1993 Minnesota Twins season

1993 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Carl Pohlad
Manager(s) Tom Kelly
Local television WCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Jim Kaat, Dick Bremer)
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Jim Powell)
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The 1993 Minnesota Twins underperformed in their last year in the old American League West Division, finishing with a 71-91 record, leaving the team tied for fifth place with the California Angels. There were bright spots for Manager Tom Kelly. This included Kirby Puckett winning the All-Star MVP award on July 13, after hitting a home run and an RBI double. Another bright spot was St. Paul native Dave Winfield getting his 3,000th hit in his first year back with his hometown team. The hit came off of Dennis Eckersley on September 16.

Offseason

Regular season

Offense

Not only did Winfield get his 3,000th hit, but he also got his 500th double and 450th homer. He had a serviceable year as the team's primary designated hitter, hitting .271 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI. Other offensive highlights included Kent Hrbek becoming the second Twin (along with Harmon Killebrew) to reach 1,000 RBI and Brian Harper becoming only the fourth catcher in the prior 40 years to hit .300 in three consecutive seasons. Chuck Knoblauch continued his solid leadoff hitting, batting .277 and stealing a team-leading 29 bases. The weaker spots in the regular lineup included Pedro Muñoz (.233 average).

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Kent Hrbek 25
RBI Kirby Puckett 89
BA Brian Harper .304
Runs Kirby Puckett 89

Pitching

The starting rotation was reasonably competent, with Kevin Tapani, Willie Banks, and Jim Deshaies having ERAs in the low fours. Unfortunately, Scott Erickson was not able to follow up his very successful first three years in the majors, posting an ERA of 5.19 and leading the majors in losses (19). The fifth spot in the rotation was uncertain, with Eddie Guardado making 16 starts and Mike Trombley 10.

There were strong pitchers in the bullpen, starting with closer Rick Aguilera. He had 34 saves, and was American League Pitcher of the Month for June. Also having strong years were Larry Casian with an ERA of 3.02, Mike Hartley (4.00), and Carl Willis (3.10). This was not so much the case for pitchers such as George Tsamis (6.19) and Brett Merriman (9.67).

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Willie Banks 4.04
Wins Kevin Tapani 12
Saves Rick Aguilera 34
Strikeouts Kevin Tapani 150

Defense

The team was strong defensively. Harper was a strong catcher, with a .988 fielding percentage. Hrbek was always strong at first base as well, making only five errors in 1993. Knoblauch was a good second baseman at this point in his career. Mike Pagliarulo played in about half the team's games at third, with reasonable competence. (Jeff Reboulet and Terry Jorgenson also saw time at the position.) The team intended Scott Leius to be the starting shortstop, but an early injury prevented this from occurring. It paved the way for Pat Meares to man the position for several years. He surprised the team by playing reasonably well during his rookie year. Puckett always excelled in center field, while Shane Mack and Munoz did okay on either side of him.

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 94 68 0.580 — 45–36 49–32
Texas Rangers 86 76 0.531 8 50–31 36–45
Kansas City Royals 84 78 0.519 10 43–38 41–40
Seattle Mariners 82 80 0.506 12 46–35 36–45
California Angels 71 91 0.438 23 44–37 27–54
Minnesota Twins 71 91 0.438 23 36–45 35–46
Oakland Athletics 68 94 0.420 26 38–43 30–51

Notable transactions

Roster

1993 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers
  • 41 Rich Garces
Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CF Kirby Puckett 156 622 184 .296 22 89
RF Pedro Muñoz 104 326 76 .233 13 38

Other batters

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Terry Jorgensen 59 152 34 .224 1 12
Randy Bush 35 45 7 .156 0 3
Derek Parks 7 20 4 .200 0 1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Scott Ullger
AA Nashville Xpress Southern League Phil Roof
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Steve Liddle
A Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League Jim Dwyer
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Jose Marzan

[11]

References

  1. ↑ Mike Maksudian page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ David West page at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jim Deshaies page at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Dave Winfield page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Randy Bush page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Jason Varitek page at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Dan Perkins page at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Javier Valentín page at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Alan Newman page at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Mike Pagliarulo page at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links