1969 Minnesota Twins season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1969 Minnesota Twins season was the 9th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 9th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 69th overall in the American League.
| 1969 Minnesota Twins | |
|---|---|
| American League West champions | |
| League | American League |
| Division | West |
| Ballpark | Metropolitan Stadium |
| City | Bloomington, Minnesota |
| Record | 97–65 (.599) |
| Divisional place | 1st |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith |
| Managers | Billy Martin |
| Television | WTCN-TV |
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon) |
Led by new manager Billy Martin, the Twins won the newly formed American League West with a 97–65 record, nine games over the second-place Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the first ALCS.
Regular season
In the first year of divisional play, the Twins won the American League West, led by Rod Carew (.332, his first AL batting title), Tony Oliva (.309, 24 HR, 101 RBI) and league MVP Harmon Killebrew (49 HR, 140 RBI – both league-leading totals). Carew stole home 7 times. Leadoff batter César Tovar was third in the AL with 45 stolen bases. Jim Perry and Dave Boswell each won 20 games, the first and only time a Minnesota club has held two 20-game winners. Reliever Ron Perranoski became the first Twin to lead the AL in saves with 31. Pitcher Jim Kaat won his 8th Gold Glove Award.
In the May 18 loss to Detroit, the Twins stole five bases during the third inning to tie a major league record. Four bases were stolen during Harmon Killebrew's at-bat: César Tovar stole home, and Rod Carew stole second, third and then home.[1]
On June 21 in Oakland, the Twins were tied 3–3 with the A's going into the tenth inning. In the top of the inning, Minnesota scored eleven times, tying a 1928 New York Yankees record. The Twins won the game 14–4.[2]
On September 20, the Twins were at least able to clinch a playoff spot at home by beating the Seattle Pilots 3-2 on a walk-off double by Tony Oliva that brought in Rod Carew who'd hit a single in the at-bat before.[3] It would be 2 more days before they'd clinch the AL West outright as the Pilots upset the Twins the next day while the 2nd-place A's throttled the California Angels. On September 22, they went on the road to Kansas City and won over the expansion Royals 4-3 becoming the first team to win the division.[4]
Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Killebrew, second baseman Carew, outfielder Oliva, and catcher John Roseboro. Harmon Killebrew became the second Twin to be named American League Most Valuable Player.
1,349,328 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 57–24 | 40–41 |
| Oakland Athletics | 88 | 74 | .543 | 9 | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| California Angels | 71 | 91 | .438 | 26 | 43–38 | 28–53 |
| Kansas City Royals | 69 | 93 | .426 | 28 | 36–45 | 33–48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 68 | 94 | .420 | 29 | 41–40 | 27–54 |
| Seattle Pilots | 64 | 98 | .395 | 33 | 34–47 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | WAS | |
| Baltimore | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 13–5 | |
| Boston | 8–10 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–12 | |
| California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 5–7 | |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 4–8 | |
| Cleveland | 5–13 | 6–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–15 | |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–11 | |
| Kansas City | 1–11 | 2–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 5–7–1 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–5 | |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–2 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | |
| New York | 7–11 | 7–11 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 8–9 | 8–10 | 7–5–1 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 | |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 8–4 | |
| Seattle | 3–9 | 6–6 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 7–5 | |
| Washington | 5–13 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 15–3 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | |
Notable transactions
- June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
- Bert Blyleven was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round.[5]
- Jim Hughes was drafted by the Twins in the 33rd round.[6]
Roster
| 1969 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league 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 | 115 | 361 | 95 | .263 | 3 | 32 |
| 1B | Rich Reese | 132 | 419 | 135 | .322 | 16 | 69 |
| 2B | Rod Carew | 123 | 458 | 152 | .332 | 8 | 56 |
| 3B | Harmon Killebrew | 162 | 555 | 153 | .276 | 49 | 140 |
| SS | Leo Cárdenas | 160 | 578 | 162 | .280 | 10 | 70 |
| LF | Bob Allison | 81 | 189 | 43 | .228 | 8 | 29 |
| CF | Ted Uhlaender | 152 | 554 | 151 | .273 | 8 | 62 |
| RF | Tony Oliva | 153 | 637 | 197 | .309 | 24 | 101 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| César Tovar | 158 | 535 | 154 | .288 | 11 | 52 |
| Graig Nettles | 96 | 225 | 50 | .222 | 7 | 26 |
| George Mitterwald | 69 | 187 | 48 | .257 | 5 | 13 |
| Charlie Manuel | 83 | 164 | 34 | .207 | 2 | 24 |
| Frank Quilici | 118 | 144 | 25 | .174 | 2 | 12 |
| Rick Renick | 71 | 139 | 34 | .254 | 5 | 17 |
| Tom Tischinski | 37 | 47 | 9 | .191 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Holt | 12 | 14 | 5 | .357 | 1 | 2 |
| Cotton Nash | 6 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Clark | 5 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Dempsey | 5 | 6 | 3 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Kostro | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Herman Hill | 16 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Perry | 46 | 261.2 | 20 | 6 | 2.82 | 153 |
| Dave Boswell | 39 | 256.1 | 20 | 12 | 3.23 | 190 |
| Jim Kaat | 40 | 242.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.49 | 139 |
| Tom Hall | 20 | 140.2 | 8 | 7 | 3.33 | 92 |
| Dean Chance | 20 | 88.1 | 5 | 4 | 2.95 | 50 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Miller | 48 | 119.1 | 5 | 5 | 3.02 | 57 |
| Dick Woodson | 44 | 110.1 | 7 | 5 | 3.67 | 66 |
| Danny Morris | 3 | 5.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.06 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Perranoski | 75 | 9 | 10 | 31 | 2.11 | 62 |
| Al Worthington | 46 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 4.57 | 51 |
| Joe Grzenda | 38 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3.88 | 24 |
| Jerry Crider | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.71 | 16 |
| Charley Walters | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 |
| Bill Zepp | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 |
| Bucky Brandon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 1 |
Postseason
The Twins were swept 3–0 by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 American League Championship Series.
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award |
|---|---|
| Rod Carew | All-Star starting 2B |
| Harmon Killebrew | All-Star reserve 1B |
| Tony Oliva | All-Star reserve OF (did not play due to injury) |
| John Roseboro | All-Star reserve C |
| Jim Kaat | AL Gold Glove Award P |
| Harmon Killebrew | AL Most Valuable Player |
Along with MVP winner Killebrew, starting pitcher Jim Perry, Carew, shortstop Leo Cardenas, relief pitcher Ron Perranoski, Oliva, and utility man Cesar Tovar all received votes in American League MVP balloting, finishing in 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th place, respectively.[7]
Perry finished in third place in American League Cy Young Award balloting.[8]
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Denver Bears | American Association | Don Heffner |
| AA | Charlotte Hornets | Southern League | Ralph Rowe |
| A | Red Springs Twins | Carolina League | Tom Umphlett |
| A | Orlando Twins | Florida State League | Harry Warner |
| A | Wisconsin Rapids Twins | Midwest League | Tom Videtich |
| A-Short Season | Auburn Twins | New York–Penn League | Steve Thornton |
| A-Short Season | St. Cloud Rox | Northern League | Jim Merrick |
| Rookie | GCL Twins | Gulf Coast League | Fred Waters |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte