1987 Minnesota Twins: The Infielders

In my continuing look at the 1987 Minnesota Twins with this year being the 25th anniversary of their World Series championship, a look at the infielders.


Note: Statistics shown are regular season statistics and are courtesy of Baseball Reference


The Starters

1B- Kent Hrbek (.285, 34 HR, 90 RBI, .389 OBP, .545 SLG)
2B- Steve Lombardozzi (.238, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 5 SB)
SS- Greg Gagne (.265, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 6 SB)
3B- Gary Gaetti (.257, 31 HR, 109 RBI, 10 SB, .303 OBP, .485 SLG)
C-  Tim Laudner (.191, 16 HR, 43 RBI)

The Bench

IF Al Newman (.221, 0 HR, 29 RBI, 15 SB)
1B/DH Gene Larkin (.266, 4 HR, 28 RBI)
IF/DH Roy Smalley (.275, 8 HR, 34 RBI)
DH Don Baylor (.286, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 49 at-bats)
C Sal Butera (.171, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 122 at-bats)
C Tom Nieto (.200, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 105 at-bats)
C Mark Salas (.378, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 45 at-bats)
IF Chris Pittaro (.333, 1 SB, 12 at-bats)

Notes

- Laudner also played seven regular seasons games at first base, starting three times

- Newman was the primary backup at both second base and shortstop, but also saw action at third base (12 games-3 starts)

- Two of these guys, Lombardozzi and Butera, have sons that currently play in the big leagues, with Lombardozzi's son (Stephen) an infielder/outfielder for the Washington Nationals and Butera's son (Drew) a catcher for the Twins like his father was

-Baylor has gone on to become a major league manager and hitting coach, including being the first manager in Colorado Rockies history, and is currently the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since he did not play a defensive position in 1987, I've plugged him in here.