Doug Mientkiewicz - Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

In 2001, Mientkiewicz was awarded the starting first base job for the Twins, and responded by batting .306 with fifteen home runs and 74 RBIs (all career highs) while earning the American League Gold Glove award for top defensive first baseman.

His numbers dipped in 2002, however, he reached the post season for the first time in his career, and hit two home runs in the 2002 American League Division Series against the Oakland Athletics. The Twins battled the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals for the division crown all season long in 2003.

Mientkiewicz drew the ire of the ChiSox and their fans by suggesting that the All Star Game, that was scheduled to be played at U.S. Cellular Field on July 15, be moved to a different venue after a fan attacked umpire Laz Diaz during an April 15 game between the White Sox and Royals. Chicago White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams shot back that Mientkiewicz should not worry about the game’s location because he would not be there.

The fans booed Mientkiewicz the first time he and the Twins came to U.S. Cellular Field on April 25, and cheered White Sox starter Mark Buehrle for hitting Mientkiewicz with a pitch during his first at-bat.

Following a mid-September three game sweep over the White Sox at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome that gave the Twins a 3.5 game lead in the American League Central, Mientkiewicz again got himself in the crosshairs by commenting in a postgame television interview, "They're done," about his division rivals. The Twins ended up winning the division by four games over the ChiSox, but were eliminated by the New York Yankees in the 2003 American League Division Series.