Former Minnesota Twins In The Hall Of Fame [GALLERY]

The election of Joe Mauer means that there are now 12 former Minnesota Twins players in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Although the Twins' franchise history includes players who were Washington Senators before the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, this list is exclusive to those who played in Minnesota.

HARMON KILLEBREW 

The first former Twin elected into Hall of Fame needed a ridiculous four ballots to get into the Hall despite finishing his career fifth all time in home runs (he is now 12th with 573). "Killer" came with the Senators to Minnesota in 1961 and played 14 seasons in Bloomington at Met Stadium.

Elected to the HOF in 1984, Killebrew passed away at age 74 in 2011.

ROD CAREW 

Carew played for the Twins from 1967 to 1978 and made the All Star team in each of those seasons. He hit .334 during his seasons in Minnesota and, after finishing his career with seven seasons with the California Angels, ended up with 3,053 hits.

Carew was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991 and is a regular at Twins events and ballgames.

STEVE CARLTON 

Carlton admittedly was a short-timer in Minnesota, where he appeared in 13 games at ages 42 and 43 in 1987 and 1988, but he did help the team win its first World Series title in 1987.

Carlton started his career in St. Louis before playing for Philadelphia for 15 seasons. He finished his career with 329 wins and 4,136 strikeouts, which still stands as the fourth-most in MLB history.

Carlton was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994.

DAVE WINFIELD 

A St. Paul native, Dave Winfield came home to play for the Twins in 1993 after eight seasons with the Padres, nine with the Yankees and a pair of years with the Angels before he won the World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992.

Winfield, who was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Padres after a standout career at the University of Minnesota, finished with 3,110 hits and 465 home runs among his many accolades.

Winfield was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

KIRBY PUCKETT 

Puckett played for the Twins from 1984-1995 before his career was cut short by glaucoma before the 1996 season. Puckett won two World Series titles with the Twins and a batting title in 1989.

"Puck" was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2001 before passing away at age 45 in 2006.

PAUL MOLITOR 

Molitor was another St. Paul native who came to Minnesota toward the end of his career, but you wouldn't know it based on the numbers he put up with the Twins.

"The Ignitor" spent the first 15 years of his career in Milwaukee before three seasons in Toronto, where he won a World Series in 1993. He joined the Twins for his age-39 season in 1996 and hit a remarkable .341. In his three seasons in Minnesota, Molitor hit .312 in 422 games.

Molitor's 3,319 hits are 11th all time. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2003.

BERT BLYLEVEN

Despite finishing his career third all time with 3,701 strikeouts (he is now fifth), it took Blyleven 14 years to be elected into the Hall of Fame.

Blyleven spent six seasons with the Twins from 1970-1976 before getting swapped to the Texas Rangers. After bouncing from Texas to Pittsburgh to Cleveland, Blyleven found his way back to the Twins in 1985 and helped them to their first title in 1987.

Blyleven went on to broadcast for the Twins for nearly 20 seasons.

JIM THOME 

Thome played 13 years in Cleveland, a few in Philadelphia and four in Chicago with the White Sox before finding his way to Minnesota in 2010. In limited duty with the Twins that season, Thome smashed 26 home runs and hit .283.

He finished his career with 612 home runs and 2,328 hits. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2017.

JACK MORRIS 

St. Paul's Jack Morris spent the first 14 seasons of his career in Detroit, winning 198 games, before joining the Twins for their magical 1991 season. Morris famously tossed a ten-inning shutout in Game Seven of the series against Atlanta that season.

After one season with the Twins he departed for Toronto, where he won two more titles in 1992 and 1993. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018.

DAVID ORTIZ 

To some Twins fans, Ortiz is 'the one who got away.' The big designated hitter started his career in Minnesota in 1997 but was not re-signed after the 2002 season.

He went on to star in Boston for 14 seasons, batting .290 with 483 home runs and 1,768 runs batted in while also helping the Red Sox win an elusive World Series title in 2004.

Ortiz was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2021.

TONY OLIVA 

Oliva was a star for the Twins from his rookie season in 1964 to his final season in 1976. A career filled with chronic injuries didn't stop Oliva from winning three batting titles and batting .304 for his career.

Oliva was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2022.

JIM KAAT 

"Kitty" played for the Twins from 1961 to 1973 where he won 190 games on his way to a 25-year career that saw him finish with 283 wins.

Kaat was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2022.

JOE MAUER 

Another St. Paul native, Mauer began his Twins career in 2004 and won three batting titles (2006, 2008, 2009) and the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 2009.

Mauer was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024 on his first ballot.