1969 Minnesota Twins season
WTCN-TV | ||
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| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon) | |
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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
In the first year of divisional play, the Twins won the
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
W
|
L
|
Pct. | GB | Home | Road | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 97 | 65 | 0.599 | — | 57–24 | 40–41 |
| Oakland Athletics | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 9 | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| California Angels | 71 | 91 | 0.438 | 26 | 43–38 | 28–53 |
| Kansas City Royals | 69 | 93 | 0.426 | 28 | 36–45 | 33–48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 68 | 94 | 0.420 | 29 | 41–40 | 27–54 |
| Seattle Pilots | 64 | 98 | 0.395 | 33 | 34–47 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
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
- June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
- Bert Blyleven was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round.[3]
- Jim Hughes was drafted by the Twins in the 33rd round.[4]
Roster
| 1969 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
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
| 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
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
Starting pitchers
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
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
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
The Twins were swept 3–0 by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 American League Championship Series.
Awards and honors
| 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
Perry finished in third place in American League Cy Young Award balloting.[6]
Farm system
| 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
- ^ "May 18, 1969 Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ "June 21, 1969 Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ Bert Blyleven at Baseball Reference
- ^ Jim Hughes at Baseball Reference
- ^ "1969 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- ^ "1969 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
References
- Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
- Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.