Dozier could slug himself into baseball history

He’s hit 39 home runs so far this season, two fewer than the Orioles’ Mark Trumbo, who’s leading the league with 41.

If Dozier takes the home run lead from Trumbo and the Twins lock down the worst record in the league this season, Dozier will be only the second player to achieve that distinction since league expansion in 1961.

In 1968, the Senators won 65 games and lost 96, for the worst record in the majors.

Howard led the majors with 44 home runs that season, eight more than the Giants’ Willie McCovey.

This year, the Twins have lost 20 games in which Dozier homered, including Tuesday night’s 11-5 loss to the Royals, when Dozier hit three over the wall.

In the strike-shortened 1994 season, Tony Gwynn led the majors with 165 total hits while his team, the Padres, won only 47 games, against 70 losses.

Gwynn’s .394 average that season season is the closest any batter has come to hitting .400 since Ted Williams hit .406 for the Red Sox in 1941.

The 2006 and 2007 Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays were dreadful — the worst team in the league two consecutive seasons, before making a tremendous turnaround and playing in the World Series in 2008.

The next season, lefty starter Scott Kazmir recorded 239 strikeouts — oh so close to the league lead.

And there’s Steve Carlton, who won 27 games as a starter for the Phillies in a year when the team won only 59 total games.