1979 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersGene Mauch
TelevisionKMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Joe McConnell)
Seasons

The 1979 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 82–80, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

In January 1979, the Twins attempted to trade first baseman Rod Carew to the New York Yankees in exchange for Chris Chambliss, Juan Beníquez, Dámaso García, and Dave Righetti, but were unable to finalize a deal.[1] Carew would instead be traded to the California Angels on February 3.

Notable transactions

Regular season

Three Minnesota Twins homered in the May 15 win over Texas, the sixteenth straight Minnesota game with at least one Twins 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 the All-Star Game: shortstop Roy 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 the Dan Ford trade, hit 14 HR and collected 68 RBI.

Reliever Mike Marshall continued as manager Gene Mauch's all-purpose reliever, pitching in a league-leading 90 games, racking up 10 relief wins along with a league-leading 32 saves. Veteran Jerry Koosman won 20 games. Dave Goltz (14-13) and Geoff Zahn (13-7) had double-digit wins.

Smalley turned 144 double plays this year, setting a major league record for shortstops. The team total of 203 double plays set a new season record.

Third baseman John Castino shared the AL Rookie of the Year award with Alfredo Griffin of the Toronto Blue Jays. Each received 7 first place votes.[7]

1,070,521 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in the American League. It was only the second time since 1970 the team attracted over one million fans.

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 8874 0.543 — 49–32 39–42
Kansas City Royals 8577 0.525 3 46–35 39–42
Texas Rangers 8379 0.512 5 44–37 39–42
Minnesota Twins 8280 0.506 6 39–42 43–38
Chicago White Sox 7387 0.456 14 33–46 40–41
Seattle Mariners 6795 0.414 21 36–45 31–50
Oakland Athletics 54108 0.333 34 31–50 23–58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–59–38–38–57–66–68–58–45–68–410–26–611–2
Boston 5–8—5–75–66–78–58–48–49–35–89–38–46–69–4
California 3–97–5—9–46–64–87–67–59–47–510–37–65–87–5
Chicago 3–86–54–9—6–63–95–85–75–84–89–45–811–27–5
Cleveland 5–87–66–66–6—6–66–64–98–45–88–47–55–78–5
Detroit 6–75–88–49–36–6—5–76–74–87–67–57–56–69–4
Kansas City 6–64–86–78–56–67–5—5–77–65–79–47–66–79–3
Milwaukee 5–84–85–77–59–47–67–5—8–49–46–69–39–310–3
Minnesota 4–83–94–98–54–88–46–74–8—7–59–410–34–911–1
New York 6–58–55–78–48–56–77–54–95–7—9–36–68–49–4
Oakland 4–83–93–104–94–85–74–96–64–93–9—8–52–114–8
Seattle 2–104–86–78–55–75–76–73–93–106–65–8—6–78–4
Texas 6–66–68–52–117–56–67–63–99–44–811–27–6—7–5
Toronto 2–114–95–75–75–84–93–93–101–114–98–44–85–7—

Notable transactions

Roster

1979 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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
CButch Wynegar149504136.270757
1BRon Jackson159583158.2711468
2BRob Wilfong140419131.313959
SSRoy Smalley162621168.2712495
3BJohn Castino148393112.285552
LFBombo Rivera11226374.281231
CFKen Landreaux151564172.3051583
RFHosken Powell10433899.293236
DHJosé Morales9219151.267227

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
Glenn Adams11932698.301850
Willie Norwood7627067.248630
Mike Cubbage9424367.276223
Dave Edwards9622957.249835
Bob Randall8019949.246014
Danny Goodwin5815946.289527
Rick Sofield359328.301012
Glenn Borgmann317014.20008
Craig Kusick245413.24136
Gary Ward10144.28601
Jesús Vega470.00000
Dan Graham240.00000

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
Jerry Koosman37263.220133.38157
Dave Goltz36250.214134.16132
Geoff Zahn26169.01373.5758
Paul Hartzell28163.06105.3644
Roger Erickson24123.03105.6347

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
Pete Redfern40108.1733.4985
Darrell Jackson2469.1444.2843
Gary Serum2064.0136.6131

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 Marshall901015322.6581
Mike Bacsik314204.3933
Ken Brett90004.973
Jeff Holly60007.115
Kevin Stanfield30006.001
Terry Felton10000.001
Paul Thormodsgard10009.001

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Roy McMillan
A Visalia Oaks California League Tom Kelly
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Rick Stelmaszek
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

Notes

  1. ↑ United Press International (January 30, 1979). "Yankees, Twins still dickering". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  2. ↑ Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference
  3. ↑ Dan Ford at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Jerry Koosman at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Mike Marshall at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Rod Carew at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ "Baseball Awards Voting for 1979". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  8. ↑ Randy Bush at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Mike Kinnunen at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Rudy Meoli at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Craig Kusick at Baseball Reference

References

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