1B Kent Hrbek – Key part of both Twins world championship teams; ten seasons with 20+ HRs.
2B Rod Carew – Won seven batting titles; career .328 hitter with 353 SBs.
SS Joe Cronin – Slugging average topped .420 six straight years for Washington; led team to 1933 World Series as player manager.
3B Harmon Killebrew – Bashed 40+ homers eight times during a pitching-dominant era; drew 90+ walks in ten seasons.
OF Goose Goslin – Batted .334 or better with 100+ RBI in 5 straight seasons; twice led the AL in triples.
OF Kirby Puckett – Led AL in hits four times; career .318 hitter with ten straight 80+ RBI seasons; six Gold Gloves.
OF Tony Oliva – Five seasons with 20+ HRs; led AL in hitting three times; Gold Glove winner.
C Joe Mauer – Won three batting titles in four years; three Gold Gloves; 2009 AL MVP.
DH Torii Hunter – Outstanding fielder (7 Gold Gloves for Twins); hit 23+ HRs six times for Minnesota; didn’t DH very often, but belongs in this lineup.
Bench Sam Rice – Batted .330 or better six times; eight straight 20-SB seasons (63 in ’20); hit 10+ triples ten consecutive seasons.
Pitcher Walter Johnson – Probably the best pitcher of all time; won 416 games (110 shutouts!) with a lifetime 2.17 ERA; led AL in Ks 12 times.
Pitcher Jim Kaat – Posted 16+ wins five times for the Twins (25 in ’66); won 12 straight Gold Gloves in Minnesota.
Pitcher Bert Blyleven – Five straight seasons with an ERA of 3.00 or lower (1971-75); won 15+ games seven times for Minnesota
Closer Firpo Marberry – A closer before closers were cool; first to record 100 saves (led AL five times); also made 187 starts for Washington.
RIP, Killer
I'd start Sam Rice over Kirby, but other than that, no complaints. I had to look up Mickey Vernon's stats, but despite a couple of batting titles, he did not hit for much power. His #1 comparison is to Mark Grace, whereas Hrbek compares to Luzinski and Kluszewski, more prototypical slugging first basemen.
ReplyDeleteVernon is not a bad choice--hit a lot of doubles. Joe Judge is another Mark Grace-type who routinely batted over .300. I like Hrbek's power at 1B though. If there was another bench spot on this roster, Clyde Milan and his 495 stolen bases would be a strong candidate.
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