| 1979 Minnesota Twins | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Metropolitan Stadium | |||
| City | Bloomington, Minnesota | |||
| Record | 82–80 (.506) | |||
| Divisional place | 4th | |||
| Owners | Calvin Griffith(majority owner, withThelma Griffith Haynes) | |||
| General managers | Calvin Griffith | |||
| Managers | Gene Mauch | |||
| Television | KMSP-TV (Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman) | |||
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal,Joe McConnell) | |||
| ||||
The1979 Minnesota Twins seasonwas the 19th season for theMinnesota Twins franchise in theTwin Cities ofMinnesota, their 19th season atMetropolitan Stadium and the 79th overall in theAmerican League. The team finished 82–80, fourth in theAmerican League West.
In January 1979, the Twins attempted to tradefirst basemanRod Carew to theNew York Yankees in exchange forChris Chambliss,Juan Beníquez,Dámaso García, andDave Righetti, but were unable to finalize a deal.[1] Carew would instead be traded to theCalifornia Angels on February 3.
ThreeMinnesota Twins homered in the May 15 win overTexas, the sixteenth straight Minnesota game with at least oneTwins homer. The streak will end on May 16. Nine players homered 28 times during the club's record-setting streak.
Only one Twins player made theAll-Star Game: shortstopRoy Smalley. Smalley hit 24 HR, drove in 95 runs, and scored 85 runs, all team-leading totals.Ken Landreaux, acquired in the Carew trade, batted .305 with 15 HR and 83 RBI.Ron Jackson, acquired in theDan Ford trade, hit 14 HR and collected 68 RBI.
RelieverMike Marshall continued as managerGene Mauch's all-purpose reliever, pitching in a league-leading 90 games, racking up 10 relief wins along with a league-leading 32 saves. VeteranJerry Koosman won 20 games.Dave Goltz (14–13) andGeoff Zahn (13–7) had double-digit wins.
Smalley turned 144double plays this year, setting a major league record for shortstops. The team total of 203 double plays set a new season record.
Third basemanJohn Castino shared theALRookie of the Year award withAlfredo Griffin of theToronto Blue Jays. Each received 7 first place votes.[7]
1,070,521 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in theAmerican League. It was only the second time since 1970 the team attracted over one million fans.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 5 | 44–37 | 39–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 82 | 80 | .506 | 6 | 39–42 | 43–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 73 | 87 | .456 | 14 | 33–46 | 40–41 |
| Seattle Mariners | 67 | 95 | .414 | 21 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 54 | 108 | .333 | 34 | 31–50 | 23–58 |
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 | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |
| 1979 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
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 | Butch Wynegar | 149 | 504 | 136 | .270 | 7 | 57 |
| 1B | Ron Jackson | 159 | 583 | 158 | .271 | 14 | 68 |
| 2B | Rob Wilfong | 140 | 419 | 131 | .313 | 9 | 59 |
| SS | Roy Smalley | 162 | 621 | 168 | .271 | 24 | 95 |
| 3B | John Castino | 148 | 393 | 112 | .285 | 5 | 52 |
| LF | Bombo Rivera | 112 | 263 | 74 | .281 | 2 | 31 |
| CF | Ken Landreaux | 151 | 564 | 172 | .305 | 15 | 83 |
| RF | Hosken Powell | 104 | 338 | 99 | .293 | 2 | 36 |
| DH | José Morales | 92 | 191 | 51 | .267 | 2 | 27 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Adams | 119 | 326 | 98 | .301 | 8 | 50 |
| Willie Norwood | 76 | 270 | 67 | .248 | 6 | 30 |
| Mike Cubbage | 94 | 243 | 67 | .276 | 2 | 23 |
| Dave Edwards | 96 | 229 | 57 | .249 | 8 | 35 |
| Bob Randall | 80 | 199 | 49 | .246 | 0 | 14 |
| Danny Goodwin | 58 | 159 | 46 | .289 | 5 | 27 |
| Rick Sofield | 35 | 93 | 28 | .301 | 0 | 12 |
| Glenn Borgmann | 31 | 70 | 14 | .200 | 0 | 8 |
| Craig Kusick | 24 | 54 | 13 | .241 | 3 | 6 |
| Gary Ward | 10 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 1 |
| Jesús Vega | 4 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Graham | 2 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| = Indicates league leader |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Koosman | 37 | 263.2 | 20 | 13 | 3.38 | 157 |
| Dave Goltz | 36 | 250.2 | 14 | 13 | 4.16 | 132 |
| Geoff Zahn | 26 | 169.0 | 13 | 7 | 3.57 | 58 |
| Paul Hartzell | 28 | 163.0 | 6 | 10 | 5.36 | 44 |
| Roger Erickson | 24 | 123.0 | 3 | 10 | 5.63 | 47 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Redfern | 40 | 108.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.49 | 85 |
| Darrell Jackson | 24 | 69.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.28 | 43 |
| Gary Serum | 20 | 64.0 | 1 | 3 | 6.61 | 31 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Marshall | 90 | 10 | 15 | 32 | 2.65 | 81 |
| Mike Bacsik | 31 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4.39 | 33 |
| Ken Brett | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.97 | 3 |
| Jeff Holly | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.11 | 5 |
| Kevin Stanfield | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 1 |
| Terry Felton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Paul Thormodsgard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 |