1992 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersAndy MacPhail
ManagersTom Kelly
TelevisionWCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson, Dick Bremer, Tom Mee)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
Seasons

Coming off a World Series victory, the 1992 Minnesota Twins continued the team's winning spree. The team finished in second place to the Oakland Athletics and did not make it to the postseason. This would be the team's last winning season until 2001.

Offseason

Regular season

Offense

Outfielder Kirby Puckett got 200 hits for the fifth time in his career, as well as 100 runs and 100 RBI. He also hit over .300 for the seventh time in nine seasons. Finally, he hit the first three grand slams of his career. He was twice named American League Player of the Month. Puckett would go on to win his fifth Silver Slugger Award.

Chuck Knoblauch and Shane Mack also notched 100 runs, making Puckett, Knoblauch, and Mack the first trio of Twins in team history to score 100 times in a season.

First baseman Kent Hrbek began his fight against the injury bug, getting only 394 at-bats, a number that would decline over the next two years. Catcher Brian Harper had the second of three seasons batting over .300. Scott Leius saw a majority of the time at third base, but hit only .249 with 2 home runs. In his last year with the Twins, shortstop Greg Gagne hit .246 — right around his career average. Pedro Muñoz saw a majority of the time in right field, while Chili Davis served as the designated hitter in his second and last year with the Twins.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRKirby Puckett19
RBIKirby Puckett110
BAKirby Puckett.329
RunsKirby Puckett and Chuck Knoblauch104

Pitching

The first four pitchers in the starting rotation had winning records and solid ERAs, including John Smiley (16-9, 3.21), Kevin Tapani (16-11, 3.97), Scott Erickson (13-12, 3.40), and Bill Krueger (10-6, 4.30). The fifth spot in the rotation was a question mark, with Pat Mahomes making 13 mediocre starts, Willie Banks 12 poor starts, and Mike Trombley 7 reasonably capable ones.

The bullpen was outstanding, anchored by closer Rick Aguilera. Aguilera earned 41 saves, and became the Twins' all-time leader in saves on September 1 when he earned his 109th with the team. The four regular arms in the bullpen all had ERAs under three: Carl Willis, Mark Guthrie, Tom Edens, and Gary Wayne.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAJohn Smiley3.21
WinsJohn Smiley and Kevin Tapani16
SavesRick Aguilera41
StrikeoutsJohn Smiley163

Defense

As expected for a Tom Kelly team, the defense was strong. Puckett would win the last of his six Gold Glove Awards. Hrbek was always strong at first base (although Don Mattingly prevented him from winning a Gold Glove), as was Knoblauch at second (at least at this point in his career). Gagne was a capable shortstop, but Leius was a question mark at third with a .955 fielding percentage. Mack and Muñoz had good years defensively alongside Puckett.

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 9666 0.593 — 51–30 45–36
Minnesota Twins 9072 0.556 6 48–33 42–39
Chicago White Sox 8676 0.531 10 50–32 36–44
Texas Rangers 7785 0.475 19 36–45 41–40
California Angels 7290 0.444 24 41–40 31–50
Kansas City Royals 7290 0.444 24 44–37 28–53
Seattle Mariners 6498 0.395 32 38–43 26–55

Record vs. opponents

1992 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–58–46–67–610–38–46–76–65–86–67–57–55–8
Boston 5–8—8–46–66–74–97–55–83–97–65–76–64–87–6
California 4–84–8—3–106–67–58–55–72–117–55–87–69–45–7
Chicago 6–66–610–3—7–510–27–65–78–58–45–84–95–85–7
Cleveland 6–77–66–65–7—5–85–75–86–67–66–67–55–76–7
Detroit 3–109–45–72–108–5—7–55–83–95–86–69–38–45–8
Kansas City 4–85–75–86–77–55–7—7–56–75–74–97–66–75–7
Milwaukee 7–68–57–57–58–58–55–7—6–66–77–58–47–58–5
Minnesota 6–69–311–25–86–69–37–66–6—7–55–88–56–75–7
New York 8–56–75–74–86–78–57–57–65–7—6–66–66–62–11
Oakland 6–67–58–58–56–66–69–45–78–56–6—12–19–46–6
Seattle 5–76–66–79–45–73–96–74–85–86–61–12—4–94–8
Texas 5–78–44–98–57–54–87–65–77–66–64–99–4—3–9
Toronto 8–56–77–57–57–68–57–55–87–511–26–68–49–3—

Notable transactions

Roster

1992 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CBrian Harper140502154.307973
1BKent Hrbek11239496.2441558
2BChuck Knoblauch155600178.297256
3BScott Leius129409102.249235
SSGreg Gagne146439108.246739
LFShane Mack156600189.3151675
CFKirby Puckett160639210.32919110
RFPedro Muñoz127418113.2701271
DHChili Davis138444128.2881266

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
Gene Larkin11533783.246642
Randy Bush10018239.214222
Jeff Reboulet7313726.190116
Lenny Webster5311833.280113
Mike Pagliarulo4210521.20009
J.T. Bruett567619.25002
Terry Jorgensen225818.31005
Donnie Hill255115.29402
Darren Reed14336.18204
Jarvis Brown35151.06700
Bernardo Brito8142.14302
Derek Parks762.33300
Luis Quiñones351.20001

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
John Smiley34241.01693.21163
Kevin Tapani34220.016113.97138
Scott Erickson32212.013123.40101
Bill Krueger27161.11064.3086
Willie Banks1671.0445.7037
Pat Mahomes1469.2345.0444

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
Mike Trombley1046.1323.3038
David West928.1136.9919

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
Rick Aguilera6426412.8452
Carl Willis597312.7245
Mark Guthrie542352.8876
Tom Edens526332.8357
Gary Wayne413302.6329
Bob Kipper253304.4222
Paul Abbott60003.2713
Larry Casian61002.702
Mauro Gozzo200027.001

Other post-season awards

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Scott Ullger
AA Orlando Sun Rays Southern League Phil Roof
A Visalia Oaks California League Steve Liddle
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Dan Rohn
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Jim Dwyer
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Jim Lemon

[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Bill Krueger at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ John Smiley at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Paul Sorrento at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ "Mauro Gozzo Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. ↑ Enrique Wilson at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Dan Serafini at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ Gus Gandarillas at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Dan Naulty at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ Scott Watkins at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ "Jayhawk Owens Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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