Minnesota Twins: Jack Morris and the 13 Most Clutch Players in Franchise History

The Minnesota Twins have had their share of clutch moments over the years. For a team that has won ten division championships and two World Series, they have created memories that have resonated in Twins fans heads forever.

That's what makes baseball so great. For all the elements of the game that get people pretty nostalgic, clutch moments are what turns baseball into an instant "Where were you when ______?" moment.

In turn, those clutch moments create legends. These clutch players could range anywhere from perennial All-Stars like Jack Morris to scrappy players such as Dan Gladden. You never know who could come up big.

With that, here's a look at some of the most clutch players in the history of the Minnesota Twins.

Jack Morris

Jack Morris completed one of the best seasons for a Twins pitcher in 1991 with a Game 7 victory in the World Series.

Morris was brought over to the Twins from the Detroit Tigers prior to the '91 season. The Twins were looking for an ace and the St. Paul native agreed to fill that role after winning 198 games in 14 seasons for the Tigers.

Morris gave a solid season for the eventual World Series champions going 18-12 with a 3.43 ERA in 1991. However, Morris really turned it on in the postseason going 4-0, including 2-0 with an ERA of 1.17 in the World Series.

As mentioned before, Morris cemented his legacy is Game 7 of that World Series. As Twins manager Tom Kelly wanted to pull him after nine shutout innings for the Twins, Morris refused to come out of the game.

After hurling what could have been words that can't be published on this website at Kelly, Morris went out and hurled a 10th shutout inning against the Atlanta Braves en route to a 1-0 victory.

Twenty years later, Morris' desire to go in for a 10th inning is almost unheard of in the sport. Especially when the World Champions in 2011 were the St. Louis Cardinals, who leaned heavily on their bullpen throughout the playoffs.

Morris won the Series MVP and bolted for Toronto the following season, but his mark on the Twins in '91 will never be forgotten.

Tony Oliva

Tony Oliva was one of the greatest Twins players of all-time and should be a Hall of Famer. There are many arguments as to why that is but one of them was that Oliva was a clutch hitter during his career.

Oliva finished in the Top 20 in Most Valuable Player award voting every year between 1964 to 1971. When the Twins won the pennant in 1965, Oliva finished 2nd in MVP voting and had a line of .321 with 16 home runs and 98 runs batted in.

Although Oliva struggled in the '65 World Series he still was clutch in other ways. When Oliva came up in a tie game during his career, he hit .307 with 65 HR and 315 RBI. According to baseball-reference.com, Oliva's stats in games that were "Late and Close" was a .282 average with 31 HR and 158 RBI.

While Oliva's postseason statistics weren't exactly sparkling, Oliva belongs on this list because of his late game hitting.

Kirby Puckett

The argument for this pick can be made with a single sentence...

"And we'll see you tomorrow night!"

No, that wasn't Joe Buck copying his dad after David Freese hit a game winning home run in the 2011 World Series. That was the original by Jack Buck after Kirby Puckett sent one of the greatest World Series moments of all-time into a seventh game.

Outside of that, Puckett was a .309 career postseason hitter with five home runs and 15 runs batted in. He hit .357 in the '87 World Series against the Cardinals, and was a .313 hitter with 29 HR and 161 RBI in late and close situations in his career.

Puckett won two World Series with the Twins, but the '91 World Series was what cemented his legacy as a clutch player. 

Rod Carew

Like Tony Oliva, Rod Carew was not only one of the best hitters in the history of baseball, he was also one of the best clutch hitters as well.

Carew won all seven of his batting championships with the Twins. He also hit .339 with runners in scoring position during his career, including .353 with a runner on third. In late and close situations, Carew also hit .305 with 14 home runs and 194 runs batted in.

While Carew wasn't the greatest during his postseason career, he did have a .412 average during the `79 ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles after he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels.

However, Carew has always been known as a professional hitter. Turns out, he's a clutch hitter as well.

Harmon Killebrew

Harmon Killebrew joins the list not because of the quantity of clutch plays that he made, but it was the fact that his power made pitchers not want to face him late in games.

Of Killebrew's 573 career home runs, 104 of them came in late and close situations. He also was a great hitter with two outs at 203 home runs with two outs in an inning.

Killebrew only appeared in three postseason series in his career but performed admirably with a .250 average and three home runs with six runs batted in.

He never had a clutch championship moment but Killebrew was a guy the Twins wanted have up late in a game.

Justin Morneau

There's a reason why the Twins want Justin Morneau to return to his pre-concussion form. Morneau is one of the most clutch hitters in the history of the franchise.

While it's difficult to put any of the recent Twins on this list because of their recent postseason failures, Morneau has established a track record that's hard to ignore.

Morneau has made his mark by hitting .297 in situations with two outs and runners in scoring position. When the Twins have needed a big home run, Morneau has hit it with 26 of those in late and close situations in his career.

It's hard to say whether Morneau will return to the player that won the 2006 AL MVP award, but even if his career goes downhill from here he is a player that deserves to be on this list.

A.J. Pierzynski

A.J. Pierzynski may be one of the most hated players in the history of the franchise. However, there is no denying that he was clutch.

Pierzynski is a career .348 hitter with the bases loaded and .280 with runners in scoring position. His ability to foul off balls to stay alive in at-bats was borderline legendary.

Pierzynski's biggest clutch moment came in the 2002 ALDS against the Oakland Athletics. With the game tied at 2, Pierzynski came up and blasted a three-run bomb. The home run was the winning score and the Twins advanced to their first ALCS since 1991.

You can hate A.J. Pierzynski, but he had some great clutch moments as a Minnesota Twin.

Johan Santana

Division championships are generally won in the second half of the season. That's what made Johan Santana so clutch.

The former Twins ace seemed to have the same formula for every season. He would pitch decently through the first half of the season and then go crazy in the second half.

Santana has a career record of 65-23 with an ERA of 2.75 in the second half. By the time August hits he is a machine. His August numbers are a mind boggling 30-11 with a 2.53 ERA.

In no season was this a greater asset than in 2006. The Twins made one of the largest comebacks to claim a division crown in league history as they passed the Detroit Tigers on the last day of the year.

Santana would go 10-1 in the second half that year and 4-0 with a 2.36 ERA in August to lead the Twins to the AL Central championship. Although he has just one playoff victory during his career, his second half dominance makes Santana a clutch pitcher.

Frank Viola

Frank Viola was so clutch that even when he left the Twins he wound up helping them. Viola was the staff ace of the 1987 World Series Champion team, and then took off in 1988 by going 24-7 en route to a Cy Young award.

In his eight seasons in Minnesota, Viola went 112-93. In the postseason Viola didn't have as much success but went 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA in the '87 World Series. His best game was Game 7 as he went eight innings giving up two runs and seven strikeouts before handing the ball to Jeff Reardon.

Viola would eventually be traded to the New York Mets midway through the 1989 season. That would replenish the Twins enough to help win the 1991 World Series thanks to Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani.

Kent Hrbek

Kent Hrbek never looked the part of being a clutch hitter, but his '87 season went a long way in capturing the Twins' first world championship.

Hrbek was awesome during the season as he hit .284 with 34 home runs and 90 runs batted in, but his key moment was in the World Series.

Hrbek didn't hit particularly well, but in Game 6 against the St. Louis Cardinals he launched a grand slam that would give the Twins the lead late in the game and swung momentum toward the Twins for the rest of the series.

Hrbek also was involved in starting one of the most clutch defensive plays in Twins history in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Hrbek started the uncommon 3-2-3 double play with Brian Harper with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of that game. It helped the Twins eventually win the game 1-0 in 10 innings.

Rick Aguilera

To be the team's all-time leader in saves you have to be pretty clutch. That's exactly what Rick Aguilera was during his time as a Minnesota Twin.

After beginning his career as a decent starter with the New York Mets, the Twins decided to throw him in the bullpen to replace the departed Jeff Reardon. The result was a pair of 40 save seasons in 1991 and '92 and the Twins had a steady hand in the back of the bullpen.

In 11 years as a Twin, Aguilera recorded 254 saves in 490 appearances. He retired as the Twins career leader in saves but has since been passed by Joe Nathan.

While I appreciate Nathan's value to the current run of Twins, his poor playoff performances and the benefit of playing against the central division for many years makes him seem slightly less of a clutch pitcher that Aguilera was.

Aguilera was a tough closer to face that slammed the door on many games and that's what makes him a clutch Twin.

Bert Blyleven

Continuing with the '87 Twins theme, Bert Blyleven also makes this list.

Blyleven began his career with the Twins and bounced around with Texas, Pittsburgh and Cleveland before coming back to the Twins in a trade prior to the '87 season. It was a move similar to one that would be made four years later with Jack Morris signing with the Twins via free agency to add a veteran starter.

Blyleven went 15-12 that year with a 4.01 ERA and logged 271.2 innings leading the Twins to the AL West championship and eventually a World Series.

The playoffs is where Blyleven turned it on that season, going 3-1 and routinely pitching on three days rest. Blyleven's presence propelled the Twins to their first World Championship.

Dan Gladden

Dan Gladden was acquired by the Twins prior to the 1987 season from the San Francisco Giants. It wasn't a major move but is one that would have an impact on both the '87 and '91 World Series championship teams.

Gladden wasn't a guy who would put up monster numbers in clutch situations, but his performance in the '87 playoffs made him a legend in Twins history.

Gladden hit .350 for the Twins as they defeated the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS and then followed it with a .290 average with a home run and seven RBIs against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Four short years later Gladden would score the winning run in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

Gladden is one of the most unlikely players to wind up as one of the most premier clutch hitters in Twins history.