Ten-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner Kirby Puckett was the eighth player in history to collect four hits in his major league debut. He is one of eight players in history to lead their league in hits for three consecutive seasons, and one of only four players with two 6-hit games (the only one since 1935).
If 2023 was the final season for the Rum River Bandits, what a fantastic story it has been!
In his fourth damn year of eligibility the Baseball Writers’ Association of America finally elects Harmon Killebrew to the Hall of Fame…
Richard Hubbard served as principal of St. Francis High School for 30 years, from 1962 to ’92, but how many of his students knew he briefly played professional baseball?
Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven recorded 3,701 strikeouts during his 22-year career, fifth-most in major league history behind Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, and 1987 teammate Steve Carlton.
Johnny Blanchard, perhaps the most famous backup catcher in baseball history, played in five World Series, hitting .400 with two home runs in the ’61 Series.
Playing for the Cubs on April 16, 1960, St. Paul native Walt Moryn spoiled Giants pitcher Sam Jones‘s no-hit bid with a two-out pinch-hit homer in the eighth. It was the only hit Jones surrendered in the 6-1 Giants win. It was Jones’s second start of the season. In his first …
St. Cloud Tech grad, St. Cloud State all-time great, and 15-year major leaguer Jim Eisenreich was born in St. Cloud on April 18, 1959.
1942 Watertown graduate and Golden Gophers all-time great Harry Elliott had some prodigious minor league seasons, but his chances of a significant major league career were hampered by military service during World War II.
Longtime Twins organization equipment manager, trainer, and clubhouse attendant Wayne “Big Fella” Hattaway got his first job in baseball in 1952 at age 12, serving as bat boy for his hometown Mobile Bears.
Richfield graduate and Golden Gophers two-sport star Bill Davis’s only major league home run was a two-out 10th-inning pinch-hit walk-off.
Jim Thome hit .314 with 218 hits, 61 home runs, and 156 RBI in 196 career games vs. the Twins. That’s his highest average vs. any team he played at least 30 games against, second-most home runs (66 vs. Detroit), and the most hits and RBI he had against any team.
27-year-old rookie Doug Corbett was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 1980. He made his only All-Star team in 1981, and was part of the trade that brought Tom Brunansky to Minnesota in May 1982.
Albany High School alumnus and 15-year pro ballplayer George “Showboat” Fisher‘s best major league season was 1930, going 95-for-254 (.374) in 92 games (59 starts) with the National League Champion Cardinals.
Brant Alyea tied the team single-game record with seven RBI in his first game as a Twin in 1970. He went on to drive in 19 runs in Jim Perry’s first four starts of the season. He matched the single-game RBI record again on September 7 of that year, beginning a team record nine-game RBI streak.
1954 Edina-Morningside grad Bob “Rocky” Johnson played 874 major league games over parts of 11 seasons with the Kansas City Athletics, Senators, Orioles, Mets, Reds, Braves, Cardinals, and Oakland A’s, hitting .272 with 628 hits and 44 home runs.
