Minnesota Twins Countdown to Opening Day: 74, Carew HR
The Minnesota Twins are just 74 days away from opening day in Baltimore. As we near that day, we will tap into Twins history related to each number as we get closer!
The Minnesota Twins are preparing for a 2018 season with expectations after making the playoffs in 2017 as a Wild Card. We will have bring out numbers from team history that represent the number of days until opening day on March 29th in Baltimore.
The Minnesota Twins have had a number of all-time elite players in baseball’s history don the Twins uniform. One of the best cut his teeth as a Twin, though our number today is certainly what he was not known for. Today, we will look at Rod Carew‘s career home runs in Minnesota, 74.
Carew’s career
Carew was signed in 1964 by the Minnesota Twins out of Panama. He moved quickly through the minor leagues, making his major league debut at age 21 in 1967, earning an All-Star nod in his first year and winning the American League Rookie of the Year.
He would go on to 18 straight All-Star games, win an MVP, won 7 batting titles, and made the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with over 90% of the eligible votes.
Rod Carew Power Hour!
Carew was not, however, known for his power. He hit 92 home runs in his major league career, only topping double digits twice in his career.
Carew was able to dial up his power when needed, however, though he most often used that power to put the ball into gaps and get extra base hits as a hitter at the top of the lineup. He had two seasons with a .500+ slugging percentage in his career.
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Carew’s peak home run seasons were 1975 and 1977 when he hit 14 each, though his 1977 season was by far his best power season.
In ’77, Carew had 239 hits to lead all of baseball, hitting 38 doubles, an American League-leading 16 triples, and 14 home runs. On that season, he hit .388/.449/.570.
Over his Twins career, Carew hit 305 doubles, 90 triples, and 74 home runs for a grand total of 469 extra base hits in his Twins career.
It was great to see Carew doing well after health issues had hampered him for a few years. Hopefully his “power” will give him the strength to give us many more great years of his insight on the game!
We look forward to that first day of the season against Baltimore!