343:. Griffith stated that it was Rollins' "sincerity and steadiness" on how he handled the position that proved that he could start in the American League. Having got the job, Rollins responded by hitting .486 over the Twins' first 10 games. Playing in 159 games, Rollins finished the season hitting .298 with 16 home runs and 96 RBI, production that would earn him the nickname, at least among his teammates, of
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in his first professional game, which left a significant impact on his baseball career. As a result, despite the embarrassment, it was the main motivation for
Rollins to become a better ballplayer. After hitting .341 with eight home runs and 43 RBI in 62 games, Rollins was promoted to the Single-A
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and also received the most All-Star Game votes of any
American League player, starting both games that year. Rollins represented the Twins well in the games, reaching base three times in six plate appearances and scoring the AL's only run in their 3–1 loss in the July 10 game. Supporting his MVP
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candidacy and All-Star appearances, Rollins finished in the Top 10 in the league in singles (second), plate appearances (third), sacrifice flies (third), hits (sixth), at-bats (sixth), runs (seventh), on-base percentage (seventh), runs batted in (ninth), and batting average (tenth).
384:. While Rollins' glove work would never be as bad (his errors would decrease from 28 to eight over the next four seasons), his results at the plate would also decline, despite an almost-as-good 1963 season (.307, 16 home runs, 61 RBI) despite an early-season broken jaw.
327:. He finished the game 1-for-4 in Minnesota's 6–1 win. Rollins spent the rest of the season with the Twins as a little-used bench player, batting .294 with 3 RBI in 13 games. During spring training, Rollins started in both
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from 1958 to 1960, and hitting .358 in his senior year, Rollins was signed for $ 6,000 as an undrafted free agent by the then
Washington Senators prior to the start of the 1960 season and assigned to the
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While he finished third in assists by third basemen, his 28 errors were the most by any AL third baseman and second most in the league behind
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Soon after his brief stint in
Syracuse, Rollins was promoted to the Twins and made his major league debut on June 16, 1961 against the
407:. These five home runs still stand as a Major League record for the most home runs hit in a single inning, and were hit off starter
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saw
Rollins' potential in third base, and recommended that Rollins should be given the job over more experienced players like
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on May 13, 1970, after starting the season hitting .200 with 5 RBI in 14 games. Rollins was immediately signed by the
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After hitting .270 with four home runs and 16 RBI in 36 early-season games at
Charlotte, he was promoted to Triple-A
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Left exposed to the 1968 expansion draft, Rollins was the 26th pick of the
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647:"Rich Rollins (he's Pie) and Bernie Allen (Ty) are - 05.21.62 - SI Vault"
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Rollins was also compared to former longtime
Senators third baseman
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737:"Retrosheet Boxscore: Minnesota Twins 9, Kansas City Athletics 4"
592:"Minnesota Twins vs Chicago White Sox Box Score: June 16, 1961"
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On June 9, 1966, in the seventh inning of a game against the
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September 26, 1970, for the Cleveland
Indians
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548:"Rich Rollins Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
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June 16, 1961, for the Minnesota Twins
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List of Major League
Baseball annual triples leaders
253:(1970). During a 10-year baseball career, Rollins
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786:Career statistics and player information from
439:at third base, he was released by the infant
234:(born April 16, 1938) is an American former
881:Baseball players from Cuyahoga County, Ohio
851:Kent State Golden Flashes baseball players
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871:People from Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
580:. No. September 1962. pp. 5–8.
710:"1962 American League Fielding Leaders"
574:Gordon, Dick. "In Bludge's Footsteps".
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683:"1962 American League Batting Leaders"
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620:"Rich Rollins 1962 Batting Game Logs"
278:After playing collegiate baseball at
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16:American baseball player (born 1938)
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247:Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers
177:Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers
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435:on October 15. After backing up
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488:. July 20, 1962. Archived from
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365:Rollins finished eighth in the
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659:. May 21, 1962. Archived from
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1:
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331:and third base. Twins owner
204:Career highlights and awards
71:Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
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757:"1968 MLB Expansion Drafts"
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304:to start the 1961 season.
861:Milwaukee Brewers players
846:Cleveland Indians players
831:American League All-Stars
797:Interview of Rich Rollins
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480:"Sport: Who's on Third?"
891:Syracuse Chiefs players
876:People from Parma, Ohio
866:Minnesota Twins players
886:Seattle Pilots players
807:on September 11, 2017.
762:Baseball-Reference.com
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688:Baseball-Reference.com
625:Baseball-Reference.com
597:Baseball-Reference.com
553:Baseball-Reference.com
528:Baseball-Reference.com
389:Kansas City Athletics
302:South Atlantic League
280:Kent State University
241:. He played with the
236:Major League Baseball
523:"Rich Rollins Stats"
492:on September 1, 2009
411:(two) and relievers
313:International League
232:Richard John Rollins
896:Wilson Tobs players
663:on November 4, 2012
274:Minor League career
106:Last MLB appearance
788:Baseball Reference
652:Sports Illustrated
349:Pittsburgh Pirates
445:Cleveland Indians
441:Milwaukee Brewers
325:Chicago White Sox
315:for three games.
298:Charlotte Hornets
251:Cleveland Indians
249:(1969–1970), and
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291:. He hit into a
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367:American League
354:third baseman,
333:Calvin Griffith
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289:Carolina League
287:in the class-B
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243:Minnesota Twins
163:Minnesota Twins
122:Batting average
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437:Tommy Harper
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360:Ossie Bluege
352:Hall of Fame
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319:Twins career
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28:Rich Rollins
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821:1938 births
667:November 4,
421:César Tovar
397:Don Mincher
356:Pie Traynor
293:triple play
285:Wilson Tobs
245:(1961–68),
815:Categories
790:, or
742:Retrosheet
463:References
417:John Wyatt
415:(two) and
401:Tony Oliva
370:MVP voting
341:John Goryl
261:, and 399
61:1938-04-16
792:Fangraphs
329:shortstop
259:home runs
132:Home runs
96:MLB debut
768:March 4,
721:March 4,
694:March 4,
631:March 4,
604:March 4,
451:See also
347:, after
309:Syracuse
213:All-Star
311:in the
300:in the
265:(RBI).
81:Batted:
339:, and
87:Threw:
73:, U.S.
221:1962²
155:Teams
89:Right
83:Right
56:Born:
770:2023
723:2023
696:2023
669:2012
633:2023
606:2023
498:2009
485:TIME
403:and
217:1962
195:1970
185:1970
181:1969
171:1968
167:1961
126:.269
803:at
657:CNN
345:Pie
255:hit
211:2×
146:399
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