So, in my post-grid research today, digging into the players who played for both the Dodgers and Giants and stumbled upon another “what could have been for the Twins” when I landed upon Reggie Smith. I clicked on his profile to see which teams he’d played for, having long ago memories of him being an intimidating, home run hitter with a reputation for being a clubhouse leader. Turns out, the Twins signed him out of HS in ‘63 and was then drafted six months later by the Red Sox in an antiquated first year players draft that was designed to temper the bonus signings given to prospects (no doubt something supported by Calvin Griffith).
He emerged in ‘67 for the BoSox, finishing second in ROY to Sir Rodney Carew and aiding the BoSox to win one of the all-time great pennant races (with the Twins finishing a game back). From then through the ‘70s Smith was a stalwart for the BoSox, Cardinals, and Dodgers. Meanwhile, while Smith was emerging, the Twins had Ted Uhleander, Brant Alyea, and Jim Holt patrolling the outfield as the dominant Twins teams of the ‘60s faded in the early ‘70s. Smith finished his career with 64.6 WAR, 7 All Star appearances, 315 HR’s.
A couple months ago I posited the opportunity the Twins had to ride a Luis Tiant-Bert Blyleven-Jim Kaat rotation through much of the ‘70’s; I felt there was a lot of blame that could be directed towards poor decisions on that one, but I can’t imagine you can fault the Twins too much for losing Smith six months into his pro career at the tender age of 18. But you can imagine how Carew and Smith (and hell, Graig Nettles if the Tiant trade had never happened) could have carried a potent Twins lineup through the’70s.
sabr.org