Minnesota Twins: The 4 players who are on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore

In the franchise’s long history, these four players have firm places on the Minnesota Twins’ Mount Rushmore.

The Washington Senators made the move to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Minnesota Twins, with the nickname a nod to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. A current playoff losing streak makes World Series titles in 1987 and 1991 feel like even longer ago than they are. A World Series appearance early in their history in Minnesota as the Twins came in 1965.

To determine the Twins’ Mount Rushmore, we’ll focus on those seasons starting that first season in Minnesota (1961), spanning three home fields (Met Stadium, The Metrodome, Target Field) with plenty of memorable moments. That’s not to discount the franchise’s history in Washington, it’s just not especially meaningful to a Twins’ Mount Rushmore conversation.

The era people grew up in is sure to skew a determination of the four greatest players in Twins’ history to some degree. But even with that in mind, these four players are pretty much inarguably the four who belong on this Mount Rushmore.

Minnesota Twins: Harmon Killebrew is the first man on this Mount Rushmore

One of Killebrew’s nicknames, “The Killer” was too easy as a take-off of his last name and was against the grain of his personality. He was a power hitter ahead of his time, still 12th on the all-time list with 573 round-trippers.

Killebrew started his career in Washington. However, as a Twin he became a star. From 1961-1971, he was an All-Star 10 times in 11 seasons with eight seasons were hit more than 40 home runs. During his 1969 AL MVP campaign, he hit a major-league leading 49 home runs and led baseball with 140 RBI while posting a .427 on-base percentage.

Killebrew took his place at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1984.

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., now sits where Met Stadium once stood. In the mall, there’s a marker of where the 522-foot home run Killebrew hit in 1967 landed. A road near the mall is called Killebrew Drive.

Killebrew, who passed away in 2011, was famous for having an impeccable and easy to read autograph. Michael Cuddyer would become a Twins’ stalwart, but an early encounter with Killebrew at a signing event shaped how he signed his own autograph.

Cuddyer again recounted the story to MLB Fan Cave in 2013.

Before I met Harmon — before Harmon had ever seen my signature — it kind of looked like an EKG,” Cuddyer said. “It was kind of zig-zag. People didn’t know if it was my heartbeat or if it was my name. So I did a signing with Harmon, balls kept coming through, and he kept looking at this chicken scratch. Finally he asked whose this was. There weren’t very many other people signing, so it was pretty easy to decide it was my signature. He told me, ‘If I see this come through the line again, I’m going to stop signing. I’m going to get up and walk away, and the only person these thousands of people will be mad at is you.

The first star in Twins’ history after the move to Minnesota is the only way to start this Mount Rushmore.

Minnesota Twins: Kirby Puckett has unique place on this Mount Rushmore

For segment of Twins’ fans who are a certain age, Puckett was (still is?) the face of the franchise and someone who was easy imitate on the diamond as young baseball players. The third overall pick in the 1982 draft, he arrived in the big leagues in 1984 and hit just four home runs over his first two seasons.

Armed with a different swing, a little more weight on his short frame and leg kick he would become famous for, Puckett surged to 31 home runs in 1986. That would stand as his career-best home run total, but he had plenty of hits, drove in lots of runs and played a Gold Glove center field for years to come afterward. He was the heart and soul of Twins’ championship teams in 1987 and 1991.

Pucket’s shining moment(s) on a national stage came in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. First, there was this catch — with the added effect of the sound of him colliding with the Metrodome plexiglass.

Then, with Jack Buck’s iconic television call adding juice to it (“And we’ll see ya tomorrow night!”), came Puckett’s game-winning home run to force Game 7.

Puckett’s career ended early when he woke up late in 1996 spring training without vision in his right eye. He was diagnosed with glaucoma, and he officially retired during that season at the age of 36.

In 12 seasons, all with the Twins of course, Puckett had a .318 career batting average with 2,304 hits. He was a 10-time All-Star, a six-time Gold Glover and a six-time Silver Slugger winner, with an ALCS MVP (1991, of course), a batting title (1989) and an All-Star Game MVP on his resume. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001, in his first year on the ballot, and he passed away just shy of his 46th birthday in March of 2006.

Minnesota Twins: Making the case for Joe Mauer to be on the Mount Rushmore

Mauer was the subject, often unfairly, of rampant ire from a lot of Twins’ fans. It went something like this for many: “Why doesn’t he hit more home runs?” Why does he need a day off when there’s a day game after a night game? He’s so soft.” “His contract is so big, why doesn’t he produce/play more?” “Why doesn’t he talk more? He’s got no personality.” And one time when he was dealing with the aftermath of offseason knee surgery (if I recall correctly), whoever told manager Ron Gardenhire to say Mauer’s lingering knee soreness was “bilateral leg weakness” should have been fired that day.

As Mauer approaches being on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2024, there’s no denying the peak of his run as a catcher. It’s often said he had a seven-year peak, but over eight seasons (2006-2013) he won three batting titles with a .327/.410/.473 slash-line and a 139 OPS+. While playing arguably (no, not even arguably) the most physically taxing position on the field as he also took home three Gold Gloves for his work behind the plate.

Concussions moved Mauer out from behind the plate to first base for the final five years of his career (doesn’t feel like it was that many, but it was). But his peak run as an all-around catcher is almost completely unrivaled in baseball history for the position, and that gets him the Mount Rushmore nod here.

Honorable mentions for the Twins’ Mount Rushmore: Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Torii Hunter