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1970 Minnesota Twins season

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1970 Minnesota Twins
American League West Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
Record98–64 (.605)
Divisional place1st
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersBill Rigney
TelevisionWTCN-TV
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Al Shaver, Ray Christensen, Frank Buetel)
← 1969 Seasons 1971 →

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.[1] 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

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Regular season

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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.[7]

The Twins are no-hit for the second time in their history, losing 6–0 to Oakland's Vida Blue.[8]

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

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 98 64 .605 — 51‍–‍30 47‍–‍34
Oakland Athletics 89 73 .549 9 49‍–‍32 40‍–‍41
California Angels 86 76 .531 12 43‍–‍38 43‍–‍38
Kansas City Royals 65 97 .401 33 35‍–‍44 30‍–‍53
Milwaukee Brewers 65 97 .401 33 38‍–‍42 27‍–‍55
Chicago White Sox 56 106 .346 42 31‍–‍53 25‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

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1970 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore — 13–5 7–5 9–3 14–4 11–7 12–0 7–5 5–7 11–7 7–5 12–6
Boston 5–13 — 5–7 8–4 12–6 9–9 7–5 5–7 7–5 10–8 7–5 12–6
California 5–7 7–5 — 12–6 6–6 6–6 10–8 12–6 8–10 5–7 8–10 7–5
Chicago 3–9 4–8 6–12 — 6–6 6–6 7–11 7–11 6–12 5–7 2–16 4–8
Cleveland 4–14 6–12 6–6 6–6 — 7–11 8–4 7–5 6–6 8–10 7–5 11–7
Detroit 7–11 9–9 6–6 6–6 11–7 — 6–6 8–4 4–8 7–11 6–6 9–9
Kansas City 0–12 5–7 8–10 11–7 4–8 6–6 — 12–6 5–13 1–11 7–11 6–6
Milwaukee 5–7 7–5 6–12 11–7 5–7 4–8 6–12 — 5–13 3–9–1 8–10 5–7
Minnesota 7–5 5–7 10–8 12–6 6–6 8–4 13–5 13–5 — 5–7 13–5 6–6
New York 7–11 8–10 7–5 7–5 10–8 11–7 11–1 9–3–1 7–5 — 6–6 10–8
Oakland 5–7 5–7 10–8 16–2 5–7 6–6 11–7 10–8 5–13 6–6 — 10–2
Washington 6–12 6–12 5–7 8–4 7–11 9–9 6–6 7–5 6–6 8–10 2–10 —


Notable transactions

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  • June 27, 1970: Craig Kusick was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.[9]

Roster

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1970 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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 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

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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 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

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Starting pitchers

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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 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 18 68.2 3 7 6.42 45

Other pitchers

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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 52 155.1 11 6 2.55 184
Bill Zepp 43 151.0 9 4 3.22 64

Relief pitchers

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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 68 10 1 15 1.99 76
Dick Woodson 21 1 2 1 3.82 22
Steve Barber 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

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ALCS

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Main article: 1970 American League Championship Series

Awards and honors

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Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
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

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ John Roseboro at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Mike Sadek at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Hal Haydel at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Graig Nettles at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Brant Alyea at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  8. ^ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  9. ^ Craig Kusick at Baseball Reference

References

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