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Minnesota Twins Opening Day Countdown: 62, Knoblauch 1997 steals

By Benjamin Chase

20 Jun 1995: Second baseman Chuck Knoblauch of the Minnesota Twins leads off the base during a game against the Oakland Athletics at Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, California. The Athletics won the game 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport
20 Jun 1995: Second baseman Chuck Knoblauch of the Minnesota Twins leads off the base during a game against the Oakland Athletics at Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, California. The Athletics won the game 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport /
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The Minnesota Twins are just 62 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 their share of speedsters. Fans adored “The Piranhas” because of their ability to change the game with speed. However, the top single-season steals season came from a guy with a very well-rounded game, the spark plug of the 1991 World Series championship team, Chuck Knoblauch.

Twins steals seasons

While the Minnesota Twins have had a number of adept base stealing teams in their history, they never had an individual who really tallied up steals. In fact, no Minnesota Twins player has ever led the league in stolen bases.

The team has had just 18 individual seasons of over 30 steals in the team’s history. Just one season had two players with 30 steals in the same year.

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Knoblauch’s 1997

Of those 18 30-steal seasons, Chuck Knoblauch had 5 of them in his 7 seasons with the Twins, including 3 of the top 4 stolen base totals in Minnesota Twins team history.

In 1997, he far outpaced anything he’d done previously on the base paths, exceeding his previous high of 46 stolen bases by getting to 62 stolen bases.

No player in Twins history had ever before even amassed 50 stolen bases in a season, with the previous high being Rod Carew‘s 49 in 1976.

The 1997 season would be Knoblauch’s last in Minnesota before he was traded away to the New York Yankees. He hit .291/.390/.411 with 26 doubles, 10 triples, 9 home runs, and 62 stolen bases. He earned an All-Star appearance that season, his fourth while with the Twins and last of his career.

Next: Who will be next in Twins team HOF?

As we get closer to opening day, we remember #62 by remembering the speedster on the bases, Chuck Knoblauch.

We look forward to that first day of the season against Baltimore!

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