TOP 40 VORP: Gary Gaetti

The Top 40 VORP list continues with the player that accumulated the 26th highest VORP total as a member of the Minnesota Twins, Gary Gaetti.

Aaron Gleeman has been counting down the top 40 players in Twins history. Gleeman’s an outstanding writer and he’s the reason why I started this website in the first place (and also, for that matter, this feature). Less than a week ago, Gleeman profiled Gary Gaetti and he wrote “When everything is taken into account, I suspect Gaetti's place in Twins history is somewhat overrated, although it's tough to say for sure given his unique career.” Aaron wrote a nice piece on Gaetti, but he fails to really grasp the essence of what Gaetti meant to Twins fans. Then, it dawned on me. I was writing about Cesar Tovar and I really had no knowledge about Tovar other than what I read. I never experienced Tovar, his leaving the Twins in 1973. I was eight then. I think Gleeman is 25 now, which would have made him about eight or so when Gaetti last played for the Twins. SBG::Tovar as AG::Gaetti.

Aaron’s right: in terms of the numbers, Gaetti was (and is) probably overrated in fans’ minds. But, in terms of the drama of the franchise, G-man was a high impact player for the Twins during a key time in franchise history. That was never more apparent than on October 7, 1987, when “The G” ended the Twins’ 17 year post season drought with a BANG! And another BANG!

I’ve always thought that the love for Doug Mientkiewicz displayed by Twins fans is irrational. What’s the attraction to a first baseman who can’t hit and who hides behind his wife’s apron strings? I’ll confess though, that I understand that fixation when viewed through the lens of my own love for Gaetti. He may be just 26th on this list, but he’s on the extremely short list of my all-time favorite Twins players. The G-Man was a funny looking, chain-smoking, hard-nosed ballplayer who struck out, hit the ball over the fence, dove around like a maniac, and played the game with reckless abandon. Plus, he played a key role in an unlikely ascension to the top of the baseball world.

6’0 200 LBS. Batted Right and Threw Right. Born 1958.
Member of the Twins from 1981-90
VORP as a Twin: 132.7 Rank: 26th

Year	Ag	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS+	TB	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GDP	VORP
1981	22	9	26	4	5	0	0	2	3	0	0	0	6	0.192	0.192	0.423	69	11	0	0	0	0	1	-0.7
1982	23	145	508	59	117	25	4	25	84	0	4	37	107	0.230	0.280	0.443	93	225	4	13	2	3	16	3.1
1983	24	157	584	81	143	30	3	21	78	7	1	54	121	0.245	0.309	0.414	95	242	0	8	2	4	18	9.7
1984	25	162	588	55	154	29	4	5	65	11	5	44	81	0.262	0.315	0.350	81	206	3	5	1	4	9	4.7
1985	26	160	560	71	138	31	0	20	63	13	5	37	89	0.246	0.301	0.409	88	229	3	1	3	7	15	6.7
1986	27	157	596	91	171	34	1	34	108	14	15	52	108	0.287	0.347	0.518	130	309	1	6	4	6	18	39.7
1987	28	154	584	95	150	36	2	31	109	10	7	37	92	0.257	0.303	0.485	101	283	1	3	7	3	25	14.9
1988	29	133	468	66	141	29	2	28	88	7	4	36	85	0.301	0.353	0.551	147	258	1	6	5	5	10	48.3
1989	30	130	498	63	125	11	4	19	75	6	2	25	87	0.251	0.286	0.404	88	201	1	9	5	3	12	8.1
1990	31	154	577	61	132	27	5	16	85	6	1	36	101	0.229	0.274	0.376	76	217	1	8	1	3	22	-1.8
1991	32	152	586	58	144	22	1	18	66	5	5	33	104	0.246	0.293	0.379	85	222	2	5	3	8	13
1992	33	130	456	41	103	13	2	12	48	3	1	21	79	0.226	0.267	0.342	70	156	0	3	4	6	9
1993	34	102	331	40	81	20	1	14	50	1	3	21	87	0.245	0.300	0.438	93	145	2	7	0	8	5
1994	35	90	327	53	94	15	3	12	57	0	2	19	63	0.287	0.328	0.462	98	151	1	3	3	2	9
1995	36	137	514	76	134	27	0	35	96	3	3	47	91	0.261	0.329	0.518	114	266	3	6	6	8	7
1996	37	141	522	71	143	27	4	23	80	2	2	35	97	0.274	0.326	0.473	108	247	4	5	6	8	10
1997	38	148	502	63	126	24	1	17	69	7	3	36	88	0.251	0.305	0.404	85	203	4	6	3	6	20
1998	39	128	434	60	122	34	1	19	70	1	1	43	62	0.281	0.356	0.495	122	215	1	4	2	10	12
1999	40	113	280	22	57	9	1	9	46	0	1	21	51	0.204	0.260	0.339	46	95	0	5	0	2	5
2000	41	5	10	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0.000	0.000	0.000	-100	0	0	1	0	0	0
Twins		1361	4989	646	1276	252	25	201	758	74	44	358	877	0.256	0.307	0.437		2181	15	59	30	38	146	132.7
After Twins		1146	3962	484	1004	191	14	159	583	22	21	276	725	0.253	0.308	0.429		1700	17	45	27	58	90
Career		2507	8951	1130	2280	443	39	360	1341	96	65	634	1602	0.255	0.308	0.434	96	3881	32	104	57	96	236

Gary Gaetti was drafted by the Twins in the first round (#11 overall) in the secondary phase of the 1979 amateur draft. Secondary phase? Yes. Back then, the draft had a regular phase and a secondary phase. The regular phase covered players who’d never been drafted; the secondary phase was for players who had been drafted in the past, but had gone to college instead of signing. There was also a January draft and a June draft. The January draft was for jucos and college dropouts. Gaetti had been drafted in January 1978 in the fourth round by the St. Louis Cardinals, but he didn’t sign. He was then drafted in June 1978 in the secondary phase by the Chicago White Sox in the 3rd round, but didn’t sign. The third time was the charm, as he signed with the Twins on June 21, 1979.

I’m not sure why Gaetti was eligible for the January 1978 draft. He was not a college dropout, nor was he a juco. Nevertheless, after three seasons of college baseball at Northwest Missouri State (where he is a Hall of Famer), Gaetti entered the Twins organization.

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	Level	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1979	Elizabethton	App	21	Min	Rk	66	230	5	59	15	2	14	42	6	43	40	0.257	.377	0.522	*899
1980	Wisconsin	Midw	22	Min	A	138	503	77	134	27	3	22	82	24	67	120	0.266	.357	0.463	*820
1981	Orlando	Sou	23	Min	AA	137	495	92	137	19	2	30	93	15	58	105	0.277	.357	0.505	*862

The Twins were excited by Chris Parmelee’s performance at the rookie league level in 2006. Parmelee clubbed 8 home runs in 154 at bats. Gaetti, by comparison, clubbed 14 home runs in 230 at bats. Of course, Parmalee was 18 and Gaetti 21, but nevertheless, Gaetti showed from the beginning that he was going to be a player. The next season, Gaetti sent 22 souvenirs into the outfield seats at single A Wisconsin. In 1981, Gaetti started in AA Orlando and belted 30 home runs in 495 at bats. He struck out at a high rate and his batting average wasn’t all that great, but the G had power. And he was about to show the Twins that power.

Gary Gaetti got called up at the end of a disastrous 1981 campaign. The season was marred by a player’s strike that resulted in a split season. The Twins were atrocious in 1981, going 17-39 in the first half and 24-29 in the second half for a total of 41-68, which projects to 61-101 record over a full season. It was also the last season in the old Metropolitan Stadium. In just over 2/3 of a full season, the Twins drew just 469,090 fans, last in the American League. That projects out to about 697,000 fans. Things were bleak. But, the makings of a resurgence were happening. In addition to Gaetti, the Twins called up Kent Hrbek that summer. The two would be buddies and cornerstones of a World Championship.

On September 20, 1981, Gary Gaetti debuted for the Twins, playing third base and batting seventh in Arlington, Texas. Gaetti approached the plate as a Twin for the first time in the top of the second inning with Dave Engle on first base. Gaetti clubbed a home run off of Charlie Hough. Gaetti would show a knack for homering in initial plate appearances. The G played eight more games in 1981 and struggled as the curtain was drawn on an era of Twins baseball.

The next regular season game played in Twins history was played in the strange environs of the newly completed Metrodome. The first season of the dome featured no baggie in right field a springy carpet that you could dribble a baseball like a basketball on and the startling revelation that the roof was nearly the same color as the ball. The Metrodome also featured the worst team in the American League. The 1982 Twins finished 60-102, marking the only season that the Twins would finish with more than 100 losses. But, that first game was a doozy. In Gaetti’s first at bat, he laced a triple in the second inning and was out trying to stretch it into an inside the park home run. He then hit a three run homer in the fourth and a solo shot to lead off the seventh. In three at bats in the Metrodome, Gaetti was hitting 1.000/1.000/3.667/4.667. Gaetti added an eighth inning single, going 4-4 with two home runs and a near inside the parker. Of course, the Twins lost the game 11-7, but Gaetti represented hope for the franchise. In just the 10th game of his career, he had one of the most memorable games ever played by a Twins player. I remember talking to one of my uncles about the game and he told me that fellow rookie Hrbek was going to be the star, but that Gaetti was an exciting player.

That proved to be true of course, and Gaetti’s rookie season paled in compared to Hrbek’s, as the G-Man hit just .230/.280/.443 for an OPS+ of 93 and a VORP of 3.1. He did the one thing that he really did well and that was to hit home runs. Gaetti clubbed 25 home runs in his first full season, but he walked just 37 times and struck out over 100 times. (Kind of reminds me of the types of numbers a certain former third baseman that played for the Twins not so long ago.) So, the 23 year old rookie was barely over a replacement level player on a team that was essentially playing at a replacement level collectively. Still, Gaetti was fifth in the Rookie of the Year balloting, trailing Cal Ripken, Hrbek, Wade Boggs and Ed Vande Berg (which of these guys didn’t belong?).

The Twins trudged along in the mid 1980s and save for a 81-81 record in 1984, which was good enough for second in the AL West, but would have been just sixth in the East. Gaetti provided little more than home runs (and then, only 5 in 1984) through 1985. But, things were about to change.

Gaetti burst out in 1986. He hit .287/.347/.518 (OPS+ 130) with a Twins career high 34 home runs and 108 RBI. He also won the first of four consecutive Gold Gloves (and they weren’t the Derek Jeter kind – he was a good fielder). He had a Fielding Runs Above Replacement of 38 in 1986, which was pretty consistent with his overall performance. He had a VORP of 39.7 and a career-high WARP3 of 9.5 in 1986. He was 16th in the MVP balloting that year.

Gaetti’s play in 1987 was not up to his 1986 level. He regressed at the plate, hitting .257/.303/.485 with an OPS+ of 101. His fielding numbers were down, too. He won the Gold Glove, but for the only time in his Twins career, his Fielding Runs Above Average was negative. Every other complete season he had a FRAA in excess of 10. His VORP was just 14.9 and his WARP was 5.0. But, the Twins improved from 71-91 to 85-77 and won the AL West. Gaetti improved to a career high 10th in the AL MVP voting. Imagine that. The baseball writers rewarded Gaetti for team performance when his own performance slipped markedly. What’s more ridiculous is that Gaetti’s buddy Kent Hrbek hit .285/.389/.545 with a VORP of 39.7 and finished 16th in the balloting.

The Twins clinched the AL West and proceeded to lose their last six games. Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers were locked in a death match in a thrilling AL East race. The Tigers, just three years removed from their mammoth 1984 World Championship season, were trailing the Blue Jays by 3 1/2 games on September 26th after losing the first three games in a four game series against the Jays. The Blue Jays were 96-59 and the Tigers were 92-62. Toronto would not win another game the rest of the season. The Tigers won the last game of the series on the 28th. The Brewers then swept the Jays while the Tigers split four with the Orioles. The two teams met in a showdown series to end the season in Detroit. The Tigers won the first game behind their latest addition, Doyle Alexander, who was acquired in a trade deadline swap with the Atlanta Braves for some guy named John Smoltz, who got a famous no-decision in the 7th game of the 1991 World Series. Alexander improved to 9-0 (he was 5-10 for the woeful Braves) on that day and pulled the Tigers into a tie for the division lead. The next day, the Tigers won in 12 innings on a “hit” by Alan Trammell (the ball went right through the shortstop’s legs) and clinched the division on the final day with a 1-0 win.

The Detroit fans felt that Trammell would be the MVP and that their Tigers were going to return to the World Series. Wrong, and wrong. (Trammell had a 96.6 VORP but lost the award to George Bell and his 60.6 VORP. Stupid voters.) In fact, no one gave the Twins much of a chance. Detroit won 13 more games, had a veteran and post-season tested crew. They’d taken eight of twelve from the Twins during the regular season. Hell, the Twins had been outscored by 20 runs over the course of the season. This series was going to be a cake walk.

That’s where Mr. Gaetti comes in.

In game one, Alexander started the game. In the bottom of the second inning, Gaetti, he of the home run in his first major league at bat (he has the most career home runs of any player ever to hit one in his first at bat, 360) and the ridiculous, almost three homer game in the first game played in the Metrodome, strolled to the plate for his first post season at bat in a scoreless. He greeted Alexander with, what else?, a home run. He repeated the feat in his next at bat in the fifth inning to tie the game at two and start a three run rally. The Tigers would take the lead in the top of the eighth, but the Twins roared back with four in the bottom half of the eighth and there was Gaetti drawing a key walk (where did that come from?). The Twins won the game 8-5 and go on to win the series in five games. Gaetti was named the ALCS MVP and was widely credited as the player who instilled confidence in his team that allowed the Twins to overcome the mighty Tigers. It’s hard to say whether that’s true. But, when Twins fans from that era remember the 1987 World Champion Twins, that two homer game by Gaetti in game one is certainly looked upon as the key to starting what was a rout of the Tigs. Gaetti had a respectable World Series and he fielded the last ground ball and threw it to his buddy Hrbek for the final out. That was a fitting end to an improbable climb to the mountain top.

Gaetti was a free agent after the 1987 season and signed again with the Twins. I believe that he signed a 2 year, $4 million contract. Gaetti responded with a stellar 1988 campaign. The defending World Champions were a much better team in 1988, although their window of opportunity had passed, as the Oakland A’s had assembled a massively talented team that would win the AL West and American League for the next three seasons. Nevertheless, Twins fans were treated to an excellent team and Gaetti was a key part of it. Gaetti hit .301/.353/.551 and had a career high 48.3 VORP. He had a career high .312 EqA and an 8.5 WARP3 in just 133 games. However, Gaetti’s play was about to decline. Injuries limited Gaetti to 130 games in 1989, and his play slipped dramatically. By 1990, Gaetti had slipped to .229/.274/.376 and sub replacement level.

Something else had happened as well. Gaetti had become a born-again Christian. The Rat, who had been, as his wikipedia entry says, “a hard-drinking baseball player interested primarily in the game, booze and cheap women” was now a born-again, and, I seem to remember, rather vocal about it. His buddy Hrbek, whom he had once paid tribute to by displaying a message of “TRex” on hit batting glove during his All-Star introduction, had cooled toward the G. Not only was Gaetti's play declining, but he was no longer in good graces with the big guy on the other side of the diamond. When Gaetti left the Twins after the 1990 season to sign with the California Angels, the Twins plugged in Scott Leius and Mike Pagliarulo at third base and won another World Championship.

It seemed, at the time, that maybe Gaetti was heading toward the end. However, Gaetti was only at about the midpoint of his career. The Rat would play into his 40s, and play almost as many games after leaving the Twins at the age of 31 than he did before. He never played at the level that he did from 1986-88, but in 1995, he hit a career high 35 home runs and won his only silver slugger for the Chicago Cubs at the age of 36. He also hit .281/.356/.495 for the NL Wild Card winning Cubs. During my research, I found that Gaetti’s 35 total of home runs at the age of 36 was noted on a web site entitled “Baseball’s Steroid Era”.

Gaetti’s numbers weren’t that spectacular as a Twin. He logged several substandard seasons at the beginning and the end of his Twins tenure. In fact, his Marginal Lineup Value at a Twin was negative, suggesting that overall he was a below average player. When you consider that he logged a total of just 1.2 VORP more as a Twin than Larry Hisle in 2695 more plate appearances, it should be clear that he wasn’t an elite player, he just played for the Twins a long time. But, he had some pretty spectacular seasons from 1986-88 and he will always be a fan favorite for his style of play and most importantly, for his role in the team that went from the dregs of the league to World Champions in five years. So, he may be a little overrated, but then again, he also had impeccable timing.

Gary Gaetti will inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame on August 19, 2007. Is he the most deserving player not yet inducted? Probably not, but I'll go if I can and cheer for my guy.