Minnesota Twins: Top 5 Twins that aren’t in the Hall of Fame
By Otto Johnson
No. 2: Minnesota Twins’ Jim Kaat
Years on Ballot: 15
Key Hall of Fame Numbers:
Hall of Fame Monitor
Pitching – 130 (58), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards
Pitching – 44 (59), Average HOFer ≈ 50
JAWS
Starting Pitcher (110th):
50.5 career WAR / 38.1 7yr-peak WAR / 44.3 JAWS
Average HOF P (out of 65):
73.3 career WAR / 50.0 7yr-peak WAR / 61.6 JAWS
Jim Kaat is one of two players on this list who has a real solid shot at the Hall of Fame. In order to make the Hall of Fame through the Veterans Committee from the era you played in (Kaat is a member of the Golden Days). You need twelve out of the sixteen votes to be elected, and during the last vote Kaat got the third most votes (10), giving him a legitimate shot.
No Minnesota Twins pitcher not currently in the Hall is more deserving than Kaat is, as his 16 Gold Gloves and World Series title give him a legitimate case. His Hall of Fame Monitor and Standards numbers make him a very solid choice.
The Golden Days committee meets in December of 2020 (they last met in 2014), and hopefully this is the year that Kaat finally gets over the hump, nearly forty years after his retirement.
Chance of Making the Hall of Fame: 75%
No. 1: Minnesota Twins’ Tony Oliva
Years on the Ballot: 15
Key Hall of Fame Numbers:
Black Ink
Batting – 41 (38), Average HOFer ≈ 27
Gray Ink
Batting – 146 (98), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor
Batting – 114 (135), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards
Batting – 29 (355), Average HOFer ≈ 50
JAWS Right Field (34th):
43.1 career WAR / 38.6 7yr-peak WAR / 40.9 JAWS
Average HOF RF (out of 27):
71.9 career WAR / 42.4 7yr-peak WAR / 57.2 JAWS
Despite being better than most Hall of Famers in several categories, Tony Oliva remains one of the greatest Hall of Fame snubs of all-time. The former Rookie of the Year, eight-time All-Star, three-time batting champ, and Gold glove winner never got over 47.3% of the vote, which is and was an absolute crime.
One of the ten best players in Twins history, Oliva shouldn’t have made it first ballot, but he should have made it as time passed. Fortunately, the Golden Days committee has continually voted more for Oliva every time he has been on their ballot, and in 2014 he received 11 out of 16 votes, just one vote shy of election.
Hopefully within the next two Golden Days elections, one more voter will join the Oliva train and finally get this Hall of Fame level player into the promised land.
Chance of Making the Hall of Fame: 90%