1970 Minnesota Twins season

March 2026 November 2013 Minnesota Twins 1970 American League West champions American League West Metropolitan Stadium Bloomington, Minnesota 98 64 y 1st Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) Calvin Griffith Bill Rigney WTCN-TV 830 WCCO AM(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Al Shaver, Ray Christensen, Frank Buetel) The 1970 Minnesota Twins season was the 10th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 10th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 70th overall in the American League. Led by new manager Bill Rigney, the Twins won the American League West with a 98–64 record, nine games ahead of the Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. Of note, the Twins were the only team in the American League to have a winning record in the regular season versus the Orioles.100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.51 The 1970 ALCS would be the last MLB postseason games played at Metropolitan Stadium, as the Twins would not return to the postseason stage until 1987 when they won the World Series. Offseason October 13, 1969: John Roseboro was released by the Twins.John Roseboro at Baseball Reference December 1, 1969: 1969 rule 5 draft Mike Sadek was drafted from the Twins by the San Francisco Giants.Mike Sadek at Baseball Reference Hal Haydel was drafted by the Twins from the San Francisco Giants.Hal Haydel at Baseball-Reference December 10, 1969: Graig Nettles, Dean Chance, Bob Miller, and Ted Uhlaender were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.Graig Nettles at Baseball Reference March 21, 1970: Joe Grzenda and Charley Walters were traded by the Twins to the Washington Senators for Brant Alyea.Brant Alyea at Baseball Reference Regular season On April 7, newly acquired Twin Brant Alyea homered twice in going 4 for 4 and driving in 7 RBIs. The RBI total set a record for major league baseball's Opening Day. On May 20, in a 10–5 win over the Kansas City Royals, Rod Carew became the first Twin to hit for the cycle—going single, homer, double, triple. Over time, his feat will be matched by nine other Twins (César Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976; Lyman Bostock, 1976; Mike Cubbage, 1978; Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986; Carlos Gómez, 2008; Jason Kubel, 2009; and Michael Cuddyer, 2009). On June 5, pitcher Bert Blyleven debuted, allowing a home run off the first batter he faced. Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry. On September 16, Blyleven struck out the first six batters he faced to tie a major league record. However, the Twins lost the game to the California Angels, 5–1.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN197009160.shtml Minnesota Twins Baseball-Reference.com January 25, 2016 The Twins are no-hit for the second time in their history, losing 6–0 to Oakland's Vida Blue.https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK197009210.shtml Minnesota Twins Baseball-Reference.com January 25, 2016 The Twins won the American League West, led by leadoff batter César Tovar (120 runs), Oliva (.325, 23 HR, 107 RBI) and Killebrew (41 HR, 113 RBI). Carew was batting .366 (after 51 games) when his knee was injured turning a double play. Perry won 24 games and became the first Twins pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award. Jim Kaat added 14 wins and rookie Bert Blyleven won 10. Kaat also won his 9th Gold Glove Award. Reliever Ron Perranoski led the AL with 34 saves. 1,261,887 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League. Season standings Record vs. opponents MIN Notable transactions June 27, 1970: Craig Kusick was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.Craig Kusick at Baseball Reference Roster 1970 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers 24 Steve Barber 28 Bert Blyleven 23 Dave Boswell 21 Tom Hall 34 Pete Hamm 30 Hal Haydel 36 Jim Kaat 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Jim Perry 33 Luis Tiant 35 Stan Williams 32 Dick Woodson 25 Bill Zepp Catchers 38 Rick Dempsey 15 George Mitterwald  8 Paul Ratliff 22 Tom Tischinski Infielders 5,17 Leo Cárdenas 29 Rod Carew  3 Harmon Killebrew 27 Minnie Mendoza 40 Cotton Nash  7 Frank Quilici 20 Rich Reese 10 Rick Renick 55,5 Danny Thompson Outfielders  4 Bob Allison 11 Brant Alyea 37 Steve Brye 19 Herman Hill 26 Jim Holt  9 Charlie Manuel 34,39 Jim Nettles  6 Tony Oliva 12 César Tovar Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  2 Frankie Crosetti 46 Marv Grissom 44 Vern Morgan 47 Sherry Robertson 45 Buck Rodgers Player stats = Indicates team 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 George Mitterwald 117 369 82 .222 15 46 1B Rich Reese 153 501 131 .261 10 56 2B Danny Thompson Danny Thompson (baseball) 96 302 66 .219 0 22 3B Harmon Killebrew 157 527 143 .271 41 113 SS Leo Cárdenas 160 588 145 .247 11 65 LF Brant Alyea 94 258 75 .291 16 61 CF César Tovar 161 650 195 .300 10 54 RF Tony Oliva 157 628 204 .325 23 107 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 Jim Holt Jim Holt (baseball) 142 319 85 .266 3 40 Rod Carew 51 191 70 .366 4 28 Rick Renick 81 179 41 .229 7 25 Paul Ratliff 69 149 40 .268 5 22 Frank Quilici 111 141 32 .227 2 12 Bob Allison 47 72 15 .208 1 7 Charlie Manuel 59 64 12 .188 1 7 Tom Tischinski 24 46 9 .196 1 2 Herman Hill 27 22 2 .091 0 0 Jim Nettles 13 20 5 .250 0 0 Minnie Mendoza 16 16 3 .188 0 2 Steve Brye 9 11 2 .182 0 2 Rick Dempsey 5 7 0 .000 0 0 Cotton Nash 4 4 1 .250 0 2 Pitching = Indicates league leader 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) 40 278.2 24* 12 3.04 168 Jim Kaat 45 230.0 14 10 3.56 120 Bert Blyleven 27 164.0 10 9 3.18 135 Luis Tiant 18 92.2 7 3 3.40 50 Dave Boswell Dave Boswell (baseball player) 18 68.2 3 7 6.42 45 Tied with Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally (both with Baltimore) for league lead 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 Tom Hall Tom Hall (baseball) 52 155.1 11 6 2.55 184 Bill Zepp 43 151.0 9 4 3.22 64 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 67 7 8 34 2.43 55 Stan Williams Stan Williams (baseball) 68 10 1 15 1.99 76 Dick Woodson 21 1 2 1 3.82 22 Steve Barber Steve Barber (right-handed pitcher) 18 0 0 2 4.61 14 Pete Hamm 10 0 2 0 5.51 3 Hal Haydel 4 2 0 0 3.00 4 Postseason ALCS 1970 American League Championship Series Awards and honors Jim Perry, American League Cy Young Award Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Evansville Triplets American Association Ralph Rowe AA Charlotte Hornets Southern League Harry Warner and Pete Appleton A Lynchburg Twins Carolina League Tom Umphlett and Spencer "Red" Robbins A Orlando Twins Florida State League Jackie Ferrell A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Johnny Goryl A-Short Season Auburn Twins New York–Penn League Boyd Coffie A-Short Season St. Cloud Rox Northern League Jim Merrick Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Fred Waters LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Minnesota Twins seasons Minnesota Twins season Category:American League West champion seasons Minnesota Twins