[9] After hitting .341 with eight home runs and 43 RBI in 62 games, in 1961, Rollins was promoted to Syracuse Chiefs in the Triple-A International League (IL).

[10] A few weeks into the season, after playing only three games, he was assigned to the Single-A Charlotte Hornets in the South Atlantic League.

[8][3] Rollins was promoted to the Twins and made his major league debut on June 16, 1961 against the Chicago White Sox.

[12] Rollins spent the rest of the season with the Twins as a little-used bench player, batting .294 with 3 RBI in 13 games.

[9] Griffith stated that it was Rollins' "sincerity and steadiness" on how he handled the position that proved that he could start in the American League.

[3][15][4][16][17][12] Supporting his MVP candidacy and All-Star appearances, Rollins finished in the Top 10 in the league in singles (second), plate appearances (third), sacrifice flies (third), hits (sixth), at-bats (sixth), runs (seventh), on-base percentage (seventh), runs batted in (ninth), and batting average (tenth).

[3] While he finished third in assists by third basemen, his 28 errors were the most by any AL third baseman and second most in the league behind Detroit Tigers' infielder Dick McAuliffe.

[20] On June 9, 1966, in the seventh inning of a game against the Kansas City Athletics, Rollins was one of five Twins players to hit home runs.

In addition to his 1963 broken jaw, among other things, he went to the Mayo Clinic before the 1964 season to treat calcium deposits on his hip.

Twins' owner Calvin Griffith convinced Rollins to go for knee treatment at the Mayo Clinic, rather than retire.

In 1969, after leaving the Twins, he had a bad back, and recurrence of knee problems that led to more surgery and the 60-day disabled list.