters. Overall, as an Angel, Carew compiled 968 hits, a .314 average, and earned six All-Star selections.
Our All-Time Top 50 Minnesota Twins have been revised
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present the pre-2021 update of our top 50 Minnesota Twins of all-time.
As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
There are no new additions but as always, we announce our top five immediately, but out full list can be found here.
2. Rod Carew
5. Joe Mauer
There were no significant changes in the overall list, only minor tinkering due to change in advanced statistics from Baseball Reference.
We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.
Our Top 50 All-Time Minnesota Twins are now up
We here at Notinhalloffame.com have completed our next all-time top 50, this time that of the Minnesota Twins.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:
- Sabremetric tallies while with that team, mostly WAR.
- Traditional metrics and how they finished in their respective league overall.
- Playoff accomplishment.
- Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Here is something else worth noting: While the Minnesota Twins really don’t acknowledge much of their Washington Senators past, this is part of it according to the official history of the organization according to Major League Baseball. The Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame may not have any Senators in it, but this list does…until MLB tells us not to recognize this as franchise history.
The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in our news. They are:
So which team is up next?
The New York Yankees, the most successful team in North American team sports. Look for that in a week.
As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support.
3. Rod Carew
Rod Carew was a Panamanian-born infielder whose crouched stance and elite hand-eye coordination immediately baffled American League pitching. While he debuted as a second baseman, his evolution into a technical master of the strike zone saw him become the most prolific pure hitter of his generation.
Debuting in 1967, Carew quickly made a significant impact on MLB. He won the 1967 American League Rookie of the Year Award, showing his immediate influence on the game. He earned his first of twelve straight All-Star selections as a Twin. Carew established himself as a consistent professional, winning his first batting title in 1969 with a .332 average and helping Minnesota secure the first American League West title. This early period marked the beginning of a career where he would hit over .300 every season after his second year with the Twins.
During his Minnesota years, Carew established himself among the sport's legends. Between 1972 and 1975, he won four straight American League batting titles, joining Ty Cobb as the only players to lead the league in hitting for three or more straight seasons. He remained a technical marvel, hitting .364 in 1974 despite lacking home run power. Even during his transition from second to first base in late 1975, his offensive production stayed strong; in 1976, he narrowly missed a fifth straight title, finishing just .002 behind George Brett and setting a personal best with 49 stolen bases.
Carew reached his apex in 1977. That season, he showcased a mastery of the plate to flirt with the .400 mark deep into the calendar, eventually finishing at .388, the highest average in the majors in twenty years. He led the league in hits (239), runs (128), and triples (16), while also winning the American League MVP Award. His high-caliber production that year included sweeping the batting, on-base percentage, and OPS titles.
Carew’s career in Minnesota ended after a tumultuous 1978 season due to a strained relationship with Twins owner Calvin Griffith, who made offensive remarks. Carew vowed not to play for the team again. In 1979, he was traded to the California Angels in a deal that included Ken Landreaux. He continued his success there, achieving his 3,000th hit against the Twins.
In 1991, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He remains a professional icon in Minnesota, with his number 29 retired by the organization in 1987. He proved that true greatness lies in the relentless pursuit of the hit, a journey that culminated in his induction into the inaugural Twins Hall of Fame Class in 2000.
Carew compiled 2,085 hits, seven batting titles, and the 1977 American League MVP.