Koskie to be inducted into Twins HOF

Winnipeg

Elmwood

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/06/2025 (340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite the strained relations between Canada and the United States, a number of Manitoba baseball fans will no doubt be at Target Field in Minneapolis on Sunday, Aug. 17. The Minnesota Twins are hosting the Detroit Tigers and a highlight of the afternoon will be the induction of Anola’s Corey Koskie into the club’s Hall of Fame.

Koskie was born in 1973 and, according to his Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame biography, he got his start with the Elmwood Giants in 1989. In 1992, with the Giants junior squad, he was the Manitoba Junior League batting champion and named rookie of the year.

Koskie was a multi-sport athlete, who played goal for the Selkirk Steelers of the MJHL at age 17, and volleyball for Manitoba at the national level. He focused on baseball once he earned a scholarship to play at Boone College in Iowa.

Koskie was selected in the 26th round of the 1994 major league baseball draft and began his pro career in the Gulf Coast League. He joined the Twins in September 1998 and appeared in 834 regular season and playoff games through 2004.The third baseman had a .280 batting average and hit 101 home runs for the Twins. In 2001, Koskie had a very impressive season with 26 home runs, 103 runs batted in, and 27 stolen bases. He later played for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2005 and Milwaukee Brewers in 2006 before retiring. He and his family make their home in the Twin Cities.

The honours kept coming for Koskie. In 1999, 2001, and 2006, he was named Manitoba Male Athlete of the Year by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. His induction into the provincial baseball shrine in Morden, Man., took place in 2011. Two years later he was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and in 2015, he became an honoured member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. That summer’s induction class included former Blue Jay Carlos Delgado, Matt Stairs from Fredericton, N.B., who played for 13 teams in the majors between 1992 and 2011, former Montreal Expo Felipe Alou, and the late Expo executive Jim Fanning.

In 1961, the American League Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and the team was renamed Twins in recognition of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. From 1961 until 1981, the home field was the Metropolitan Stadium in the suburban community of Bloomington south of the two competing cities. In 1982, the Twins moved to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. The covered stadium was not a great place to enjoy a summer baseball game, but the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 while calling it home. Fans were thrilled when the excellent Target Field was constructed several blocks north and opened in 2010.

When Koskie enters the Twins HOF in August, he will be the 41st individual to be honoured since it was formed in 2000. He and Gary Gaetti are the only regular third basemen to be recognized. In addition to players, the Hall includes managers, executives and broadcasters. The first class included National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted players Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Kirby Puckett and owner Calvin Griffith. The fifth player was Kent Hrbek, a Bloomington product, who was the first baseman on the World Series champion teams. Pitchers Bert Blyleven and Jim Kaat and catcher Joe Mauer are other Twins in the National HOF.

Koskie is arguably our province’s greatest baseball player. The one player who might compete for that honour is Brandon-born Russ Ford, the first Canadian to win 20 games in a major league season. He accomplished that in 1910 when he won 26 games for the New York Highlanders of the American League. The next season, he won 22 games and pitched for the AL in a benefit game that was baseball’s first unofficial all-star contest. When Ford was inducted into the Manitoba Sports HOF in 2002, this columnist, who had researched his history, had the honour of accepting for him. The Ford family had moved to the US when Russ was a young boy and the Hall couldn’t find any family members.