The Baseball Scholar

These are the greatest individual seasons in Minnesota Twins history, including Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

Joe Mauer – 2009HOFMVP

• Age: 26
• Years: 2009
• Positions: C
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Joe Mauer Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.8	170	138	606	523	94	191	30	1	28	96	76	63	4	1	.365	.444	.587	1.031

First Base

Rod Carew – 1977HOFMVP

• Age: 31
• Years: 1977
• Positions: 1B
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Rod Carew Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
9.7	175	155	694	616	128	239	38	16	14	100	69	55	23	13	.388	.449	.570	1.019

Second Base

Rod Carew – 1975HOF

• Age: 29
• Years: 1975
• Positions: 2B
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Rod Carew Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.8	154	143	617	535	89	192	24	4	14	80	64	40	35	9	.359	.421	.497	.919

Third Base

Harmon Killebrew – 1969HOFMVP

• Age: 33
• Years: 1969
• Positions: 3B
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Harmon Killebrew Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
6.2	173	162	709	555	106	153	20	2	49	140	145	84	8	2	.276	.427	.584	1.011

Shortstop

Joe Cronin – 1930HOFMVP

• Age: 23
• Years: 1930
• Positions: SS
• Teams: Washington Senators

Joe Cronin Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
8.5	137	154	686	587	127	203	41	9	13	126	72	36	17	10	.346	.422	.513	.934

Outfield

Goose Goslin – 1928HOF

• Age: 27
• Years: 1928
• Positions: LF
• Teams: Washington Senators

Goose Goslin Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.5	172	135	527	456	80	173	36	10	17	102	48	19	16	3	.379	.442	.614	1.056

Outfield

Ed Delahanty – 1902HOF

• Age: 34
• Years: 1902
• Positions: LF
• Teams: Washington Senators

Ed Delahanty Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
6.8	173	123	539	473	103	178	43	14	10	93	62		16		.376	.453	.590	1.043

Outfield

Kirby Puckett – 1988HOF

• Age: 28
• Years: 1988
• Positions: CF
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Kirby Puckett Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.8	150	158	691	657	109	234	42	5	24	121	23	83	6	7	.356	.375	.545	.920

Starting Pitcher

Walter Johnson – 1913HOFMVP

• Age: 25
• Years: 1913
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Washington Senators

Walter Johnson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
15.1	39	48	36	36	7	1.14	346	29	11	2	56	44	38	243		0.78

Starting Pitcher

Walter Johnson – 1912HOF

• Age: 24
• Years: 1912
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Washington Senators

Walter Johnson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
13.2	42	50	37	33	12	1.39	369	34	7	2	89	57	76	303		0.91

Starting Pitcher

Walter Johnson – 1915HOF

• Age: 27
• Years: 1915
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Washington Senators

Walter Johnson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
11.6	53	47	39	27	13	1.55	336.2	35	7	4	83	58	56	203		0.93

Starting Pitcher

Bert Blyleven – 1973HOF

• Age: 22
• Years: 1973
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Bert Blyleven Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
9.8	63	40	40	20	17	2.52	325	25	9	0	109	91	67	258	19.5%	1.12

Starting Pitcher

Walter Johnson – 1919HOF

• Age: 31
• Years: 1919
• Positions: SP
• Teams: Washington Senators

Walter Johnson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
10.6	48	39	29	20	14	1.49	290.1	27	7	2	73	48	51	147	12.7%	0.99

Relief Pitcher

Doug Corbett – 1980

• Age: 27
• Years: 1980
• Positions: RP
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Doug Corbett Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
5.7	47	73	0	8	6	1.98	136.1	0	0	23	31	30	42	89	16.8%	1.06

Relief Pitcher

Joe Nathan – 2004

• Age: 29
• Years: 2004
• Positions: RP
• Teams: Minnesota Twins

Joe Nathan Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
3.9	35	73	0	1	2	1.62	72.1	0	0	44	14	13	23	89	31.3%	0.98

Relief Pitcher

Dick Hyde – 1958

• Age: 29
• Years: 1958
• Positions: RP
• Teams: Washington Senators

Dick Hyde Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
4.8	46	53	0	10	3	1.75	103	0	0	18	26	20	35	49	11.8%	1.14

Honorable Mention

Catcher – Joe Mauer, 2006

First Base – Harmon Killebrew, 1967

Second Base – Chuck Knoblauch, 1996

Third Base – Harmon Killebrew, 1966

Shortstop – Cecil Travis, 1941

Outfield – Bob Allison, 1963

Outfield – Tony Oliva, 1964

Outfield – Goose Goslin, 1926

Starting Pitcher – Johan Santana, 2004

Starting Pitcher – Walter Johnson, 1918

Starting Pitcher – Walter Johnson, 1914

Starting Pitcher – Walter Johnson, 1910

Starting Pitcher – Frank Viola, 1987

Relief Pitcher – Dennys Reyes, 2006

Relief Pitcher – Joe Nathan, 2008

All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.