1970 Minnesota Twins season

1970 Minnesota Twins
American League West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(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.

Offseason

Regular season

On April 7, newly-acquired Twin Brant Alyea homered twice in going 4 for 4 and driving in 7 RBI. The RBI total set a record for major league baseball's Opening Day.

On June 5, pitcher Bert Blyleven debuted, allowing a home run off the very first batter he faced.

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry.

On September 16, Blyleven struck out the first six batters he faced to tie a major league record. However, the Twins lost the game to the California Angels, 5-1.[6]

The Twins are no-hit for the second time in their history, losing 6-0 to Oakland's Vida Blue.[7]

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 became the first Twins pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award. Jim Kaat added 14 wins and rookie Bert Blyleven won 10. Kaat also won his 9th Gold Glove Award. Reliever Ron Perranoski led the AL with 34 saves.

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

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 98 64 0.605 — 51–30 47–34
Oakland Athletics 89 73 0.549 9 49–32 40–41
California Angels 86 76 0.531 12 43–38 43–38
Kansas City Royals 65 97 0.401 33 35–44 30–53
Milwaukee Brewers 65 97 0.401 33 38–42 27–55
Chicago White Sox 56 106 0.346 42 31–53 25–53

Record vs. opponents

1970 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore — 13–5 7–5 9–3 14–4 11–7 12–0 7–5 5–7 11–7 7–5 12–6
Boston 5–13 — 5–7 8–4 12–6 9–9 7–5 5–7 7–5 10–8 7–5 12–6
California 5–7 7–5 — 12–6 6–6 6–6 10–8 12–6 8–10 5–7 8–10 7–5
Chicago 3–9 4–8 6–12 — 6–6 6–6 7–11 7–11 6–12 5–7 2–16 4–8
Cleveland 4–14 6–12 6–6 6–6 — 7–11 8–4 7–5 6–6 8–10 7–5 11–7
Detroit 7–11 9–9 6–6 6–6 11–7 — 6–6 8–4 4–8 7–11 6–6 9–9
Kansas City 0–12 5–7 8–10 11–7 4–8 6–6 — 12–6 5–13 1–11 7–11 6–6
Milwaukee 5–7 7–5 6–12 11–7 5–7 4–8 6–12 — 5–13 3–9–1 8–10 5–7
Minnesota 7–5 5–7 10–8 12–6 6–6 8–4 13–5 13–5 — 5–7 13–5 6–6
New York 7–11 8–10 7–5 7–5 10–8 11–7 11–1 9–3–1 7–5 — 6–6 10–8
Oakland 5–7 5–7 10–8 16–2 5–7 6–6 11–7 10–8 5–13 6–6 — 10–2
Washington 6–12 6–12 5–7 8–4 7–11 9–9 6–6 7–5 6–6 8–10 2–10 —

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

Awards and honors

Farm system

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
A-Short Season Auburn Twins New York–Penn League Boyd Coffie
A-Short Season St. Cloud Rox Northern League Jim Merrick
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn

Notes

References

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