Justin Morneau continued the evolution of Canadian Baseball players, who along with Joe Mauer and Johan Santana, was part of a group of star players that the Twins had in the 2000s.

Morneau debuted for the Twins in 2002, and became their lead First Baseman two years later.  He had his best season in 2005, winning the MVP on a 34 HR/130 RBI season while batting .321, but he was not boing to be a one-great season player.  Morneau went to the next four All-Star Games, and was second for the MVP in 2007.   He also had a four-year run (2005-08) where he had at least 23 Home Runs, 100 RBI, and batted at least .270 with a Slugging Percentage of .490 or greater.  

As Morneau declined, he became expandable, and the then-struggling Twins traded him to Pittsburgh during the 2012 Season.  WIth Minnesota, Morneau batted .278 with 1,318 Hits and 221 Home Runs.

Morneau entered the Twins Hall of Fame in 2020.

There were few players who more hurt their baseball career more from serving their country in World War II than Cecil Travis.  Travis was a three-time All-Star and in the ’41 season, he would lead the American League in Hits with a .359 Batting Average.  Travis batted over .300 six other times and in that season before World War II finished sixth in MVP voting.

Arguably the most important Minnesota Twin Pitcher in the 1980’s, Frank Viola will always be synonymous with his 1987 and 1988 seasons.  In ’87, after coming off of his fourth consecutive 16 Win season, Viola would be named the MVP in the 1987 World Series, bringing the title to the Twin Cities for the first time.

A feared knuckleball pitcher (Jackie Robinson said as much), Dutch Leonard went to three All-Star Games as a Washington Senator.  For a knuckballer, Leonard had very good control, twice leading the AL in BB/9 and once and WHIP.  As a testament o his lack of walks delivered, Leonard once led the league in SO/BB, which was especially incredible considering that he was not regarded as a Pitcher who struck out many batters.

With the Senators, Leonard had a record of 118-101 with a 3.27 ERA.

Joe Cronin is far more known for being a member of the Boston Red Sox.  The BoSox retired his number and he represented the American League in the All-Star Game five times.  Still, Cronin’s overall production with the Washington Senators isn’t that far off from what he accomplished in Massachusetts. 

Save for a couple of productive seasons with the Boston Red Sox early in his career, Buddy Myer was a career member of the Washington Senators, the team he began and ended his career with.  Myer had six seasons where he batted over .300, one of which saw him bat .349, enough to win him the American League Batting Title in 1935.  He was named an All Star that year and again in 1937.  Myer, who batted .303 as a Senator with 1,828 Hits, was probably known best for a brawl with Ben Chapman (the racist Yankee who would become an even more racist manager with the Phillies who taunted Jackie Robinson) after he taunted Myer for his Jewish heritage.

A Cy Young Award winner in 1970, Jim Perry would go 128 and 90 for Minnesota in a ten-year span.  Perry rattled off two straight 20 Win Seasons and was known for possessing good control as shown by two appearances in the to five in BB/9.  He would also represent Minnesota in two All-Star Games, but he will always be best known in the Twin Cities for winning the 1970 Cy Young in a season where he went 24 and 12.

Minnesota selected Perry for their Hall of Fame in 2011.

Nicknamed “Deerfoot” for his speed on the basepaths, Clyde Milan would collect 2,100 Hits in a career that was spent only with the Washington Senators.  His best run was from 1911 to 1913, where he batted over. 300 in each season, and would twice lead the American League in Stolen Bases, the first of which (88) would set a modern record at the time.  In each of those years, he finished in the top ten in MVP voting.

Milan batted .285 with 495 Stolen Bases over his career.

Considered one of the best defensive Pitchers of all time, Jim Kaat spent two-thirds of his astounding twenty-five seasons in MLB with the Senators/Twins.  Katt would go 190 and 159 as a Senator/Twin with 1,851 Strikeouts and had an impressive 25 and 13 1966 season, a campaign where he also led the AL in BB/9 and SO/BB. 

Kaat was considered to be one of the larger snubs in the Baseball Hall of Fame but the Veteran's Committee finally chose him for Cooperstown in 2022.  The Twins had already elected Kaat to their Hall as part of their second class in 2001.

One of the most popular Minnesota Twins in franchise history (he is from Minneapolis after all!) Kent Hrbek would play every MLB game of his career for the Twin Cities.  Hrbek was the runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year (to Cal Ripken Jr.) in 1982 and would be a consistent fixture for the team for the next decade.  Hrbek, would finish second in MVP voting in 1984 and would overall tabulate 1,749 Hits and 293 Home Runs over his career.  He is best known for hitting a Grand Slam in the ’87 World Series and was also instrumental in the team winning again in 1991.

Minnesota retired his number 14 in 1995 and inducted Hrbek to their Hall of Fame in 2000, which was their inaugural class.

Playing his entire career with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, the versatile outfielder was known for his cannon of an arm and pop with a bat.  Allison, the 1959 Rookie of the Year, would have eight seasons where he hit more than 20 Home Runs, which included a 35 HR season where he would lead the American League in OPS and WAR.  He would make the All-Star Team three times, and accumulate 1,281 Hits for the team.

The Twins inducted Allison into their Hall of Fame in 2003.

Mickey Vernon would accumulate 1,993 of his 2,495 Hits with the Washington Senators and smacked enough so that he could win two Batting Titles (1946 & 1953).  Vernon was chosen to play in five All-Star Games and in 1953 he finished third in MVP voting.  He also had two more top ten finishes in MVP voting while playing for Washington.  Had Vernon even been average defensively (he never had one season where he had a positive Defensive bWAR as a Senator) his ranking would be significantly higher.

Brad Radke pitched 378 Games in his Major League career, all of which were with the Minnesota Twins.  Radke was known for his control, leading the AL in BB/9 in 2001, a category that he also finished in the top five in eight other times.  Radke’s best season was in 1997 where he finished third in Cy Young voting.  He would go to his only All-Star Game the year after. 

A major offensive force behind the Washington Senators back-to-back appearances in the World Series, Outfielder, Goose Goslin, played the first half of his career in D.C..  Goslin was a hitting machine, winning the American League Batting in 1928 and boasting a Batting Average over .300 five times.  Goslin would finish in the top ten in MVP voting three times as a Senator and showed power for the team with 127 Home Runs with a .502 Slugging Percentage.  He would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968.

Joe Judge played 2,084 of his 2,171 career games with the Washington Senators, and while the First Baseman was not what would you call a perennial All-Star, he was a player who could be considered well above average and freakishly consistent. 

Judge was not a large man, even by the standards in when he played but he was a tenacious player both in offense and defense.  Eight times, he would bat over .300, had well over 2,000 Hits as a Senator, and would also be a consistent leader in most defensive metrics at First. 

He may not be a Hall of Famer, but he was a large part of the 1924 World Series Championship Team.

Considered by many baseball historians to be the first reliever of prominence, Firpo Marberry would lead the American League in Pitching Appearances six times and is the first (retroactively) to score 20 Saves in a season.  Marberry’s versatility to go from the starting rotation to the bullpen with ease made him an invaluable asset and a player ahead of his time.  Marberry’s pitching acumen made him a vital component in the Senators’ World Series Championship win in 1924.

The career of Chuck Knoblauch was full of yips and disappointment as a New York Yankee but as a member of the Minnesota Twins, he was a superstar.

Kirby Puckett was easily the most popular Minnesota Twin of his era.  He was also the best player they had during that same time frame.

Puckett played twelve seasons in MLB, all of which were with the Twins.  Shortly after his debut, he achieved baseball stardom by becoming the leader of his team and was unquestionably the star behind two World Series Championships in 1987 and 1991. 

Harmon Killebrew was signed under the then “Bonus Rule” meaning that the 18 year old had to spend two full seasons in the Majors before he was essentially ready.  The Washington Senators would then take their time developing the budding power hitter, and they were right to do so.  “The Killer” was clearly worth the wait.

“The Big Train”, Walter Johnson is not just the greatest Pitcher in Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins history.  He has a case as the greatest Pitcher of all time.

Johnson only played for the Washington Senators and his accomplishments are earth shattering: