Top tandems in Twins history

DYNAMIC DUOS: Young tandems in Twins history

Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison

Years together: 1958-70 (first three seasons with Washington Senators)

Achievements: Hall of Famer Killebrew (above right) led league in HRs six times and RBI three times while Allison (above left) had 20-plus HRs eight seasons and five times drove in more than 85 runs.

Team success: AL champs in 1965, losing World Series in seven games to Dodgers. Won division titles in 1969 and 1970.

Best seasons: In 1961, the Twins' inaugural season in Minnesota, the pair combined for 75 homers and 227 RBI, then followed with 77 homers and 228 RBI in 1962. Those remain the top two HR/RBI totals by a Twins tandem.

Tony Oliva and Rod Carew

Years together: 1967-76

Achievements: Carew, a Hall of Famer, won seven AL batting titles and finished with 3,053 hits and a .328 batting average; Oliva won three batting titles and finished with a .304 career average. A knee injury cut Oliva's career short.

Team success: Won division titles in 1969 and 1970.

Best seasons: In 1969, Carew won his first batting title (.332) and Oliva batted .309 and led the league with 197 hits; in 1971 Oliva won his last batting title (.337) and Carew batted .307.

Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett

Years together: 1984-94

Achievements: Cornerstones of most successful Twins teams in history. Puckett is a Hall of Famer who had a .318 career average while Hrbek had a .282 career average with 293 homers and 1,086 RBI, both second to Killebrew.

Team success: World Series championships in 1987 and 1991.

Best seasons: Tough to top that first title year in 1987, when Puckett batted .332 with 28 HRs and 99 RBI and Hrbek hit .285 with 34 HRs and 90 RBI. A year later Puckett batted .356 with 24 HRs and 121 RBI while Hrbek hit .312 with 25 HRs and 76 RBI.

Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer

Years together: 2004-13

Achievements: St. Paul's Mauer won three batting titles and an MVP as a catcher in his first six seasons. Injuries precipitated a move to first base after Morneau's departure, but Mauer still has a .313 career average. Morneau (above right) was MVP in 2006, the season he began a streak of four straight 100 RBI seasons.

Team success: Four division titles in seven seasons starting in 2004.

Best seasons: Mauer won his first batting title in 2006 (.347) while Morneau batted .321. Together they combined for a .336 average with 47 HRs and 214 RBI. In 2009, they combined for 58 HRs and 196 RBI as Mauer claimed batting title No. 3 (.365).