Minnesota Twins tickets

Bert Blyleven:The Dutchman won 20 games just once, and he had a career-long struggle to win more games than he lost. But, in the final analysis, Blyleven deserves Hall of Fame recognition as one of the best pitchers of all time, and he would already have that honor if he had won 13 more games in his career. The second best pitcher in franchise history, Blyleven went 287-250 with 3,701 strikeouts in 4,970 innings. He achieved a career 3.31 ERA and a 3.91 Wtd. RA/9, for the league's 56th best rate of success. Blyleven saved 367 runs from scoring, for the league's tenth best volume of success.

Harmon Killebrew: Killebrew was one of the most prolific home run hitters in history, as he hit a home run every 14 times up to bat to rank fifth lifetime with 573 home runs. As one of the most feared hitters in his day, Killebrew drew 1,559 walks, and had a .379 on-base percentage despite his career .256 batting average. Adjusted for a career 2 percent hitter's deflation, he hit .261 with 586 home runs, for a 906 Wtd. Production. He ranks eighth in rate of success for league first basemen with an 860 Total Factor. He ranks sixth in volume of success with 517 Hits Contribution. Killebrew hit for so much power that he made up for his lack of speed and bad fielding. The Twins tried him at first, third, and in the outfield, before letting him finish his career as the team's DH. Killebrew played nearly as many games at third as he did at first, and was a poor fielding third baseman when he was the league's MVP in 1969, while setting the major league record for home runs by a third baseman with 49. The two years at DH ex-tended Killebrew's career and gave him a chance to hit an other 27 home runs, but they also hurt his overall performance, as he suffered through a negative 42 Hits Contribution.

Rod Carew:Carew also split his time between two positions. He was a below average fielding second baseman the first half of his career with the Twins, and a below average fielding first baseman the second half of his career with the Twins and Angels. Although he played 5 percent more games at first, most of his Hits Contribution came from his seasons at second, and Carew is considered a second baseman for the career rankings in this book: Carew did have three solid seasons his first three years as a first baseman. They were also his last three years with the Twins. After starring with the Twins, he was an average player with the Angels: Over his career, Carew hit .328 with 92 home runs, while stealing 353 bases. Adjusted for a career 2.5 percent hitter's deflation, he hit .336 with 95 home runs. In his peak years of 1972-1978, Carew produced adjusted batting averages of .345, .359, .381, .370, .353, .384, and .341. His 843 Total Factor ranks sixth in league rate of success for second basemen, while his 566 Hits Contribution ranks eighth in league volume of success.