All Time: Minnesota Twins (In Honor of Harmon Killebrew)

Harmon Killebrew passed away today, just days after announcing he would enter hospice and stop receiving treatments for cancer. Killebrew was 74. Upon his death Killebrew remains number 1 on the Twins list of career home runs with 559; second, is 293. This one goes to you Killer.

Lineup
C: Joe Mauer- Joe Mauer has been one of the most talked about players ever since being called up in 2004 as a 21 year old. In just eight seasons he's won an MVP award, four gold gloves (three in a row), and three batting titles (two in a row). That's a pretty impressive resume for a catcher in the 2000s.

1B: Kent Hrbek- It was tempting to put Morneau here, but his numbers aren't quite there yet. Hrbek is second in home runs, amongst all time Twin players, with 293. He's also second on the RBI list. His power wasn't as amazing as the Killers, but Hrbek got the job done as a middle of the order bat.

2B: Rod Carew- Mauer is good, but he has a ways to go to be Carew good. In twelve seasons with the Twins Carew won seven batting titles. He still holds the highest career average for any Twins player at .334; and though he wasn't known for his power he did have 271 stolen bases and 90 triples in Minnesota.

SS: Greg Gagne- Gagne couldn't hit much, but he is the slickest shortstop the Twins have ever had. He never won any gold gloves, which is a shame, because according to fangraphs he had a total career UZR of 86; that's an average of 6.14 per season.

3B: Harmon Killebrew- Killer is the all time home run hitter for the Twins with 573; that also places him 11th all time. He led the league in home runs six times, RBI three times, and walks four times, in his career. He won an MVP award in '69 and hit over 40 home runs eight different seasons. He's an all time Twins great and probably the best slugger they'll ever see.

LF: Kirby Puckett- the late and great Kirby Puckett leads the Twins in career hits, runs, doubles, and total bases. Not only could he hit, he also won six gold gloves in his career. His final claim to fame: a game winning bomb in game six of the 1991 World Series; the Twins would win it all in game seven.

CF: Torii Hunter- Hunter has never been bad with a bad, but he's always been the best with a glove. Torii Hunter has played some of the best center field I've ever seen and seven gold gloves in a row at the position with Minnesota.

RF: Tony Oliva- There's something about Minnesota and batting titles that seems to go together. When Carew wasn't winning them it was this guy, Tony Oliva. Oliva won three batting titles in his career, including two in a row. He also lead the league in hits five times.

Pitching 
SP1: Bert Blyleven- The recent hall of fame inductee was an innings master. In his two stints with Minnesota he went 149-138, with a 3.28 ERA, 141 complete games and 20 shut outs. That's 41% of his starts! Blyleven had less than 260 innings pitched only once in his seasons with the Twins.

SP2: Jim Perry- Perry was another innings machine in the 60s and 70s. As a Twin he went 128-90 with a 3.15 ERA. Out of 249 starts 61 of Perry's were complete games; that's roughly 25% of his starts. Perry also compiled 17 shut outs, with 4 in the season that he won his Cy Young.

SP3: Jim Kaat- Kaat went 190-159 in Minnesota with a 3.34 ERA. Kaat had 23 shut outs and over 3000 innings pitched. He never won a Cy Young, but he did earn 12 gold gloves in his 15 seasons with the Twins.

SP4: Johan Santana- Though he only pitched eight seasons in Minnesota, Santana was at the top of his game then. A rule 5 draft pick (yes, rule 5 draft pick) Santana went 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA as a Twin. He won two Cy Youngs and in 2006 he took the triple crown with 19 wins, a 2.77 ERA, and 245 punch outs.

SP5: Frank Viola- Not the most consistent, Viola still had a pretty good career. In '87 he helped lead the Twins to a World Series title, and in '88 he won a Cy Young with his MLB best 24-7 record.

RP: Joe Nathan- Nathan is second all time in saves amongst Twins with 249 (just five behind first place). He also has a 2.04 ERA. He's had a tough time getting back on track in 2011, but he's still an all time closing great.