1986 Minnesota Twins season

Last updated

1986  Minnesota Twins
League American League
Division West
Ballpark Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City Minneapolis, Minnesota
Record71–91 (.438)
Divisional place6th
Owners Carl Pohlad
General managers Andy MacPhail
Managers Ray Miller, Tom Kelly
Television KMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Harmon Killebrew)
Radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Joe Angel)
  1985 Seasons 1987  

The 1986 Minnesota Twins season was the 26th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 5th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 86th overall in the American League.

Contents

The Twins finished at 71–91, sixth in the American League West, 21 games behind the eventual American League West runner-up California Angels . 1,255,453 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Pitcher Bert Blyleven made a prediction on Fan Appreciation Day on October 3, saying that if the team came together as a unit and signed some other good players, they could potentially bring a World Series championship to Minnesota. That prediction proved accurate the next year.

Offseason

Regular season

On May 30, Roy Smalley Jr. homered from both sides of the plate, the first Twin to do so.

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: outfielder Kirby Puckett.

On August 1, Puckett hit for the cycle, the only time he'd do so in his major league career. Going triple, double, single, homer, he became the seventh Twin in history to cycle. On the same night, pitcher Bert Blyleven struck out Oakland's Mike Davis to notch his 3000th strikeout. Only eight other pitchers had reached that plateau.

After a disappointing start, manager Ray Miller was replaced by Tom Kelly on September 12.

Greg Gagne of the Twins hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game on October 4, against the Chicago White Sox. [7] Pitcher Bert Blyleven was on the mound for the Twins; the last time a batter had hit two inside-the-park homers in one game, it was Dick Allen of the White Sox on July 31, 1972, and his homers were hit off Blyleven.

Also on October 4, Blyleven allowed his 50th home run of the season (to Chicago's Daryl Boston) to set a major league record. (When he served up 46 in 1987, he set another record with 96 homers allowed over consecutive seasons.)

Offense

Kirby Puckett switched from leadoff to third in the batting order, blasted 31 HR, drove in 96 runs and scored 119. Kent Hrbek hit .267 with 29 HR and 91 RBI. Tom Brunansky hit 23 HR and 75 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .287 with 34 HR and 108 RBI. With Roy Smalley Jr.'s 20 home runs, five players reached 20 homers this season, the first time that happened since six players topped 20 in 1964.

Pitching

The Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (16-13), Bert Blyleven (17-14), and Mike Smithson (13-14). Reliever Keith Atherton had 10 saves.

Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their first Gold Glove Award. They were the first Twins to win a gold glove since Jim Kaat in 1973.

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 9270.56850324238
Texas Rangers 8775.537551303645
Kansas City Royals 7686.4691645363150
Oakland Athletics 7686.4691647362950
Chicago White Sox 7290.4442041403150
Minnesota Twins 7191.4382143382853
Seattle Mariners 6795.4142541412654

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore 4–96–69–34–91–126–66–78–45–85–76–65–78–5
Boston 9–45–77–510–37–66–66–610–25–87–58–48–47–6
California 6–67–57–66–67–58–55–77–67–510–38–58–56–6
Chicago 3–95–76–75–76–67–65–76–76–67–68–52–116–6
Cleveland 9–43–106–67–54–98–48–56–65–810–29–36–63–10–1
Detroit 12–16–75–76–69–45–78–57–56–76–66–67–54–9
Kansas City 6–66–65–86–74–87–56–66–74–88–55–88–55–7
Milwaukee 7–66–67–57–55–85–86–64–88–55–76–64–87–6
Minnesota 4–82–106–77–66–65–77–68–44–86–76–76–74–8
New York 8–58–55–76–68–57–68–45–88–45–78–47–57–6
Oakland 7–55–73–106–72–106–65–87–57–67–510–33–108–4
Seattle 6–64–85–85–83–96–68–56–67–64–83–104–96–6
Texas 7–54–85–811–26–65–75–88–47–65–710–39–45–7
Toronto 5–86–76–66–610–3–19–47–56–78–46–74–86–67–5

Notable transactions

Roster

1986 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Mark Salas 9125860.233833
1B Kent Hrbek 149550147.2672991
2B Steve Lombardozzi 156453103.227833
3B Gary Gaetti 157596171.28734108
SS Greg Gagne 156472118.2501254
LF Randy Bush 13035796.269745
CF Kirby Puckett 161680223.3283196
RF Tom Brunansky 157593152.2562375
DH Roy Smalley 143459113.2462057

[12]

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Mickey Hatcher 11531788.278332
Tim Laudner 7619346.2441029
Billy Beane 8018339.213315
Jeff Reed 6816539.23629
Ron Washington 487419.257411
Mark Davidson 36688.11802
Alvaro Espinoza 37429.21401
Al Woods 23289.32128
Chris Pittaro 11212.09500
Alejandro Sánchez 8162.12501
Andre David 551.20000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Bert Blyleven 36271.217144.01215
Frank Viola 37245.216134.51191
Mike Smithson 34198.013144.77114
Neal Heaton 21124.1493.9866

[12]

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mark Portugal 27112.26104.3167
Allan Anderson 2184.1365.5551
John Butcher 1670.0036.3029
Bill Latham 716.0017.318

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Keith Atherton 4758103.7559
Ron Davis 362629.0830
Frank Pastore 333124.0118
Roy Lee Jackson 280113.8632
Juan Agosto 171218.859
George Frazier 151164.3925
Ray Fontenot 150009.9210
Roy Smith 50206.978
Pete Filson 40005.684
Dennis Burtt 300031.501

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Charlie Manuel
AA Orlando Twins Southern League George Mitterwald
A Visalia Oaks California League Danny Schmitz
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Don Leppert
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

[13]

Notes

  1. "Rick Lysander Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  2. Roy Smith at Baseball Reference
  3. Jarvis Brown at Baseball Reference
  4. "Billy Beane Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  5. "Dave Engle Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  6. Mike Hart at Baseball Reference
  7. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.262, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
  8. "Houston Jimenez Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  9. "Keith Atherton Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  10. Derek Parks at Baseball Reference
  11. "John Butcher Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  12. 1 2 "1986 Minnesota Twins Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Related Research Articles

The 1999 Minnesota Twins season was the 39th season for the franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their eighteen season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 99th overall in the American League. They began their season on a positive note, with Brad Radke getting the win in a 6–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. However, they finished the season in last place, with a 63–97 record.

The 1995 Minnesota Twins season was the 35th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 14th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 95th overall in the American League.

The 1992 Minnesota Twins season was the 32nd season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 11th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 92nd overall in the American League. Coming off a World Series victory, the Twins continued the team's winning spree. The team finished in second place to the Oakland Athletics and did not make it to the postseason. This would be the team's last winning season until 2001.

The 1987 Minnesota Twins season was the 27th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 6th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 87th overall in the American League. The Twins won the World Series for the first time since moving from Washington in 1961, the second time that the franchise won the World Series. Having won only 85 games during the 1987 regular season, they won the World Series with the then-fewest regular season wins since Major League Baseball expanded to a 162-game season in 1961, and the fewest of any team since the 1889 New York Giants. They also became the first team to win the World Series despite being outscored by their opponents in the regular season, having scored 786 runs and allowed 806.

The 1990 Minnesota Twins season was the 30th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 9th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 90th overall in the American League. Three years after their World Series title in 1987, fell to the bottom of the American League West once again. However, the season was not completely bad, as there were some bright spots that included pitchers Rick Aguilera and Scott Erickson. Aguilera was converted from a starter to a closer and recorded 32 saves, while Erickson was promoted to the Twins in June from the team's AA affiliate and went 8-4 with a 3.27 ERA.

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.

Led by new manager Bill Rigney, the 1970 Minnesota Twins won the American League West with a 98–64 record, nine games ahead of the Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. Of note, the Twins were the only team in the American League to have a winning record in the regular season versus the Orioles. The 1970 ALCS would be the last MLB postseason games played at Metropolitan Stadium, as the Twins would not return to the postseason stage until 1987 when they won the World Series.

The 1971 Minnesota Twins finished 74–86, fifth in the American League West. 940,858 fans attended Twins games, the fifth-highest total in the American League, the first time the Twins failed to attract over one million fans since moving to Minnesota.

The 1972 Minnesota Twins finished 77–77, third in the American League West.

The 1973 Minnesota Twins finished 81–81, third in the American League West.

The 1974 Minnesota Twins finished 82–80, third in the American League West.

The 1975 Minnesota Twins finished 76–83, fourth in the American League West.

The 1976 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77, third in the American League West. Only 715,394 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was the third year in a row that the Twins attracted the fewest fans in the AL.

The 1984 Minnesota Twins season was the 24th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 3rd season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 84th overall in the American League.

The 1985 Minnesota Twins season was the 25th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 4th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 85th overall in the American League. The Twins finished with a record of 77–85, tied for fourth in the American League West, and 14 games behind the division winner and eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

The 1988 Minnesota Twins season was the 28th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 7th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 88th overall in the American League.

The 1989 Minnesota Twins season was the 29th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 8th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 89th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 80–82, fifth in the American League West. 2,277,438 fans attended Twins games, the 7th highest total in the American League.

The 1989 California Angels season saw the Angels finish third in the American League West with a record of 91 wins and 71 losses.

The 1985 Cleveland Indians season was the 85th for the franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Minnesota Twins season</span> Major League Baseball team season

The 2012 Minnesota Twins season was the 52nd season for the franchise in Minnesota, and the 112th overall in the American League. The Twins wound up with a 66–96 record, fifth place in the American League Central.

References