One of Kent Hrbek's favorite photos is of him and his agent, Ron Simon. Both are sitting behind a table during a news conference with matching grins the day that the Twins first baseman inked a five-year, $5.9 million contract that was groundbreaking at the time.
In 1980, Nolan Ryan had become the first baseball player to earn $1 million in a season. St. Paul native Dave Winfield cashed in later that year, signing a 10-year contract with the Yankees that eventually paid him $23 million.
The movement hit this market Feb. 12, 1985, when Hrbek's deal was consummated, making him the first million dollar athlete on a Minnesota team at the age of 24.
It's little wonder why Hrbek's and Simon's pearly whites were big and bright that day.
"I've got that picture on a wall in my basement," said Hrbek, who also mocked the mustache he wore at the time. "One of the only few newspaper articles I hung on the wall."
Angels star Mike Trout was scheduled to earn $36 million this season before the coronavirus swept the globe and forced spectator sports to shut down. That means he would have made just over $1.1 million every five games — a stunning reflection of how the game has grown since Hrbek's era.
Minnesota Firsts: The rest of the series coming this week
But Hrbek didn't care about being a trailblazer after batting .311 with 27 homers and 107 RBI in 1984 and finishing second in AL MVP voting to Detroit reliever Willie Hernandez. Born in Minneapolis and raised in Bloomington, he just wanted to remain in the Twin Cities, play baseball, drink beer and fish.
Hrbek and Simon were days away from heading to arbitration, with Hrbek requesting a $1.1 million salary for 1985. But the sides were working on something more substantial.
