Biography:
Kent Hrbek was born on May 21, 1960 in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. He grew up in the shadows of the old Metropolitan
Stadium in Bloomington and was destined to become
a Minnesota Twin. The big kid who played the game
as hard as anyone and had more fun than most is certainly
a Minnesota Twin “great.”
A true hometown boy, Kent attended Kennedy High School
in Bloomington, Minnesota. He graduated in 1978 and
was the Twins 17th round draft choice. He then played
in the minor California League where he hit .379,
the best among all pro hitters in 1981. He got called
up to the majors in 1981 where he got the opportunity
to play briefly in his backyard at Met Stadium in
Bloomington before the Twins moved into the Minneapolis
Metrodome in 1982.
Kent Hrbek played fourteen seasons for the Minnesota
Twins at first base. Fans nicknamed him "Herbie"
and knew him as an outstanding defensive player and
a perennial slugger, as well as being charismatic
and often chewing bubble gum. He treated Twins fans
to much excitement from the day he donned a Twins
uniform homering in the 12th inning at Yankee Stadium
to give the Twins a win on August 24, 1981, until
the last game of his career, August 10, 1994, when
he came up with the bases loaded three times against
Boston as the fans were on their feet every at-bat.
He hit the first home run in the Hubert H. Humphrey
Metrodome on April 3, 1982 in an exhibition game against
the Phillies. As a rookie he garnered his only All-Star
selection, batting .301 with 23 home runs and 92 RBIs.
He also finished second to Cal Ripken, Jr. in the
AL Rookie of the Year vote. For years afterwards he
provided a consistent left-handed power bat and developed
into a reliable fielder at first base.
In 1984 he won the Twins MVP after driving in a personal
best 107 runs, and by 1987 he was the senior member
of the club. In the ‘87 season he hit a career
best 34 home runs and much to fans delight, he hit
20 of them in the dome en route to an AL West division
title. He added a solo home run vs. Detroit in game
two of the ALCS. Then in game six, he hit a grand
slam, only the 14th grand slam ever in World Series
history to be hit in game six. The Twins won the series
the next day to complete an improbable championship
run.
In 1991, while batting .284 with 20 home runs and
84 RBIs, Kent Hrbek helped Minnesota rise from a last-place
finish the season before to their second World Series
title in five years, defeating Atlanta in another
seven-game set. He hit a big home run to help the
club's game one victory. His most memorable contribution
came during the series in game two, when he snuffed
out a Braves' rally with a bit of first base trickery.
After singling Lonnie Smith to third base with two
outs and Atlanta down by a run in the top of the third,
Ron Gant scrambled to beat a throw back to first base.
Although Gant reached the bag safely, he was struggling
to keep his balance when Kent subtly pushed his leg
off the base and applied a tag. The umpire called
Ron out, citing forward progress would have caused
him to step off the bag, even though most spectators
claimed Kent Hrbek's move was deliberate. When the
series moved to Atlanta, Braves fans jeered him excessively,
and Kent received much hate mail, including a death
threat.
Kent’s bat had turned stale after his homerun
in game 1, but he continued to be hot defensively.
In game 7, with the score still tied 0-0 in the 8th
inning, he executed a very uncommon 3-2-3 bases-loaded
double play with catcher Brian Harper that saved the
Twins against the Braves' biggest threat of the game.
The Twins eventually won the game 1-0 in dramatic
fashion, with Gene Larkin smashing a bases-loaded
single to center field that scored Dan Gladden in
the bottom of the 10th inning.
Kent experienced frequent injuries, though seldom
was serious, and decided to retire after the players
strike prematurely ended the 1994 season. Despite
operating in the same lineup as Kirby Puckett for
all but two years of his career, and his long and
close association with Kirby, Kent Hrbek's numbers
never approached those of the famous Puckett, and
it is generally agreed that Kent’s career, while
long and productive, was not Baseball Hall of Fame
material.
Kent still had plenty to brag about with batting
championship skills, the burly, sometimes overweight
Hrbek sacrificed some batting average for power, but
also exhibited great discipline at the plate through
his career. For a power hitter, he posted surprisingly
low strikeout totals, never fanning more than 87 times
in a season.
