Tuesday March 9, 2004
Comparing the Twins Playoff Teams
I was 12 years old when the Twins won their first World Series Championship in 1987. I was 16 when they went from worst to first and beat the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 World Series. I am frequently trying to compare the current two-time defending American League Central Division Champion teams to those ’87 and ’91 teams. So, I figured I would take it another step and compare those four teams to three others. The Twins lost in the World Series to the Dodgers in 1965. The Twins then lost to the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 and 1970.
So, what I’m going to do is a comparison of the seven Twins playoff teams. I don’t have the time to compare the entire rosters, so to be concise, I looked up Box Scores and statistics from each playoff series at Retrosheet. I came up with the primary starting lineups for the teams, in the playoffs. That probably isn’t fair. In 1965, Jimmie Hall was one of the Twins best hitters. However, in the playoffs, Joe Nossek got most of the starts in centerfield. So, my analysis is based on the stats of Nossek, who was not as good a hitter. Also, I will be looking at their regular season stats. I realize that those numbers don’t matter in the least in the playoffs. Guys like Steve Lombardozzi and Dan Gladden can be as likely a playoff hero as Harmon Killebrew or Kirby Puckett.
What I am going to do is look position-by-position at the starters for each team. I will have them ranked from 1-7. The rankings are loosely based on Win Shares. However, I also made some executive decisions if the Win Shares were the same or close. Remember that Win Shares also factor in defensive performance, which explains how Leo Cardenas ranked so well. For the pitchers, the Twins have always thrown just three starters in the playoffs, except in 2002 when they went with four. I'd love to hear lots of feedback on this topic. I'm sure everyone has their opinions on these former Twins teams. I would like to hear/learn more about those early teams. So, if you have any information or comments, please e-mail me.
So, let’s get started and see how it goes. Let’s start behind the plate with the catchers:
THE CATCHERS
|
|
Player |
G |
AB |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
2B |
HR |
RBI |
WS |
|
2003 |
AJ Pierzynski |
137 |
487 |
0.312 |
0.360 |
0.464 |
35 |
11 |
74 |
22 |
|
1965 |
Earl Battey |
131 |
394 |
0.297 |
0.375 |
0.409 |
22 |
6 |
60 |
22 |
|
2002 |
AJ Pierzynski |
130 |
440 |
0.300 |
0.334 |
0.439 |
31 |
6 |
49 |
17 |
|
1991 |
Brian Harper |
123 |
441 |
0.311 |
0.336 |
0.447 |
28 |
10 |
69 |
15 |
|
1970 |
George Mitterwald |
117 |
369 |
0.222 |
0.291 |
0.388 |
12 |
15 |
46 |
13 |
|
1969 |
Johnny Roseboro |
115 |
361 |
0.263 |
0.333 |
0.321 |
12 |
3 |
32 |
10 |
|
1987 |
Tim Laudner |
113 |
288 |
0.191 |
0.252 |
0.389 |
7 |
16 |
43 |
4 |
I remember the nickname for Tim Laudner in 1987 was “Buck-Ninety” because of his average. Pretty appropriate! I think that AJ Pierzynski has been very good the last couple of seasons, despite his lack of walks. Speaking of lack of walks, I always remember Brian Harper being a great hitter (and an absolutely horrendous defensive catcher), but he really didn’t walk much either. After Earl Battey retired in 1967, Johnny Roseboro came over from the Dodgers with Bob Miller and Ron Perranoski in exchange for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles. He was released right after the 1969 season ended.
THE FIRST BASEMEN
|
|
Player |
G |
AB |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
2B |
HR |
RBI |
WS |
|
1987 |
Kent Hrbek |
143 |
477 |
0.285 |
0.389 |
0.545 |
20 |
34 |
90 |
25 |
|
2003 |
Doug Mientkiewicz |
142 |
487 |
0.300 |
0.393 |
0.450 |
38 |
11 |
65 |
20 |
|
1991 |
Kent Hrbek |
132 |
462 |
0.284 |
0.373 |
0.461 |
20 |
20 |
89 |
19 |
|
1969 |
Rich Reese |
132 |
419 |
0.322 |
0.362 |
0.513 |
24 |
16 |
69 |
17 |
|
1965 |
Don Mincher |
128 |
346 |
0.251 |
0.344 |
0.509 |
17 |
22 |
65 |
17 |
|
2002 |
Doug Mientkiewicz |
143 |
467 |
0.261 |
0.365 |
0.392 |
29 |
10 |
64 |
17 |
|
1970 |
Rich Reese |
153 |
501 |
0.261 |
0.332 |
0.371 |
15 |
10 |
56 |
14 |
Yeah, Kent Hrbek was really pretty good. Decent average, pretty good middle-of-the-order power, consistent. Consistent is not the word to describe the 2002 and 2003 seasons of Doug Mientkiewicz, I guess! But I think the same can be said about Rich Reese from 1969 to 1970. Of course, some of Doug’s “Wins” are based on his defense (and all those doubles!). Don Mincher was the Twins primary first baseman in 1965, although as you can see, he didn’t play ever day either, but he did put up very solid homer numbers!
THE SECOND BASEMEN
|
|
Player |
G |
AB |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
2B |
HR |
RBI |
WS |
|
1969 |
Rod Carew |
123 |
458 |
0.332 |
0.386 |
0.467 |
30 |
8 |
56 |
21 |
|
1991 |
Chuck Knoblauch |
151 |
565 |
0.281 |
0.351 |
0.350 |
24 |
1 |
50 |
20 |
|
1987 |
Steve Lombardozzi |
136 |
432 |
0.238 |
0.298 |
0.352 |
19 |
8 |
38 |
10 |
|
2003 |
Luis Rivas |
135 |
475 |
0.259 |
0.308 |
0.381 |
16 |
8 |
43 |
6 |
|
2002 |
Luis Rivas |
93 |
316 |
0.256 |
0.305 |
0.392 |
23 |
4 |
35 |
6 |
|
1970 |
|