Minnesota Twins Top Ten: From Washington to Minneapolis
By Tab Bamford
Before Johan Santana, Miguel Sanó, or Eddie Rosario, there was Tony Oliva, Camilo Pascual, and Zoilo Versalles who all starred as Minnesota Twins. Oliva, Pascual, and Versalles all appeared in All-Star games for Minnesota. Oliva won three AL batting titles. Pascual was a two-time 20 game winner who led the AL in shutouts twice in Twins uniform and once as a Senator. Versalles won the 1965 AL MVP and was a two-time Gold Glove winner at short.
This Cuban trio of Minnesota stars was in fact a result of the scouting of Joe Cambria for the franchise when it was still based in Washington. As the Washington Senators, the franchise ranked among MLB’s most active organizations in scouting Cuba and other parts of Latin America. The original Senators depended on Cambria’s scouting of Cuba since the 1930s, well before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947. However, the true flourishing of Latino talent for the franchise came in Minnesota.
Which Latinos made the biggest mark on the Twins/Senators franchise? Who made a significant enough impact to land a spot on their Top 10? To figure that out, we kept it simple by using WAR (as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com) as our metric of choice in composing our ranking. And while this is one measure of the impact of these players, you might have your own opinion as to who deserves to higher (or lower) on that team’s Top 10.
Minnesota Twins / Washington Senators
1. Rod Carew
12 years with the Twins, 63.8 WAR, 12-time All-Star, 1967 AL Rookie of the Year, 1977 AL MVP, seven-time batting champion
Panama
Carew’s place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame was a lock before he left Minnesota for the California Angels after the 1978 season. His 1977 season is the stuff of legend; he batted .388 with a league-leading 128 runs scored, 239 hits and 16 triples. Carew slashed .334/.393/.448 over 1,635 games with the Twins, during which time he had more triples (90) than home runs (74). He scored 950 runs and piled up 2,085 hits with the club.
2. Tony Oliva
15 years with the Twins, 43.1 WAR, eight-time All-Star, 1964 AL Rookie of the Year, one Gold Glove Award, three-time batting champion
Cuba
Oliva played his entire 15-year career in Minnesota and was one of the most productive hitters of the 1960s. He led the league in hits five times, including is tremendous rookie season in which he also led the league in runs scored (109), doubles (43) and batting average (.323). He appeared in eight consecutive All-Star games (1964-71) and slashed an impressive .304/.353/.476 with the club. His 220 home runs still rank fifth in team history. Oliva finished the runner-up for the MVP award twice (1964, 1970). He is also credited with the first home run in MLB history as a designated hitter.
3. Johan Santana
Eight years with the Twins, 35.7 WAR, three-time All-Star, two Cy Young Awards, one Gold Glove Award
Venezuela
Santana is tied for the best winning percentage of any starting pitcher in club history (.679 – with Stan Coveleski) and had one of the most dominant runs of any starting pitcher in the early 2000s. He won the pitching Triple Crown in 2006, leading the league with 19 wins, a 2.77 ERA and 245 strikeouts. He struck out 1,381 batters in 1,308.1 innings with the Twins and posted a 139-78 record.
4. Camilo Pascual
13 years with the Senators/Twins, 33.2 WAR, five-time All-Star
Cuba
Pascual still ranks fourth in franchise history with 2,465 innings pitched behind only Walter Johnson, Jim Kaat and Bert Blyleven. He appeared in four straight All-Star Games (1959-62) as the ace of the rotation that made the move to Minnesota. Pascual led the league in strikeouts in three consecutive seasons (1961-63), led the league in complete games three times and shutouts three times. He won a career-high 21 games in 1963, the only season between 1959 and 1964 in which he wasn’t named an All-Star. His 1,885 strikeouts are third in club history behind Johnson and Blyleven.
5. César Tovar
Eight years with Twins, 25.9 WAR
Venezuela
Tovar batted .281 during his eight seasons with Minnesota. The speedy outfielder stole more than 30 bases in three seasons with a high of 45 in 1969. His 1970 season was arguably his best in MLB, in addition to batting .300, he scored 120 runs and led the league in doubles (36) and triples (13) and also had double digits in HR (10) and stolen bases (30).
6. Pedro Ramos
Seven years with the Senators/Twins, 17.9 WAR, one All-Star Game
Cuba
Ramos played six of his seven seasons in Washington and lasted just one year after the move to Minnesota. He was actually a prodigious loser; Ramos led the league in losses in four consecutive seasons (1958-61). But he piled up innings, throwing at least 230 in five of his seven seasons with the franchise. He struck out 740 in 1,544.1 innings pitched with the club before he was traded to Cleveland on April 2, 1962 for Vic Power and Dick Stigman.
7. Zoilo Versalles
Nine years with the Senators/Twins, 14.7 WAR, two-time All-Star, 1965 AL MVP, two Gold Glove awards
Cuba
Versalles was a terrific, versatile infielder who made his debut with the Washington Senators as a 19-year-old in 1959. He made the move to Minnesota with the club before the 1961 season and immediately started to show off his powerful swing. In his MVP season in 1965, Versalles led the league with 126 runs scored, 45 doubles, 12 triples and 728 plate appearances. In 1,109 games with the franchise Versalles scored 570 runs and 190 of his 1,061 hits were doubles.
8. Leo Cárdenas
Three years with the Twins, 11.1 WAR, one All-Star Game
Cuba
After the 1968 season, the Cincinnati Reds traded Cardenas to Minnesota for Jim Merritt. Cárdenas had already been an all-star four times for the Big Red Machine and won a Gold Glove award, and continued to be a solid contributor after the deal. He appeared in his fifth and final All-Star Game representing the Twins in 1971, his final season in Minnesota. In three seasons with the Twins Cárdenas drove in 210 runs and scored 193 times in 473 games.
9. Ervin Santana
Three years with the Twins,* 10.0 WAR, one All-Star Game
Dominican Republic
Santana joined the Twins in 2015 after brief one-year stops in Kansas City and Atlanta and had a terrific 2017 campaign. He led the league with five complete games and three shutouts last year while posting a 16-8 record in 211.1 innings pitched. The asterisk on his three years with Minnesota is because Santana is the only “active” member of the Twins on this list, but he has yet to appear in a game in 2018.
10. Connie Marrero
Five years with the Senators, 9.7 WAR, one All-Star Game
Cuba
Marrero joined the Senators in 1950 at age 38. The diminutive right-hander stood 5’5” and threw an assortment of breaking pitches: curveball, slider, and knuckleball. He played five seasons in Washington after a lengthy career playing amateur baseball and in the Cuban professional league. In his five campaigns he went 39-40 with a 3.83 ERA, and was selected to the 1951 All-Star Game.
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Featured Image: Louis Requena / Major League Baseball