5 Things About the Minnesota Twins' Franchise You May Not Know

The Minnesota Twins and the original Washington Senators will be linked forever, as the Senators moved to Minneapolis in 1961. Fans of the Twins' franchise would have to be close to 60 years old to clearly remember anything about when the team was in the nation's capitol, as the moribund Senators. That club had very few moments in the sun, but the Twins have fared considerably better in their 46 years in the American League. Here now are 5 things about the Senators/Twins that even their fans might not know.

1. The franchise has only won 6 pennants in its existence!

While based in Washington, the team managed only one world title, in 1924. They defeated the mighty New York Giants of John McGraw in a seven game World Series when a ground ball struck by Earl McNeely took a bad hop over the third baseman's head to drive in the winning run in the 12th inning of Game Seven. Washington repeated as American League champs the next year but blew their 3 games to 1 lead to the Pirates to lose the crown. Their last pennant while in Washington came in 1933, but they lost to the Giants in that Series. They were rarely competitive after that, finally moving to Minnesota where they captured a pennant in 1965 and took Sandy Koufax's Dodgers to 7 games before losing. They would not return to the World Series until 1987, when they bested the Cardinals in 7, before doing it again in 1991, this time to the Braves.

2. Their all-time hits leader is Sam Rice!

The enigmatic Rice's total of 2,889 base hits is well ahead of Kirby Puckett's 2,304 to make him the team leader in that category. Rice was a slap hitter who never hit more than 6 home runs in a single season, finishing with a .322 career batting average. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1963, but if there was a Hall of Fame for keeping secrets, he would have been a charter member. Rice was involved in a controversial play in the 1925 World Series with the Pirates, when he dove into the stands and came out with the ball, leading to a Senator win after the umpires ruled he had caught it. For years he refused to reveal if he had actually made the catch, only letting anyone know in a letter that was opened after his death in 1974. He had indeed caught the ball. Rice also had never told a soul that his parents and his own family of a wife and 2 kids had been killed in a tornado when he was away in the minor leagues when he was 19, a fact he let on to only after a friend from his youth offered him his condolences one day in a chance meeting in front of his second wife!

3. Harmon Killebrew and Roy Sievers dominate the club's single season home run records!

Killebrew is the team's all-time round tripper king with his 559 home runs and he occupies the first 7 spots on the single season list. He hit a high of 49 twice; in 1964 and then in 1969. Sievers finally gets a name on the list other than Harmon's at number 8 with his 1957 total of 42 home runs. Killebrew then is next with 41 in 1970, and he is tied with Sievers with his 39 in 1966, while Roy clocked 39 in 1958. Killebrew's club total dwarfs the next closest player's, which is Kent Hrbek with 293.

4. Their stolen base leader is a man that was nicknamed "Deerfoot!"

Clyde Milan, also known as "Deerfoot", played with the Senators from 1907 until 1922. Clyde was a .285 career hitter with great speed, and he managed to swipe 495 bases in his 16 seasons with the club. Milan twice led the AL in this category, with 88 in 1912 and 75 the next season, scoring over 1,000 runs in his career. Second to Milan on the team's stolen base roster is Rice, who had 346 over the course of his time with Washington, The team's leader while based in Minnesota is Chuck Knoblauch, who stole 276 bases between 1991 and 1997, 5 more than Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

5. Walter Johnson holds a franchise record that will never fall!

Arguably the greatest pitcher ever, Johnson owns the record for the most shutouts in all of baseball history with 110. This standard is more than certain to stand the test of time, as the closest modern day player still active is Randy Johnson, who has 37. Johnson's remarkable total is 20 more than Pete Alexander's 90. It has been 43 years since any player even retired with as many as 63 shutouts-Warren Spahn in 1965. Camilo Pascual had 31 shutouts for the Senators and Twins to rank second on the team's all-time role call.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/leaders_bat.shtml