Danny Valencia had a great rookie campaign in 2010, but he faded in 2011. Will he correct his issues and return to prominence next year? Or will he be baseball’s latest version of Dexy’s Midnight Runners? Only time will tell.

But there are plenty of players in Twins history who did become One-Hit Wonders. They wowed fans for a season and then fell back to the middle or the back of the pack. The following is a countdown of my picks for the greatest One Hit Wonders in Twins history. In a perfect world, this would be a Top 40 countdown, but that would take up way too much space, so I’ll just give you the top five. For context, I’ve paired each Twins player with a hit song that came out the same year.

#5: Bobby Castillo and Toni Basil, 1982.

 Bobby Castillo spent several years with the Dodgers in the last ’70s and early ’80s. He didn’t accomplish much with L.A., aside from earning a 1981 World Series ring. (more…)

What do Richard Nixon, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Armstrong, and Harmon Killebrew all have in common?

These men all reached the pinnacles of their careers in 1969.

Nixon took the oath of office as America’s 37^th President. Hendrix dazzled a crowd of hippies by playing the Star Spangled Banner at a rock concert near the small town of Woodstock, New York. And Armstrong took one small step on the surface of the moon. Also in 1969, the Department of Defense created ARPANET, a computer network that eventually gave birth to the internet. Charles Manson and his gang of deranged disciples horrified the nation with a string of brutal murders. And the government began using the draft lottery to determine which young men would fight in Vietnam.

1969 was an incredibly eventful year, arguably the most eventful in American history. Anyone who isn’t a die-hard Twins fan could be forgiven for not remembering the incredible performance of Killebrew, who hit 49 home runs, collected the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, and led Minnesota to the first ever American League Western Division title. In fact, the Twins were overshadowed even in the world of baseball – 1969 was the year of the  Amazin’ Mets, who stunned sports fans by winning their first ever World Series title.

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