The shortest players in Twins history

03/25/2025 04:00 PM

There'd have been many more if I'd included ex-Senators.

After going over the tallest Twins, the obvious complement is to review those of shorter stature. (As a short guy myself — five foot three — I'm rooting for this team.)

Kirby Puckett, arguably the greatest player in Twins history, was 5'8", as is current catcher Christian Vázquez. So let's knock off an inch and only go over those five-seven or shorter.

(In fact, all players below are 5'7", meaning that AAA prospect Payton Eeles, at 5'5", could become the shortest player if he cracks the big club.)

Jackie Collum, SP/RP

(1962)

The only pitcher on this list, Collum pitched from 1951 to 1958 before being out of the bigs for three seasons. Upon joining Minnesota, he only pitched in eight games for the Twins with an 11.15 ERA over 15.1 innings before the team traded him to Cleveland in August. He made one appearance for his new club, his last in the majors, allowing four hits and two runs in 1.1 innings.

Sergio Ferrer, IF

(1974-75)

A backup infielder, Ferrer appeared in 56 games over his two seasons in Minnesota. At the plate, he was good for speed and little else regularly, slashing .261/.322/.326 before being traded to Philadelphia after the 1975 season. Ferrer only played two more seasons in the majors, spending 1978 and '79 with the Mets and appearing in 49 more games. Of his 43 career hits, four were triples.

Jarvis Brown, OF

(1991-92)

Brown spent his five-year career as a reserve outfielder and pinch runner, starting with the team that drafted him in the first round: Minnesota. He debuted in 1991 and is probably best known for being the player Gene Larkin pinch-hit for in the final at-bat of that year's World Series (Brown had pinch-run for Chili Davis in the ninth inning). Across his two seasons in Minnesota, Brown only tallied nine hits, ending his career with 46 tallies and a .203/.303/.282 slash line; he later coached in the organization.

Quinton McCracken, OF

(2001)

Only 24 games of McCracken's 12-year career came as a member of the Twins. In those games, he came to the plate 70 times, netting 14 hits and five walks. McCracken still spent five more years in the majors, ending his career with 999 games played.

...now to figure out how to OOTP-tournament all this. In the meantime, we've got a season to watch and a team to cheer for.