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Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame: Looking at who deserves a vote

By Ian Stoever |
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 16: Former Minnesota Twins player Torii Hunter speaks as he is inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in a ceremony before the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Indians of the game on July 16, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 16: Former Minnesota Twins player Torii Hunter speaks as he is inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in a ceremony before the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Indians of the game on July 16, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
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The Minnesota Twins will be adding to their Hall of Fame this year so we have taken a look at who on the ballot is deserving of a vote.

Recently the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame ballot was released and as with every year there are several players that are deserving of consideration. In this article, I will go through every player that is eligible and why or why not I would vote for them. Unfortunately, the official Twins ballot has only 1 selection you can make but you can vote as many times as you would like. For the purpose of this post, I will select multiple players to vote for.

Dave Boswell

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1964-1970 (7 years)

Career stats 67-54 with a 3.49 ERA in 1,036 innings

War 11.2

Deserving of a vote for induction?

No, While he had some very good numbers in a Twins uniform he didn’t have the longevity nor above average numbers some other players on this list had.

Tom Brunansky

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1982-1988 (7 years)

Career stats .250 829 hits 163 Homeruns 469 RBI

1987 World Series All Star in 1985

War 16.1

Deserving of a vote?

Yes, while he didn’t have standout numbers he was a solid piece for the Twins for several years and helped the Twins win their first World Series.

Dean Chance

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1967-1969 (3 years)

Career stats 41-34 an ERA of 2.67 for 664 innings

All Star game in 1967

War 13.1

Deserving of a vote?

While he put up some fantastic numbers he only pitched for the Twins for 3 seasons. That’s not enough time to consider him a team Hall of Famer.

Dan Gladden

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1987-1991 (5 years)

Career Stats .268 average with 38 home runs and 238 RBI

1987 and 1991 World Series

War 5.7

Is he deserving of selection?

No, some decent numbers but not enough for selection even with the 2 World Series.

Dave Goltz

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1972-1979 (8 years)

Career stats 96-79 in 247 games 1638 Innings 3.48 ERA with 80 complete games

War 24.6

Is he deserving of selection?

Yes while his ERA is rather high for selection those 80 complete games in 8 years are enough reason for selection alone.

NEW YORK – OCTOBER 6: Jacque Jones #11 of the Minnesota Twins scores on an RBI single by Justin Morneau, to make the score 5-4 Yankees in the eighth inning of Game two of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on October 6, 2004 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – OCTOBER 6: Jacque Jones #11 of the Minnesota Twins scores on an RBI single by Justin Morneau, to make the score 5-4 Yankees in the eighth inning of Game two of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on October 6, 2004 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Mudcat Grant

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1964-1967 (4 years)

Career Stats 50-35 with an ERA of 3.35 for 780 innings

War 6.0

All Star in 1967

Is he deserving of a vote?

Much like Dean Chance he put up some very good numbers but didn’t pitch long enough in a Twins uniform to garner consideration for a vote.

Cristian Guzman

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1999-2004 (5 years)

Career Stats .266 average with 39 home runs and 289 RBI.

2004 All Star

War 7.5

Is he deserving of a vote?

Much like many other players on this list he had some good numbers while in Minnesota but didn’t have the consistency needed to end up in the team Hall of Fame.

Brian Harper

Years spent in a Twins Uniform  (7 Years)

Career stats .306 average 48 Homeruns 346 RBI

1991 World Series Champ

War 13.4

Is he deserving of a vote?

He is on the edge for me as he put up some great numbers in a Twins uniform but it’s not enough to garner a vote from me.

Jacque Jones

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1999-2005 (7 years)

Career Stats .279 average 132 Homeruns 476 RBI

War 11.9

Is he deserving of a vote?

Good numbers but with very few spots to vote available the line has to be drawn somewhere.

Corey Koskie

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1998-2004 (7 years)

Career stats .280 average 101 Homeruns 437 RBI

War 22.2

Is he deserving of a vote?

Same as Jacque Jones, good numbers but no room to vote for him.

Shane Mack

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1990-1994 (5 years)

Career stats .309 average 67 Homeruns 315 RBI

War 19.6

Is he deserving of a vote?

Good numbers but needed more time in a Twins uniform to garner consideration.

CHICAGO, IL – AUGUST 31: Joe Nathan #36 of the Minnesota Twins pitches in the 9th inning against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on August 31, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Twins defeated the White Sox 7-6. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – AUGUST 31: Joe Nathan #36 of the Minnesota Twins pitches in the 9th inning against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on August 31, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Twins defeated the White Sox 7-6. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Joe Nathan

Years spent in a Twins uniform 2004-2011 (7 years)

Career stats 24-13 2.16 ERA 260 Saves 463 innings

All Star 2004 2005 2008 2009

War 18.4

Is he deserving of a vote?

Yes one of the best relievers in Twins history, Nathan was one of the best closers in baseball for several years. With a very low ERA and 4 All Star selections he is very much deserving of selection.

Jeff Reardon

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1987-1989 (3 years)

Career stats 15-16 3.70 ERA 104 Saves 226 Innings

War 4.2

Is he deserving of a vote?

No. Decent few years but only 3 seasons in Twins uniform and numbers aren’t anywhere close to Joe Nathan.

Roy Smalley

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1976-1982 and 1985-1987 (10 years)

Career Stats 1148 games .262 average 110 Homeruns 485 RBI

War 20.9

Is he deserving of a vote?

Has good numbers but there are other players with similar stats that did it in fewer seasons.

Cesar Tovar

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1965-1972 (8 Years)

Career stats 1090 games .281 average 38 Homeruns 319 RBI

War 25.9

Is he deserving of a vote?

Absolutely when discussing top Twins shortstops Tovar nearly tops the list. It is rather surprising he hasn’t been elected yet even with the lower statistics his WAR says all you need to know about what type of player Tovar was.

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Al Worthington

Years spent in a Twins uniform 1964-1969 (6 years)

Career stats 37-31 2.62 ERA 473 innings

War 10.1

Is he deserving of a vote?

Also on the edge of selection but his War isn’t high enough and while ERA is great other numbers aren’t stellar.

Ranking of players eligible for Hall of Fame vote

Players who I would vote for:

1 Cesar Tovar

2 Joe Nathan

3 Dave Goltz

4 Tom Brunansky

Next in line:

5 Corey Koskie

6 Shane Mack

7 Dean Chance

8 Jacque Jones

9 Al Worthington

10 Roy Smalley

11 Brian Harper

12 Dave Boswell

13 Dan Gladden

14 Mudcat Grant

15 Cristian Guzman

16 Jeff Reardon

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What does your Twins Hall of Fame ballot look like? Is your criteria different than ours here? Let us know who you are voting for in the comments!

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