1968 Minnesota Twins season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1968 Minnesota Twins season was the 8th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 8th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 68th overall in the American League. The team finished 79–83, seventh in the American League.
| 1968 Minnesota Twins | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Metropolitan Stadium |
| City | Bloomington, Minnesota |
| Record | 79–83 (.488) |
| Divisional place | 7th |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith |
| Managers | Cal Ermer |
| Television | WTCN-TV |
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon) |
Offseason
- January 27, 1968: Eric Soderholm was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the secondary phase of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft.[1]
Regular season
Leadoff batter César Tovar sparked the offense, finishing second in the American League (AL) with 167 hits and third with 89 runs. Tony Oliva was third in the AL with a .289 batting average. Harmon Killebrew had 17 HR and 40 RBI at the All-Star break but was injured in the All-Star Game and missed most of the second half of the season.[2][3]
It took until their eighth season for the Twins to get no-hit and then it happened profoundly, as their first opposing no-hitter was the perfect game thrown by Oakland's Catfish Hunter on May 8 in Oakland. Hunter struck out 11 and drove in three of his team's four runs.[4]
A first for the Twins: on July 11, Rick Renick played his first-ever major league game, at shortstop. In his first big-league at bat, he homered. The run came off Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich. Renick is the first Twins player to accomplish the feat, later to be joined in history by Dave McKay (1975), Gary Gaetti (1981), Andre David (1984), and Eddie Rosario (2015), who hit a homer not only in his first at bat, but on the first major-league pitch thrown to him.
Three Twins made the All-Star Game: Killebrew, Oliva, and second baseman Rod Carew.[3][5]
On September 22, utility player César Tovar played all nine positions, an inning each, against the Oakland Athletics. Duplicating the feat that Bert Campaneris had performed three years prior, Tovar topped Campy by starting as pitcher and allowing no hits or runs. In the inning, the first batter Tovar faced was Campaneris, who fouled out. Tovar then struck out slugger Reggie Jackson.[6]
Four Twins won 10 or more games: Dean Chance (16–16), Jim Kaat (14–12) Jim Merritt (12–16), Dave Boswell (10–13). Kaat won his seventh Gold Glove. Al Worthington led the AL with 18 saves.[7]
1,143,257 fans attended Twins games, the fourth highest total in the AL.[7]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 56–25 | 47–34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 91 | 71 | .562 | 12 | 47–33 | 44–38 |
| Cleveland Indians | 86 | 75 | .534 | 16½ | 43–37 | 43–38 |
| Boston Red Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 17 | 46–35 | 40–41 |
| New York Yankees | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 39–42 | 44–37 |
| Oakland Athletics | 82 | 80 | .506 | 21 | 44–38 | 38–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 24 | 41–40 | 38–43 |
| California Angels | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 32–49 | 35–46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 95 | .414 | 36 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Washington Senators | 65 | 96 | .404 | 37½ | 34–47 | 31–49 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | MIN | NYY | OAK | WAS | |||
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 14–4 | |||
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 9–9 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| California | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 12–6 | |||
| Chicago | 7–11 | 4–14 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 10–8 | |||
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 14–4 | 10–8–1 | 6–12 | 7–10 | |||
| Detroit | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 12–6 | — | 10–8 | 10–8–1 | 13–5–1 | 10–8 | |||
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| New York | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 8–10–1 | 8–10–1 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 14–4 | |||
| Oakland | 9–9 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 5–13–1 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | |||
| Washington | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–7 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 4–14 | 11–7 | — | |||
Roster
| 1968 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | John Roseboro | 135 | 380 | 82 | .216 | 8 | 39 |
| 1B | Harmon Killebrew | 100 | 295 | 62 | .210 | 17 | 40 |
| 2B | Rod Carew | 127 | 461 | 126 | .273 | 1 | 42 |
| SS | Jackie Hernández | 83 | 199 | 35 | .176 | 2 | 17 |
| 3B | César Tovar | 157 | 613 | 167 | .272 | 6 | 47 |
| LF | Bob Allison | 145 | 469 | 116 | .247 | 22 | 52 |
| CF | Ted Uhlaender | 140 | 488 | 138 | .283 | 7 | 52 |
| RF | Tony Oliva | 128 | 470 | 136 | .289 | 18 | 68 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Reese | 126 | 332 | 86 | .259 | 4 | 28 |
| Frank Quilici | 97 | 229 | 56 | .245 | 1 | 22 |
| Ron Clark | 104 | 227 | 42 | .185 | 1 | 13 |
| Rich Rollins | 93 | 203 | 49 | .241 | 6 | 30 |
| Bruce Look | 59 | 118 | 29 | .246 | 0 | 9 |
| Frank Kostro | 63 | 108 | 26 | .241 | 0 | 9 |
| Jim Holt | 70 | 106 | 22 | .208 | 0 | 8 |
| Rick Renick | 42 | 97 | 21 | .216 | 3 | 13 |
| Graig Nettles | 22 | 76 | 17 | .224 | 5 | 8 |
| Jerry Zimmerman | 24 | 45 | 5 | .111 | 0 | 2 |
| Pat Kelly | 12 | 35 | 4 | .114 | 1 | 2 |
| George Mitterwald | 11 | 34 | 7 | .206 | 0 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Chance | 43 | 292.0 | 16 | 16 | 2.53 | 234 |
| Jim Merritt | 38 | 238.1 | 12 | 16 | 3.25 | 181 |
| Jim Kaat | 30 | 208.0 | 14 | 12 | 2.94 | 130 |
| Dave Boswell | 34 | 190.0 | 10 | 13 | 3.32 | 143 |
| Buzz Stephen | 2 | 11.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.76 | 4 |
| César Tovar | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Perry | 32 | 139.0 | 8 | 6 | 2.27 | 69 |
| Jim Roland | 28 | 61.2 | 4 | 1 | 3.50 | 36 |
| Tom Hall | 8 | 29.2 | 2 | 1 | 2.43 | 18 |
| Ron Keller | 7 | 16.0 | 0 | 1 | 1.69 | 11 |
| Danny Morris | 3 | 10.2 | 0 | 1 | 1.69 | 6 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Worthington | 54 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 2.71 | 57 |
| Ron Perranoski | 66 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3.10 | 65 |
| Bob Miller | 45 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2.74 | 41 |
Farm system
League champions: Orlando, St. Cloud