Those were Brophy's guys who won the 1987 Series

Calvin Griffith's main baseball advisers when he brought his team to Minnesota for the 1961 season were a pair of former big-leaguers: brother-in-law Joe Haynes and brother Sherry Robertson. Haynes carried the title of executive vice president and Sherry was the farm director.

On arrival, Calvin also hired George Brophy, former general manager for the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers. Brophy was charged with the basics of the minor league and scouting operations.

Haynes died in January 1967. Robertson died in October 1970. There was no longer a family member for Griffith to rely on for baseball advice.

You have to remember this about the Twins' first decade: Players were bound to a team and payrolls were low. And the Twins led the American League in average attendance.

In other words, deals were made to improve the Twins' chance to win, not to cut costs. Plus, "signability'' was not the most vital issue for the Twins when the amateur draft started in 1965.

Brophy found himself taking over as Calvin's baseball man in what would become a very different era.

Attendance took a shocking drop to 940,858 as the Twins fielded a losing team in 1971. By 1974, the abysmal total was 662,401, and Calvin was in a panic over the team's (and thus the family's) finances.

Then, in December 1975, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally won an arbitration decision to overturn the contract clause binding players to a team. The Free Agent Era was upon baseball.

This was the environment in which Brophy was asked to find prospects, develop players and identify under-radar talent in other organizations, and do all of this on the cheap.

How different were things for Brophy in the 15 years (1970-85) he was the Twins' main hope to avoid futility?

Jim Rantz, Brophy's assistant and Twins minor league director since 1986, replied: "Put it this way -- we had one batting cage in Melbourne. We would send players over to the cage in twos."

Melbourne was the town on Florida's East Coast where the team had its minor league operation. Big-league camp was two hours away in Orlando. Brophy could have his fiefdom and get a respite from the infighting that was growing more intense with the Twins.

Howard Fox was the traveling secretary dating to the Washington Senators. After Sherry Robertson's death, Fox became more aggressive in trying to influence Calvin's baseball decisions.

Brophy had knowledge on his side. Fox had relentlessness and access. Often, he drove Calvin to the office in the morning and home at night. Personnel ideas that Brophy submitted to Calvin frequently were waylaid during those commutes.

Against the twin forces of politics and parsimony, Brophy made some outstanding maneuvers. He found outfielders Larry Hisle, Bobby Darwin, Dan Ford and Glenn Adams (a DH) struggling in other organizations. He landed pitchers Doug Corbett, Tom Burgmeier and Geoff Zahn.

When Calvin decided to unload his few high-salaried players in 1982, Brophy told his boss to insist the Yankees include minor league shortstop Greg Gagne in the Roy Smalley trade.

It was less of a reach for the Twins to demand Tom Brunansky in the Doug Corbett-Rob Wilfong trade, since the right fielder was the Angels' prime prospect.

The '82 team went 60-102 with 15 rookies. These were Brophy's guys -- as was Kirby Puckett two years later -- and provided the nucleus for the World Series winners in 1987.

Brophy was gone from the organization by then. He had grown ill shortly after the June 1985 draft. Eventually, he was found to have aplastic anemia. He was hoping to return to work but was fired -- by Fox, briefly the team president for new owner Carl Pohlad -- in December 1985. Brophy died in November 1998 after his enormous battle with the blood disease.

Tonight, Tom Kelly will make the presentation remarks for George when Calvin's baseball man joins pitcher Brad Radke as the 20th and 21st inductees into the team's Hall of Fame.

Now that Brophy's importance has been properly noted, maybe the Twins can get pitcher Camilo Pascual voted in for 2010 and the important oversights will be taken care of.

Patrick Reusse can be heard 5:30-9 a.m. weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP. preusse@startribune.com