Summary
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.
| 1981 Minnesota Twins | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Metropolitan Stadium | |
| City | Bloomington, Minnesota | |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) | |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith | |
| Managers | Johnny Goryl, Billy Gardner | |
| Television | KMSP-TV (Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman) | |
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici) | |
| ||
Offseason edit
- December 8, 1980: Dave Edwards was traded by the Twins to the San Diego Padres for Chuck Baker.[1]
- December 8, 1980: Jack O'Connor was drafted by the Twins from the Montreal Expos in the rule 5 draft.[2]
- December 12, 1980: Willie Norwood was traded by the Twins to the Seattle Mariners for Byron McLaughlin.[3]
- March 27, 1981: Bombo Rivera was released by the Twins.[4]
- March 30, 1981: Ken Landreaux was traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mickey Hatcher, Kelly Snider (minors), and Matt Reeves (minors).[5]
Regular season edit
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, Hrbek was topped by catcher Tim Laudner, who debuted on August 28 and hit home runs in his first two games.
On September 20, Gary Gaetti made his major league debut and started at third base for the Twins. In his first at bat in the second inning, he homered off Texas Rangers pitcher Charlie Hough to become the third Twin to homer in his first-ever at bat. Gaetti joined Rick Renick (1968) and Dave McKay (1975). Later, Andre David (1984) and Eddie Rosario (2015) will join the trio in Twins history.
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 edit
John Castino batted .268 with 6 HR and 36 RBI. Shortstop Roy Smalley had 7 HR and collected 22 RBI.
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| HR | Roy Smalley | 7 |
| RBI | Mickey Hatcher | 37 |
| BA | John Castino | .268 |
| Runs | Gary Ward | 42 |
Pitching edit
Reliever Doug Corbett was the Twins' only bright spot on the mound, racking up 17 saves.
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | Fernando Arroyo | 3.93 |
| Wins | Pete Redfern | 9 |
| Saves | Doug Corbett | 17 |
| Strikeouts | Pete Redfern | 77 |
Season standings edit
| 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. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 37 | 23 | .617 | — |
| Texas Rangers | 33 | 22 | .600 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 31 | 22 | .585 | 2+1⁄2 |
| California Angels | 31 | 29 | .517 | 6 |
| Kansas City Royals | 20 | 30 | .400 | 12 |
| Seattle Mariners | 21 | 36 | .368 | 14+1⁄2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 17 | 39 | .304 | 18 |
| AL West Second Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 30 | 23 | .566 | — |
| Oakland Athletics | 27 | 22 | .551 | 1 |
| Texas Rangers | 24 | 26 | .480 | 4+1⁄2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 24 | 29 | .453 | 6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 23 | 29 | .442 | 6+1⁄2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 23 | 30 | .434 | 7 |
| California Angels | 20 | 30 | .400 | 8+1⁄2 |
Record vs. opponents edit
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 edit
- June 8, 1981: Frank Viola was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.[6]
- August 23, 1981: Ron Jackson was traded by the Twins to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Tim Corcoran to the Twins on September 4.[7]
- August 30, 1981: Jerry Koosman was traded by the Twins to the Chicago White Sox for Ivan Mesa (minors), Ronnie Perry (minors), a player to be named later, and cash. The White Sox completed the trade by sending Randy Johnson to the Twins on September 2.[8]
Roster edit
| 1981 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats edit
Batting edit
Starters by position edit
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 | Sal Butera | 62 | 167 | 40 | .240 | 0 | 18 |
| 1B | Danny Goodwin | 59 | 151 | 34 | .225 | 2 | 17 |
| 2B | Rob Wilfong | 93 | 305 | 75 | .246 | 3 | 19 |
| 3B | John Castino | 101 | 381 | 102 | .268 | 6 | 36 |
| SS | Roy Smalley | 56 | 167 | 44 | .263 | 7 | 22 |
| LF | Gary Ward | 85 | 295 | 78 | .264 | 3 | 29 |
| CF | Mickey Hatcher | 99 | 377 | 96 | .255 | 3 | 37 |
| RF | Dave Engle | 82 | 248 | 64 | .258 | 5 | 32 |
| DH | Glenn Adams | 72 | 220 | 46 | .209 | 2 | 24 |
Other batters edit
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosken Powell | 80 | 264 | 63 | .239 | 2 | 25 |
| Pete Mackanin | 77 | 225 | 52 | .231 | 4 | 18 |
| Ron Jackson | 54 | 175 | 46 | .263 | 4 | 28 |
| Butch Wynegar | 47 | 150 | 37 | .247 | 0 | 10 |
| Rick Sofield | 41 | 102 | 18 | .176 | 0 | 5 |
| Ron Washington | 28 | 84 | 19 | .226 | 0 | 5 |
| Kent Hrbek | 24 | 67 | 16 | .239 | 1 | 7 |
| Chuck Baker | 40 | 66 | 12 | .182 | 0 | 6 |
| Tim Corcoran | 22 | 51 | 9 | .176 | 0 | 4 |
| Tim Laudner | 14 | 43 | 7 | .163 | 2 | 5 |
| Lenny Faedo | 12 | 41 | 8 | .195 | 0 | 6 |
| Ray Smith | 15 | 40 | 8 | .200 | 1 | 1 |
| Gary Gaetti | 9 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 2 | 3 |
| Greg Johnston | 7 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Funderburk | 8 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 2 |
Pitching edit
Starting pitchers edit
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Williams | 23 | 150.0 | 6 | 10 | 4.08 | 76 |
| Pete Redfern | 24 | 141.2 | 9 | 8 | 4.07 | 77 |
| Fernando Arroyo | 23 | 128.1 | 7 | 10 | 3.93 | 39 |
| Jerry Koosman | 19 | 94.1 | 3 | 9 | 4.20 | 55 |
| Roger Erickson | 14 | 91.1 | 3 | 8 | 3.84 | 44 |
| Brad Havens | 14 | 78.0 | 3 | 6 | 3.58 | 43 |
Other pitchers edit
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darrell Jackson | 14 | 32.2 | 3 | 3 | 4.41 | 26 |
Relief pitchers edit
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Corbett | 54 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 2.57 | 60 |
| Jack O'Connor | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5.86 | 16 |
| Don Cooper | 27 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4.30 | 33 |
| John Verhoeven | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.98 | 16 |
| Bob Veselic | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.18 | 13 |
| John Hobbs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 | 1 |
| Terry Felton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.50 | 1 |
Farm system edit
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando
Notes edit
- ^ Dave Edwards page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Jack O'Connor page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Willie Norwood page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Bombo Rivera page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Ken Landreaux page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Frank Viola page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Ron Jackson page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Jerry Koosman page at Baseball Reference
References edit
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
- Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
- Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com