Minnesota Twins: 5 best corner infield pairs in Twins history
By Nate Palmer
No. 4– 2001 Corner Infield
Doug Mientkiewicz and Corey Koskie
The 2001 season will go down as the season that seemed to bring the Twins out of the black hole of the latter part of the 90’s. The team didn’t make the playoffs that year but were a much-improved 85-77 and finished 2nd in the American League Central. With two 100-plus win teams in the AL West, the Twins had no shot at the Wild Card that season.
It was 2001 that Doug Mientkiewicz put together a breakout season as the Twins first baseman and resident heart-throb. Mientkiewicz went on to slash .306/.387/.464 while hitting 15 home runs and 39 doubles during that season. 2001 marked Mientkiewicz best season from an end of season award standpoint as well winning a Gold Glove for his defensive efforts at first base and coming in 14th in MVP voting.
While Mientkiewicz was a heart-throb, third baseman Corey Koskie just brought the comforts of Minnesota to the diamond. The Canadian and a former hockey goalie played the hot corner well in 2001 slashing .276/.362/.488 with 26 home runs and 37 doubles. While Koskie’s career was cut short by a concussion because of the 2001 season he holds a place in history among Twins third baseman.
Turning an eye to WAR, Koskie holds the honor of the fifth-best WAR by any Twins corner infielder and best by any third baseman in Twins history with a 6.3 WAR. It helps serve as a reminder of why it was so hard to replace Koskie when he left the Twins. Koskie’s franchise-best third base performance and Mientkiewicz 2.8 WAR for a combined WAR of 9.1 lands them fourth on our list.