1981 Minnesota Twins season

1981 Minnesota Twins
combined 41-68, seventh in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s) Calvin Griffith
Manager(s) Johnny Goryl, Billy Gardner
Local television KMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman)
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
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The 1981 Minnesota Twins finished a combined 41-68, seventh in the American League West. In the strike split season, the Twins were 17-39, seventh place in the first half and 24-29, fourth place in the second half. 469,090 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was also their 21st and final season at Metropolitan Stadium, before moving their home games to the Metrodome the next season. The franchise would not play another outdoor home game until 2010, when Target Field opened.

Offseason

Regular season

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: relief pitcher Doug Corbett.

On August 24, first baseman Kent Hrbek made his major league debut, in a Yankee Stadium game. His twelfth-inning home run beat the Yankees 3-2. Later that week, Herbie was topped by catcher Tim Laudner, who debuted on August 28 and hit home runs in his first two games.

The Twins played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on September 30, losing 5-2 to the Kansas City Royals. The club played their last outdoor home game for the next twenty-eight seasons in 56-degree temperature in front of 15,900 fans. "The Met" had been the Twins' home since their Minnesota opener on April 21, 1961 (also a loss). Gary Ward had the final Twins hit in the Met, a single in the ninth inning. Pete Mackanin homered in the second for the final Twins Met Stadium home run.

Offense

John Castino batted .268 with 6 HR and 37 RBI. Shortstop Roy Smalley had 7 HR and collected 22 RBI.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Roy Smalley 7
RBI Mickey Hatcher 37
BA John Castino .268
Runs Gary Ward 42

Pitching

Reliever Doug Corbett was the Twins' only bright spot on the mound, racking up 17 saves.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Fernando Arroyo 3.93
Wins Pete Redfern 9
Saves Doug Corbett 17
Strikeouts Pete Redfern 77

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 64 45 0.587 — 35–21 29–24
Texas Rangers 57 48 0.543 5 32–24 25–24
Chicago White Sox 54 52 0.509 8½ 25–24 29–28
Kansas City Royals 50 53 0.485 11 19–28 31–25
California Angels 51 59 0.464 13½ 26–28 25–31
Seattle Mariners 44 65 0.404 20 20–37 24–28
Minnesota Twins 41 68 0.376 23 24–36 17–32
AL West
First Half Standings		 W L Pct.
Oakland Athletics 37 23 .617
Texas Rangers 33 22 .600
Chicago White Sox 31 22 .585
California Angels 31 29 .517
Kansas City Royals 20 30 .400
Seattle Mariners 21 36 .368
Minnesota Twins 17 39 .304
AL West
Second Half Standings		 W L Pct.
Kansas City Royals 30 23 .566
Oakland Athletics 27 22 .551
Texas Rangers 24 26 .480
Minnesota Twins 24 29 .453
Seattle Mariners 23 29 .442
Chicago White Sox 23 30 .434
California Angels 20 30 .400

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 2–2 6–6 3–6 4–2 6–7 5–3 2–4 6–0 7–6 7–5 4–2 2–1 5–2
Boston 2–2 — 2–4 5–4 7–6 6–1 3–3 6–7 2–5 3–3 7–5 9–3 3–6 4–0
California 6–6 4–2 — 6–7 7–5 3–3 0–6 4–3 3–3 2–2 2–8 6–4 2–4 6–6
Chicago 6–3 4–5 7–6 — 2–5 3–3 2–0 4–1 2–4 5–7 7–6 3–3 2–4 7–5
Cleveland 2–4 6–7 5–7 5–2 — 1–5 4–4 3–6 2–1 7–5 3–2 8–4 2–2 4–2
Detroit 7–6 1–6 3–3 3–3 5–1 — 3–2 5–8 9–3 3–7 1–2 5–1 9–3 6–4
Kansas City 3–5 3–3 6–0 0–2 4–4 2–3 — 4–5 9–4 2–10 3–3 6–7 3–4 5–3
Milwaukee 4–2 7–6 3–4 1–4 6–3 8–5 5–4 — 9–3 3–3 4–2 2–2 4–5 6–4
Minnesota 0–6 5–2 3–3 4–2 1–2 3–9 4–9 3–9 — 3–3 2–8 3–6–1 5–8 5–1
New York 6–7 3–3 2–2 7–5 5–7 7–3 10–2 3–3 3–3 — 4–3 2–3 5–4 2–3
Oakland 5–7 5–7 8–2 6–7 2–3 2–1 3–3 2–4 8–2 3–4 — 6–1 4–2 10–2
Seattle 2–4 3–9 4–6 3–3 4–8 1–5 7–6 2–2 6–3–1 3–2 1–6 — 5–8 3–3
Texas 1–2 6–3 4–2 4–2 2–2 3–9 4–3 5–4 8–5 4–5 2–4 8–5 — 6–2
Toronto 2–5 0–4 6–6 5–7 2–4 4–6 3–5 4–6 1–5 3–2 2–10 3–3 2–6 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1981 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 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
3B Castino, JohnJohn Castino 101 381 102 .268 6 36
SS Smalley, RoyRoy Smalley 56 167 44 .263 7 22
LF Ward, GaryGary Ward 85 295 78 .264 3 29
CF Hatcher, MickeyMickey Hatcher 99 377 96 .255 3 37

Other batters

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jackson, RonRon Jackson 54 175 46 .263 4 28
Baker, ChuckChuck Baker 40 66 12 .182 0 6
Corcoran, TimTim Corcoran 22 51 9 .176 0 4
Faedo, LennyLenny Faedo 12 41 8 .195 0 6

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Williams, AlbertAlbert Williams 23 150 6 10 4.08 76
Redfern, PetePete Redfern 24 141.2 9 8 4.07 77
Arroyo, FernandoFernando Arroyo 23 128.1 7 10 3.93 39
Koosman, JerryJerry Koosman 19 94.1 3 9 4.20 55
Erickson, RogerRoger Erickson 14 91.1 3 8 3.84 44

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jackson, DarrellDarrell Jackson 14 32.2 3 3 4.41 26

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Corbett, DougDoug Corbett 54 2 6 17 2.57 60
O'Connor, JackJack O'Connor 28 3 2 0 5.86 16
Cooper, DonDon Cooper 27 1 5 0 4.30 33

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Tom Kelly
A Visalia Oaks California League Dick Phillips
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Ken Staples
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando

Notes

References

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