In 1888, a Kansas City brewer by the name of Joseph Heim, who had previously backed two short-lived major league franchises in that city, was awarded an entry in the American Association.  Christened the Blues (though known occasionally as the Cowboys), the team played two seasons in the AA before league management issues prompted them to bolt for the minor Western Association for 1890.  After the 1891 season the Western Association folded, and the club joined the minor Western League for 1892.  In 1893, the league's business problems forced them to cancel the season, but the Blues and three other members played a shortened, rump season which lasted only May though June.  The league was reorganized for 1894 under the presidency of Ban Johnson, and wound up on a much firmer footing.  From 1894 through 1900, the Blues played mainly middling ball, but somehow managed to win the league championship in 1898 on the strength of Jimmy Slagel's league-leading .378 batting average and Dale Gear's 25 wins.  Having changed the league's name to the American League in 1900, Johnson declared the AL a major league for 1901. Reshuffling of some franchises occurred as a result, and Kansas City  was relocated to Washington D.C. for 1901.       

Though officially the Senators, the Washington club also went occasionally by "Nationals" or "Nats" over the years.  Some unknown wag popularized the phrase "First in War, First in Peace, Last in the American League", but during their 60 years in the nation's capital the Senators only finished last 10 times, and finished 4th or higher 20.  During the prime of the great Walter Johnson, the team mostly finished on the unfortunate side of .500, but did succeed in winning 2 consecutive AL pennants in 1924 and 1925, and the World Series in 1924, before the Big Train retired.  They returned to the Series again in 1933, losing the Giants, the team they beat in '24. There wasn't much to root for in D.C. after that, and despite assurances from owner Calvin Griffith in 1957 that the team would stay in D.C. "forever", the bottom fell out in 1960.  Amid fears that abandoning D.C. would give Congress reason to reevaluate MLB's antitrust exemption, but buoyed by assurances of an expansion team in 1961, Griffith was allowed to take his club to Minneapolis for 1961. 

Called the Twins for what should be obvious reasons, the new incarnation of the old Senators had almost immediate success in Minneapolis.  During their first 10 seasons, the Twins finished 1st or 2nd three times each.  They went to the 1965 World Series and took the Dodgers to 7 games before Sandy Koufax lowered the boom.  Stars like Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison and a young Rod Carew filled the stands in Metropolitan Stadium.  Once free agency started, however, the team's fortunes slid because Griffith couldn't bring himself to pay the higher prices players began demanding.  In a period of just a few years, whether by trades or FA signings elsewhere, the team lost Bert Blyleven, Bill Campbell, Larry Hisle, Lyman Bostock and Rod Carew. Even Killebrew finished his career in Kansas City.  The team moved to the infamous Metrodome in 1982, and Griffith sold the club a few years later.  Things turned around quickly -  Tom Kelly was hired to manage, young stars like Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett debuted, and seemingly out of nowhere the Twins won World Series in 1987 and 1991.  There followed another period of mediocrity, before they became an almost perennial fixture in the post-season in the 2000s.    

​

The main purpose of this page is to illustrate those players, managers and coaches who have been the most prominent in the franchise's history.  Links below will take you to galleries highlighting each, by position.  Generally, an individual is included if he spent at least 2 full seasons (consecutive or cumulative) as a starter, relief pitcher, closer or manager. For coaches, I've generally used 5 years of service as the bar.  None of this is scientific, though, so there are exceptions.  Where possible and practical, I used pictures of actual baseball cards because that it is the medium through which I, and I suppose many others, first discovered the game. Where necessary, I designed my own images.  Images of actual baseball cards were obtained at the Card Cyber Museum, and for my own designs I used photos found at host of different sites, but none moreso than the wonderful forum at Out of the Park Developments.  

I claim no rights to, or ownership of, any of the photographic images I've used on these pages.   You are welcome to use them yourself.  All I ask is that that if you use any of my personal creations, you give credit to this site.