1996 Minnesota Twins season

Last updated

1996  Minnesota Twins
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City Minneapolis
Record78–84 (.481)
Divisional place5th
Owners Carl Pohlad
General managers Terry Ryan
Managers Tom Kelly
Television WCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Ryan Lefebvre, Tommy John)
Radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
←  1995 Seasons 1997  →

The 1996 Minnesota Twins season was the 36th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 15th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 96th overall in the American League.

Contents

Prior to spring training, the Twins were projected to be a contending team. The team's chances significantly worsened on March 28, 1996. Kirby Puckett, the team's franchise player, had been tattooing the Grapefruit League (spring training) for a .360 average, but that morning woke up without vision in his right eye. He was eventually diagnosed with glaucoma. Several surgeries over the next few months could not restore vision in the eye. Puckett announced his retirement from baseball on July 12. After beginning the season under the melancholy cloud of the Puckett situation, Manager Tom Kelly's team finished the year with a 78-84 record, which put it in fourth place in the American League Central.

Offseason

Regular season

Offense

Individual players on the team did excel. Paul Molitor had a standout year in his first year with his hometown team, playing as the regular designated hitter and winning a Silver Slugger Award at that position. He played in all but one game and hit .341 with 113 RBI and a league-best 225 hits. On September 16 in Kansas City, he collected his 3,000th hit, a triple off of José Rosado. He is the only player to obtain his 3,000th hit via a triple. Along with Molitor, Chuck Knoblauch also hit .341. Among the hits were 35 doubles. He also stole 45 bases. Marty Cordova had a respectable year, driving in 111 runs.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
HR Marty Cordova 16
RBI Paul Molitor 113
BA Paul Molitor and Chuck Knoblauch .341
Runs Chuck Knoblauch 140

Pitching

The pitching did not match the offense. Brad Radke, Frank Rodriguez, and Rich Robertson (the three R's) all spent the whole season in the starting rotation and had losing records. The team's experiment moving Rick Aguilera from the closer's role to the starting rotation was not a successful one, as he started only 19 games. Scott Aldred also started 17 games for the team. Radke had the lowest ERA among the starters at 4.46. The rest were over five. Dave Stevens got the most saves at 11, but he was not an effective closer. Mike Trombley and Dan Naulty had effective seasons out of the bullpen, but nobody else had an ERA under five. Epitomizing the pitching woes, Mike Milchin had an ERA of 8.31 but the team still let him pitch in 26 games.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
ERA Brad Radke 4.46
Wins Frank Rodriguez 13
Saves Dave Stevens 11
Strikeouts Brad Radke 148

Defense

The only truly regular starters in the field were Knoblauch at second base, Pat Meares at shortstop, and Cordova in left field. In a less-than-encouraging sign for the team's postseason prospects, Scott Stahoviak saw a majority of the time at first base. Dave Hollins played 116 games at third, with Jeff Reboulet and Todd Walker also seeing time. Greg Myers and Matt Walbeck platooned at catcher. Rich Becker had the unenviable task of replacing Puckett in center field and played 121 games there. Right field was a mish-mash, with Matt Lawton playing 60 games at the position, Roberto Kelly 54, Denny Hocking 33, and Ron Coomer 23.

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 9962.615—51‍–‍2948‍–‍33
Chicago White Sox 8577.52514½44‍–‍3741‍–‍40
Milwaukee Brewers 8082.49419½38‍–‍4342‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins 7884.48121½39‍–‍4339‍–‍41
Kansas City Royals 7586.4662437‍–‍4338‍–‍43

Record vs. opponents

1996 American League record
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1996
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —7–66–64–85–711–29–39–37–53–109–47–53–10–18–5
Boston 6–7—8–46–61–1112–13–97–56–67–68–57–66–68–5
California 6–64–8—6–64–96–64–87–54–87–66–75–84–97–5
Chicago 8–46–66–6—5–810–37–66–76–76–75–75–78–47–5
Cleveland 7–511–19–48–5—12–07–67–610–33–96–68–44–87–5
Detroit 2–111–126–63–100–12—6–64–86–65–84–86–64–96–7
Kansas City 3–99–38–46–76–76–6—4–96–74–85–77–56–65–8
Milwaukee 3–95–75–77–66–78–49–4—9–46–67–54–96–75–7
Minnesota 5–76–68–47–63–106–67–64–9—5–76–76–67–58–5
New York 10–36–76–77–69–38–58–46–67–5—9–33–95–78–5
Oakland 4–95–87–67–56–68–47–55–77–63–9—8–57–64–8
Seattle 5–76–78–57–54–86–65–79–46–69–35–8—10–35–7
Texas 10–3–16–69–44–88–49–46–67–65–77–56–73–10—10–2
Toronto 5–85–85–75–75–77–68–57–55–85–88–47–52–10—

Game log

1996 Game Log: 78–84 (Home: 39–43; Away: 39–41)
April: 13–12 (Home: 8–7; Away: 5–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 1 Tigers 8–6Radke (1–0)LiraStevens (1)30,1851–0
2April 2 Tigers 6–10SodowskyRobertson (0–1)—20,1641–1
3April 3 Tigers 16–7Mahomes (1–0)Aldred—12,2562–1
4April 5 Orioles 1–2MerckerGuardado (0–1)Myers22,7442–2
5April 6 Orioles 8–3Radke (2–0)Haynes—22,3343–2
6April 7 Orioles 2–4MussinaRobertson (0–2)Myers14,5803–3
7April 9@ Red Sox 1–9GordonRodriguez (0–1)—30,8433–4
8April 11@ Red Sox 6–5Radke (3–0)ClemensStevens (2)15,5944–4
9April 12@ Orioles 2–3MussinaRobertson (0–3)—42,6024–5
10April 13@ Orioles 6–7BenitezMahomes (1–1)—42,6444–6
11April 14@ Orioles 4–1Rodriguez (1–1)HaynesStevens (3)42,6605–6
12April 16 Indians 2–7HershiserRadke (3–1)—13,1035–7
13April 17 Indians 9–8Hansell (1–0)ShueyStevens (4)11,2766–7
14April 19 Yankees 7–1Rodriguez (2–1)Gooden—20,2797–7
15April 20 Yankees 6–7WickmanGuardado (0–2)Wetteland24,5867–8
16April 21 Yankees 5–9RogersRadke (3–2)—20,1157–9
17April 22 Red Sox 1–4SeleRobertson (0–4)Slocumb11,3407–10
18April 23 Red Sox 8–6Naulty (1–0)HudsonStevens (5)11,5338–10
19April 24@ Tigers 24–11Bennett (1–0)Veres—12,1899–10
20April 25@ Tigers 11–1Hawkins (1–0)AldredHansell (1)11,80410–10
21April 26@ Yankees 4–5RiveraRadke (3–3)Wetteland14,45010–11
22April 27@ Yankees 8–6 (10)Bennett (2–0)Wickman—20,02511–11
23April 28@ Yankees 3–6RiveraRodriguez (2–2)Wetteland24,79311–12
24April 29 Royals 11–6Hansell (2–0)ClarkBennett (1)10,23712–12
25April 30 Royals 16–7Naulty (2–0)Magnante—10,50313–12
May: 10–16 (Home: 4–6; Away: 6–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
26May 1 Royals 6–5 (10)Stevens (1–0)Montgomery—11,97514–12
27May 3@ Angels 1–4FinleyRobertson (0–5)Percival24,50514–13
28May 4@ Angels 2–5GrimsleyRodriguez (2–3)—29,26414–14
29May 5@ Angels 1–5BoskieHawkins (1–1)—35,54114–15
30May 6@ Mariners 4–5WellsRadke (3–4)Charlton32,20314–16
31May 7@ Mariners 2–0Parra (1–0)WolcottStevens (6)15,62615–16
32May 8@ Mariners 7–5 (10)Guardado (1–2)WellsStevens (7)22,17516–16
33May 10@ Athletics 5–15WojciechowskiRodriguez (2–4)—8,27816–17
34May 11@ Athletics 5–12PrietoRadke (3–5)—15,79116–18
35May 12@ Athletics 3–8WengertParra (1–1)—13,43016–19
36May 14 Blue Jays 2–4HansonRobertson (0–6)Timlin13,48316–20
37May 15 Blue Jays 2–1Rodriguez (3–4)Hentgen—11,79317–20
38May 16 Blue Jays 4–1Radke (4–5)QuantrillStevens (8)13,53818–20
39May 17 Brewers 1–12KarlParra (1–2)—26,73318–21
40May 18 Brewers 3–7MirandaMahomes (1–2)Fetters30,59318–22
41May 19 Brewers 2–4SparksRobertson (0–7)Fetters24,41118–23
42May 20 Brewers 2–3BonesRodriguez (3–5)Fetters13,37618–24
43May 21 Rangers 4–3Milchin (1–0)Henneman—12,32319–24
44May 22 Rangers 5–6PavlikParra (1–3)Henneman17,95519–25
45May 23@ Blue Jays 4–5 (10)JanzenMilchin (1–1)—31,16319–26
46May 24@ Blue Jays 4–0Robertson (1–7)Hanson—33,14120–26
47May 25@ Blue Jays 6–4 (10)Guardado (2–2)CastilloStevens (9)34,11821–26
48May 26@ Blue Jays 9–3Naulty (3–0)Bohanon—30,17022–26
49May 28@ Brewers 3–7KarlMahomes (1–3)Garcia10,11722–27
50May 29@ Brewers 8–7 (12)Hansell (3–0)Lloyd—14,32423–27
51May 31@ Rangers 2–7HillRodriguez (3–6)—32,86123–28
June: 15–13 (Home: 9–8; Away: 6–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
52June 1@ Rangers 9–5Milchin (2–1)Henneman—43,41324–28
53June 2@ Rangers 6–5Guardado (3–2)Russell—33,80925–28
54June 3 Angels 9–3Trombley (1–0)Finley—10,58926–28
55June 4 Angels 5–3Rodriguez (4–6)GrimsleyGuardado (1)10,89927–28
56June 5 Angels 14–3Aldred (1–0)LangstonHansell (2)10,63928–28
57June 7 Athletics 4–6ReyesRadke (4–6)Corsi14,99928–29
58June 8 Athletics 4–2Robertson (2–7)WojciechowskiGuardado (2)—29–29
59June 8 Athletics 7–13WasdinMahomes (1–4)—22,16429–30
60June 9 Athletics 5–3Rodriguez (5–6)Wengert—13,29130–30
61June 10 Mariners 13–6Aldred (2–0)WagnerTrombley (1)17,13431–30
62June 11 Mariners 8–18WellsAguilera (0–1)Hurtado14,39531–31
63June 12 Mariners 3–5WolcottRadke (4–7)Charlton15,83031–32
64June 14 Tigers 4–5GohrRobertson (2–8)Olson22,83131–33
65June 15 Tigers 4–6OlivaresRodriguez (5–7)Olson17,09931–34
66June 16 Tigers 4–1Aguilera (1–1)LiraHansell (3)20,64132–34
67June 17@ Yankees 6–3Aldred (3–0)MendozaNaulty (1)16,18933–34
68June 18@ Yankees 0–2RogersRadke (4–8)Wetteland17,59333–35
69June 20@ Tigers 7–3Rodriguez (6–7)Olivares—8,31034–35
70June 21@ Tigers 0–2LiraAguilera (1–2)—13,12734–36
71June 22@ Tigers 0–6WilliamsAldred (3–1)—14,50634–37
72June 23@ Tigers 8–10UrbaniRadke (4–9)—13,99434–38
73June 24 Yankees 3–0Robertson (3–8)Pettitte—20,48835–38
74June 25 Yankees 6–1Rodriguez (7–7)Boehringer——36–38
75June 25 Yankees 2–6MendozaSerafini (0–1)—16,64136–39
76June 26 Yankees 1–2PolleyGuardado (3–3)Wetteland19,11636–40
77June 28@ Royals 2–6AppierRadke (4–10)—21,51536–41
78June 29@ Royals 12–7Trombley (2–0)Linton—23,23237–41
79June 30@ Royals 5–2Rodriguez (8–7)GubiczaStevens (10)28,24638–41
July: 13–14 (Home: 7–10; Away: 6–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
80July 1@ White Sox 10–7Aguilera (2–2)Sirotka—19,21139–41
81July 2@ White Sox 4–7FernandezAldred (3–2)Hernandez18,35739–42
82July 3@ White Sox 6–5Radke (5–10)AndujarStevens (11)26,11340–42
83July 4 Royals 3–5LintonRobertson (3–9)Montgomery37,29540–43
84July 5 Royals 9–8Guardado (4–3)Montgomery—18,46541–43
85July 6 Royals 5–8HaneyAguilera (2–3)Montgomery18,69941–44
86July 7 Royals 2–8BelcherAldred (3–3)—14,25141–45
87July 11 Indians 7–11McDowellRadke (5–11)—16,43841–46
88July 12 Indians 5–7MesaStevens (1–1)Shuey18,24641–47
89July 13 Indians 11–19OgeaAguilera (2–4)—31,55241–48
90July 14 Indians 5–4Guardado (5–3)Plunk—25,31242–48
91July 15 White Sox 16–5Aldred (4–3)McCaskill—13,63643–48
92July 16 White Sox 2–11AlvarezRadke (5–12)—18,50243–49
93July 17 White Sox 4–3Trombley (3–0)Simas—20,75544–49
94July 18@ Indians 4–5GravesGuardado (5–4)—40,93444–50
95July 19@ Indians 3–2Rodriguez (9–7)NagyNaulty (2)42,37345–50
96July 20@ Indians 5–6 (11)ShueyStevens (1–2)—43,43345–51
97July 21@ Indians 5–7McDowellRadke (5–13)Shuey42,34145–52
98July 22@ Orioles 9–5Robertson (4–9)HaynesTrombley (2)42,12946–52
99July 23@ Orioles 3–2Aguilera (3–4)WellsNaulty (3)42,00647–52
100July 24@ Orioles 11–4Rodriguez (10–7)Erickson—46,18148–52
101July 25 Red Sox 16–6Parra (2–3)Wakefield—13,92449–52
102July 26 Red Sox 5–1Radke (6–13)Clemens—17,76850–52
103July 27 Red Sox 5–9GordonNaulty (3–1)—22,12850–53
104July 28 Red Sox 9–8Aguilera (4–4)SeleNaulty (4)17,44851–53
105July 30 Orioles 4–16CoppingerRodriguez (10–8)—16,70851–54
106July 31 Orioles 3–9MussinaTrombley (3–1)—15,89751–55
August: 16–14 (Home: 5–6; Away: 11–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
107August 1 Orioles 2–4WellsRobertson (4–10)Myers20,37951–56
108August 2@ Red Sox 10–11BrandenburgNaulty (3–2)—28,04151–57
109August 3@ Red Sox 3–6SeleRodriguez (10–9)Hudson19,86051–58
110August 3@ Red Sox 6–0Aldred (5–3)Suppan—29,13552–58
111August 4@ Red Sox 6–13EshelmanKlingenbeck (0–1)—29,93952–59
112August 6@ Angels 4–1Radke (7–13)SpringerGuardado (3)20,05853–59
113August 7@ Angels 4–0Robertson (5–10)Finley—18,61154–59
114August 8@ Angels 13–5Aguilera (5–4)Boskie—21,28355–59
115August 9@ Mariners 6–5Parra (3–3)WolcottRodriguez (1)25,13056–59
116August 10@ Mariners 10–4Klingenbeck (1–1)Hitchcock—34,38157–59
117August 11@ Mariners 6–3Radke (8–13)WellsRodriguez (2)36,11458–59
118August 12@ Athletics 1–11PrietoRobertson (5–11)—10,07158–60
119August 13@ Athletics 6–2Aguilera (6–4)Wengert—11,15659–60
120August 14@ Athletics 13–7Rodriguez (11–9)Telgheder—12,72960–60
121August 16 Blue Jays 5–4 (10)Parra (4–3)Quantrill—19,83861–60
122August 17 Blue Jays 11–1Robertson (6–11)Hanson—20,35462–60
123August 18 Blue Jays 2–6HentgenAguilera (6–5)—18,01062–61
124August 19 Brewers 1–6D'AmicoRodriguez (11–10)—21,87962–62
125August 20 Brewers 12–7Parra (5–3)Bones—14,63063–62
126August 21 Brewers 7–10JonesStevens (1–3)Fetters15,88563–63
127August 22 Rangers 2–11HillRobertson (6–12)—17,34263–64
128August 23 Rangers 9–2Aguilera (7–5)Oliver—16,16664–64
129August 24 Rangers 6–5Rodriguez (12–10)PavlikTrombley (3)16,64865–64
130August 25 Rangers 2–13WittMiller (0–1)—14,81865–65
131August 26@ Blue Jays 3–5GuzmanRadke (8–14)Timlin31,13465–66
132August 27@ Blue Jays 6–4 (11)Trombley (4–1)Quantrill—30,03366–66
133August 28@ Blue Jays 1–6HentgenAguilera (7–6)—30,10666–67
134August 29@ Brewers 6–1Rodriguez (13–10)Karl—14,92267–67
135August 30@ Brewers 4–5 (12)WickmanParra (5–4)—17,44467–68
136August 31@ Brewers 2–3JonesRobertson (6–13)Fetters20,18767–69
September: 11–15 (Home: 6–6; Away: 5–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
137September 1@ Brewers 6–2Aldred (6–3)Van Egmond—17,07468–69
138September 2@ Rangers 6–4Aguilera (8–6)HillGuardado (4)24,78669–69
139September 3@ Rangers 7–9WittRodriguez (13–11)Henneman28,40169–70
140September 4@ Rangers 7–6Robertson (7–13)HerediaTrombley (4)29,74470–70
141September 6 Angels 6–2Radke (9–14)Finley—13,00671–70
142September 7 Angels 6–3Stevens (2–3)BoskieTrombley (5)51,01172–70
143September 8 Angels 2–4AbbottRodriguez (13–12)Percival14,37872–71
144September 10 Athletics 0–7TelghederRobertson (7–14)—9,67672–72
145September 11 Athletics 7–2Radke (10–14)Adams—9,49373–72
146September 12 Athletics 4–3 (12)Stevens (3–3)Mohler—9,71274–72
147September 13 Mariners 7–13WellsMiller (0–2)—15,51074–73
148September 14 Mariners 3–5 (10)AyalaGuardado (5–5)Charlton18,00274–74
149September 15 Mariners 0–7TorresRobertson (7–15)—25,14274–75
150September 16@ Royals 5–6RosadoRadke (10–15)Bluma16,84374–76
151September 17@ Royals 2–4HaneyAldred (6–4)Bluma11,80974–77
152September 18@ Royals 7–4Miller (1–2)Belcher—11,58875–77
153September 19@ White Sox 3–8SirotkaRodriguez (13–13)Castillo14,25375–78
154September 20@ White Sox 3–7TapaniRobertson (7–16)—15,67375–79
155September 21@ White Sox 4–3Radke (11–15)AlvarezTrombley (6)18,86676–79
156September 22@ White Sox 1–5FernandezAldred (6–5)—20,11176–80
157September 23@ Indians 6–7GravesParra (5–5)Mesa42,29976–81
158September 24@ Indians 5–7OgeaRodriguez (13–14)Mesa42,27276–82
159September 25@ Indians 3–6NagyRobertson (7–17)—42,46976–83
160September 27 White Sox 2–4FernandezRadke (11–16)Hernandez13,05876–84
161September 28 White Sox 7–6Trombley (5–1)Castillo—34,00877–84
162September 29 White Sox 5–4 (10)Guardado (6–5)Hernandez—13,30678–84
Legend:       = Win       = Loss
Bold = Twins team member

Detailed records

Roster

1996 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Notable Transactions

Player stats

= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league 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 Greg Myers 9732994.286647
1B Scott Stahoviak 130405115.2841361
2B Chuck Knoblauch 153578197.3411372
SS Pat Meares 152517138.267867
3B Dave Hollins 121422102.2421353
LF Marty Cordova 145569176.30916111
CF Rich Becker 148525153.2911271
RF Matt Lawton 7925265.258642
DH Paul Molitor 161660225.3419113

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Roberto Kelly 98322104.323647
Jeff Reboulet 10723452.222023
Ron Coomer 9523369.2961241
Matt Walbeck 6321548.223224
Denny Hocking 4912725.197110
Chip Hale 858724.276116
Todd Walker 258221.25606
Mike Durant 408117.21005
Brent Brede 10206.30002
Brian Raabe 792.22201
Tom Quinlan 460.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Brad Radke 35232.011164.46148
Frank Rodriguez 38206.213145.05110
Rich Robertson 36186.17175.12114
Scott Aldred 25122.0655.0975
Rick Aguilera 19111.1865.4283
Travis Miller 726.1129.2315
LaTroy Hawkins 726.1118.2024
Dan Serafini 14.10110.381

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
José Parra 2770.0556.0450
Pat Mahomes 2045.0147.2030
Scott Klingenbeck 1028.2117.8515

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Dave Stevens 4933114.6629
Eddie Guardado 836545.2574
Greg Hansell 503035.6946
Dan Naulty 493243.7956
Mike Trombley 435163.0157
Mike Milchin 262108.3119
Erik Bennett 242017.9013

Miscellaneous

Other post-season awards

Outfielder Kirby Puckett won the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team", as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media.

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Phil Roof
AA Hardware City Rock Cats Eastern League Al Newman
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League John Russell
A Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League Dan Rohn
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Jose Marzan
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Mike Boulanger

[7]

References

  1. ↑ Luis Rivas at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Paul Molitor at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ "Twins 24, Tigers 11". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Twins 16, Red Sox 6". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ Jacque Jones Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ↑ David Ortiz Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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