Photo; Jerry Reuss, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As a baseball fan, I’ve always though it was important that (every once in a while) you take the time to acknowledge (and even applaud) a player who has been a thorn in the side of “your” team. As a long time, Twins’ fan, it always seemed to me that Indians’ center fielder Kenny Lofton continually wreaked havoc on my Twins – at the plate, in the field and on the bases.
The proof, of course, is not in the pudding, but in the statistics. So, I looked it up. Turns out, my recall was pretty solid. Over his career, Lofton had more hits against the Twins (180) than against any other team and his .347 average was the third-best against any team.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me first note why I chose today to recognize Lofton’s lofty (see what I did there) accomplishments against the Minnesota squad(s).
On this date (September 3) in 2000, Lofton had quite a day against the Orioles in Cleveland – a contest he topped with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 13th inning. (The Indians won 12-11.) On the day, he was four-for-seven, with a walk, four runs scored and five stolen bases. He also made a bit of history that day. The run he scored in the first inning – driven in by a Jim Thome single after Lofton collected a leadoff single and stolen base – gave him a tie for the American League record of scoring a run in 18 consecutive games (August 15-September 3). During that streak, Lofton hit .380 (30-for-79), with six home runs, 20 RBI, 26 RBI, 26 runs scored, 11 walks and just four strikeouts. Notably, for me, not a single of those 18 contests was against the Twins.
With this in mind, today seemed a good day to recognize Lofton’s career and, in particular his accomplishments, against the Twins.
Lofton’s 180 hits are the he had against any team; as are his 58 RBI and 251 total bases. His 100 runs are second-most; as are his 34 doubles, eight triples and 43 stolen bases.
In 132 games against the Twins, Kenny Lofton never grounded into a double play.
Lofton’s best season against the Twins was 1994, when he hit .500 (23-for-46) in 12 games, with three home runs, 13 RBI, 15 runs scored, 11 walks and ten steals (in 11 attempts). He played in 13 seasons against Minnesota and hit over .340 in six of them. Over his career, Lofton collected his most, second-most and fourth-most hits against a trio of hurlers who spent considerable time (and gave up considerable hits to Lofton) in a Twins’ uniform: Keven Tapani (22 hits – .489 average), Scott Erickson (21 hits – .362) and Brad Radke (19 hits – .407). Note: Not all of the hits surrendered to Lofton were during their Twins’ tenure.
Now a little more about Lofton’s career.
He played 17 MLB seasons (1991-2007 … Indians, Pirates, Giants, Phillies, Braves, Rangers, Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees, Astros, White Sox). He was a six-time All Star and four-time Gold Glover in CF. He finished with 2,428 hits and a .299 average (four more hits would have put him at .300). He hit .300 or better in eight seasons, scored 100 or more runs in five and stole 50 or more bases in six seasons – 30 or more in nine. On defense, Lofton led AL center fielders in assists four times and double plays twice.
Kenny Lofton led the Al in stolen bases in five consecutive seasons … 1992-1996. During that span he swiped 325 bags and was caught 70 times … and average of 65 steals in 79 attempts per campaign.
Lofton appeared in the post-season with six different teams (Indians, Braves, Giants, Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers). He hit .247-7-34, with 65 runs scored and 34 steals in 95 games.
In his final (age-40), season, Kenny Lofton hit.296 in 136 games, scored 86 runs and stole 23 bases.
Lofton appears among MLB’s top 150 players all time in: runs scored (63rd); stolen bases (15th); outfield putouts (31st); triples (108th); offensive and defensive WAR (109th and 108th, respectively); hits (121st); at bats (141st); walks (147th).
Given personal observation – and statistical evidence – I am surprised that in his one and only year on the Hall of Fame ballot, Lofton got only 18 votes (3.2%). Plenty of Twins fans would probably agree.
Primary Resource: Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Roundtable Disclaimer: The MLB records referenced in this (and previous) posts have the potential to change (primarily additions) as Major League Baseball recognizes and fully incorporates Negro League records from 1920-48 into the MLB record book.
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