Johan Santana elected to Twins Hall of Fame

His induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame may be up for debate, but this one isn’t: Johan Santana is a Twins Hall of Famer.

The team announced the news today, as always, in conjunction with the start of TwinsFest. Also, as always, Rod Carew called Johan to give him the news. The official induction ceremony is set to take place at Target Field prior to the Twins vs. Royals game on Saturday, August 4th, 2018. They usually give out special commemorative pins.

Point blank, Santana’s induction into the Twins Hall of Fame is a no-brainer. He was the best pitcher in baseball for three or four of his eight seasons as a Twin, winning the Cy Young twice, though he should have won thrice. His 26.2% strikeout percentage is the highest of any Twins pitcher with over 500.0 innings. Overall, his 35.5 bWAR for Pitchers as a Twin ranks third highest in team history, trailing only Brad Radke (45.6) (amd the absolute love of my life) and Bert Blyleven (49.3).

Speaking of Blyleven, remember that time he bet Johan that he wouldn’t pitch a complete game shutout against the Mets? Remember how that turned out, Bert?

Good times.

Johan Santana spoke to beat writers about the honor earlier today via a teleconference call. “I’m not officially retired,” Santana said, which HELL YEAH THAT’S MY JOHAN SANTANA BABY! “I was still thinking about trying to come back but unfortunately things haven’t worked out the way I would love them to. Only time will tell.”

Santana also told reporters that he now lives in Ft. Myers and would be open to some sort of off-field gig with the Twins.

Speaking about his memories, Santana called the time he struck out seventeen batters his most memorable game with the Twins. He name dropped several teammates who helped him, including Brad Radke, LaTroy Hawkins, and Eddie Guardado. In fact, he mentioned the entire band, and how much fun they had growing up together and playing baseball.

What’s your favorite Johan Santana memory?