Zoilo Versalles - Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

In 1961, the year the Senators moved to Minneapolis/St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins, Versalles came to the majors to stay. Although his glove continued to be average at best, Versalles hit well enough to stay in the lineup, finishing the season with a .280 average, 7 home runs, 53 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Versalles' 1961 Topps card (#21) actually listed his first name as ″Zorro″, a nickname frequently used early in his career by media, fans and even club officials. The following season, Versalles played in 160 games and despite his batting average dropping to .240, he hit 17 home runs (third most for American League shortstops behind Detroit Tiger Chico Fernandez and New York Yankee Tom Tresh who both hit 20) and 67 RBI. Versalles led the league in assists with 501 and lowered his errors from 30 to 26, and got a smattering of MVP votes (finishing 21st). In 1963, Versalles raised his batting average to .261 and led the league in triples (13) and was voted to his first All-Star team. Starting in the July 9 game, Versalles singled and was hit by a pitch in two plate appearances before being lifted for Chicago White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio. Although Versalles received his first Gold Glove award in 1963, he was still erratic in the field as his five errors in a July 5 double header against the Baltimore Orioles and season total of 30 errors attests. In 1964, Versalles had another solid season, hitting .259 with 20 home runs (second for AL shortstops behind Detroit's Dick McAuliffe), 64 RBI, and 14 stolen bases and again led the league in triples with 10.

Under the tutelage of Twins' third base coach Billy Martin, Versalles put it all together during his 1965 MVP season and led the American League in plate appearances (728), at-bats (666), runs scored (126), doubles (45), triples (12), extra-base hits (76) and total bases (308), and was second in assists (487) and third in stolen bases (27). He was a near-unanimous winner of the MVP award, receiving 19 of 20 first-place votes. The remaining first-place vote went to teammate and fellow Cuban Tony Oliva. He also led the league and set career highs in both strikeouts (122) and errors (39), which underlined his career-long struggles both at the plate and in the field in these areas. Versalles was named to his second All-Star team for the July 13 game (played in his home park, Bloomington, Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium) along with five fellow Twins (first baseman Harmon Killebrew, catcher Earl Battey, pitcher Mudcat Grant and outfielders Jimmie Hall and Tony Oliva), but went hitless with a walk in two plate appearances after subbing for starter Dick McAuliffe in the sixth inning. Before the World Series began, Versalles was pictured on the cover of the October 4 issue of Sports Illustrated and was featured in the article which discussed the Twins' chances against possible National League opponents. In the Series against the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Versalles started all seven games, hit .286 with his only home run and all four RBI coming in the lopsided Game 1 win, but it was not enough as the Twins lost to the Dodgers four games to three.

Following his MVP and World Series runner-up season, the team gave Versalles a raise to $40,000 annually. His performance almost immediately declined, as he hit only .249 in 137 games with an across-the-board drop in his offensive production. Despite this, he continued to have memorable moments such as on June 9, in the seventh inning of a game against the Kansas City Athletics. Versalles was one of five Twins players to hit home runs (along with Killebrew, Don Mincher, Oliva and Rich Rollins). These five home runs still stand as a major league record for the most home runs in a single inning. In July, he was treated for a hematoma in his back which put him on the disabled list for a short time, cost him playing time the following season, and led to a lifelong condition.