SCOTT LEIUS

When longtime third baseman Gary Gaetti departed as a free agent after the 1990 season, the Twins opted to replace him with a platoon.  They paired veteran left-handed hitting free agent Mike Pagliarulo with a rookie right-handed hitting converted shortstop named Scott Leius.  And they won the World Series.

Leius had a fine rookie season on the short end of the platoon, hitting .286 and flashing a solid glove.  His signature moment came in game two of the 1991 World Series, when he hit one of the biggest home runs in Twins history.  With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Leius took Hall of Famer Tom Glavine deep for the eventual game-winning home run, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead in the series.  The first two games of that series are overshadowed by the legendary performances of Kirby Puckett's Game Six and Jack Morris' Game Seven, but without Leius' shot, the Twins may not have even brought the series back to the Dome.