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Written by Jim Amato
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Saturday, 05 July 2008 |
The Cuban Versalles broke in with the Washington Senators in 1959. When the Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961 Versalles became their starting shortstop. An outstanding fielder, Zoilo also became an adept hitter From 1962 through 1965 Versalles posted double digits in home runs ( 17, 10, 20, 19 ). In 1965 Versalles put together a season that would help the Twins win the American League pennant and garner him the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Surrounded by stars like Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva and Bob Allison, Zoilo proved to be the spark plug of the club. He hit 19 HR's and had 77 RBI's while batting at a .273 clip. He also swiped 27 bases.
Zoilo's numbers would drop over the next two seasons and in 1968 he went to the Dodgers. In 1969 he played for Cleveland and Washington. Versalles finished his career after playing for the Braves in 1970. In 1,265 career games played at shortstop, Versalles had a fine .956 fielding average. He was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall Of Fame in 2006.
On a final note...Versalles 1961 TOPPS baseball card ( # 27 ) lists his first name as Zorro.
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