[The twenty-seventh in a series: I’m picking one player that I associate with a team (whether they spent the majority of their career there or not) that I would strongly consider adding to my official want lists. They may not always be superstars, or the most popular, and honestly they may not always be my favorite player from the team, but that’s what will make this fun, no?]
Only a couple more left in this series, and these are the toughest to come up with. This particular post was delayed mostly because I had a hard time finding a card for the man below. I’ve tried to only use cards in my possession for this project, but he only has so many. Recently, I tried scouring through a lot of old boxes of lots that Andy and I purchased in our flipping days, and I finally stumbled upon this 1975 card in a partial set he bought (that’s at my house), so the series can continue!
A slightly battle worn card
Tony Oliva gets my pick for the Twins. I feel like he’s an underappreciated player from the era. Not necessarily forgotten, but he didn’t get into the Hall of Fame despite multiple batting titles, 8 All-Star appearances, Rookie of the Year honors and one gold glove. I’ll leave it up to you as to whether or not he deserves induction, but he’s getting my choice for hypothetical Twin addition.
Don’t have this anymore. From a case break back in those days
Current player runner-up: Joe Mauer
2000 hits aside, he’s basically the only player on the team I know. Bonus points for staying with the same team for his entire career (so far).
Not sure if I have this, actually
Retired player runner-up: Harmon Killebrew
I don’t know of a lot of Twins. I’m not wild about any of the players from my childhood. Kirby was a potential pick but the allegations against him sour that pick. Instead I’ll go with the guy with the nickname “Killer.” Look, it makes sense to me!
The Series So Far
Angels – (tie) Jim Abbott & Vladimir Guerrero
Astros – J.R. Richard
Athletics
Blue Jays – Carlos Delgado
Braves – Steve Avery
Brewers – Bob Eucker
Cardinals – Jim Edmonds
Cubs
Diamondbacks – Randy Johnson
Dodgers – Jackie Robinson
Giants – Kevin Mitchell
Indians – Jim Thome
Mariners – Felix Hernandez
Marlins – Giancarlo Stanton
Mets – (tie) Darryl Strawberry & Dwight Gooden
Nationals/Expos – (tie) Marquis Grissom & Delino DeShields
Orioles – Adam Jones
Padres
Phillies – Mike Schmidt
Pirates – Andrew McCutchen
Rangers – Nolan Ryan
Rays/Devil Rays – Evan Longoria
Red Sox – Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd
Reds – Eric Davis
Rockies – Carlos Gonzalez
Royals – Bo Jackson
Tigers – Alan Trammell
Twins – Tony Oliva
White Sox – Paul Konerko
Yankees – Mariano Rivera
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