Narrowing down the name of a team in the old days of baseball can get a bit tricky. Nicknames were often interchangeable, and sometimes even replaced if the media took to calling a team a certain name, like how the White Stockings became the White Sox because newspapers were trying to save a little space in the headlines and everyone just took to the name. The entire early history of the Indians can be a complete mess to distinguish when it comes to when they were what name before finally settling on the Indians. But eventually as baseball went on through the years, things were defined and proper...except the Senators, or Nationals, or whatever. Washington was officially the Senators at the dawn of the modern era, but changed to Nationals in 1905 though people kept referring to them at times as the Senators, to the point that they officially changed back to that name in 1956...only to leave and be replaced by a new expansion team calling themselves the Senators. And then of course we have the current iteration of the Nationals that have nothing to do with the earlier versions...
But that expansion team calling themselves the Senators existed because the original version relocated themselves to Minnesota to become the Twins, and like parents who didn't want their child to realize that their pet goldfish had passed from this world, replaced them with a new team in the same place with the same name. Despite some success in the Washington days, the Twins have only recognized their Minnesota time as worthy of number retirements.
#3 - Harmon Killebrew
Killebrew broke out with the Senators in 1954 and found early success with a couple all star appearances before he headed to Minnesota with the team and built up the rest of his Hall of Fame credentials which included the other 11 all star nominations. One of the most prolific Home Run hitters, he led the league 6 times and won the 1969 MVP. When he retired, he was 2nd to only Babe Ruth for homers in AL history.
#6 - Tony Oliva
The Twins had Oliva signed in 1961, but had no place for him on the roster and released him. Luckily, he had a friend in the Twins minor league system he went to train with, and when his ability caught the eye of management down there, they made a few calls to Minnesota to quickly rectify that earlier mistake. The next season saw him begin his 15 year career with just the Twins as he would win the 1964 Rookie of the Year, a Gold Glove in 1966, 3 Batting Titles and 8 all star nods. He stayed with the team as a Coach after his playing days and would become the only person in Twins history to be apart of all three of their World Series appearances (1965 as player, 1987 and '91 as Coach).
#7 - Joe Mauer
Catchers are regarded historically as a defense first, hitting as a bonus type position. And the good hitters usually are seen that way because of power numbers. Joe Mauer bucked that view by becoming a rarely seen Catcher who could hit for average. Playing just for Minnesota, Mauer would win Batting Titles in 2006, '08 and '09, becoming the only American League Catcher to lead the league in Batting Average and becoming the only Catcher ever to do it three times. He could also field his position by winning 3 Gold Gloves, highlighting his value both behind and at the plate. In addition, the 6x all star won 5 Silver Sluggers and was 2009 AL MVP.
#10 - Tom Kelly
The playing career of Tom Kelly began and ended in 1975 (under a different uniform number) and was completely forgettable. But, while he'd never escape the minor leagues again as a player, he was able to transition down there to Player-Manager and go on to build up some success in the Twins system until he was called up as a Coach in the 1980s, where he was in place to eventually inherited the Manager position late in the 1986 season. The very next year saw him in charge as the Twins won their first World Series in Minnesota, and he'd work to maintain the team to stay competitive as they'd go on to win it again in 1991, a year that also saw him win Manager of the Year.
#14 - Kent Hrbek
Kent Hrbek arrived to stay with the Twins in 1982, getting named to the all star game and finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting and spearheading a youth movement with the team that would make up a huge part of the team that would go on to win the World Series in 1987, the first since the franchise relocated to Minnesota. The power hitting defensive star would also anchor the infield for their 1991 World Series title run.
#28 - Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven came up with the Twins in 1970 and quickly became one of the best young pitchers in baseball. In '73 he led the majors with 9 Shutouts and received his first all star nomination. Clashes with management led to his being traded in 1976, but his journey around baseball brought him back to Minnesota during his all star 1985 season, where a couple years later he was in place to bolster a rotation that won the World Series.
#29 - Rod Carew
Ones Hall of Fame status is generally a sure thing when you accomplish things in your career that only the all time greats could match. Rod Carew played for the Twins from 1967-1978 and every season was an all star one, as he also hit the ground running with the '67 Rookie of the Year award, and ended just as strong with the 1977 MVP. In that era he won 7 Batting Titles, 2nd only to Ty Cobb. His career was one of those rare kinds that saw more than one team seek to retire his number as a year after the Angels immortalized his number, the Twins followed suit.
#34 - Kirby Puckett
Puckett played his entire 12 year career in Minnesota, and while it was cut short due to an illness caused blindness in one eye, he made the most of that short span. 10 all stars, 6 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Sluggers and the 1989 Batting Title. He led the Twins to the 1987 World Series title, then in 1991 he took the ALCS MVP to bring the team back to the series that saw them take the title there in 7 games. It only made it to Game 7 because of Puckett's clutch walk-off homer in Game 6.
#36 - Jim Kaat
Kaat got his start in the Senators days, but it was when the team became the Twins that he became a full time starter in the rotation. With Minnesota he acquired 2 of his 3 all star games. One of the best fielding pitchers of all time, he won 16 straight Gold Gloves, with the first 12 as a Senator/Twin.
Washington Senators
While teams like the Dodgers and Giants moved to new cities but kept their team name, the Washington Senators did a complete makeover in becoming the Minnesota Twins. On top of that, MLB immediately awarded Washington one of their expansion franchises for the 1961 season, in which they took up the old name of the team that just left, making it seem from an outside perspective that the Twins were the brand new team. But officially, the Twins took with them the history, records and achievements of the first iteration of the Washington Senators, they just never really did much with it, except when they point out that the franchise has 3 titles in its history with the 1924 title while in Washington, though if you saw in their Metrodome days they would only display the years of their division, league and world titles of just their Minnesota identity.
So in 2024, the Twins decided to remind everyone that not only does their history go back from before 1961, but all the way to the beginning of the American League as they added a "W" to the collection of numbers. It sets a interesting precedent that a franchise recognizes and honors their "retired" identity. Only time will tell if, for example, the Orioles will erect a Browns logo to acknowledge their own prior identity.
