Twins to induct Terry Ryan, Rick Stelmaszek into club Hall of Fame
The same week one Minnesota Twins legend was sent to Cooperstown, two other longtime members of the club have been elected to the team’s Hall of Fame.
Former Twins general manager Terry Ryan and former coach Rick Stelmaszek were announced Friday as the next members of the Twins Hall of Fame.
Our Joe Schmit spoke with Ryan at a luncheon at Target Field on Friday.
***Click the video box above to watch Ryan’s reaction to entering Twins Hall of Fame***
They’ll become the 39th and 40th members of the club’s Hall when they’re inducted on Aug. 10 before the Twins vs. Guardians game.
“The Minnesota Twins would not be the organization we are today without the enduring legacies of Terry Ryan and Rick Stelmaszek,” Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter said. “Terry’s footprint is still felt within our organization and his impact across various aspects of baseball operations, from scouting and beyond, is evident in every club he led. Similarly, ‘Stelly’ helped guide generations of Twins pitchers to greatness over more than three decades coaching in our organization, and his legacy endures in each new wave of Twins players who train on the practice field at Lee Health Sports Complex that bears his name.”
The organization created its Hall of Fame in 2000 as part of the celebration of its 40th season. It now honors the players, managers, coaches and off-field personnel who have played crucial roles for the club, with last year’s inductee being Joe Mauer.
Ryan fits that bill, having served as the architect of Minnesota’s division-winning teams of the 2000s during his first stint as general manager from 1994-2007. He served in the role again from 2011-2016. Prior to becoming a general manager, Ryan was drafted by the Twins in the 35th round of the 1972 MLB Draft and pitched in the minor-league system for four seasons. After getting into scouting with the New York Mets in 1980, he joined the Twins as scouting director in 1986, a role he held until 1991, when he was elevated to vice president of player personnel.
The Twins won four division titles during his time as general manager, including three straight from 2002-2004. He was inducted into the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014.
Stelmaszek spent 32 years as a Twins coach from 1981-2012 after landing in the team’s minor-league system in 1978. He is still the longest-tenured coach in team history and has the third-longest coaching stint with a single club in baseball history.
The longtime bullpen coach was known for his unparalleled sense of humor, knack for storytelling and passion for Twins baseball, and mentored decades of Twins pitchers, including fellow Twins Hall of Famers in closers Rick Aguilera, Eddie Guardado and Joe Nathan.
Stelmaszek died in 2017, the same year he was awarded the club’s Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award.