LARRY HISLE

I have always been fascinated by the 1977 Minnesota Twins.  It was the year I was born and it was, of course, the year Rod Carew famously flirted with a .400 batting average (eventually finishing at .388 en route to the AL Most Valuable Player award).

It wasn't just Carew who had a career year for the '77 Twins, though.  Minnesota native Dave Goltz was a 20-game winner.  The late Lyman Bostock finished second in the AL (to Carew) with a .336 average, while adding 14 homers, 90 RBI, 104 runs, and a .897 OPS -- all personal bests in his tragically short career.  Tom Johnson had an incredible year of of the bullpen with 17 saves and 16 relief wins.

In the shadow (and, in part, because) of Carew, Larry Hisle had the finest season of his career as well.  He hit .302 with 28 home runs, 21 stolen bases, and a league-leading 119 runs batted in.  Unfortunately for the Twins, that was also the final season of Hisle's contract.  Notorious penny-pincher Calvin Griffith would predictably not pony up to sign him, and Hisle left for the Milwaukee Brewers.