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.