Starting Rotation
P Jim Kaat 1961-1973
No pitcher has started in more games for the Twins than Jim Kaat. He is also the Twins all-time leader in wins (189) and innings pitched (2,959.3). He was more than just a pitcher who stuck around for a long time, however. Kaat had great control, allowing roughly 1.5 walks per nine innings during his Twins career. He made the other team put the ball in play, and did his part to turn those batted ball into outs. He won a Gold Glove in every season he played with the Twins but his first, and controlled the award for pitchers for 16 years in a row. His best season came in 1966, when he went 25-13 with a 2.75 ERA (131 ERA+).
P Bert Blyleven 1970-1975, 1985-1988
Bert Blyleven is probably most famous for two things: giving up home runs and circling people. It is easy to forget that he had one of the best curve balls that the game has ever seen. In his first stint with the Twins, Blyleven put up some tremendous numbers for some very mediocre teams. He struck out about eight men for every nine innings he pitched and was among the league ERA leaders every season. In his return to the Twins later in his career, Blyleven became a key component to the 1987 World Series team. The campaign to induct Blyleven into the Hall of Fame has gained quite a bit of steam in recent years, but the relatively low win total (due to pitching for some bad teams) is still keeping him out.
P Brad Radke 1995-2006
Another pitcher with impeccable control, Radke spent his entire career in a Twins uniform. Like Kaat, he walked batters at an incredibly low rate, ending his career last year with a 1.0 BB/9 rate. His career 4.22 ERA is a solid number in an era where offense exploded. Some of Radke’s best seasons came for very bad teams in the late 90’s, though he still managed to overcome his tendency to give up early-inning home runs to compile a .516 career winning percentage.
P Frank Viola 1982-1989
“Sweet Music” Viola is one of two Twins pitchers to win the Cy Young award prior to the Johan Santana era. Though he won the award for a dominant performance in 1988, his most famous season came the year before. Viola was the ace of the 1987 pitching staff and had a 2.90 ERA in a year of inflated run-scoring. To cap off the 1987 season, Viola was named the most valuable player of the 1987 World Series. In his prime, Viola had one of the best change-ups in baseball.
P Jim Perry 1963-1972
The man with the lowest career Twins ERA on this list is Jim Perry (3.15). He is also responsible for the other Cy Young award, winning it in 1970. Apparently, Perry spent the early part of his career in manager Sam Mele’s doghouse. For some reason, despite some very good numbers, Perry was was not a part of the regular rotation until 1969, the year that Billy Martin took over as manager. He was the staff ace of the two AL West Champion teams in 1969 and 1970. The numbers indicate that, given a chance in the regular rotation from 1963-1968, Perry may be in the conversation for all-time best Twins starter. As it stands, he is in my top five.
This was the most difficult group to put together so far. Looking over this list, in retrospect, longevity seems to be the key factor. Though I didn’t plan it, these five happen to be the top five in Twins games started and innings pitched. There are several great pitchers who missed the cut mainly due to the fact that they weren’t with the team as long (Dean Chance and Mudcat Grant come to mind). In a few years (hopefully later rather than sooner), Johan Santana will be on top of this list. All in all I feel that I went the safe route with the rotation. While I am comfortable with my choices, the pitching staff is an area where I could probably be persuaded to change my picks.
Tags: Franchise History, Players
Nice list. Very enjoyable site. I would have had Camilio in there. Best curveball of his time and the staff ace.
A case can be made for all these guys, Pascual included, but omitting Santana is just insane. Yeah, he doesn’t have longevity on his side, but we’re talking about a pitcher (whom most agree) is the most dominating pitcher in the game today. I don’t want to argue numbers because numbers (wins, Ks, etc) are too dependant on other factors. Hell, I’m sure Terry Felton was a good pitcher, but maybe he was just a victim of circumstance. What I base my opinion on is how the pitcher was views by his peers and the so-called baseball experts. With the exception of Sweet Music (who for a few years was the best lefty in the game), I dont think Kaat, Blyleven, Perry or Radke were ever considered the “Best” pitcher in baseball. For that reason alone…take any one of these guys and put them in the bullpen so Johan can take his rightful place as the #1 starter.
Which brings up a good point. Will the bullpen be comprised of actual bullpen guys…Worthington, Marshall, Davis, Reardon, etc? I hope it is. Looking more forward to the bench and bullpen!
Blake- If I wasn’t sticking to the “no active Twins” rule Santana would be included, no question.
As for the bullpen, it is made up of guys who made their reputations as relief pitchers.
I was toying with the idea of “cheating” a bit and moving Jim Perry to the bullpen, but decided to keep him where he had his best seasons- as a starter.
DOH! Should have remembered your rules. In that case, can’t argue to much against the list. You could sub Chance, Grant, Pascual for any of them and not lose a beat. Think I agree with Steve about Pascual. He was pretty dominant for a few years.
I can see the Pascual argument. I think I was scared off by the fact that some of his best seasons came during the Washington years.
Wow…I had a great reply to that formulating an argument that Pascual’s best years came in Minnesota..not Washington, but when I hit submit, the page timed out and it was lost. I’ll be back in a while to give it another try.
Okay…as I so eloquently stated before I got dissconnected, I would argue that Pascual’s best years came as a Twin…not a Senator. Widely believed to have the best curveball of his time…maybe the best ever (with a strong argument for Bert as well). As a Senator (1954-1960), Pascual put up win totals of 4, 2, 6, 8, 8, 17 and 12 for 57 wins (although the first two years were primarily in relief). In ‘58-’60 he put up ERAs of 3.15, 2.64 and 3.03 respectively. His best strikeout total came in ‘59 with 185. When the Twins moved north, Pascual really had 4 of his finest years in the majors. From ‘61-’64, he posted win totals of 15, 20, 21 and 15 for a total of 71 wins. He also led the league in Strikeouts from ‘61-’63 and finished 2nd in 1964. His lowest strikout total in those 4 years was 202! In 1963 he also posted his best yearly ERA at 2.46.
Overall, I think that’s a pretty good argument that Mr. Pascual’s best years came as a Twin. Whether or not they are good enough to break the starting lineup is a different argument. I would think so…but I’ll save that discussion (not an argument) for another day!
Good stuff Scot. Thanks
I also agree that Pascual should make the cut, but at the expense of who? Possibly, the FIVE greatest (retired) former Twins followed by at least five who should’ve/could’ve made the cut.
Of course, Grant, Chance could fall into that category. You also have Dave Goltz…whose stats were skewered by the decade he was with the Twins and the team that abcked him up.
But the reality is that your five are the best…two that should be in the Hall of Fame, one that was a remarkable starter who came out of relief, and two anchors of the Twins rotation for their respective decade.
Good stuff.
I would divide relievers into closers and middle men…give more glory to the backup!