Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 via the Veteran’s Committee, Sam Rice was a Washington Senator for all but his final season in MLB.  Rice smacked 2,987 Hits over his career (2,889 with Washington) and would lead the AL in Hits twice and had over 200 Hits in a season six times.  As expected, he would have thirteen seasons where he batted over .300 and had a career Batting Average for the Senators of .323.  Rice was also a fleet footed player who won the Stolen Base crown in 1920 and swiped 346 overall bases a Senator.

During the mid-2000s a fair argument could be made that Johan Santana was the best pitcher in Baseball.  From 2004 to 2007, Santana would win two Cy Youngs and finish in the top five in voting in the other two.  He would win two ERA titles, three Strikeout titles, three FIP titles, four WHIP titles, and led in bWAR for Pitchers three times.  This was the player that during that time frame, opposing General Managers coveted and wanted to build their rotation around.

Tony Oliva was one of the most popular players in Minnesota Twins history and from 1964 to 1971 was named an American League All-Star, a period in which he was considered amongst the best hitters in Major League Baseball.

There is no question that Rod Carew was one of the best hitters in baseball…period.  The Panamanian born player would win seven Batting Titles as a member of the Minnesota Twins and other than his first two seasons (the first of which he was the Rookie of the Year), he would bat over .300 in every season he was a Twin.

Although Camilo Pasucal was a five-time All-Star over his tenure with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, the Cuban is a somewhat underappreciated player historically.  Dubbed “The Little Potato” (in reference to his older brother, Carlos, who was nicknamed (The Potato”) Pascual was a three-time Strikeout Champion and would win 20 Games twice.  While Pascual would not finish in the top ten in MVP voting, he did receive a smattering of votes in three different seasons.

Pascual went 145-141 for the franchise, fanning 1,885 Strikeouts.  The Twins inducted him into their franchise Hall of Fame in 2012.

Playing his entire career with the Minnesota Twins, Joe Mauer has a case for being the best-hitting Catcher ever or at least being named as the best-hitting Catcher based on Batting Average.

Actually, let’s give him that one now.

It took a long time.  It took a long time for Baseball Hall of Fame voters to take a long look at his statistics, especially the advanced stats, to realize that Bert Blyleven was a Hall of Famer.  It would eventually happen on his 14th year of eligibility, in a career that saw half of it with the Minnesota Twins.

Last fall, the Minnesota Twins announced that the two year waiting period following retirement to be eligible had been lifted.  This paces way for today’s announcement that Torii Hunter will be entering the organization’s Hall of Fame following his retirement last year.

Torii Hunter sent twelve of his nineteen seasons with Minnesota; his first eleven and the final one of his career.  As a Twin, he was an All Star twice and a Gold Glove winner seven times.  His overall numbers in Minnesota saw him accumulate 1,323 Hits, 214 Home Runs, a .268/.321/.462 Slash Line and a bWAR of 26.2. 

Hunter will not be entering alone as he will be joined by John Gordon, who broadcasted Minnesota games from 1987 to 2011.

To enter the Twins Hall of Fame, a player needs to receive 60 percent of the 66 member committee, which consists of media members, former players and Twins officials.  Hunter received all 66 votes.  Gordon’s path to election came through the 23 member Veteran’s Committee.

Torri Hunter becomes the 19th player to be inducted, and the selection of Hunter and Gordon marks the first inductees since 2013.  Former Second Baseman, Chuck Knoblauch was scheduled to be inducted in 2014, but the Twins revoked that upon being charged with assaulting his ex-wife.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the latest class of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame.

Another major figure in Major League Baseball has announced that he will be calling it a career, as Minnesota Twins’ Outfielder, Torii Hunter is retiring after 19 seasons.

From Hunter’s Instagram account:

“My family and I feel as though the time has come to close the door on this chapter in my life. I've been married to the game for many years and now it is time to start a new chapter. I have learned a lot during this journey, and I appreciate the opportunity that God has given me to play this great game. Some will say that I am retiring from baseball; but I will say that I am transitioning, because BASEBALL will be a part of my life forever.”

Hunter would also tell a local newspaper that he did not want to be a distraction and go on a farewell tour. 

He retires in Minnesota, with the club where it all began.  He would make his MLB debut in 1997 (though only in one game) and would work his way to the regular lineup as the Twins’ starting Center Fielder in 1999.  Each year would seemingly see an increase in production both with his bat and his glove.

In 2001, Hunter would win his first of his nine Gold Gloves and would have three top five finishes in Defensive bWAR.  Hunter would show some pop with his bat, blasting 353 Home Runs in his career and having two seasons where he had over 100 RBIs. 

Hunter would go to five All Star Games, two as a Twin, two as an Angel and one as a Detroit Tiger.  The outfielder, who finished his career with 2,452 Hits and a career bWAR of 50.0 returned to Minnesota last season where he successfully bookends his career in the Twin Cities.

You know what we do here next right?  We ask if he is a Hall of Famer of course!

While Hunter has a decent bWAR, his JAWS line of 40.6 falls well below the 57.2 that the average Centerfielders in the Hall of Fame have, though it should be noted he is higher than five of them, though sabremetrics such as this are being taken more and more into account.   Hunter never won a World Series, only finished in the top ten in MVP voting once and is not in the top seventy-five all time in any offensive category.

We suspect that he will struggle to get past the first ballot for Cooperstown, but he should be a lock for the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in the future.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Torii Hunter the best in his post playing career.

For a seven-year period, Johan Santana was regarded was regarded as one of the top Pitchers in Baseball, where he won the American League Cy Young Award Twice, winning the ERA Title three times and leading his league in WHIP four years in a row.