My All-Time Metrodome Team

The Twins unveiled the All-Metrodome team prior to Tuesday night's game between the White Sox and the Twins.

We nominated the players, and this entry discusses the players that were selected by the fans, writers and the veterans committee. Truth be told, this was too easy for people to vote. The only choices that were debatable were the DH and the Relievers.

First base: Kent Hrbek and Justin Morneau

Our choice: Justin Morneau

It's good that both men were selected for that position.

We went with Morneau because he is a home run hitter, and he plays good defense. He is always a threat when he is at the plate, and he performs more often than not. He will go down as one of the best players that ever wore the Twins uniform.

Hrbek is a feel-good story because he was a local kid that made good by playing for his hometown team. He performed very well in his time with the Twins by being a good hitter. It's good that he got the honor, but when we made the selection, we have to pick at least one so we went with Morneau.

Second base; Chuck Knoblauch

Our Choice:  Chuck Knoblauch

This was a no-brainer. Most of the candidates at that position were not that good.

Yeah, Knoblauch did not end his career well with the Twins, and that's why he is not in the Twins' Hall of Fame. Him and Tom Kelly did not get along well, and Knoblauch was fed up with losing in the Twins dark era of bad baseball. With that said, he was a good leadoff man, and he made things happen when he was on base. Twins counted on him to get hits.

He was good at his job.

It's sad he will be remembered more for being a miserable person than for his work with the Twins.

Shortstop: Greg Gagne

Our Choice: Greg Gagne

This was an underwhelming choice.

To be honest, someone had to be selected because the choices were nothing special.

We went with Gagne here because he played good defense, and he got timely hits.

Third Base:  Gary Gaetti

Our Choice: Gary Gaetti

Someone had to win it so Gaetti was the best of all choices.

Maybe if Ron Gardenhire had his way, he would have went with Nick Punto. For some reason, Gardenhire admires Punto for his ability to do well as utility player, which might be understandable since the manager was a utility player at one time when he was a Met.

Catcher: Joe Mauer

Our Choice: Joe Mauer

This was a no-brainer.

Mauer is the best catcher in baseball, and the best catcher this franchise ever had. If he is ever gone, it will take a very long time for this franchise to recover.

We all know about Mauer's ability to hit the baseball, but his work with the pitchers and his ability to throw the runners out and block the home plate are things that go unnoticed to a baseball fan.

He and Morneau are the face of the franchise, and those two are the reason why Target Field is being built.

Outfielders: Tom Brunansky, Dan Gladden, Torii Hunter, Kirby Puckett

Our Choice:  Tom Brunansky, Torii Hunter, Kirby Puckett

We had to select three outfielders so we went with those three.

These are right choices too.

People that grew up following the Twins in the late '80s to early '90s will always be thankful to Kirby for bringing two world championships to the state of Minnesota.

Kirby had the knack of performing in big moments, and he embraced the role.

This was a man that enjoyed playing the game. He was the reason why Twins baseball was relevant in that era. He was worth the price of admission.

He could have went to Boston for more money and more exposure when he was a free agent in 1990, but he decided to stay in Minnesota thanks to Carl Pohlad's wife, Eloise for convincing her husband to keep Kirby in Minnesota. Kirby actually decided to take less, and that's something that is unheard of in this day and age.

Torii was a leader in his time with the Twins. He was a player that stepped up and led when he had to. His webgem catches were legendary. He made so many good catches that it's hard to recollect each and every one of them. That's how good he was.

When Torii retires, he should be in the Twins Hall of Fame.

He was one of the players that led the revitalization of Twins baseball in this decade after a miserable period in the mid-to-late nineties.

We like Brunansky for his ability to hit home runs and get base hits.

Starting pitchers: Bert Blyleven, Brad Radke, Johan Santana, Frank Viola

Our Choice: Bert Blyleven, Brad Radke, Frank Viola

We went with three choices since that was high as we could go.

Blyleven was an elite pitcher in his career, and he was a great postseason pitcher. It's remarkable why he is not in the Hall of Fame. His numbers speak for itself, and he played a role in getting the Twins a World Championship in 1987.

Radke was the only reason to watch Twins baseball during the miserable years of Twins baseball, and when the team got good, he was still pitching well. He always stepped up in September by winning most of his starts when the Twins needed it.

His best moment of his Twins career was his Game 5 performance in Oakland in the ALDS in 2002. The Twins needed that victory to avoid elimination and advance to ALCS. He was great in that game by pitching well in a slim lead, and the Twins were able to win.

Radke could have moaned and whined about his situation when the team stunk like Knoblauch, but he didn't. Radke was loyal to this team during the dark days, and it showed when he signed his extension in 2000. That was the key to the team's turnaround.

Frank Viola was very good as a Twin during the '80s. He was a guy the Twins could have counted on to win every fifth day.

Yeah, we will be criticized for omitting Johan Santana. We are not outraged that Santana was selected, but we did not pick him here because he decided to leave the Twins for more exposure, and we just felt we decided not to vote for him because of his lack of interest in playing for the Twins. At least, Viola wanted to stay, but the Twins were too cheap to pay what he wanted.

The only reason Knoblauch was selected despite his ugly departure was because there were not many good choices at second base. If Todd Walker actually played well, he would have been our choice.

Closer: Rick Aguilera, Joe Nathan

Our Choice: Joe Nathan, Juan Berenguer

Nathan is the best closer the Twins ever had period. He will be in the Twins Hall of Fame once he is retired. When Nathan is pitching, Twins fans can feel comforted to know the game is over unless he takes his time to pitch, and then it's not a good thing. Here's a great thing about them. When Nathan goes up against divisional teams, this is where he flourishes. He was the right choice.

We would have went with Berenguer here. Senor Smoke was nasty when he was out there. Hitters would cower with fear when they had to face him. He was instrumental the team's bullpen success in 1987.

We will go with a power pitcher like him over Aguilera, who was good in his own right.

 

Designated Hitter: Paul Molitor

Our Choice:  Chili Davis

We went with Chili Davis because he was a great hitter in 1991, and often times, he was overlooked on that team because the team had many good players that year.

Sure Molitor got his 3,000th hit as a Twin, and sure he is "One of Us" (Dan Barreiro's term for Minnesotans that play sports), but did Molitor played for a good Twins team ever? Did he contributed when it mattered? The answers were no.

At least, Chili won games for a good Twins team as a DH.

David Ortiz did nothing as a Twin. He used performance-enhancing drugs in Boston to be the star he is today, and that itself should be tainted. He is no Hall of Famer. He is a Hall of Shamer.

Manager:  Tom Kelly

Our Choice: Tom Kelly

This was a no-brainer.

Forget Kelly's two World Series championships for a moment. What impressed us was Kelly's ability to make something out of nothing with the roster during the mid-to-late nineties. Those rosters were  horrible. It was so bad that the Twins had many chances to be like the 2003 Tigers. They could have made history by breaking the 1962 Mets' record for most losses.

It's amazing that it never happened, and that's a credit to Kelly for somehow coaxing victories out of that sad bunch.

There was a reason why teams clamored for Kelly to be their manager, and teams were hoping Kelly would pull a Jim Leyland and bail out when things were bad. Kelly did not. He was loyal to the organization, and when he left, we were all sad.

It's a shock Kelly is still not managing because he would still be great at that role.

Credit Kelly for not pulling a Brett Favre.

Ron Gardenhire has done well too, but his playoff record leaves a lot to be desired. It's one thing to lose to the Yankees, but he mismanaged that 2004 American League Division Series a lot. Plus, how does his team come off unprepared in the 2006 American League Division Series against the Athletics? The Twins had stars on that team, and they managed to get swept against an inferior team. This is on Gardy whether it's fair or not.

Leslie Monteiro writes about the Twins at MVN.com. Google Twins Killings for more entries.