There's a new name being added to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame later this summer.
"Please join me in congratulating Cory Koskie in his election as the 41st member of the Twins Hall of Fame," Minnesota Twins president Dave St. Peter announced Friday afternoon.
The former Twins third baseman will be the newest member of the Twins Hall of Fame after playing seven seasons with the club and helping them win three division titles in his time in Minnesota.
Koskie says it's an honor to stand alongside so many other Twins greats.
"Joe (Mauer) and Justin (Morneau) and Rod (Carew) and Harmon (Killebrew) and Tony (Oliva), and I'm inducted to this? So there's a little bit of like, hey, like these guys are from my view like these really special players," Koskie told WCCO at the annual Twins Media Luncheon at Target Field. "To be kind of put in the same breath of them, it is incredibly honoring and humbling."
Koskie says he owes a lot of his playing success to the fans who would support the team no matter what, often showing up in the coldest temperatures just to greet the team outside the Metrodome.
"And I always made an effort to go there and say, 'look, if they're gonna sit here and wait, somebody should sign for this,' because it's freezing out here," Koskie remembers of those opening day breakfast on the plaza days outside the Metrodome. "Wo we go down and we sign it because at the end of the day the game is about the fans. I know that we're quote-unquote entertainers, but like if the fans didn't come watch the game, there would be nothing to the game."
Koskie will be officially inducted during the Twins Hall of Fame Weekend before the game against Detroit on August 17 at Target Field.
“For more than two decades, Corey Koskie’s presence and impact have been felt across Twins Territory, embodying what it means to be a Minnesota Twin through his leadership and community stewardship,” St. Peter said. “Corey was a clubhouse leader, a critical offensive catalyst and one of the best defensive third basemen in club history on several of the most important Minnesota Twins teams of the last 25 years. Post-career, he became a community leader, an annual presence in support of the Twins Community Fund and occasionally joined his family on local town ball fields.”
A native of Anola, Manitoba, CanadaKoskie was selected by the Twins in the 26th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and made his major league debut for Minnesota in 1998.
hit .280 (781-for-2788) with 180 doubles, 13 triples, 101 home runs, 437 RBI, 66 stolen bases, 385 walks, 438 runs scored and an .836 OPS in 816 games over seven seasons in a Minnesota uniform. His .280 average and .966 career fielding percentage lead all Twins third basemen.
In addition to his skill on the field, Koskie is a fixture in the Twin Cities community, living in the area since his playing days, raising his family here and even joining his four sons on the town ball fields every now and then. He continues to donate his time and energy to the Minnesota Twins Community Fund, previously serving as a board member and signing autographs at TwinsFest.