The Twin Cities baseball writers voted for Harmon Killebrew as the Twins' Most Valuable Player for 1961, the team's first season in Minnesota. They added the pitcher of the year (Camilo Pascual) and rookie of the year (Bernie Allen) in 1962. And in 1963, there was another addition: Most Improved Twin (Lee Stange).
The Twins have not been short of candidates in the prime categories — MVP and pitcher of the year — in this successful decade. And as ball writers, we have not stretched the imagination in making the choices since the first Central Division title was claimed in 2002.
Torii Hunter was voted as the MVP that season and again in 2007. The others have been Shannon Stewart [2003], Johan Santana [2004-05], Justin Morneau [2006, 2008] and Joe Mauer [2009].
The pitcher of the year plaque has belonged to either a closer or Johan Santana. Eddie Guardado won the vote in 2002, followed by Santana from 2003 through 2007, and then Joe Nathan in 2008-09.
There will be an interesting quandary when the MVP vote takes place after this season. Morneau is out of the picture with his post-concussion problem. Mauer has produced a solid total of 143 runs (scored and driven in), yet his total numbers are modest compared with a spectacular 2009.
The term "Most Valuable" is vague enough to make it a personal choice. As a team honor, you can go strictly by production or look for a player that filled a gap or became a difference-maker in a somewhat unexpected fashion.
There's an outstanding example in Twins history of a gap-filler. In 1971, Killebrew hit 28 home runs and drove in 119, yet the Twin Cities writers went with shortstop Leo Cardenas as the MVP. He had arrived in 1969 to fill a position that had been a problem for several seasons.
Stewart was an example of a difference-maker. The left fielder was acquired from Toronto during the 2003 All-Star break. He batted .322 in 65 games and led a charge to the second division title in a row.