One note on my votes. Yes obviously means I’m voting for the player this year. If I say no, that means I don’t think the player should ever be in the team Hall of Fame. Maybe means that I might vote for him in the future, but not right now. I think if we choose more than one or two players per year, the HOF will fill up with some marginal players pretty quickly, so some of these guys will just have to wait.

Dave Boswell, P. 8 seasons with Twins, 67-54, 3.49 ERA. My vote: No.

Boswell was a very competent pitcher, and he had one very good year in 1969. But he was never the staff ace, and his stock fell fast, to the point that he was cut by the team at age 26. Also, it’s hard to vote for a guy who got in a fight with Bob Allison and his manager.

Tom Brunansky, OF. 7 seasons, .250/.330/.432, 163 HR, 432 RBI. My vote: Maybe.

Bruno’s 9th place standing on the Twins home run list is safe now that Michael Cuddyer, who was 22 behind him, has left the team. He was a key piece of the 1987 Championship team, and his trade to the Cardinals in 1988 ushered in a 19 year curse that prevented any Twin from topping 30 homers in a season. He’s on the cusp of the Twins HOF. If he can get Rochester to hit well, that’ll put him over the top. (more…)

If you recognize that name, congratulations. You know your Twins! If not, you’re either too young to have watched the team in the ‘70s, or else you’re a bandwagon Twins fan (hahaha, just kidding about the last part – after a 99 loss season there are no bandwagon Twins fans left). Twins expert or not, though, all baseball fans should take some time to appreciate the Goltz saga, because he’s a perfect example of a blockbuster free agent gone bad.

In baseball, one team’s treasure is often another team’s trash, and Dave Goltz is a perfect example of this mixed up cliché. Fansided’s Dodger site, Lasorda’s Lair, has named Goltz the 8th biggest “L.A. Dodger Bum” of all time. I recommend that you check it out, because it’s worth a chuckle. Before I read that post I did not know that the Pelican Rapids native Goltz cost the Dodgers a playoff berth in 1980 when he lost Game 163 for them. I’ll consider that partial payback for the travesty of 1965. (more…)

A few months ago, I started diving into the Twins’ draft history in an effort to find out just how good the organization has really been at developing talent. Since it’s an off day, and it is the deadline for signing this year’s draft picks, I thought this might be a good time to finish it. (more…)