2009 Twins On Pace to Become One of Franchise's Most Powerful

by Jesse on Jun 12, 2009 7:00 PM EDT in Quick Hits

The boys go boom.

With Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel each launching another long ball Friday afternoon, the Twins have now belted 68 home runs in 63 games. This puts them on a pace for 175 home runs, which is a number they could surpass if everyone stays healthy, but even that pace would give them seventh place in franchise history for home runs.

For your browsing pleasure, here are the top five bombers for each of the six teams in front of our projected '09 crew, as well as how our leaders project out after this afternoon's win over the Cubbies.

1963, 225 HR	1964, 221 HR	1986, 196 HR	1987, 196 HR	2004, 191 HR	1962, 185 HR	2009, 175
Harmon Killebrew, 45	Harmon Killebrew, 49	Gary Gaetti, 34	Kent Hrbek, 34	Corey Koskie, 25	Harmon Killebrew, 48	Joe Mauer, 46
Bob Allison, 35	Bob Allison, 32	Kirby Puckett, 31	Tom Brunansky, 32	Jaque Jones, 24	Bob Allison, 29	Justin Morneau, 41
Jimmie Hall, 33	Tony Oliva, 32	Kent Hrbek, 29	Gary Gaetti, 31	Torii Hunter, 23	Zoilo Versalles, 17	Joe Crede, 32
Earl Battey, 26	Jimmie Hall, 25	Tom Brunansky, 23	Kirby Puckett, 28	Justin Morneau, 19	Vic Power, 16	Jason Kubel, 28
Don Mincher, 17	Zoilo Versalles, 20	Roy Smalley, 20	Tim Laudner, 16	Lew Ford, 15	Rich Rollins, 16	Michael Cuddyer, 24

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The averages don't quite match up...

In my ‘09 column, the total home runs is simply 68/63*162. The projected HR’s are off of the player’s ESPN player page. But if you add them all up, you get 171…which is too big a portion of 175. It’s because ESPN factors in playing time and current pace, whereas the overall average of 175 doesn’t realize Mauer wasn’t around the first month of the season.

by Jesse on Jun 12, 2009 7:05 PM EDT reply actions

Well, the power is great

But of course Mauer isn’t going to hit 46 homers.

It would be nice to get something from DY…

by Eric in Madison on Jun 12, 2009 8:07 PM EDT reply actions

With this lineup

We are due to string together some wins and get above .500 sometime…

Right?

by clutterheart on Jun 12, 2009 8:09 PM EDT reply actions

Good LORD.

Lew Ford hit 17? My God. I still do not miss that guy.

If Ozzie Guillen likes Punto that much, I vote we send him down to Chicago. Punto and Guillen deserve each other.

by FoulJack on Jun 12, 2009 11:54 PM EDT reply actions

They look even better now than they did then

The ’63 and ’64 teams look even more powerful when you put them alongside recent teams from the superball era. Pitching reigned in the ’60s, so in comparison to hit that many home runs is remarkable. And the Twins were yards ahead of their competitors back then. In ’63, for example, the Twins hit 224 when the rest of the league averaged 140.

Er, for the ‘62 team, it’s Rich Rollins, not Robbins.

Bloggin' the bloggers since 1938.

by Johnny Safron on Jun 13, 2009 2:07 AM EDT reply actions