1969 Minnesota Twins season

March 2026 November 2013 Minnesota Twins 1969 American League West champions American League West Metropolitan Stadium Bloomington, Minnesota 97 65 y 1st Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) Calvin Griffith Billy Martin WTCN-TV 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon) 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. 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.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196905180.shtml May 18, 1969 Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play Baseball-Reference.com January 25, 2016 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.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK196906210.shtml June 21, 1969 Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics Box Score and Play by Play Baseball-Reference.com January 25, 2016 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.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN196909200.shtml September 20 Seattle Pilots at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play Baseball-Reference.com February 16, 2026 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.https://ouatsports.com/1969-minnesota-twins/ 1969 Minnesota Twins: The 1st AL West Champs Once Upon A Time Sports February 16, 2026 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 Record vs. opponents MIN Notable transactions June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft Bert Blyleven was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round.Bert Blyleven at Baseball Reference Jim Hughes was drafted by the Twins in the 33rd round.Jim Hughes at Baseball Reference Roster 1969 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers 23 Dave Boswell 24 Bucky Brandon 32 Dean Chance 27 Jerry Crider 17,33 Joe Grzenda 21 Tom Hall 36 Jim Kaat 49 Bob Miller 27 Danny Morris 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Jim Perry 27 Charlie Walters 18,35 Dick Woodson 19 Al Worthington 25 Bill Zepp Catchers  8 Rick Dempsey 15 George Mitterwald 13 John Roseboro 22 Tom Tischinski Infielders  5 Leo Cárdenas 29 Rod Carew  8 Ron Clark  3 Harmon Killebrew 34 Cotton Nash  7 Frank Quilici 20 Rich Reese 10 Rick Renick Outfielders  4 Bob Allison 28 Herman Hill 26 Jim Holt  9 Charlie Manuel  2 Graig Nettles  6 Tony Oliva 12 César Tovar 11 Ted Uhlaender Other batters  2 Frank Kostro Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches 43 Art Fowler 45 Johnny Goryl 44 Vern Morgan 46 Charlie Silvera 47 Early Wynn 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 Jim Holt (baseball) 12 14 5 .357 1 2 Cotton Nash 6 9 2 .222 0 0 Ron Clark Ron Clark (baseball) 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 Jim Perry (baseball) 46 261.2 20 6 2.82 153 Dave Boswell Dave Boswell (baseball player) 39 256.1 20 12 3.23 190 Jim Kaat 40 242.1 14 13 3.49 139 Tom Hall Tom Hall (baseball) 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 Bob Miller (baseball, born 1939) 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 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 1969 American League Championship Series 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.https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1969.shtml 1969 Awards Voting Baseball-Reference.com October 29, 2022 Perry finished in third place in American League Cy Young Award balloting.https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1969.shtml 1969 Awards Voting Baseball-Reference.com October 29, 2022 Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 Notes 2 References Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Category:Minnesota Twins seasons Minnesota Twins season Category:American League West champion seasons Minnesota Twins