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Greatest Minnesota Twins Second Baseman: Carew vs Allen

By Michael McKee

Jul 21, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Minnesota Twins television broadcaster Dick Bremer (right) talks with Rod Carew before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Minnesota Twins television broadcaster Dick Bremer (right) talks with Rod Carew before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Puckett’s Pond faces off two notable Minnesota Twins players and you decide which one was greater

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Puckett’s Pond is enlisting your help in deciding who the greatest Minnesota Twins in history are at each position. Eventually we’ll square off each position against the others and wind up with the greatest Minnesota Twin, as selected by you. The first position we’ll be selecting is catcher. We’ll only be counting literal Minnesota Twins and not the pre-1961 Washington franchises. Players also will need 700 PAs as a Twin to qualify. We ask you to consider the player based solely on his time as a Twin and at the position specified.

With Harmon Killebrew chosen as the greatest Twins’ first baseman, we move on second base. The candidates are: Rod Carew, Chuck Knoblauch, Brian Dozier, Tim Teufel, Steve Lombardozzi, Rob Wilfong, Luis Castillo and Bernie Allen.

Match up 1: Carew vs Allen

Unfortunately in order to get some other compelling match ups in round one, we had to have a bit of a David vs Goliath situation here. Bernie Allen was left with unenviable task of facing Twins’ great Rod Carew.

Carew was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins in 1964. He made his debut in 1967 and won the rookie of the year award. He played 12 seasons for the Twins. Prior to the 1980 season he was traded to the Angels where he played until his retirement in 1985.  Carew was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.

He slashed .334/.393/.448, stole 271 bases, had a 1.8 dWAR and a 63.7 bWAR in his time as a Twin. He was a solid fielder but an exceptional and deadly offensive threat. Carew’s best season came in 1977 when he led the league in OPS (1.019), won the AL MVP award and posted a 9.7 bWAR.

Bernie Allen was signed as amateur free agent in 1961. He made his debut the next season and had the best year of his career. He had a .741 OPS and a 2.2 bWAR. He played the next four seasons with the Twins. After the 1966 season, he was traded to the Senators. He played his last MLB game with the Expos in 1973.

His bat was lacking but his defence was slick. Allen slashed .246/.316/.366, a 1.4 dWAR and a 3.2 bWAR over 1789 plate appearances.

Who was the greater Twins second baseman? Have your say:

Next: Byung-ho Park Press Conference

Feel free to leave your reasoning in the comments. Check back here for the rest of the match ups and to see who moves on.

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