By M. Haas
A new class of players and coaches will be enshrined in the Twins Hall of Fame this month. There are 13 former players in the hall, with 19 on this years ballot. To whom this prestigious accolade is handed is decided by a 57-member committee of local dignitaries. To make their decision a well-informed one, (albeit extraordinarily small sample sizes) we present the cheat sheet.
First base:
In the Hall: Harmon Killebrew, Kent Hrbek.
Hrbek hit .282/293/1086 in 14 seasons with the Twins. Killebrew hit .258/559/1540 in 21 seasons with the organization before leaving for Kansas City.
Threshold for first basemen: .270/426/1313
On the ballot: No first basemen on the ballot. For the record, Morneau is at .281/133/523 in six seasons.
Second Base:
In the Hall: Rod Carew. He hit .334/74/733 in 12 seasons in Minnesota, winning rookie of the year, an MVP, appearing in the All-Star game every year and flirting with .400 in 1977. He's also a real Hall of Famer.
On the ballot: Chuck Knoblauch - .304/43/391 in seven seasons before going to New York. It doesn't look like his numbers reach the THoF plateau for second basemen. Sorry Chuck, the bar was just set too high. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Shortstop:
In the Hall: Zoilo Versalles hit .252/86/401 in seven Twins seasons while appearing in two all-star games and winning one MVP.
On the ballot: Greg Gagne. .249/69/335 in eight years before his move to Kansas City. He gets bonus points for participation in both championship seasons, but Gagne still falls short.
Roy Smalley hit .262/110/485 during two tours of duty with the team, totaling about nine seasons. Pretty impressive, and he gets bonus points for his hair. Smalley isn't exactly a classic or romantic name (to my generation,) but his numbers put him in the Twins Hall of Fame. Congrats.
Third Base:
In the Hall: Gary Gaetti. The rat is the lone THoFer at this position as well. He set the bar with his .256/201/758 in nine seasons. Gaetti also inspired the largest and weirdest fansite on the web, the Gary Gaetti Cult.
On the ballot: John Castino .278/41/249 while playing 416 games at third over six seasons. He was the Co-MVP in 1979, but his career was essentially over by 1984.
Catcher:
In the Hall: Earl Battey sets the bar with his .278/76/350 organization numbers.
On the Ballot: Brian Harper with .306/48/346. Battey played seven seasons with the Twins, Harper played six. Each helped the Twins to a pennant. Battey was a crafty vet, Harper played 16 years, but only played regularly in Minnesota. Battey was a three time all-star, Harper had an all-star mustache. These numbers say Harper he has a shot....... but he doesn't.
Outfielders:
Alright, now we have three sets of numbers to formulate a much steadier HoF threshold.
In the Hall: Kirby Puckett: .318/207/1085 in 12 seasons. Tony Oliva: .304/220/947 in 15 seasons. Bob Allison: .255/256/796 in 13 seasons.
Twins HoF Threshold: .292/228/943
On the Ballot:
Tommy Brunansky .250/163/469
Marty Cordova .277/79/385
Danny Gladden .268/38/238
Larry Hisle .286/87/409
Cesar Tovar .281/38/319
No, no way, sorry, no and no.
Pitchers: (era/K's/wins)
In the Hall: Bert Blyleven 3.28/2035/149 Jim Kaat 3.28/1824/189 Frank Viola 3.86/1214/112 Rick Aguilera 3.50/86/40 while saving 254 games.
Twins Hall of Fame threshold (minus Aggie the Closer) 3.47/1691/150
On the ballot:
Al Worthington 2.62/399/37 while saving 88 games.
Jeff Reardon 3.70/185/15 while saving 104 games.
Kevin Tapani 4.06/724/75
Brad Radke 4.22/1467/148
Jim Perry 3.15/1025/128
Camilo Pascual 3.31/994/88
Dave Boswell 3.49/865/67
Mudcat Grant 3.35/377/50
Dave Goltz 3.48/887/96
Radke is awfully close to the magic 150 wins, but his ERA is high (yes, he played in an offensive era) and his strikeouts aren't far off the mark, considering he wasn't a power pitcher. He'll be in eventually.
So congratulations to Roy Smalley and eventually Brad Radke. These two outstanding players are all-time Twins greats, and will eventually be enshrined in the Twins Hall of Fame! Roy Smalley?
Aw, heck. When have voters ever paid attention to the numbers? Hey, what is this Twins Hall of Fame thing, anyway?
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Twins Hall of Fame Thresholds
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5 comments:
Castino's career was short -- back surgery will do that. He doesn't have big offensive numbers, but was a pretty good fielder and fairly speedy (lots of doubles and triples, though not many stolen bases). Anyway, I always enjoyed watching him play, which of course isn't worth any votes, but...
FrontRowSeats
If Marty Cordova doesn't get in, I don't know what I will do.
I think that Knobby deserves to be in, despite being a jackass at the end of his Twins tenure -- you'd be hard-pressed to find another player in team history that put up four seasons in a row as good as his 1994-97, esp. as a 2B.
Greg Gagne dont deserve to be in the Twins HOF? Gagne was the backbone of the the Twins outstanding infields in both 87' and 91' and he had key homeruns in both World Series'. Sometimes it isnt all about offensive numbers. He was a leader and a big part of the two most important clubs in team history.
Doesnt anyone else agree? I feel like Im taking crazy pills.
I'd put Chuck in.
If Gagne played a generation earlier, like Zolio, he would be in. But he played in a generation when shortstops were actually starting to contribute offensively.
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