MLB Top 5: Minnesota Twins Outfielders

This is the fourth article in a series that looks at the five best players at each position for the Minnesota Twins. In this installment are the outfielders.

The best outfielders in the Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators franchise include some of the greatest run-producers in baseball history. The group features six Hall of Famers, several Most Valuable Player candidates and more than a few members from the franchise’s three championship squads.

The Best Outfielders in Minnesota Twins History

Left Fielders

Honorable Mentions – Jim Lemon played 10 seasons with the franchise (1954-63), earning both of his All-Star selections in 1960, the team’s final season in Washington. He led the league with 11 triples in 1956, had four seasons with at least 25 home runs, including back-to-back campaigns with 30 homers and exactly 100 runs batted in. In addition to the triples mark in 1956, he became the first Senators player to hit three home runs at cavernous Griffith Stadium (and just the second player overall, joining Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, who accomplished the feat six years prior).

Lemon batted .265 with 425 runs, 855 hits, 159 homers and 509 RBIs in 915 games with the franchise. He played seven games with the Twins in 1963 and also spent time with the Phillies and White Sox before retiring due to a shoulder injury. Lemon turned to coaching and was the manager of the “new” Senators in 1968. The strong-armed outfielder was a hitting instructor for the Twins in the early 1980s and passed away in 2006 at age 78.

Larry Hisle started his career with the Phillies but spent 1972 in the Dodgers’ minor league system. He was traded to the Cardinals and then the Twins, where he became a steady presence in the outfield over the next five seasons (1973-77). Hisle was an All-Star in his final season with Minnesota after batting .302 with 28 home runs and a league-leading 119 runs batted in. He finished his time with the Twins with a .286 average, 369 runs, 697 hits, 87 homers and 409 RBIs in 662 games.

He went to the Brewers and put up similar production in 1978 but suffered a torn rotator cuff during a game the following year. Hisle opted for rehab until finally undergoing Tommy John surgery in 1980. He played just 79 games over his final four seasons before retiring in 1982. Hisle spent more than 20 years as an instructor and coach following his playing career and he also worked with the underprivileged in the Milwaukee area.

Dan Gladden played 644 games in five years with the Twins (1987-91) and was a member of championship teams in his first and last seasons with the club. Known for his hustle and defense, “Dazzle” had nine hits and seven RBIs in the 1987 victory over the Cardinals. However, his greatest moment was hitting a leadoff double in the tenth inning of Game 7 of the 1991 World Series and scoring the title-winning run on Gene Larkin‘s bloop single. Gladden played two seasons with the Tigers before retiring in 1993.

Marty Cordova was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1995 after posting .277-24-84 stat line, stealing 20 bases and leading all left fielders in putouts, assists and double plays. The following year, he set career highs with a .309 average, 97 runs, 176 hits and 111 runs batted in. In five years with the Twins (1995-99), Cordova batted .277 with 336 runs, 643 hits, 79 home runs and 385 RBIs in 628 games. He played for three other teams before he retired in 2003.

Jacque Jones started at all three outfield positions during his seven-year Twins tenure (1999-2005). He smacked at least 20 home runs three times and finished with a .279 average, 492 runs, 974 hits, 189 doubles, 132 homers and 476 RBIs in 976 games with Minnesota. Jones hit two home runs in the opening game of the 2002 season (coming after an offseason full of talk about the Twins being contracted) and won fielding title in right field two years later.

Before Eddie Rosario became the 2021 NLCS MVP and a champion with the Braves, he started his career with six years in Minnesota (2015-2020). He earned Rookie of the Year consideration after driving in 50 runs and leading the league with 15 triples. Rosario’s finest season was 2019, when he batted .276 and set career bests with 91 runs, 32 home runs and 109 runs batted in. He finished his Twins’ tenure with a .277 average, 400 runs, 738 hits, 119 homers and 388 RBIs in 697 games.

5.Roy Sievers – He started his career with the Browns, winning the first-ever Rookie of the Year Award in 1949. After five seasons in St. Louis, he came to Washington, where he made four All-Star teams and hit 20 home runs in each of his six seasons in the Nation’s Capital (1954-59). Sievers had his best offensive campaign in 1957, when he set career highs with a .301 average, 99 runs and 172 hits and led the league with 42 home runs (tied for the most by any player in franchise history not named Killebrew) and 114 runs batted in. “Squirrel” won two fielding titles and showed his clutch hitting with 10 grand slams and 10 pinch-hit homers.

4. George Case – He was unquestionably the fastest man in the game during his 11-year career, with 10 coming with Washington (1937-46 and ’47). Case was a four-time All-Star who scored 100 or more runs in four seasons, including a league-high 102 in 1943. He led the league in stolen bases and topped 160 hits for five straight years. Case even had a race against famed sprinter Jesse Owens in 1946 (when he was with the Indians), losing to the Olympic gold medalist by one-tenth of a second.

Case finished his Nationals tenure ranked third in franchise history with 321 steals. He also batted .288 with 739 runs, 1,306 hits, 210 doubles, 355 RBIs and 1,654 total bases in 1,108 games. Following the end of his playing career after the 1947 season, Case owned a sporting goods store, coached the Rutgers University baseball team throughout the 1950s, spent 25 years as a professional coach, instructor and broadcaster and became a duck hunting guide. He passed away in 1989 at age 74 due to complications from emphysema.

3. Harmon Killebrew – He spent three of his 21 seasons with the franchise as the starting left fielder (1962-64), earning two All-Star selections and finishing in the Top 10 of the MVP voting all three years. “Killer” led the league in home runs in each of those seasons, totaling 142 during that span. His best year was 1962, when he topped the A. L. with 48 homers and 126 RBIs despite hitting just .243. Following a career in which he totaled 2,086 hits, 573 home runs and 1,540 RBIs, Killebrew was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

2. Henry “Heinie” Manush – After a stellar start to his career with the Tigers and Browns, Manush was traded in a deal involving the player ahead of him on this list. Once he came to the Nationals, he batted .300 or better five times in his six seasons with the franchise (1930-35). Manush had 180 or more hits in four straight years with Washington and he set a career high with 116 RBIs in 1932. He topped 200 hits twice, including a league-high 221 (to go with an A. L.-best 17 triples) in 1933. In the World Series that year, he had two runs and two hits in the five-game loss to the Giants and was also ejected after arguing a call and then yanking on the umpire’s bowtie.

The following year, Manush was selecting to his only All-Star team after batting .349 with 194 hits, 42 doubles, 11 triples, 11 home runs and 89 RBIs. He finished his Nationals’ tenure with a .328 average (second in franchise history), 576 runs, 1,078 hits, 215 doubles 491 RBIs and 1,574 total bases in 792 games. Manush was traded to the Red Sox after the 1935 season and he also spent time with the Dodgers and Pirates before retiring in 1939. He was a coach and scout for 20 years and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1964. Manush lost his voice due to a cancer operation later in life and he passed away due to the disease in 1971.

1. Leon “Goose” Goslin – He started as a pitcher in an industrial league and was discovered by future Hall of Fame umpire Bill McGowan. Goslin converted to the outfield and became one of the best hitters in the game during his 18-year career, with 12 of those seasons coming with Washington (1921-30, ’33 and ’38). During his Nationals tenure, he had 150 or more hits eight times, batted .300 or better on seven occasions and led the league in triples twice, including 20 in 1925, which is tied for the most in team history.

Goslin batted .344 with 199 hits and a career-high 129 RBIs (tied for third in team history) in the 1924 pennant-winning season, his first of five straight years driving in at least 100 runs. He won the batting title in 1928 with a .379 average, which is the second highest mark in the history of the franchise. Two years later, Goslin was “only” hitting .271 and was traded to the Browns in the deal for Manush (who was feuding with St. Louis management) and pitcher General Crowder. Goslin returned in 1933 and moved to right field to accommodate the man he was traded for a few years earlier. He spent the next for years in Detroit before returning to play 38 games with Washington in 1938.

“Goose” ranks third in franchise history with 125 triples, tied for third with a .323 average and tenth with 289 doubles. He has 854 runs, 1,659 hits, 127 home runs, 932 RBIs, 117 stolen bases and 2,579 total bases in 1,361 games. Goslin played in all three of Washington’s World Series appearances, totaling 12 runs, 24 hits, seven homers and 15 RBIs in 19 games and he added two more Fall Classics with Detroit. He retired after his final stint with the Nationals, winning a fielding title in 1925 and leading the league in putouts, assists and double plays three times each. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1968 and continued to run his farm and boating business until his death in 1971.

Center Fielders

Honorable Mentions – Jimmie Hall spent just four seasons in Minnesota (1963-66), but he finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting, earned two All-Star appearances and hit 20 or more home runs each year. However, his numbers started to decline in his final year with the Twins and continued to plummet over his final four seasons, which he split between five teams. Hall went just 1-for-7 in the 1965 World Series loss to the Dodgers and he was a woodworker and truck driver after his playing career ended in 1970.

Lyman Bostock played three seasons with the Twins (1975-77), getting progressively better each year. He batted .336 with 104 runs, 199 hits, 36 doubles, 12 triples, 14 home runs, 90 RBIs and 16 steals in 1977, which are all career highs. Despite battling ankle, hamstring and hand injuries throughout his career in Minnesota, Bostock was a great contact hitter who had quite a bit of potential. He signed with the Angles in 1978 after straight contract negotiations with owner Calvin Griffith.

Bostock’s talented young career and life were both tragically cut short on the night of September 23, 1978. Riding with his uncle and two family friends, he was shot in the side of the head by the estranged husband of one of the friends in the car and died the following morning. The shooter, Leonard Smith, was acquitted of all charges by reason of insanity and spent less than one year in a psychiatric hospital.

Byron Buxton has shown quite a bit of potential during his nine-year career (2015-present), but he has never been able to put it together thanks to a laundry list of injuries. He has played more than 100 games in a season only once (140 in 2017) and was an All-Star in 2022, when he hit a career-best 28 home runs in just 92 games. Overall, Buxton has 540 hits, 115 homers and 297 RBIs in 670 games, but it is on defense where he really shines. In 2017, he earned gold and platinum gloves and won Wilson Defensive Player and Overall Defensive Player Awards. Buxton has also made several highlight reel catches and ranks tenth among active outfielders with a .992 fielding percentage.

5. Sam West – He played 10 seasons with the Nationals in two stints (1927-32 and 38-41). West held his own at the plate while displaying speed and a strong arm in the field, which got him on the good side of Walter Johnson, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history who later became Washington’s manager. He was sent to St. Louis in the deal that brought Goslin to Washington and he earned four All-Star selections in six seasons with the Browns before being traded back to the Nationals.

West missed Washington’s final World Series appearance in 1933, but he did lead the league in assists and double plays by a center fielder twice. He ended his career with the White Sox in 1942 and he batted .297 with 481 runs, 984 hits, 187 doubles, 485 RBIs and 1,391 total bases in 993 games. Following his playing career, West was in the Army Air Force during World War II, coached with the Nationals for two years and ran a successful sporting goods store in West Texas before he passed away in 1985 at age 81.

4. Stan Spence – He came up with the Red Sox in the early 1940s but had the misfortune of being around the same time as Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio were in Boston. Spence was traded to the Senators and earned four All-Star selections in five seasons (1942-44 and 46-47, with 1945 spent in the Army during World War II). He had 203 hits and led the league with 15 triples in his first season in Washington and had a career-best campaign in 1944 with a .316 average, 18 home runs and 100 RBIs. In 1946, he cracked 50 doubles, which is the second-most in franchise history.

Spence was traded back to the Red Sox in 1948 and finished his major league career with the Browns the following year. In 750 games with the Nationals, he batted .296 with 394 runs, 852 hits, 153 doubles, 427 RBIs and 1,301 total bases in 750 games. Spence also proved himself to be a competent center fielder, leading the American League in putouts, assists and double plays twice each. After his career, he ran several businesses before passing away due to emphysema in 1983.

3. Torii Hunter – He was known as a defensive whiz from the start and improved his offensive game during his 12-year run in Minnesota (1997-2007 and ’15). Hunter had brief stints his first two years and was inconsistent for the next two. His career took off after being sent to the minors in 2000 and he earned two All-Star selections and seven straight gold gloves. At the plate, Hunter topped 20 home runs and 80 RBIs in a season seven times. His best season was his last in the first stint with the Twins in 2007, when he batted .287 with 28 homers and a career-high 107 runs batted in.

Hunter continued his solid play with the Angels and Tigers before returning to Minnesota, where he played right field in his final season. He ranks sixth in franchise history with 214 home runs and batted .268 with 739 runs, 1,343 hits, 281 doubles, 792 RBIs, 128 steals and 2.318 total bases in 1,373 games with the Twins. Hunter had 15 runs, 24 hits, eight doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs in 21 playoff games and helped the Twins reach the ALCS.

The man nicknamed “Spider-Man” led the league in assists three times and won the Branch Rickey Award in 2009. Although Hunter had a career full of highlights in the field, his greatest moment came during the infamous 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee (which ended in a tie). With two outs in the first inning, he leapt over the wall to rob Barry Bonds of a home run. Hunter runs an education initiative which provides college scholarships to students.

2. Clyde Milan – His speed not only kept opposing pitchers off balance, but it allowed him to play shallow and still be able to track down anything hit in his direction. Milan led league in steals twice, swiping a team-record 88 bases in 1912 and a franchise second-best 75 the following year. He also hit .300 or better four times during a 16-year career spent entirely with Washington (1907-22).

In addition to holding the top two spots on the single season steals list, “Deerfoot” is the all-time franchise leader with 495 stolen bases. He also ranks fourth in games (1,982), fifth in hits (2,100), sixth in triples (105), seventh in runs (1,004) and tenth in total bases (2,601) and batted .285 with 240 doubles and 617 runs batted in. Milan also led the league in assists three times and putouts once. He managed the team during his final season and the Nationals finished with a 69-85 record. Milan was a minor league player and manager, as well as a major league coach with Washington from 1938-52. He died of a heart attack the following year at age 65.

1. Kirby Puckett – He was one of the most likeable players since the franchise moved to Minnesota and he was a part of two Twins championship teams during his 12-year career (1984-95). Puckett finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1984 and racked up accolades and awards for the remainder of his career. He earned 10 All-Star selections, six gold gloves, six silver sluggers, batted over .300 eight times and had at least 200 hits five times, with four of those being league-leading totals.

Puckett finished in the Top 10 of the MVP voting seven times, so it is difficult to pinpoint a single best overall season. In 1986, he batted .328 with 223 hits, 96 RBIs and career highs with 119 runs scored and 31 home runs. Two years later, he posted career bests with a .356 average, 234 hits (second in franchise history) and 121 RBIs to go with a league-leading 358 total bases. In 1989, Puckett won his only batting title (.339) and also led the league with 215 hits.

“Puck” ranks second in franchise history in hits (2,304), third in RBIs (1,085) and total bases (3,453), fourth in runs (1,071) and doubles (414), tied for fifth in average (.318), seventh in home runs (207) and eighth in games (1,783) to go with 134 stolen bases. He was certainly no slouch in the field, leading all American League center fielders in double plays four times and both putouts and assists three times each.

Puckett took home several awards during his illustrious career, including the All-Star MVP and Branch Rickey Awards in 1993 and the Roberto Clemente Award three years later. He was especially tough to get out in the playoffs, totaling 16 runs, 30 hits, five homers and 16 RBIs in 24 postseason games. Puckett won the ALCS MVP Award in 1991, hitting two home runs and driving in six during Minnesota’s win over Toronto. In the World Series victory against the Braves, Puckett made what is simply known as “The Catch” to Twins fans, robbing Atlanta’s Ron Gant of an extra-base hit with a leaping grab in Game 6. He finished off the contest with a game-winning home run in the 11th inning.

Puckett’s career came to a premature end when he woke up to blurred vision during spring training in 1996. The injury turned out to be a central retinal vein occlusion, which could not be fixed despite undergoing three surgeries. Puckett was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. However, his image would be tarnished over the next several years thanks to allegations of abuse against his wife, as well as several other women, including a former Twins employee. He suffered a stroke and died in 2006, one week before his 46th birthday.

Right Fielders

Honorable Mention – Michael Cuddyer was a first-round pick of the Twins in 1997 and spent 11 seasons with Minnesota (2001-11). His best seasons were 2006, when he batted .284 with 24 home runs and a career-high 109 runs batted in and 2011, when he earned his first All-Star selection. He went to Colorado the following year and made his final All-Star team and won his only silver slugger in 2013, when he led the league with a .331 average. The 1999 MLB Futures Game participant appeared in 22 playoff games and became the manager of the U. S. under-18 national team in 2023.

5. Tom Brunansky – He played his first season with the Angels but the team had several talented outfielders, so he was sent to the Twins in 1982. Over the next six seasons, Brunansky smacked at least 20 home runs each year. He hit 32 homers and 85 RBIs in 1984 and earned his only All-Star selection in the following year, when he posted a .242-27-90 stat line. He matched his totals from three years earlier in 1987 and helped the Twins beat the Cardinals in the World Series.

“Bruno” was traded to St. Louis 14 games into 1988 and also spent time with Boston and Milwaukee before retiring in 1994. He had 450 runs, 829 hits, 163 home runs, 469 RBIs and 1,498 total bases in 916 games with the Twins. Brunansky totaled 10 runs, 13 hits, two homers and 12 RBIs in 16 playoff appearances. He has served as an instructor and coach in his post-playing career.

4. John “Buddy” Lewis – He spent his entire 11-year career in Washington in three stints (1935-41, 45-47 and ’49). Lewis was a solid contact hitter who posted at least 160 hits in seven seasons and batter over .300 and scored at least 100 runs four times each. The two-time All-Star also led the league with 16 triples in 1939.

Lewis spent more than three years in World War II as part of the Army’s Air Transport Command. While he wanted to be a fighter pilot, he flew some of the deadliest missions of the war, bringing supplies and transporting the wounded over the Himalayas in Southeast Asia in his plane “The Old Fox” (nicknamed after Washington owner Clark Griffith). Lewis retired for a year to run a car dealership and had a failed comeback in 1949 before running several business ventures.

Lewis ranks seventh in franchise history with 93 triples. He batted .292 with 414 runs, 810 hits, 293 RBIs and 1,145 total bases in 751 games. He led the league in assists four times and double plays twice. Lewis ran multiple auto businesses and was a commissioner for Legion baseball in North Carolina. He passed away due to cancer in 2011 at age 94.

3. Bob Allison – A four-sport star growing up, he ultimately chose baseball while at the University of Kansas (despite being there on a football scholarship). He developed into a dangerous power hitter during his 13 big league seasons, all spent with the Senators/Twins franchise (1958-70). He was an All-Star and won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1959 after hitting 30 home runs while also legging out a league-high nine triples.

Allison, who formed one of the best power combinations in baseball history with roommate Harmon Killebrew, smack 20 or more homers eight times in his career and drove in at least 80 runs on five occasions. He earned two more All-Star selections in 1963-64, scoring a league-leading 99 runs and hitting a career-best 35 home runs in the first of those seasons.

The talented outfielder (and occasional first baseman) ranks third in franchise history with 256 home runs and he added 811 runs, 1,281 hits, 216 doubles, 53 triples, 796 RBIs, 84 steals and 2,371 total bases in 1,541 games. Allison appeared in the 1965 World Series, as well as the ALCS in its first two seasons, totaling two hits, three runs, one homer and three RBIs in 10 career playoff games.

Allison worked as a general manager for Coca-Cola until his retirement in 1989. He was diagnosed with ataxia, a rare disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and impairs muscle coordination. He succumbed to the condition in 1995 at age 60.

2. Tony Oliva – He was born Pedro but used his brother Tony’s passport to escape the regime of dictator Fidel Castro in Cuba and come to the United States, signing with the newly moved Twins in early 1961 and going by Tony for the rest of his life. After some language barriers and trouble in the field, he began to turn things around during his three years in the minor leagues.

Oliva joined the Twins on a full-time basis in 1964, winning the Rookie of the Year Award and finished fourth in the MVP race after leading the league with a .323 average, 109 runs, 217 hits and 43 doubles while driving in 94 runs, setting a career high with 32 home runs and posting 374 total bases, a record by a first-year player. An All-Star in his first eight seasons, he won three batting titles and topped the American League in hits five times and doubles on four occasions. He finished as the MVP runner-up in 1970.

The lifetime Twin spent 15 seasons with Minnesota (1962-76) and he batted over .300 six times and amassed 150 hits and 80 RBIs in a season eight times. Oliva ranks fifth on the franchise list in home runs (220), sixth in doubles (329) and total bases (3,002), seventh in RBIs (947) and ninth in hits (1,917). He batted .304 and scored 870 runs in 1,676 games.

Oliva made three playoff appearances, including the 1965 World Series loss to the Dodgers, amassing seven runs, 16 hits, five doubles, three home runs and five RBIs in 13 games. An inherited deformity in his knees made playing the game he loved painful and the condition was made worse after diving for a ball during a game in 1971. However, the 1966 gold glove winner’s career was extended thanks to the introduction of the designated hitter in the American League in 1973.

Following his retirement in 1976, Oliva was a coach and instructor with the Twins for 15 years, where he helped shape the development of Kirby Puckett. He also managed in the Mexican League and returned to his home country once the Castro regime ended. He joined his protégé Puckett in the Hall of Fame in 2022, when he and fellow Twins star Jim Kaat were selected by the Golden Days Era Committee.

1. Edgar “Sam” Rice – He survived great personal tragedy to become one of the greatest contact hitters of his era. While a 22-year-old Rice was taking a break from working on his family’s farm to play Class D ball in 1912, a tornado whipped through the Midwest, destroying the farm and killed his wife, two children, mother and two of his sisters. He returned in time for the funeral, but his father passed away from his injuries a week later.

Rice fell into a depression and wandered the Midwest taking odd jobs before joining the Navy. While stationed at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, he joined the baseball team and became a star pitcher. Rice’s skills were so impressive that the Navy bought his release and he was sold to the Nationals in repayment of a debt to owner Clark Griffith. After starting his big-league career as a reliever, he was inconsistent, leading to his move to the outfield in 1916, spending three years in center field but most of his time in right.

“Sam” became the epitome of consistency, spending 19 of his 20 seasons with Washington (1915-33) and topping the franchise list in several categories, including runs (1,466), hits (2,889), doubles (479) and triples (183). He also ranks second in games (2,307), steals (346) and total bases (3,833), tied for third in average (.323) and fourth in RBIs (1,044). Counting his final year in Cleveland, Rice finished just 13 hits shy of 3,000 for his career, with 2,271 being singles.

Rice hit better than .300 and topped 175 hits 13 times (including six times with 200 or more and twice leading the league), scored 100 runs in a season five times and led the league with 63 stolen bases in 1920 (third in team history) and 18 triples in 1923. He appeared in all three World Series the franchise played while in Washington and true to his regular season form, all 19 of his postseason hits were singles, to go along with seven runs and four RBIs in 15 games.

His greatest moment may have come in the 1925 World Series when he fell into the makeshift bleachers at Griffith Stadium to rob Pittsburgh’s Earl Smith of a home run (although the call was disputed and ultimately appealed). The Pirates lost the game but won the series. Rice even wrote a letter to the Hall of Fame detailing the play as he saw it with the instruction that it not be opened until after his death. The contents were later detailed, with his last line being the most important: “At no time did I lose possession of the ball.”

“Sam” was notoriously difficult to strike out, fanning just 266 times in 19 seasons with the Nationals and he also put together three hitting streaks of at least 28 games during his career. Rice also was strong in the field, leading the league in putouts four times, double plays three times and assists twice. Following his retirement in 1934, he got involved in real estate, raised chickens and bred racing pigeons. Despite all of his accolades, Rice was not inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame until the Veteran’s Committee gave him the honor in 1963, nearly 30 years after his playing career ended. He passed away due to cancer in 1974 at age 84.

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