12 Days of Twinsmas: #2 Rod Carew

[Andrew Mahlke]

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. The second best player in Twins history is one of the best pure hitters in baseball history and is one of the best Panamanian players in MLB history.

Rough Upbringing
In October 1945, Rodney Cline Carew was born on a bus in Panama. The doctor who delivered him on the bus was named Rodney Cline, so Carew’s parents decided to name their baby after him.

Growing up, Carew’s father had an alcohol problem and was verbally and physically abusive towards Rod and his brother Dickie. Rod did not have a good relationship with his father and leaned on his mother for support and guidance. When he was 17, he immigrated to New York City with his brother and mother. He began playing in a sandlot league there and was seen by Twins scout Monroe Katz. He passed on a good word to the New York area scout for the Twins, Herb Stein, and the Twins signed Carew in 1964 after he finished high school.

A Legend Begins
In Rod’s first full year in the minors, he batted .303 and stole 52 bases while playing a stellar second base. The next year, he hit .294 with 48 stolen bases. It was clear Carew was ready for the big leagues at the young age of 20.

Rod made his major league debut in 1967 and impressed from the first game, going 2-for-4. That season, he hit .292/.341/.409 (.750) and was named as the starting second baseman for the AL in the all-star game, the first all-star selection of eighteen in his career. He won the rookie of the year in the American League.

From 1968 to 1972 Rod was an all-star every year and was a good player, leading the AL in batting average twice. But Rod Carew wasn’t really Rod Carew until 1973.

Prime Years
From 1973 to 1978 Rod Carew was one of the best players in baseball. He led the AL in batting average five times, was named an all-star all six years, led the league in hits three times, and finished top 11 in MVP voting all six years including first place in 1977. Below are some of his stats over this time span and the ranks:

Stat	Value	Rank
WAR	39.3	3rd
wRC+	152	3rd
OBP	0.42	1st
AVG	0.354	1st
Runs	583	3rd
SB	213	9th
3B	58	1st
OPS	0.902	5th
WPA	22.2	2nd

 

 

In addition to being the best player in the American League, he was also named the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award in 1977, which is given to the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field. Carew was the best to do it on and off the field in 1977, and winning the Clemente Award means more than any award he could win playing baseball.

MVP Year
Carew’s 1977 season was the best individual season in Twins history. In 1977, Carew led MLB in batting average (.388), OBP (.449), OPS (1.019), wRC+ (175), and hits (239). He accumulated 8.6 WAR and held an average above .400 from June 26 to July 10. Carew’s .388 average is the third closest anyone has come to hitting .400 since Ted Williams did it in 1941. His 239 hits are the fifth most of any single-season in the Expansion Era (1961-present). 

Life After Twins
In 1978, Carew got word that owner Calvin Griffith said that he moved the franchise from Washington to Minnesota because "Minnesota only had 15,000 blacks." As a black player, this made a huge impact on Carew. “I will not come back and play for a bigot", said Carew. “I’m not going to be another (racial slur) on his plantation.” Carew stuck true to his word, as he was traded to the Angels in February of 1979 for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens, and Ken Landreaux.

Carew played for the Angels for seven years and was named an all-star six times. His production dipped a little bit relative to his Twins day, only being worth 2.5 WAR per year. He still hit .314 with the Angels but he won no batting titles. His wRC+ was 120, which is still 20 percent above league average but nowhere near his ridiculous 138 wRC+ he posted with the Twins. His OPS was .784 with the Angels compared to .841 with Minnesota. Carew finished his career in the elusive 3,000 hit club. When he reached 3,000, he was only the 16th player in history to do so. Carew was still a good player for the Angels but it was clear as he was getting older that his production was declining, and after the 1985 season he retired.

Conclusion
In 1991, Carew was named to the Hall of Fame, receiving 90.5% of the vote. Carew is one of the greatest hitters in Twins history, and here is where he finished in various categories in Twins history:

Stat	Value	Rank
WAR	56.9	2nd
wRC+	138	3rd
OBP	0.393	1st
AVG	0.334	1st
SB	271	2nd
3B	90	1st
OPS	0.841	6th
Hits	2085	3rd
Runs	950	4th

Carew ranks in the top 5 of most hitting categories in Twins history, finishing first in average and on base percentage. Had he played a few more years with the Twins, he would’ve led in WAR, stolen bases, hits, and runs.

Rod Carew is one of the top two players in Twins history, and he can easily be debated as the best. He was also a phenomenal person and a great representative of the Twins for the last 50+ years.

What do you think about Carew being ranked second? Would you have ranked him higher? Lower? Who do you think will be #1? Let us know in the comments below!

Stay tuned for the final day of Twinsmas!

Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!

Read Previous "12 Days of TwinsMas" articles here:
#12 - Torii Hunter
#11 - Chuck Knoblauch
#10 - Jim Kaat
#9 - Frank Viola
#8 - Kent Hrbek
#7 - Tony Oliva
#6 - Johan Santana
#5 - Bert Blyleven
#4 - Joe Mauer
#3 - Harmon Killebrew
#2 - Rod Carew
#1 - Coming Soon!

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[Karbo]

I think its obvious that this author must have Puck as his #1, though I would have rated Killebrew #1, Carew #2, Puckett #3 myself. Just my opinion. Also note how Carew was so great but never felt the need to swing for the fences. A different era, but more interesting IMHO.

[Mauer4HOF]

I agree that Harmon, Puck, Carew and Mauer are the Mount Rushmore of Twins history, all for different reasons and different eras. Rod may have had the most impressive run of outstanding seasons but what Puckett brought in terms of swagger and his success leading us to our 2 most recent (??) championships I tend to agree puts him in the top spot.  Who is going to be our leader to get us another parade down Hennepin Ave?