1999 Minnesota Twins season

March 2026 November 2013 Minnesota Twins 1999 American League Central Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis 63 97 y 5th Carl Pohlad Terry Ryan Tom Kelly KMSP-TVMidwest Sports Channel (Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Paul Molitor) 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon) The 1999 Minnesota Twins season was the 39th season for the franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their eighteen season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 99th overall in the American League. They began their season on a positive note, with Brad Radke getting the win in a 6–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. However, they finished the season in last place, with a 63–97 record. Offseason October 2, 1998: Todd Ritchie was released by the Twins.Todd Ritchie at Baseball-Reference December 14, 1998: Alex Ochoa was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later. The Brewers completed the deal by sending Darrell Nicholas (minors) to the Twins on December 15.Alex Ochoa at Baseball-Reference December 15, 1998: Melvin Nieves was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Melvin Nieves at Baseball-Reference December 21, 1998: George Williams was signed as a free agent by the Twins.George Williams at Baseball-Reference January 27, 1999: Bob Wells was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Bob Wells at Baseball-Reference February 16, 1999: Bobby Kielty was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.Bobby Kielty at Baseball-Reference March 20, 1999: Melvin Nieves was purchased from the Twins by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. March 31, 1999: Dan Serafini was purchased from the Twins by the Chicago Cubs.Dan Serafini at Baseball-Reference Regular season Seventeen rookies saw playing time for manager Tom Kelly in the 1999 season. Some of these rookies, such as Corey Koskie, Torii Hunter, and Joe Mays, would go on to future success. The season was not without its bright spots, including Doug Mientkiewicz's .997 fielding percentage and Koskie's team-leading .310 batting average. Another bright spot occurred on September 11, when pitcher Eric Milton threw the only no-hitter of his career against an Anaheim Angels team that consisted mainly of September call-ups. However, the euphemism "rebuilding year" must be applied to the Twins' 1999 campaign. On May 4, rookie Mike Lincoln pitched the Twins to their 3,000th victory. It was Lincoln's first win in the major leagues, as he beat the Yankees 8–5 at the Metrodome. Bert Blyleven was on the mound for both the Twins' 1,000th and 2,000th victories. Win 1: Pedro Ramos, 1961. Win 500: Jim Kaat, 1966. Win 1000: Blyleven, 1973. Win 1500: Roger Erickson, 1978. Win 2000: Blyleven, 1986 Win 2500: Jack Morris, 1991 It was only May 21 when the team's brain trust realized that this would not be a world champion team. On that day, the Twins traded Rick Aguilera, then their highest paid player, to the Chicago Cubs. The team also traded Scott Downs and received Jason Ryan and future starter Kyle Lohse in return. The team finished the season with a 63–97 record, ranked fifth in the American League Central Division. The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was Ron Coomer. He replaced Jim Thome at first base and went 0 for 1. The highest paid Twin in 1999 was Rick Aguilera at $4,300,000; followed by Marty Cordova at $3,000,000. Offense The offense was not impressive. Minnesota was last in the league in slugging and had only one more walk than the league-worst White Sox. The team leaders were: Coomer with 16 home runs; Cordova with 70 RBI; Walker with a .279 average; Walker with 148 hits and 37 doubles; and Lawton with 26 stolen bases. Several players failed to meet expectations offensively. In June, Lawton was hit in the face by a pitch. He missed a month and had trouble finding his swing after returning. Mientkiewicz had a great season batting-wise at the double-A level in 1998, but was not able to follow it up the following year at the major league level. + Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityHR Ron Coomer 16RBI Marty Cordova 70BA Todd Walker .279Runs Chad Allen 69 Pitching Radke, Milton, and LaTroy Hawkins filled the first three spots in the starting rotation throughout the season. The fourth and fifth spots were less predictable. Mays did emerge as a capable starter midway through the season, making 20 starts. Also making an appreciable number of starts in 1999 were Mike Lincoln (15), Dan Perkins (12), and Jason Ryan (8). Aguilera started the season as the Twins' closer and recorded eight saves, but Mike Trombley took over the closer duties in May and finished the season with 24 saves. Trombley, Bob Wells, Travis Miller, Eddie Guardado, and Héctor Carrasco had respectable seasons out of the bullpen. Overall, the pitching staff allowed the second fewest walks in the American League and had an average ERA. + Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityERA Brad Radke 3.75Wins Brad Radke 12Saves Mike Trombley 24Strikeouts Eric Milton 163 Defense Like most of manager Tom Kelly's teams, this one was fundamentally sound. For example, the team committed the third fewest errors in the major leagues in spite of its inexperience. Chad Allen, Hunter, and Matt Lawton saw consistent playing time in the outfield. However, Jacque Jones saw enough at bats to supplant Allen the following season, leading to the "Soul Patrol" of Jones, Hunter, and Lawton. Terry Steinbach was the starting catcher, with Javier Valentín as his backup. Three of the infield positions were fairly stable, with Mientkiewicz getting the bulk of the time at first base, Todd Walker at second, and Cristian Guzmán at short. Although Coomer was the opening day third baseman, Koskie ended up playing the most games at that position. (Coomer saw time at first when it became apparent that Mientkiewicz was not yet ready to face major-league pitchers.) Brent Gates also saw substantial playing time at third, as well as second. Marty Cordova played in 88 games as the designated hitter. Season standings Minnesota Twins Record vs. opponents MIN Roster 1999 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers 38 Rick Aguilera 58 Héctor Carrasco 18 Eddie Guardado 32 LaTroy Hawkins 19 Mike Lincoln 53 Joe Mays 20 Travis Miller 41 Eric Milton 49 Dan Perkins 22 Brad Radke 51 Rob Radlosky 57 Gary Rath 55 Mark Redman 33 J. C. Romero 54 Jason Ryan 23 Benj Sampson 21 Mike Trombley 46 Bob Wells Catchers  9 A. J. Pierzynski 36 Terry Steinbach 26 Javier Valentín Infielders  8 Ron Coomer 56 Cleatus Davidson  5 Brent Gates 15 Cristian Guzmán  7 Denny Hocking 47 Corey Koskie 25 Doug Mientkiewicz 27 David Ortiz 12 Todd Walker Outfielders 31 Chad Allen 40 Marty Cordova 16 Midre Cummings 48 Torii Hunter 11 Jacque Jones 28 Chris Latham 50 Matt Lawton Manager 10 Tom Kelly Coaches 35 Ron Gardenhire (third base) 43 Rick Stelmaszek (bullpen) 44 Dick Such (pitching) 45 Scott Ullger 13 Jerry White Notable transactions April 22: Jack Cressend was selected off waivers by the Twins from the Boston Red Sox.Jack Cressend at Baseball-Reference May 14: Midre Cummings was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Midre Cummings at Baseball-Reference May 21: Rick Aguilera and Scott Downs were traded by the Twins to the Chicago Cubs for Kyle Lohse and Jason Ryan.Rick Aguilera at Baseball-Reference May 26: Frank Rodriguez was selected off waivers from the Twins by the Seattle Mariners.Frank Rodriguez at Baseball-Reference June 2: 1999 Major League Baseball draft Rob Bowen was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round.Rob Bowen at Baseball-Reference Justin Morneau was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round.Justin Morneau at Baseball-Reference Terry Tiffee was drafted by the Twins in the 26th round.Terry Tiffee at Baseball-Reference August 3, 1999: George Williams was traded by the Twins to the Houston Astros for Josh Dimmick (minors). 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 Terry Steinbach 101 338 96 .284 4 42 1B Doug Mientkiewicz 118 327 75 .229 2 32 2B Todd Walker 143 531 148 .279 6 46 SS Cristian Guzmán 131 420 95 .226 1 26 3B Corey Koskie 117 342 106 .310 11 58 LF Chad Allen 137 481 133 .277 10 46 CF Torii Hunter 135 384 98 .255 9 35 RF Matt Lawton 118 406 105 .259 7 54 DH Marty Cordova 124 425 121 .285 14 70 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 Ron Coomer 127 467 123 .263 16 65 Denny Hocking 136 386 103 .267 7 41 Jacque Jones 95 322 93 .289 9 44 Brent Gates 110 306 78 .255 3 38 Javier Valentín 78 218 54 .248 5 28 Midre Cummings 16 38 10 .263 1 9 Chris Latham 14 22 2 .091 0 3 Cleatus Davidson 12 22 3 .136 0 3 A. J. Pierzynski 9 22 6 .273 0 3 David Ortiz 10 20 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 Brad Radke 33 218.2 12 14 3.75 121 Eric Milton 34 206.1 7 11 4.49 163 LaTroy Hawkins 33 174.1 10 14 6.66 103 Mike Lincoln 18 76.1 3 10 6.84 27 Jason Ryan 8 40.2 1 4 4.87 15 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 Joe Mays 49 171.0 6 11 4.37 115 Dan Perkins 29 86.2 1 7 6.54 44 Benj Sampson 30 71.0 3 2 8.11 56 Mark Redman 5 12.2 1 0 8.53 11 Gary Rath 5 4.2 0 1 11.57 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 Mike Trombley 75 2 8 24 4.33 82 Bob Wells 76 8 3 1 3.81 44 Eddie Guardado 63 2 5 2 4.50 50 Travis Miller 52 2 2 0 2.72 40 Héctor Carrasco 39 2 3 1 4.96 35 Rick Aguilera 17 3 1 6 1.27 13 Rob Radlosky 7 0 1 0 12.46 3 J.C. Romero 5 0 0 0 3.72 4 Other post-season awards Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Brad Radke Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Brad Radke Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Cristian Guzmán Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Eric Milton Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Rick Helling The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Ron Coomer Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Player) – Michael Restovich Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Phil Roof AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League John Russell A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Mike Boulanger A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Jose Marzan Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Jon Mathews Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Al NewmanJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References External links Diamond Mind's Analysis of the Twins' 1999 season Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com 1999 Standings Category:Minnesota Twins seasons Minnesota Twins season Category:1999 in sports in Minnesota