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1969 Minnesota Twins season

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1969 Minnesota Twins
American League West Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersBilly Martin
TelevisionWTCN-TV
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon)
← 1968 Seasons 1970 →

Led by new manager Billy Martin, the 1969 Minnesota Twins won the newly formed American League West with a 97–65 record, nine games over the second-place Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the first ALCS.

Regular season

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In the first year of divisional play, the Twins won the American League West, led by Rod Carew (.332, his first AL batting title), Tony Oliva (.309, 24 HR, 101 RBI) and league MVP Harmon Killebrew (49 HR, 140 RBI – both league-leading totals). Carew stole home 7 times. Leadoff batter César Tovar was third in the AL with 45 stolen bases. Jim Perry and Dave Boswell each won 20 games, the first and only time a Minnesota club has held two 20-game winners. Reliever Ron Perranoski became the first Twin to lead the AL in saves with 31. Pitcher Jim Kaat won his 8th Gold Glove Award.

In the May 18 loss to Detroit, the Twins stole five bases during the third inning to tie a major league record. Four bases were stolen during Harmon Killebrew's at-bat: César Tovar stole home, and Rod Carew stole second, third and then home.[1]

On June 21 in Oakland, the Twins were tied 3–3 with the A's going into the tenth inning. In the top of the inning, Minnesota scored eleven times, tying a 1928 New York Yankees record. The Twins won the game 14–4.[2]

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Killebrew, second baseman Carew, outfielder Oliva, and catcher John Roseboro. Harmon Killebrew became the second Twin to be named American League Most Valuable Player.

1,349,328 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.

Season standings

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 97 65 .599 57‍–‍24 40‍–‍41
Oakland Athletics 88 74 .543 9 49‍–‍32 39‍–‍42
California Angels 71 91 .438 26 43‍–‍38 28‍–‍53
Kansas City Royals 69 93 .426 28 36‍–‍45 33‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox 68 94 .420 29 41‍–‍40 27‍–‍54
Seattle Pilots 64 98 .395 33 34‍–‍47 30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEP WSH
Baltimore 10–8 6–6 9–3 13–5 11–7 11–1 8–4 11–7 8–4 9–3 13–5
Boston 8–10 8–4 5–7 12–6 10–8 10–2 7–5 11–7 4–8 6–6 6–12
California 6–6 4–8 9–9 8–4 5–7 9–9 7–11 3–9 6–12 9–9–1 5–7
Chicago 3–9 7–5 9–9 8–4 3–9 8–10 5–13 3–9 8–10 10–8 4–8
Cleveland 5–13 6–12 4–8 4–8 7–11 7–5 5–7 9–8 5–7 7–5 3–15
Detroit 7–11 8–10 7–5 9–3 11–7 8–4 6–6 10–8 7–5 10–2 7–11
Kansas City 1–11 2–10 9–9 10–8 5–7 4–8 8–10 5–7–1 8–10 10–8 7–5
Minnesota 4–8 5–7 11–7 13–5 7–5 6–6 10–8 10–2 13–5 12–6 6–6
New York 7–11 7–11 9–3 9–3 8–9 8–10 7–5–1 2–10 6–6 7–5 10–8
Oakland 4–8 8–4 12–6 10–8 7–5 5–7 10–8 5–13 6–6 13–5 8–4
Seattle 3–9 6–6 9–9–1 8–10 5–7 2–10 8–10 6–12 5–7 5–13 7–5
Washington 5–13 12–6 7–5 8–4 15–3 11–7 5–7 6–6 8–10 4–8 5–7


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1969 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C John Roseboro 115 361 95 .263 3 32
1B Rich Reese 132 419 135 .322 16 69
2B Rod Carew 123 458 152 .332 8 56
3B Harmon Killebrew 162 555 153 .276 49 140
SS Leo Cárdenas 160 578 162 .280 10 70
LF Bob Allison 81 189 43 .228 8 29
CF Ted Uhlaender 152 554 151 .273 8 62
RF Tony Oliva 153 637 197 .309 24 101

Other batters

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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
César Tovar 158 535 154 .288 11 52
Graig Nettles 96 225 50 .222 7 26
George Mitterwald 69 187 48 .257 5 13
Charlie Manuel 83 164 34 .207 2 24
Frank Quilici 118 144 25 .174 2 12
Rick Renick 71 139 34 .254 5 17
Tom Tischinski 37 47 9 .191 0 2
Jim Holt 12 14 5 .357 1 2
Cotton Nash 6 9 2 .222 0 0
Ron Clark 5 8 1 .125 0 0
Rick Dempsey 5 6 3 .500 0 0
Frank Kostro 2 2 0 .000 0 0
Herman Hill 16 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jim Perry 46 261.2 20 6 2.82 153
Dave Boswell 39 256.1 20 12 3.23 190
Jim Kaat 40 242.1 14 13 3.49 139
Tom Hall 20 140.2 8 7 3.33 92
Dean Chance 20 88.1 5 4 2.95 50

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bob Miller 48 119.1 5 5 3.02 57
Dick Woodson 44 110.1 7 5 3.67 66
Danny Morris 3 5.1 0 1 5.06 1

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Ron Perranoski 75 9 10 31 2.11 62
Al Worthington 46 9 10 3 4.57 51
Joe Grzenda 38 4 1 3 3.88 24
Jerry Crider 21 1 0 1 4.71 16
Charley Walters 6 0 0 0 5.40 2
Bill Zepp 4 0 0 0 6.75 2
Bucky Brandon 3 0 0 0 2.70 1

Postseason

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The Twins were swept 3–0 by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 American League Championship Series.

Awards and honors

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Recipient Award
Rod Carew All-Star starting 2B
Harmon Killebrew All-Star reserve 1B
Tony Oliva All-Star reserve OF
(did not play due to injury)
John Roseboro All-Star reserve C
Jim Kaat AL Gold Glove Award P
Harmon Killebrew AL Most Valuable Player

Along with MVP winner Killebrew, starting pitcher Jim Perry, Carew, shortstop Leo Cardenas, relief pitcher Ron Perranoski, Oliva, and utility man Cesar Tovar all received votes in American League MVP balloting, finishing in 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th place, respectively.[5]

Perry finished in third place in American League Cy Young Award balloting.[6]

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears American Association Don Heffner
AA Charlotte Hornets Southern League Ralph Rowe
A Red Springs Twins Carolina League Tom Umphlett
A Orlando Twins Florida State League Harry Warner
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Tom Videtich
A-Short Season Auburn Twins New York–Penn League Steve Thornton
A-Short Season St. Cloud Rox Northern League Jim Merrick
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte

Notes

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  1. ^ "May 18, 1969 Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  2. ^ "June 21, 1969 Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  3. ^ Bert Blyleven at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Jim Hughes at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ "1969 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  6. ^ "1969 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2022.

References

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