Hulking lefty swinging 1B Kent Hrbek burst onto the scene for the Twins in 1982 when he finished 2nd in the A.L. Rookie of the Year Voting. It was also the only time Hrbek made the All-Star team. Hrbek played in 140 games in 1982 for the Twins and he was 160 of 532 (.301 avg, .848 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 23 homers, 92 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Hrbek’s best season with the Twins came back in 1984 when he finished 2nd in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Hrbek played in 149 games in 1984 for the Twins and he was 174 of 559 (.311 avg, .906 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 27 homers, 107 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Hrbek played in 1,747 games in his 14 years with the Twins and he was 1,749 of 6,192 (.282 avg, .848 OPS) with 903 runs scored, 293 homers, 1,086 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Hrbek is #8 in Twins’ history in games played with 1,747. He’s also #10 in runs scored (903), #6 in doubles (312), #2 in homers (293), #2 in RBIs (1,086) and he’s #5 in walks (838) in Twins’ history. Hrbek was a key player for the Twins’ World Championship Teams of 1987 and 1991.

59-year old starting pitcher Bert Blyleven had to wait until his 14th year on the Hall of Fame ballot to make it! Blyleven pitched 11 years for the Minnesota Twins in which he worked in 348 games (345 starts) and was 149-138 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Blyleven is #4 in Twins’ history in games started (345), #3 in wins (149), #3 in innings pitched (2,566 2/3), #2 in whiffs (2,035), #3 in complete games (141) and #3 in shut outs (29). Blyleven made it onto the A.L. All-Star team in 1973 for the Twins. Blyleven pitched in 692 games (685 starts) overall in his 22 years in the majors and he was 287-250 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He is #5 in major league history with 3,701 strikeouts! It’s good to see Blyleven finally rewarded for a great career.

Lefty swinging 2B/1B Rod Carew was a wizard with the bat for the Twins. It all started in 1967 when he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the A.L. Carew played in 137 games for the Twins in 1967 and he was 150 of 514 (.292 avg, .750 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 8 homers, 51 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Carew was a All-Star every one of his 12 seasons with the Twins! In 1977, Rod Carew was the MVP of the A.L. as he played in 155 games in which he was 239 of 616 (.388 avg, 1.019 OPS) with 128 runs scored, 14 homers, 100 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. The amazing Carew played in 1,635 games in his career with the Twins and he was 2,085 of 6,235 (.334 avg, .841 OPS) with 950 runs scored, 74 homers, 733 RBIs and 271 stolen bases. Carew is the all-time leader in batting average (.334) for the Minnesota Twins. He also is #5 in hits (2,085), #9 in runs scored (950), #7 in doubles (305), #8 in triples (70) and he is #5 in stolen bases (271) in Twins’ history. Carew was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1991.

Lefty starting pitcher Frank Viola was a very solid pitcher in his career with the Twins. He pitched in 260 games (259 starts) in his 8 years with the Twins and he was 112-93 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He is #7 all-time in strikeouts in Twins’ history with 1,214 and he is #9 all-time with 112 wins. But, Viola was never better for the Twins than he was in 1998 when he won the Cy Young Award in the A.L. He pitched in 35 games (all starts) for the Twins in 1998 and he was 24-7 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. It’s too bad the Twins couldn’t keep him just a little bit longer.

Kirby Puckett’s career and life ended to early. He was forced to retire at 35 years old because of vision loss in one of his eyes due to glaucoma. He then died 10 years later at the age of 45 on March 6, 2006. He was the second youngest Hall of Famer to die with only Lou Gehrig (37 years old) going before him. Puckett got off to a quick start to his major league career winning the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award in 1984 for the Twins. In 1984, Puckett played in 128 games in which he was 165 for 557 (.296 avg, .655 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 0 homers, 31 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Puckett went on to play in 10 All-Star Games and he won 6 Gold Gloves with the Twins. He also led the American League in hits 4 times in his career and he led the league in RBIs in 1994 with 112. Puckett played 12 years for the Twins appearing in 1,783 games in which he was 2,304 for 7,244 (.318 avg, .837 OPS) with 1,071 runs scored, 207 homers, 1,085 RBIs and 134 stolen bases. Puckett in among the franchise leaders in games played (#7), hits (#2), AVG. (#6), runs scored (#4), homers (#5) and RBIs (#3) in team history. Puckett now resides in Cooperstown N.Y. with all of the legends of baseball and he will be there forever.