1986 Minnesota Twins season

1986 Minnesota Twins
71-91, sixth in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Carl Pohlad
General manager(s) Andy MacPhail
Manager(s) Ray Miller, Tom Kelly
Local television KMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Harmon Killebrew)
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Joe Angel)
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The 1986 Minnesota Twins finished at 71-91, sixth in the AL West, 21 games behind the eventual AL runner-up California Angels. 1,255,453 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Pitcher Bert Blyleven made a prediction on Fan Appreciation Day on October 3, saying that if the team came together as a unit and signed some other good players, they could potentially bring a World Series championship to Minnesota. That prediction proved accurate the next year.

Offseason

Regular season

On May 30, Roy Smalley homered from both sides of the plate, the first Twin to do so.

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, outfielder Kirby Puckett.

On August 1, Puckett hit for the cycle, the only time he'd do so in his major league career. Going triple, double, single, homer, he became the seventh Twin in history to cycle. On the same night, pitcher Bert Blyleven struck out Oakland's Mike Davis to notch his 3000th strikeout. Only eight other pitchers had reached that plateau.

After a disappointing start, manager Ray Miller was replaced by Tom Kelly on September 12.

In a game against the Chicago White Sox held on October 4, Greg Gagne of the Twins hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game.[7] Pitcher Bert Blyleven was on the mound for the Twins; the last time a batter had hit two inside-the-park homers in one game, it was Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox on July 31, 1972, and his homers were hit off Blyleven.

Also on October 4, Blyleven allowed his 50th home run of the season (to Chicago's Daryl Boston) to set a major league record. (When he serves up 46 in 1987, he'll set another record with 96 homers allowed over consecutive seasons.)

Offense

Kirby Puckett, switched from leadoff to third in the batting order, blasted 31 HR drove in 96 runs and scored 119. Kent Hrbek hit .267 with 29 HR and 91 RBI. Tom Brunansky hit 23 HR and 75 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .287 with 34 HR and 108 RBI. With Roy Smalley's 20 home runs, five players reached 20 homers this season, the first time that's happened since six players topped 20 in 1964.

Pitching

The Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (16-13), Bert Blyleven (17-14), and Mike Smithson (13-14). Reliever Keith Atherton had 10 saves.

Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their first Gold Glove Award. They were the first Twins to win a gold glove since Jim Kaat in 1973.

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 92 70 0.568 — 50–32 42–38
Texas Rangers 87 75 0.537 5 51–30 36–45
Kansas City Royals 76 86 0.469 16 45–36 31–50
Oakland Athletics 76 86 0.469 16 47–36 29–50
Chicago White Sox 72 90 0.444 20 41–40 31–50
Minnesota Twins 71 91 0.438 21 43–38 28–53
Seattle Mariners 67 95 0.414 25 41–41 26–54

Record vs. opponents

1986 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 4–9 6–6 9–3 4–9 1–12 6–6 6–7 8–4 5–8 5–7 6–6 5–7 8–5
Boston 9–4 — 5–7 7–5 10–3 7–6 6–6 6–6 10–2 5–8 7–5 8–4 8–4 7–6
California 6–6 7–5 — 7–6 6–6 7–5 8–5 5–7 7–6 7–5 10–3 8–5 8–5 6–6
Chicago 3–9 5–7 6–7 — 5–7 6–6 7–6 5–7 6–7 6–6 7–6 8–5 2–11 6–6
Cleveland 9–4 3–10 6–6 7–5 — 4–9 8–4 8–5 6–6 5–8 10–2 9–3 6–6 3–10–1
Detroit 12–1 6–7 5–7 6–6 9–4 — 5–7 8–5 7–5 6–7 6–6 6–6 7–5 4–9
Kansas City 6–6 6–6 5–8 6–7 4–8 7–5 — 6–6 6–7 4–8 8–5 5–8 8–5 5–7
Milwaukee 7–6 6–6 7–5 7–5 5–8 5–8 6–6 — 4–8 8–5 5–7 6–6 4–8 7–6
Minnesota 4–8 2–10 6–7 7–6 6–6 5–7 7–6 8–4 — 4–8 6–7 6–7 6–7 4–8
New York 8–5 8–5 5–7 6–6 8–5 7–6 8–4 5–8 8–4 — 5–7 8–4 7–5 7–6
Oakland 7–5 5–7 3–10 6–7 2–10 6–6 5–8 7–5 7–6 7–5 — 10–3 3–10 8–4
Seattle 6–6 4–8 5–8 5–8 3–9 6–6 8–5 6–6 7–6 4–8 3–10 — 4–9 6–6
Texas 7–5 4–8 5–8 11–2 6–6 5–7 5–8 8–4 7–6 5–7 10–3 9–4 — 5–7
Toronto 5–8 6–7 6–6 6–6 10–3–1 9–4 7–5 6–7 8–4 6–7 4–8 6–6 7–5 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1986 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 Salas, MarkMark Salas 91 258 60 .233 8 33
1B Hrbek, KentKent Hrbek 149 550 147 .267 29 91
2B Lombardozzi, SteveSteve Lombardozzi 156 453 103 .227 8 33
3B Gaetti, GaryGary Gaetti 157 596 171 .287 34 108
SS Gagne, GregGreg Gagne 156 472 118 .250 12 54
LF Bush, RandyRandy Bush 130 357 96 .269 7 45
CF Puckett, KirbyKirby Puckett 161 680 223 .328 31 96
RF Brunansky, TomTom Brunansky 157 593 152 .256 23 75
DH Smalley, RoyRoy Smalley 143 459 113 .246 20 57

[12]

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
Hatcher, MickeyMickey Hatcher 115 317 88 .278 3 32
Laudner, TimTim Laudner 76 193 46 .244 10 29
Beane, BillyBilly Beane 80 183 39 .213 3 15
Reed, JeffJeff Reed 68 165 39 .236 2 9
Washington, RonRon Washington 48 74 19 .257 4 11
Davidson, MarkMark Davidson 36 68 8 .118 0 2
Espinoza, AlvaroAlvaro Espinoza 37 42 9 .214 0 1
Woods, AlAl Woods 23 28 9 .321 2 8
Pittaro, ChrisChris Pittaro 11 21 2 .095 0 0
Sánchez, AlejandroAlejandro Sánchez 8 16 2 .125 0 1
David, AndreAndre David 5 5 1 .200 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
Viola, FrankFrank Viola 37 245.7 16 13 4.51 191
Blyleven, BertBert Blyleven 36 271.7 17 14 4.01 215
Smithson, MikeMike Smithson 34 198 13 14 4.77 114
Heaton, NealNeal Heaton 21 124.3 4 9 3.98 66

[12]

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
Butcher, JohnJohn Butcher 16 70 0 3 6.30 29
Latham, BillBill Latham 7 16 0 1 7.31 8

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
Atherton, KeithKeith Atherton 47 5 8 10 3.75 59
Frazier, GeorgeGeorge Frazier 15 1 1 6 4.39 25
Smith, RoyRoy Smith 5 0 2 0 6.97 8

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Charlie Manuel
AA Orlando Twins Southern League George Mitterwald
A Visalia Oaks California League Danny Schmitz
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Don Leppert
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ Rick Lysander page on Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Roy Smith at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Jarvis Brown at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Billy Beane page on Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/engleda01.shtml
  6. ↑ Mike Hart at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.262, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  8. ↑ Houston Jiménez page on Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/atherke01.shtml
  10. ↑ Derek Parks at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ John Butcher page on Baseball Reference
  12. 1 2 http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1986.shtml
  13. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

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