Twins Hall of Fame Candidates: Pitchers

Did you know that the Twins are having their yearly vote for which player or players from Twins history past will make it into their Hall of Fame? They are! Voting opened last week and runs up until Thursday, January 4th, in the usual democratic voting process: Facebook likes and Twitter hashtags.

But who are these players and why are they important? If you’re not sure, here's a list with stats and accolades and a little blurb about each one. This one is just pitchers, but I’ll make another post for batters later. So know your candidates! Make your vote count! CRUSH THE BOURGEOISIE!

Dave Boswell (1964-1970)

Stats (Twins All-Time Rank): ERA 3.49 (30th), 10.9 WAR (36th), K's 865 (11th), IP (1036.1 (30th), H/9 7.147 (1st), K/9 7.512 (6th)

Accolades: Led AL in Win% in 1966.

Boswell signed with the Twins before the 1963 season and made his debut the very next year. He spent seven of his eight seasons in a Twins uniform. In every season but his rookie and final season with the Twins he had an ERA of 3.40 or better and was a master of keeping runners of the base paths as no pitcher in team history allowed fewer hits per nine innings.

Dean Chance (1967-1969)

Stats: ERA 2.67 (3rd), WAR 13.0 (26th), Ks 504 (38th), Shutouts 11 (16th), H/9 7.373 (3rd), K/9 6.831 (14th)

Accolades: 1967: All Star, 13th in MVP Voting, Led AL in Games started, complete games, innings pitched, and batters faced.

Chance was traded to the Twins in 1966 and spent only three seasons with the team before being traded away in 1969, but WOW what a three seasons they were. His ERAs were 2.73, 2.53, and 2.95 and his ERA+ was 128, 124, and 126 for those three seasons. He threw 283.2 and 292 innings in his first two seasons. That’s a lotta innings! All of his stats were really, really good, but again, he was only with the team for three seasons.

Dave Goltz (1972-1979)

Stats: ERA 3.48 (29th), WAR 24.6 (11th), Ks 887 (9th), IP 1638 (13th), Shutouts 11 (16th), K/9 4.874 (33rd)

Accolades: 1977: 6th in Cy Young voting, Led AL in wins, games started, and hits.

Goltz was drafted by the Twins in 1967, debuted in 1972, and threw eight seasons for the Twins. Like Boswell, most of Goltz' seasons were good with a few great ones sprinkled in. In six seasons he had an ERA of 3.67 or better and in seven seasons had an ERA+ of 106 or better. He gave up a lot of hits, most in the American League in 1977 and 1979, and didn't strike many guys out, only 4.9/9 as a Twin, but made it work and was an important part of the rotation for many years.

Mudcat Grant (1964-1967)

Stats: ERA 3.35 (22nd), WAR 5.9 (50+), Ks 377 (50+), IP 780.2 (50+), K/9 4.346 (48th)

Accolades: 1965: All Star, 6th in MVP Voting, Led AL in Wins, Win%, and shutouts.

Grant was traded to the Twins in 1964, spent only four years with the Twins, and was then traded away in 1967. Three of his four seasons were very good with the 1965 season being his best. He went 21-7 with a 3.30 ERA in 270.1 innings pitched that year. He struck out twice as many batters as he walked in each of his seasons, but similar to Chance, was only with the team for a short period of time.

Jeff Reardon (1987-1989)

Stats: Saves 104 (6th), ERA 3.70, K/9 7.4, 4 scoreless appearances in the 1987 World Series

Accolades: 1987: 8th in Cy Young Voting, 11th in MVP voting. 1988: All Star, 15th in MVP Voting.

Reardon was traded to the Twins before the 1987 season and played a pivotal role for the eventual World Series champions before spending two more seasons with the club. In those three season he racked up the saves, recording the 6th most in team history. But the importance of his 1987 season can't be overstated. He recorded 31 saves behind a stellar 9.3 K/9 and threw 4.2 scoreless innings in four appearances in the World Series.

Johan Santana (2000-2007)

Stats: ERA 3.22 (16th), WAR 35.5 (4th), Win/Loss% .679 (1st), Ks 1381 (6th), IP 1308.2 (20th), H/9 7.345 (2nd), K/9 9.497 (1st)

Accolades: Cy Young winner in 2004 and 2006. Finished 3rd in Cy Young voting in 2005, 5th in 2007, and 7th in 2003. All Star in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Gold Glove in 2007. Finished 6th in MVP voting in 2004 and 7th in 2006. In 2004 led AL in K, FIP, WHIP and K/9 and led MLB in ERA+ and H/9. In 2005 led AL in ERA+, WHIP, H/9, and K/9 and led MLB in K and FIP. In 2006 led AL in games started, innings pitched, H/9, K/9 and MLB in wins, ERA, K, ERA+, FIP, and WHIP. In 2007 led AL in WHIP.

Santana came to the Twins via the Rule 5 Draft in 1999 and spent eight glorious seasons in a Twins uniform before being traded away in 2008. It would take just SO MANY words to type out how incredible Santana was to the Twins. Just look at how long that accolade list is. Santana is a no-brainer to be in the Twins Hall of Fame.

Al Worthington (1964-1969)

Stats: Saves 88 (8th), Games finished 213 (7th), ERA 2.62, K/9 7.6

Accolades: Led AL in saves in 1968.

Worthington came to the Twins in 1964 and played out the final six years of his career with the team. Those six seasons were stellar as he had an ERA of 2.84 or lower in five of those campaigns. Saves apparently weren't as big of a deal in the 60's as Worthington led the league with only 18, but he was crazy dependable outside of saves as he made 54 or more appearances in four of his six seasons.