2001 Minnesota Twins season

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2001  Minnesota Twins
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City Minneapolis
Record85–77 (.525)
Divisional place2nd
Owners Carl Pohlad
General managers Terry Ryan
Managers Tom Kelly
Television KMSP-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
←  2000 Seasons 2002  →

The 2001 Minnesota Twins season was the 41st season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 20th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 101st overall in the American League.

Contents

The season marked the beginning of the Twins' ascendancy in the American League Central. After finishing the 2000 season last in the division with a disappointing 69–93 record, the 2001 team rebounded to finish 85–77, good enough for second place in the division. This was the Twins' first winning season since 1992. The six-year run of winning seasons that followed is the longest such stretch in franchise history. In his last year as manager, Tom Kelly continued the development of a core of young players who would win their division the following year.

Third baseman Corey Koskie hit 26 home runs and stole 27 bases, the only Twins player to steal at least 25 bases and hit 25 home runs in the same season.

Regular season

Offense

The team had consistent starters, many of whom performed well. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who had a disappointing 1999 season and spent most of 2000 in the minors, had what seemed to be a breakout year, hitting .306 with 14 home runs and 74 RBI. Second baseman Luis Rivas appeared to be on the verge of breaking out as well, hitting .266 but stealing a team-leading 31 bases. Shortstop Cristian Guzmán built on his solid 2000 season by batting .302, stealing 25 bases, and once again leading the major leagues in triples with 14. His numbers were solid enough to earn him his first and only all-star berth. Third baseman Corey Koskie had his best year, hitting .276, with 26 home runs and 103 RBI. Amazingly, he also stole 27 bases. A. J. Pierzynski had a solid year for a catcher, batting .289 with 7 home runs. The "Soul Patrol" outfield of Jacque Jones in left, Torii Hunter in center, and Matt Lawton in right continued to impress, although Lawton was traded midway through the season. The biggest offensive question mark was the designated hitter position, with David Ortiz spending much of the year injured—as was often the case during his Twins tenure. He started only 78 games as the DH, with Chad Allen starting 22 and Brian Buchanan 19.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
HR Torii Hunter 27
RBI Corey Koskie 103
BA Doug Mientkiewicz .306
Runs Corey Koskie 100

Pitching

Brad Radke, Eric Milton, and Joe Mays capably filled the first three spots in the starting rotation throughout the year, with Milton and Mays earning all-star berths for their efforts. The final two spots were question marks, with Kyle Lohse making 16 uninspired starts, and J. C. Romero 11. (The team had still not figured out that Romero was better suited to the bullpen.) Because of the weak back end of the rotation, the team traded Lawton for pitcher Rick Reed midway through the year. Reed did not quite meet expectations, going 4–6 with a 5.19 ERA in twelve starts.

The bullpen was in flux. LaTroy Hawkins struggled as the team's closer, leading to Eddie Guardado earning 12 saves. Guardado, Jack Cressend, Todd Jones, and Mark Redman had serviceable years, but Bob Wells, Héctor Carrasco, and Juan Rincón did not.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
ERA Joe Mays 3.16
Wins Joe Mays 17
Saves LaTroy Hawkins 28
Strikeouts Eric Milton 157

Defense

Like most of Tom Kelly's teams, the defense was exceptional. It was anchored by Mientkiewicz, who earned a Gold Glove award for his efforts. Rivas and Guzman were an impressive double-play combination, while Koskie improved defensively. After a season of uncertainty behind the plate in 2000, Pierzynski solidified the catcher position, backed up by Tom Prince. The speedy "Soul Patrol" outfield of Jones, Hunter, and Lawton was fun to watch. Lawton's departure left a void that Brian Buchanan would attempt to fill. However, as the team fell out of contention, he would give way to the platoon of Bobby Kielty and Dustan Mohr, known by fans collectively as "Dusty Kielmohr."

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 9171.562—44‍–‍3647‍–‍35
Minnesota Twins 8577.525647‍–‍3438‍–‍43
Chicago White Sox 8379.512846‍–‍3537‍–‍44
Detroit Tigers 6696.4072537‍–‍4429‍–‍52
Kansas City Royals 6597.4012635‍–‍4630‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

2001 American League record
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2001
TeamANABALBOSCWSCLEDETKCMINNYYOAKSEATBTEXTORNL
Anaheim —4–54–36–35–45–45–43–64–36–144–157–27–125–410–8
Baltimore 5–4—9–103–41–54–25–23–35–13–12–71–810–92–77–126–12
Boston 3–410–9—3–33–64–53–33–35–134–53–614–55–212–710–8
Chicago 3–64–33–3—10–913–614–55–141–51–82–75–27–23–312–6
Cleveland 4–55–16–39–10—13–611–814–54–54–32–55–15–42–47–11
Detroit 4–52–45–46–136–13—8–114–154–51–62–54–28–12–410–8
Kansas City 4–52–53–35–148–1111–8—6–130–63–63–64–24–54–38–10
Minnesota 6–33–33–314–55–1415–413–6—4–25–41–81–64–52–59–9
New York 3–413–5–113–55–15–45–46–02–4—3–63–613–63–411–810–8
Oakland 14–67–25–48–13–46–16–34–56–3—9–107–29–106–312–6
Seattle 15–48–16–37–25–25–26–38–16–310–9—7–215–56–312–6
Tampa Bay 2–79–105–142–51–52–42–46–16–132–72–7—4–59–1010–8
Texas 12–77–22–52–74–51–85–45–44–310–95–155–4—3–68–10
Toronto 4–512–77–123–34–24–23–45–28–113–63–610–96–3—8–10

Roster

2001 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Notable transactions

Player stats

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 A. J. Pierzynski 114381110.289755
1B Doug Mientkiewicz 151543166.3061574
2B Luis Rivas 153563150.266747
SS Christian Guzmán 118493149.3021051
3B Corey Koskie 153562155.27626103
LF Jacque Jones 149475131.2761449
CF Torii Hunter 148564147.2612792
RF Matt Lawton 103376110.2931051
DH David Ortiz 8930371.2341848

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Denny Hocking 11232782.251325
Brian Buchanan 6919754.2741032
Tom Prince 6419643.219723
Chad Allen 5717546.263420
Bobby Kielty 3710426.250214
Jason Maxwell 396813.191110
Quinton McCracken 246414.21903
Dustan Mohr 205112.23504
Matt LeCroy 154017.425312
Casey Blake 13227.31802
John Barnes 9211.04800
Michael Cuddyer 8184.22201

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Joe Mays 34233.217133.16123
Brad Radke 33226.015113.94137
Eric Milton 35220.21574.32157
Kyle Lohse 1990.1475.6864
Rick Reed 1267.2465.1943
Mark Redman 949.0244.2229
Brad Thomas 516.1029.376

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
J.C. Romero 1465.0146.2339
Johan Santana 1543.2244.2229
Adam Johnson 725.0128.2817

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
LaTroy Hawkins 6215285.9636
Eddie Guardado 6771123.5167
Bob Wells 658525.1149
Héctor Carrasco 564314.6470
Travis Miller 451404.8130
Jack Cressend 443203.6740
Todd Jones 241023.2615
Mike Duvall 80007.714
Tony Fiore 40105.685
Juan Rincón 40006.354
Grant Balfour 200013.502

Other post-season awards

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Edmonton Trappers Pacific Coast League John Russell
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Jeff Carter
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Rudy Hernández
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Al Newman

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: New Britain [6] [7]

References

  1. ↑ "Mike Oquist Stats".
  2. ↑ "Brandon Knight Stats".
  3. ↑ Quinton McCracken Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ↑ Todd Jones Statistics Archived 2011-04-12 at the Wayback Machine Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ↑ Matt Lawton Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  7. ↑ Baseball America 2002 Annual Directory
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