Brian Dozier – bringing 40-HR power to the Twins lineup. Photo by rtclauss 
My Twins (BBRT is Minnesota-based) have not given me a lot to write about this year (a 53-91 season record will do that). That is, not until Monday night. In the third inning of the Twins’ September 12, 2016 contest against the Tigers, Minnesota 2B Brian Dozier launched a solo home run off Tigers’ starter Daniel Norris to tie the game 1-1 (the Twins eventually lost 4-2). It was Dozier’s 40th home run of the season and made him the first American Leaguer to reach 40 home runs while playing primarily second base (Yankees’ 2B Alfonso Soriano hit 39 HR’s in 2002). BBRT note: 38 of Dozier’s homers have come while playing second base, with two coming as DH.
The solo shot to left field also made Dozier just the second Twin and third player in franchise history to reach the 40-homer mark. Harmon Killebrew, who reached 40 or more round trippers in seven seasons was the last Twin to hit 40 (41 in 1970) and holds the franchise record of 49 in a season (1964 and 1969). BBRT note: Killebrew reached 40 while playing primarily at: 3B (1959); 1B (1967); LF (1962-63-64); and splitting time between 1B/3B (1961-1969). The only other Senator/Twin to reach 40 was OF/1B Roy Sievers (42 in 1957). Dozier ended Monday’s game trailing AL (and MLB) HR leader Mark Trumbo (Orioles) by just one in the HR race. (The last Twin to lead the league in HR’s was Killebrew in 1969. The last second baseman to win a HR title was the Cubs’ Ryan Sandberg, with 40 home runs in 1990. The last 2B to win the AL HR crown – tie – was the Angels’ Bobby Grich, with 22 HR’s in the strike-shortened 1981 season).
Dozier is now just three homers shy of the most ever hit by a player taking the field primarily at second base – Davey Johnson of the Braves in 1973. Looking exclusively at HR’s while in the lineup at 2B (remember, Dozier has 38 of those), Davey Johnson (again, 1973) and the Cardinals’ Rogers Hornsby (1922) share the record at 42. Jeff Kent (Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Giants, Astros, Dodgers) holds the record for career home runs hit while playing second base at 351 (out of 377 total home runs, the MLB high for players playing primarily at 2B). Kent hit a career-high 37 home runs for the Giants in 2002 – and had 12 seasons of 20 or more round trippers. Dozier now stands at 115 career (MLB) round trippers. Dozier is also closing in on 100 RBI, with 94 for the season. The single-season record for second baseman belongs to Hornsby (152 in 1922).
Rogers Hornsby’s 1922 season for the Cardinals is the best in MLB history for a second sacker. He led the league in batting average (.401); home runs (42); RBI (152); hits (250); runs (141); doubles (46); total bases 450) – and threw in 14 triples and 17 stolen bases.
Dozier’s power is a bit of a surprise. The 29-year-old’s previous MLB high for a season is 28 home runs (2015) and he never reach double figures in a minor league campaign. His HR totals, however, have increased in each of his five major league campaigns – and he has established himself as a legitimate power threat. Perhaps more surprising about where Dozier stands now is how he started the 2016 season. Dozier hit just .191 with three home runs in April. As of June 5, Dozier’s average stood at .206, with just six home runs and 22 RBI. Since that time (through September 12), Dozier’s line is .316-34-72. At the close of Monday’s games, Dozier’s season stat line was .277-40-94.
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Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliqaury; Baseball Bloggers Alliance.
Photo by rtclauss
