2003 Minnesota Twins season

March 2026 November 2013 Minnesota Twins 2003 American League Central champions American League Central Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis 90–72 (.556) 1st Carl Pohlad Terry Ryan Ron Gardenhire KSTC-TVFSN North (Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer) 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden) The 2003 Minnesota Twins season was the 43rd season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 22nd season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 103rd overall in the American League. After winning the American League Central in 2002, the Twins were looking to repeat division titles for the first time since 1969 and 1970. A spark for the team was the July trade of Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart. Stewart provided a veteran presence at the top of the lineup that the team had previously lacked. The team met its goal of reaching the playoffs, but once again fell short in the postseason. The Twins lost in four games to the New York Yankees during the ALDS. 2003 would be the last year several key players played with the team. Offseason October 14, 2002: Casey Blake was released by the Twins.Casey Blake at Baseball Reference October 21, 2002: José Rodríguez was released by the Twins.José Rodríguez at Baseball Reference November 15, 2002: Matt Kinney and Javier Valentín were traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor leaguers Gerry Oakes and Matt Yeatman. Oakes' 98 mph fastball and diverse athletic talent was a prize that many MLB teams were after.Matt Kinney at Baseball Reference November 22, 2002: Carlos Pulido was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Carlos Pulido at Baseball Reference December 16, 2002: David Ortiz was released by the Twins.David Ortiz at Baseball Reference March 17, 2003: Kenny Rogers was signed by the Twins as a free agent.Kenny Rogers at Baseball Reference Regular season Under second year manager Ron Gardenhire, The Twins did not look so good coming out of the gates, going 12–14 in March and April. However, they picked it up by going 19–9 in May, improving their record to 31-23 (.574). After having another tough string of games during the middle of the season, the Twins were looking for a jump start. They got it when on July 16 they traded RF Bobby Kielty to Toronto for LF Shannon Stewart. Going into the final month of the season with a record of 71-65 it looked as though the Twins may not win the division, but they finished with a stellar September going 19–7; including an 11-game winning streak. They ended up with a 90-72 (.556) record which was good enough to win the mediocre AL Central. On April 21, Rick Reed set a Twins individual pitching record by giving up 11 runs (ten were earned) in a 15–1 loss to the New York Yankees.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN200304210.shtml Yankees 15, Twins 1 Baseball-Reference.com 2016-02-09 On June 7 at Qualcomm Stadium, outfielder Jacque Jones hit his 20th lead-off home run as a Minnesota Twin and the total remains the Twins record. Jones' first two career homers in 1999 were lead-off home runs. Chuck Knoblauch is next in line with 14. June 17: In a 14–7 loss to the Kansas City Royals, the Twins gave up 12 runs in the sixth inning, a club high. Kenny Rogers blew a 3–1 lead allowing four runs. The final six were allowed by Michael Nakamura.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA200306170.shtml Royals 14, Twins 7 Baseball-Reference.com 2016-02-09 The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was closer Eddie Guardado; he gave up two hits and a run on eight pitches. The highest paid Twin in 2003 was Brad Radke at $8,750,000; followed by Rick Reed at $8,000,000. Bob Allison and Bob Casey were inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. Offense Catcher A. J. Pierzynski enjoyed his highest career batting average (.312) in his final year with the Twins. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz rebounded from a poor 2002 season by hitting .300—although his power numbers (11 home runs) were low for his position. Luis Rivas cemented his reputation as a mediocre hitter, batting .259 with a .308 on-base percentage. Corey Koskie saw his average go up to .292 after a dip in 2002. For the third time in four years, shortstop Cristian Guzmán led the majors in triples this year with 14. Jacque Jones and Torii Hunter were capable hitters in the outfield, with Jones batting .304 and Hunter driving in a career high 102 runs. Stewart hit .322 in 270 at bats for the team. + Team leaders Statistic Player QuantityHR Torii Hunter 26RBI Torii Hunter 102BA A. J. Pierzynski .312Runs Torii Hunter 83 Pitching Brad Radke, Kenny Rogers, and Kyle Lohse filled the first three spots in the starting rotation throughout the year. All three had winning records and ERAs in the mid-fours. Joe Mays and Rick Reed each made 21 mediocre starts. The leftover starts were mostly left to Johan Santana, who made 18, establishing a foundation that would enable him to win a Cy Young Award the following year. Eric Milton was injured most of the year, and appeared in only three games. In the bullpen, Eddie Guardado was once again a reliable closer, with LaTroy Hawkins as his primary set-up man. Juan Rincón was also able to establish himself as a reliable set-up man, but the other bullpen spots were uncertain. J. C. Romero regressed in quality, with a 5.00 ERA. As one might expect, experiments with veterans such as James Baldwin, Carlos Pulido, and the ancient Jesse Orosco did not pan out. + Team leaders Statistic Player QuantityERA Brad Radke 4.49Wins Brad Radke and Kyle Lohse 14Saves Eddie Guardado 41Strikeouts Johan Santana 169 Defense The infield of Pierzynski, Mientkiewicz, Rivas, Guzman, and Koskie was reliable. Jacque Jones was solid in left, although Shannon Stewart saw time there when he was acquired for Bobby Kielty. Torii Hunter had a Gold Glove year in center field. Right field was manned by the platoon of Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty (the duo was dubbed "Dusty Kielmohr") until the arrival of Stewart. Season standings Minnesota Twins Record vs. opponents MIN Notable transactions June 10, 2003: James Baldwin was signed by the Twins as a free agent.James Baldwin at Baseball Reference July 16, 2003: Bobby Kielty was traded by the Twins to the Toronto Blue Jays for Shannon Stewart.Bobby Kielty at Baseball Reference August 17, 2003: James Baldwin was released by the Twins. August 31, 2003: The Twins traded a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for pitcher Jesse Orosco. The Twins completed the deal by sending Juan Padilla to the Yankees on September 2.Jesse Orosco at Baseball Reference Roster 2003 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers 30 James Baldwin 19 Grant Balfour 55 Mike Fetters 52 Tony Fiore 18 Eddie Guardado 32 LaTroy Hawkins 38 Adam Johnson 49 Kyle Lohse 25 Joe Mays 21 Eric Milton 59 Micheal Nakamura 50 Jesse Orosco 51 Carlos Pulido 22 Brad Radke 31 Rick Reed 39 Juan Rincón 37 Kenny Rogers 33 J. C. Romero 57 Johan Santana 56 Brad Thomas Catchers 44 Rob Bowen 24 Matthew LeCroy 26 A. J. Pierzynski 12 Tom Prince Infielders  8 Chris Gomez 15 Cristian Guzmán  7 Denny Hocking 47 Corey Koskie 16 Doug Mientkiewicz 27 Justin Morneau 46 Alex Prieto  2 Luis Rivas 58 Todd Sears Outfielders  5 Michael Cuddyer 20 Lew Ford 48 Torii Hunter 11 Jacque Jones 23 Bobby Kielty 17 Dustan Mohr 41 Michael Restovich 54 Michael Ryan 23 Shannon Stewart Manager 35 Ron Gardenhire Coaches 40 Rick Anderson (pitching) 62 Al Newman (third base)  9 Steve Liddle (bench) 43 Rick Stelmaszek (bullpen) 45 Scott Ullger (hitting) 13 Jerry White (first base) Postseason In the American League Division Series, the Twins faced a team which fared well against them in the regular season: The New York Yankees. The Yankees won the 5-game series in four games, outscoring the Twins 16–6. Minnesota defeated the Yankees in game 1, earning a 3–1 victory at Yankee Stadium. However, the Yankees would go on to win the series; winning the next three games 4–1, 3–1, and 8–1. The Yankees eventually lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series. See also 2003 American League Division Series. 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 C A. J. Pierzynski 137 487 152 .312 11 74 1B Doug Mientkiewicz 142 487 146 .300 11 65 2B Luis Rivas 135 475 123 .259 8 43 SS Cristian Guzmán 143 534 143 .268 3 53 3B Corey Koskie 131 469 137 .292 14 69 LF Jacque Jones 136 517 157 .304 16 69 CF Torii Hunter 154 581 145 .250 26 102 RF Dustan Mohr 121 348 87 .250 10 36 DH Matt LeCroy 107 345 99 .287 17 64 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 Shannon Stewart 65 270 87 .322 6 38 Bobby Kielty 75 238 60 .252 9 32 Denny Hocking 83 188 45 .239 3 22 Chris Gomez 58 175 44 .251 1 15 Justin Morneau 40 106 24 .226 4 16 Michael Cuddyer 35 102 25 .245 4 8 Lew Ford 34 73 24 .329 3 15 Todd Sears 24 65 16 .246 2 11 Michael Ryan 27 61 24 .393 5 13 Michael Restovich 24 53 15 .283 0 4 Tom Prince 24 40 8 .200 2 5 Alex Prieto 8 11 1 .091 0 0 Rob Bowen 7 10 1 .100 0 1 Pitching Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G GS IP W L ERA SO Brad Radke 33 33 212.1 14 10 4.49 120 Kyle Lohse 33 33 201.0 14 11 4.61 130 Kenny Rogers 33 31 195.0 13 8 4.57 116 Rick Reed 27 21 135.0 6 12 5.07 71 Eric Milton 3 3 17.0 1 0 2.65 7 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 Johan Santana 45 158.1 12 3 3.07 169 Joe Mays 31 130.0 8 8 6.30 50 Carlos Pulido 7 15.2 0 1 4.02 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 Eddie Guardado 66 3 5 41 2.89 60 LaTroy Hawkins 74 9 3 2 1.86 75 J. C. Romero 73 2 0 0 5.00 50 Juan Rincón 58 5 6 0 3.68 63 Tony Fiore 21 1 1 0 5.50 23 Grant Balfour 17 1 0 0 4.15 30 Michael Nakamura 12 0 0 1 7.82 14 James Baldwin 10 0 1 1 5.40 7 Jesse Orosco 8 1 1 0 5.79 3 Mike Fetters 5 0 0 0 0.00 1 Brad Thomas 3 0 1 0 7.71 2 Adam Johnson 2 0 1 0 47.25 0 Other post-season awards Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Shannon Stewart Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Johan Santana Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Lew Ford Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Johan Santana Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Jim Brower The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Doug Mientkiewicz Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Position Player) – Joe Mauer Jim Rantz Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Pitcher) – Jesse Crain Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Phil Roof AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Jeff Carter Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Rudy HernándezLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: ElizabethtonJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007Baseball America 2004 Annual Directory References External links Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com Twins history since 2000, from www.mlb.com https://web.archive.org/web/20061018055313/http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline5.jsp October 18, 2006 2003 Standings Category:Minnesota Twins seasons Minnesota Twins season Category:American League Central champion seasons Minnesota Twins