1970 Minnesota Twins season

1970 Minnesota Twins
American League West Champions
Major league affiliations
Location
1970 information
Owner(s) Calvin Griffith
Manager(s) Bill Rigney
Local television WTCN-TV
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Al Shaver, Ray Christensen, Frank Buetel)
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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 American League Championship Series. After the ALCS, Metropolitan Stadium would never see another post-season game, and the Twins would not return to the postseason stage until 1987 when they won the World Series.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

1,261,887 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry. Perry also became the first Twins pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award.

The Twins won the American League West, led by leadoff batter César Tovar (120 runs), Oliva (.325, 23 HR, 107 RBI) and Killebrew (41 HR, 113 RBI). Carew was batting .366 (after 51 games) when his knee was injured turning a double play. Perry won 24 games and the Cy Young Award. Jim Kaat added 14 wins and rookie Bert Blyleven won 10. Kaat also won his 9th Gold Glove Award.

Season standings

AL West W L GB Pct.
Minnesota Twins 98 64 0 .605
Oakland Athletics 89 73 9.0 .549
California Angels 86 76 12.0 .531
Kansas City Royals 65 97 33.0 .401
Milwaukee Brewers 65 97 33.0 .401
Chicago White Sox 56 106 42.0 .346

Notable transactions

Roster

1970 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders 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
3B Killebrew, HarmonHarmon Killebrew 157 527 143 .271 41 113
SS Cárdenas, LeoLeo Cárdenas 160 588 145 .247 11 65
LF Alyea, BrantBrant Alyea 94 258 75 .291 16 61
CF Tovar, CésarCésar Tovar 161 650 195 .300 10 54
RF Oliva, TonyTony Oliva 157 628 204 .325 23 107

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
Holt, JimJim Holt 142 319 85 .266 3 40

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
Perry, JimJim Perry 40 278.2 24 12 3.04 168
Kaat, JimJim Kaat 45 230 14 10 3.56 120
Blyleven, BertBert Blyleven 27 164 10 9 3.18 135
Tiant, LuisLuis Tiant 18 92.2 7 3 3.40 50
Boswell, DaveDave Boswell 18 68.2 3 7 6.42 45

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
Hall, TomTom Hall 52 155.1 11 6 2.55 184

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
Perranoski, RonRon Perranoski 67 7 8 34 2.43 55
Williams, StanStan Williams 68 10 1 15 1.99 76
Barber, SteveSteve Barber 18 0 0 2 4.61 14
Hamm, PetePete Hamm 10 0 2 0 5.51 3
Haydel, HalHal Haydel 4 2 0 0 3.00 4

Postseason

ALCS

Main article: 1970 American League Championship Series

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Ralph Rowe
AA Charlotte Hornets Southern League Harry Warner and Pete Appleton
A Lynchburg Twins Carolina League Tom Umphlett and Spencer "Red" Robbins
A Orlando Twins Florida State League Jackie Ferrell
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Johnny Goryl
Short-Season A Auburn Twins New York-Penn League Boyd Coffie
Short-Season A St. Cloud Rox Northern League Jim Merrick
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn

Notes

  1. ^ Johnny Roseboro page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Mike Sadek page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Hal Haydel page at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Graig Nettles page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Brant Alyea page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Craig Kusick page at Baseball Reference

References

Preceded by
Minnesota Twins
1969		 AL West Championship Season
1970		 Succeeded by
Oakland Athletics
1971
AL East
AL West
California • Chicago • Kansas City • Milwaukee • Minnesota • Oakland
NL East
NL West