As a rookie in 1982, Kent Hrbek played in 140 games, hitting 301, slugging 23 homers, cracking 21 doubles and driving in 92 runs. But he didn't win the Rookie of the Year Award. Some kid name Ripken got in his way.
And the precedent was set: Someone would always steal Herbie's spotlight.
Kent Hrbek was by no means a Hall of Fame player.
But he was a hardscrabble player born in Minneapolis who slogged out an entire career playing for his hometown team. While he never left his Minnesota roots, and made just one All-Star game, Herbie's career was nothing to scoff at. It included two World Series rings, and a couple interesting records.
Hrbek had a brief cameo in the 1981 season, playing in 24 games. His biggest highlight came with a game-winning home run in his first game, a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees.
But in '82, he crashed onto the national seen. Hrbek towered over the plate with his 6-foot-4 frame. But he was overshadowed by Cal Ripken.
Kent followed up his rookie campaign with a strong sophomore season, batting .297, hammering 41 doubles and even legging out five triples. However, his power numbers dipped. His home runs dropped from 23 to 16 and he drove in eight fewer runs.
However, Kent came storming back in 1984. He would finish the season a distant second to the immortal Willie Hernandez in MVP voting. Hernandez was a journeyman reliever who joined the Detroit Tigers and caught fire, helping them go wire-to-wire to win the American League East.
Kent finished the season with 27 home runs, 107 runs batted in a 311 batting average and a .383 on-base percentage.
But Hrbek, who helped the Twins go from 70 to 81 wins, wasn't just outshined by Hernandez. A young teammate with an effervescent personality, a fireplug build and amazing athletic ability and Hall-of-Fame stroke came onto the national scene:
Kirby Puckett.
Pucket would play an injury shortened 12 seasons while Kent called it quits after 14 years. They were the cornerstones of two World Series winning teams.
But their stats are more similar than you might think.
Puckett's 162-game average:
Hits 2B HR R RBI K BB AVG. OBP. SLG.
209 38 19 97 99 88 41 .318 .360 .477
Hrbek's 162-game average:
Hits 2B HR R RBI K BB AVG. OBP. SLG.
162 29 27 84 101 74 78 .282 .367 .481
Notice, especially, the similarities in the percentages.
The accolades, however, never fell on Hrbek as they did on Puck.
He made just one all-star game and finished in the top 25 in MVP voting twice.
Puckett, meanwhile played in 10 straight mid-summer classics and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting seven times.
It's easy to see how Puckett is in Cooperstown and Hrbek is not.
But Hrbek, deservedly, is in the Twins' team hall of fame, and one of the most popular players in franchise history.
The biggest knock on Hrbek, other than the wrestling move he pulled on Ron Gant in the 1991 World Series, is that he did not hit well in the post season. While he knocked in 12 runs over the span of 24 games, he batted just .154. He did, however, hit a grand slam in the Game 6 of 1987 fall classic.
According to The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Hrbek is the 40th best first baseman of all time.
Baseball-reference.com says Hrbek's career is most comparable to Greg Luzinski, Ted Kluszewski, Eric Karros and Vic Wertz.
Walking away from baseball at the age of 34, Hrbek had collected 293 home runs, 1,084 runs batted in and a .367 on-base percentage.
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