Minnesota Twins Greatest Offensive Season #46: Tony Oliva 1966

Tony Oliva's 1966 Season

AB: 622 (3rd in AL)
Hits: 191 (1st in AL)
Doubles: 32 (4th in AL)
Triples: 7
Home Runs: 25
RBI: 87 (10th in AL)
BB: 42
K: 72
BA: .307 (2nd in AL)
OBP: .353 (9th in AL)
SLG: .502 (6th in AL)
OPS: .854 (6th in AL)
OPS+: 136 (46th best in team history)

In 1966 The Twins were unable to repeat their World Series run of the previous season and finished a disappointing 89-73 in second place and nine games behind the Baltimore Orioles. Only two Twins batted over .260 in 1966: Harmon Killebrew at .281 and Tony Oliva with .307. Despite ranking high in many of the American League statistical categories and leading the AL in hits for the third year in a row, Oliva slumped mightily down the stretch. He took a batting average in the .320s into August, but endured a 5 for 41 slump in August. 1966 was another year of personal accolades for Oliva. He won his first and only Gold Glove of his career for his play in right field, he was a member of the American League All Star team and came in 6th in the MVP voting.

Minnesota Twins Greatest Offensive Season #47: Bob Allison 1967

Bob Allison's 1967 Season

AB: 496
Hits: 128
Doubles: 21
Triples: 6
Home Runs: 24 (7th in AL)
RBI: 75
BB: 74 (7th in AL)
K: 114 (6th in AL)
BA: .258
OBP: .356 (10th in AL)
SLG: .470 (7th in AL)
OPS: .826 (9th in AL)
OPS+: 135 (47th best in team history)


Involved in one of the closest pennant races of all time the Minnesota Twins finished second one game behind the Boston Red Sox with a 91-71 record in 1967. The statistics right handed batter Bob Allison put up in 1967 may not seem that remarkable in the offense orientated era baseball currently finds itself in, but they stand out in Twins' history. The Twins as a team in 1967 batted .240 and that was third best in the American League behind Detroit at .243 and Boston with .255. The average American League team batting average in 1967 was .236, a far cry from the AL average of .267 for 2009. 1967 was close to the bottoming out for hitters or the pinnacle for pitchers depending on how you look at it. In 1968 the American League average for batting was .230 and the result was the mound was lowered to reduce some of the advantage pitchers had and the strike zone was reduced. All of these considerations need to be looked at when analyzing Bob Allison's terrific 1967 season. Bob Allison retired after the 1970 season and unfortunately later contracted ataxia, a neurological disorder that affects muscle coordination. He died in 1995 at 60 years of age. Following his death, the Minnesota Twins created the Bob Allison Award for the Twins player who best exemplifies determination, hustle, tenacity, competitive spirit and leadership both on and off the field.

Minnesota Twins Greatest Offensive Season #48: Justin Morneau 2009

Justin Morneau's 2009 season:


AB: 508
Hits: 139
Doubles: 31
Triples: 1
Home Runs: 30
RBI: 100
BB: 72
K: 86
BA: .274
OBP: .363
SLG: .516
OPS: .879
OPS+: 135 (48th best in team history)

Despite batting just .201 in 174 at bats after the All Star break Justin Morneau still had the 48th best season at the plate in team history. Fans may disagree since they can still recall many disappointing at bats Morneau had in the second half of the season in addition with his missing the last three weeks of the season with a stress fracture in his back. With that said, his first half statistics are what carries his season into the top 50 in team history. In that first half Morneau batted: .311/.390/.575 with 21 home runs, 70 RBI and 44 walks. Fans are looking for Justin to put together two halves of a season that each look similar to the first half of the 2009 season.

Minnesota Twins Greatest Individual Offensive Season #49: Earl Battey 1963

Earl Battey's 1963 season:

AB: 508
Hits: 145
Doubles: 17
Triples: 1
Home Runs: 26
RBI: 84
BB: 61
K: 75
BA: .285
OBP: .369
SLG: .476
OPS: .845
OPS+: 134 (49th best in team history)

The 1963 Minnesota Twins hit 225 home runs, which was the highest total in the history of baseball to that point. The team finished in 3rd place with a 91-70 record 13 games out of first place. Earl Battey will be remembered as the first catcher in Twins history. He played in 805 of the Twins' first 970 games. The 1963 season is Battey's only appearance in the top 50 hitting seasons in team history. In 1963 he was an All Star and came in 7th in the MVP voting. In his career Battey was a 3 time Gold Glove winner and 4 time All Star. In the 1965 All Star game at Metropolitian Stadium he received the most votes of any American League All Star. Author Jim Thielman, in his book The Cool of the Evening which details the 1965 season for the Twins, said, "Battey was one of the first players to use an ear-flap on his batting helmet to protect his face. He twice suffered broken cheekbones when hit by pitches, so he began wearing the special batting helmet in 1962. Today, all players wear such helmets." He played with the Twins until he was released in November of 1967. Earl Battey died on November 15, 2003 at the age of 68 from cancer.

Ranking the Top 50 Individual Offensive Seasons by a Minnesota Twin

With the inaugural season at Target Field next year what has been rarely mentioned is that next year will be the 50th season of Minnesota Twins baseball. Many outstanding players have put on the varied uniforms of the Twins over the years, but I felt it was worth exploring who has had the 50 greatest performances in a season at the plate as a Minnesota Twin since 1961. How did I choose to rank the players? There was only one criteria for being included on the list: a player needed 500 or more plate appearances in a season. Once that had been determined I looked at the OPS and OPS+ seasonal numbers of that player. I went back and forth on using OPS or the OPS+ stat as a way to rank players, but decided on OPS+ because it ranks a player based how he did in comparison to the league in that particular season. Those unfamiliar with OPS+ will see that an average player in the league in terms of his OPS (OBP + SLG) will get an OPS+ score of 100. If a player had a year that was 20% above the league average in OPS his OPS+ number would be 120. It is very simple and lets you look at how well a player did within his year. A player who had an OPS of .870 in 1965 with an OPS+ of 141 had a better year than Justin Morneau did in 2008 when he had an OPS of .873 and an OPS+ of 137. The player in 1965 was 41% better than league average while Morneau was a close second at 37%. The difficulty of how hard it was to hit or how easy it was to hit within a season is flushed out with the OPS+ statistic and despite Morneau having the higher OPS it was easier for Morneau to hit in the 2008 American League that it was for our unnamed player in 1965 which happens to be Tony Oliva. I'm sure others will have their opinions and differing methods of ranking so please feel free to question me and leave a comment. I will introduce each player starting off with the 50th best season and hope to get to the top OPS+ individual Twins season before the 2010 baseball schedule begins.

Minnesota Twins Greatest Individual Offensive Season #50:Tony Oliva 1969

Tony Oliva's 1969 season:

AB: 637
Hits: 197 (league leader)
Doubles: 39 (league leader)
Triples: 4
Home Runs: 24
RBI: 101
BB: 45
Runs Created: 107 (9th best in AL)
K: 66
BA: .309
OBP: .355
SLG: .496
OPS: .851
OPS+: 133 (50th best in team history)

In 1969 the Minnesota Twins went 97-65 and won the American League Western Division. Tony Oliva was third in the AL with a batting average of .309, was named an All Star and finished a distant 15th in the MVP voting. Despite winning 97 games the Twins fell to the eventual World Series champions Baltimore Orioles in the League Championship Series 3-0 in games. Oliva's bat was not the problem in the ALCS. He batted .385/.429/.769 with one home run in the series. Tony Oliva's regular season OPS+ of 133 was 33% better than than the average hitter in baseball in 1969 and secures the 50th best season a Minnesota Twin has had at the plate.

After Further Review, Keep Joe Nathan

Watching a closer destroy a well pitched game is a painful experience. Joe Nathan did just that against the New York Yankees in the ALDS, but feelings of anger and disappointment are clouding what Joe Nathan has done as a closer for the Minnesota Twins. He's been an outstanding, shutdown closer in his career, but the last month of this season was a highwire act to say the least. With that said here are his statistics:

• ERA of 2.10 for the season


• Season WHIP of 0.93


• K/BB ratio of 4.05, nearly what is was in 2007 (4.05) and 2008 (4.11)


• Opponents batted .171 against him this year with .160 avg vs. lefties and .181 vs. righties


• Nathan blew 5 saves this year, 6 last year and 4 the year before. Not a spike upwards
  

Joe Nathan will be 35 years old at the start of next season, his ERA the last 3 months of this season rose consistently: 1.69, 2.46 and finally 4.76 in September. Certainly these are strikes against him. In addition, Twins fans are frustrated with his lack of poise and ability to get anyone out in a Yankee uniform this season and in past seasons. This may be a mental hurdle he never overcomes in his career, but should he be traded? It seems that would be an overly emotional reaction to Nathan's pitching performance at Yankee Stadium in the playoffs. Behind Mariano Rivera who is better as a closer than Joe Nathan in the American League? No one really. Unless a trade is offered that really helps the Twins get better and involves real major league players and not highly thought of prospects Joe Nathan should remain a Twin. With that said a future replacement should start to be thought of. Anthony Slama may be just that pitcher.

Just Not Good Enough

Most fans were ready for the Twins to lose to the Yankees in the ALDS after the Yankees went up 2-1 in game 3 of the series Sunday night. Carl Pavano had pitched well and it was time to look toward next year. Then Nick Punto slapped a double to left field and it appeared more of that old dome magic was in works. Not so fast. Denard Span promptly hit a chopper that never appeared to have enough steam to get through the infield and Derek Jeter easily gloved it before going into centerfield. Punto, the Piranha, had other thoughts and kept running with his head down. He was reacting to the crowd noise he said which he felt indicated Span's hit went through. Nick never put his head up and ran through Scott Ullger's stop sign at third base. Eventually stopping and sliding to the turf about 20 feet from home. He was easily thrown out at third base and makes what has to be one of the worst baserunning blunders in Twins history. That speaks volumes considering Carlos Gomez is on the team. Punto's boneheaded play put a dagger into Twins fans' hearts and made an acceptable loss extremely bitter. It made the Twins appear desperate and junior varsity like which comes off as pathetic when your playing the 103 win New York Yankees. The whole series showed the Twins were just not good enough to advance in the playoffs. Unless serious moves are made to upgrade the team the Twins will win the division next year, but they will watch the Yankees celebrate again and this time it will be in 40 degree weather at Target Field.

Instant Classic

It was simply the most intense and supremely entertaining game I have ever witnessed in person. There is not a close second and most likely never will be. The Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-5 in the tiebreaker game for the Central Division crown of 2009. An unbelievable feat considering the puzzle pieces this season required the Twins to fit together. After Tuesday's instant classic between the Twins and Tigers my mind continues replaying what it saw with the understanding that what was witnessed was undoubtedly the finest Twins game played since Dan Gladden touched homeplate securing the 1991 World Series for the hometown team.


Words can convey meaning lost to those that were eyewitness to an event. This game is a rare gem because those that were there and in front of the television know what they saw was impressionable on a grand scale. Those folks don't need words to understand what they saw. It will remain with them for a duration of time that is measurable in months, years or a lifetime. I was fortunate enough to sit down the right field line with my dad going through a game that was a microcosism of the season itself. Soon I was resigning myself to losing yet again in a tiebreaking game. Then in the next instant be jumping up and down and giving high fives to fans I had never met before after Orlando Cabrera gloved a line drive and doubled off Curtis Granderson from first base allowing the Twins to escape an inescapable dilemma without allowing a run. From that high to the low of Alexi Casilla's 10th inning ill-fated dash towards home only to be thrown out. This prolonged a game that was agonizingly ulcer inducing and yet you knew you were watching a classic ballgame. Before either of these incidents there was the two run home run off the bat of Cabrera that put the Twins in the lead by a run by the score of 4-3. I leaned over to my dad after his mini blast into the first row of seats in left field and said "I don't want to have to watch the last 6 outs with only a one run lead." I need not worry. Matt Guerrier allowed a home run on his second pitch in the top of the 8th setting up the dramatics I already mentioned. One play already forgotten is the remarkable play Nick Punto made with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 12th inning. Everyone through clinched fists was hoping for a double play. Instead Punto caught a high chopper from Brandon Inge deep at his position of second base, knew a double play was not guaranteed, and fired a perfect throw to Mauer for the force at home all in one motion. A brilliant play by Punto because of the quick thinking and physical skills required in that tense moment. A game changing play all instant classics have imbedded within them.


It was a classic, but if you were in the Metrodome the tension, emotion, and utter joy upon actually winning and watching the Twins run around the field and high five fans was something to be savored. It was amazing to be there and be a part of it. Everywhere grown adults were jumping around, screaming, and high-fiving each other. Let the Yankees have their corporate, well paid superstars who are suppose to come through in every clutch situation. Perfection is expected in New York. Having an imperfect player like Matt Tolbert contribute mightily to victory last Tuesday makes the win more sweet. Those unexpected events in baseball are what keeps fans watching. They want to see what they haven't seen before and Twins fans most certainly did when their team defeated the Tigers for the 2009 Central Division crown.

Baseball That Matters

When a new Minnesota Twins season schedule is published one's eye usually goes to the start of the season and who do the Twins open up against, when and where is the All Star Game and then your eyes go to that last series of the year. Who are the Twins playing and more importantly will those end of the season games matter? Watching the Twins take on the Royals in front of a sold out Metrodome meant the stadium was closing its doors to baseball soon, but more importantly it meant those games were meaningful. As a fan you want your team to be competitive, but ultimately playing important baseball at the end of the season is all that really matters to you. You want the feeling of watching those same players you've watched night after night keep playing until that last out of the year because that represents a team effort worthy of a possible playoff berth. Observing the next fresh, new and exciting young prospect play games as regulars sit the bench while the leaves change color means your team is playing out the dreaded string. Not the scenario you envisioned when that season schedule first hit your hands. The Minnesota Twins have teetered on the edge of playing games that have mattered very little this year, but when your team is playing game number 163 for the right to go to the playoffs you have to conclude this season has been worthy of praise. Today the Twins will go to the payoffs or fall short by a game for the second year in row. Losing would be disappointing, but every Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals fan along with each person representing a team not playoff bound would give up a week's worth of sleep to be in this tiebreaking game. Win or lose this season has been unexpectedly entertaining and that is all anybody wanted when the season began.