Gardy, Gladden, Tovar elected to Twins HOF

MINNEAPOLIS -- The two men stood mere feet from each other on Oct. 27, 1991, on the precipice of the greatest moment in Minnesota Twins history. Dan Gladden waited at third base at the Metrodome as Gene Larkin's drive soared to left field, securing Minnesota's walk-off victory in Game 7 of the World Series. He waited for third-base coach Ron Gardenhire's call to tag up.

Gladden took off for home, bound for the celebration and all the associated photos -- even one that ended up on a Wheaties box. Gardenhire took off ... in the opposite direction.

"I ran the wrong way," Gardenhire says. "I ran the doggone wrong way. I should have ran to home plate with him, jumping up with him. I went to [Commissioner] Fay Vincent, I think it was, and I gave him a handshake."

"One of his biggest regrets is that he didn't come home with me off the base hit," Gladden said.

Not a Hall of Fame moment for Gardenhire -- but the Twins didn't hold that against him as they prepare to welcome the longtime skipper, Gladden and César Tovar to the Twins Hall of Fame this summer, as announced by the club on Thursday morning.

The Twins will honor the three men as the 35th, 36th and 37th members of the club's Hall of Fame in pregame ceremonies before their scheduled home games against the Texas Rangers on Aug. 20-21 as part of their annual Hall of Fame Weekend celebration. It will mark the first induction class of at least three people since the Twins' inaugural class of six in 2000, and all three occupy very different -- but meaningful -- places in club history.

Tovar, the do-it-all sparkplug who played all around the diamond and hit atop the lineup for the early Twins, has finally reached the culmination of a years-long push for inclusion. Gardenhire coached with the Twins for 24 seasons, including 13 as a fan-favorite manager, winning the American League Central six times. Gladden played for both World Series championship teams in 1987 and '91, scoring the walk-off run in Game 7 in his final on-field appearance for the Twins in '91, before embarking on his ongoing 22-year career in the Minnesota radio booth.

"The Minnesota Twins are thrilled about the election of Ron Gardenhire, Dan Gladden and César Tovar to the Twins Hall of Fame," Twins president Dave St. Peter said in a statement. "All three are most deserving of this honor, and their impact -- from the dugout to the broadcast booth and beyond -- in the Twins organization and across Twins Territory has been felt for generations."

Gladden and Tovar were elected by a 67-person committee that included local and national media, club officials, fans and past elected members of the Twins Hall of Fame. Gardenhire earned his spot through a smaller "Veterans' Committee" featuring Twins Hall of Famers, Twins executives and local baseball historians.

Tovar, who died in 1994, debuted with the '65 team that delivered Minnesota its first AL pennant. He established himself as a versatile threat for eight years, earning AL Most Valuable Player Award votes in five of those seasons. He topped out at seventh in MVP voting in '67, led the AL in doubles and triples in '70 and led the league in hits in '71. He remains third on the Twins' all-time list in stolen bases (186), seventh in triples (55) and 11th in hits (1,164).

There's no better way to recognize Tovar's versatility than to note that he's one of five players in AL/NL history to play all nine positions in one game, as he accomplished the feat on Sept. 22, 1968, against the Oakland A's.

"We just kept telling ourselves, 'Well, maybe next year. Maybe next year or the next time,'" said Nancy Jones, Tovar's daughter, who represented the late ballplayer on a Zoom call. "We didn’t really reflect too much on it, and just are thankful that when we got the call and information that it is happening this year. Just overall thankful that he can finally get the recognition that he deserves."

Gardenhire, known universally around Twins Territory as "Gardy," never played in the big leagues with the Twins but carved out a beloved tenure in their dugout that began with his role as Minnesota's third-base coach in 1991. He stood beside Gladden as the pair waited for Gene Larkin's 10th-inning walk-off knock to drop in Game 7 of the Fall Classic that season and he took over for his mentor, Tom Kelly, as manager in 2002, wasting no time winning three straight division titles.

"When [Kelly] told me he was going to step down, it kind of rocked my world because I just thought he should manage forever," Gardenhire said. "But he recommended that I get a chance. [General manager] Terry Ryan had my back, so I got a chance to manage, and we had a heck of a baseball team at the time. [Kelly] built a good one, and we took off and ran with it as long as we could run."

Displaying the fiery passion that would often bubble over in an umpire's direction and coaching countless fan favorite players and "Piranhas" amid one of the club's most successful runs in the mid-to-late 2000s, Gardenhire carried the club over the finish line of the Metrodome era as he accumulated 1,068 wins, the second-most in club history, as part of the second-longest managerial tenure in Twins history.

Gardenhire went on to manage the Tigers for three seasons before he retired for medical reasons in 2020.

Gladden is one of seven players who played for both World Series championship clubs in '87 and '91, making the most of his five-year tenure in Minnesota sandwiched between stints in San Francisco and Detroit. He slashed .268/.318/.382 with 38 homers, 117 doubles and 116 stolen bases with the Twins, and will forever be remembered for that leadoff hustle double in the 10th inning of Game 7 in the '91 World Series that put him in position to score the walk-off run.

The "Dazzle Man" remains a consistent presence in the lives of Minnesota fans, as he joined the Twins' radio broadcast booth in 2000 and just completed his 19th season as a full-time analyst. He is the fifth-longest tenured radio or television broadcaster in club history.

"I think that anybody just wants an opportunity just to sign a professional contract," Gladden said. "I think it's a tribute to the organization and to the player -- for that matter, to the coach, to the manager, because of the hard work and the dedication that you put into your trade, and in particular, one particular organization happens to be the Minnesota Twins."