1969 Minnesota Twins season

1969 Minnesota Twins
American League West Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Metropolitan Stadium (since 1961) Bloomington, Minnesota (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)	Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)	Billy Martin
Local television	WTCN-TV
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon)
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Led by new manager Billy Martin, the 1969 Minnesota Twins won the newly formed American League West with a 97–65 record, nine games over the second-place Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the first American League Championship Series.

Contents

• 
  1 Regular season
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 Season standings
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 Record vs. opponents
    
  
  
  • 
    1.3 Notable transactions
    
  
  
  • 
    1.4 Roster
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 Player stats
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Batting
    
    
    
    • 
      2.1.1 Starters by position
      
    
    
    • 
      2.1.2 Other batters
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Pitching
    
    
    
    • 
      2.2.1 Starting pitchers
      
    
    
    • 
      2.2.2 Other pitchers
      
    
    
    • 
      2.2.3 Relief pitchers
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Postseason
  


• 
  4 Awards and honors
  


• 
  5 Farm system
  


• 
  6 Notes
  


• 
  7 References
  

Regular season

In the first year of divisional play, the Twins won the American League West, led by Rod Carew (.332, his first AL batting title), Tony Oliva (.309, 24 HR, 101 RBI) and league MVP Harmon Killebrew (49 HR, 140 RBI – both league-leading totals). Carew stole home 7 times. Leadoff batter César Tovar was third in the AL with 45 stolen bases. Jim Perry and Dave Boswell each won 20 games, the first and only time a Minnesota club has held two 20-game winners. Reliever Ron Perranoski became the first Twin to lead the AL in saves with 31. Pitcher Jim Kaat won his 8th Gold Glove Award.

In the May 18 loss to Detroit, Twins stole five bases during the third inning to tie a major league record. Four bases were stolen during Harmon Killebrew's at-bat: César Tovar stole home, and Rod Carew stole second, third and then home.^[1]

On June 21 in Oakland, the Twins were tied 3–3 with the A's going into the tenth inning. In the top of the inning, Minnesota scored eleven times, tying a 1928 New York Yankees record. The Twins won the game 14–4.^[2]

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Killebrew, second baseman Carew, outfielder Oliva, and catcher Johnny Roseboro. Harmon Killebrew became the second Twin to be named American League Most Valuable Player.

1,349,328 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	97	65	0.599	—	57–24	40–41
Oakland Athletics	88	74	0.543	9	49–32	39–42
California Angels	71	91	0.438	26	43–38	28–53
Kansas City Royals	69	93	0.426	28	36–45	33–48
Chicago White Sox	68	94	0.420	29	41–40	27–54
Seattle Pilots	64	98	0.395	33	34–47	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1969 American League Records v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	WSH
Baltimore	—	10–8	6–6	9–3	13–5	11–7	11–1	8–4	11–7	8–4	9–3	13–5
Boston	8–10	—	8–4	5–7	12–6	10–8	10–2	7–5	11–7	4–8	6–6	6–12
California	6–6	4–8	—	9–9	8–4	5–7	9–9	7–11	3–9	6–12	9–9–1	5–7
Chicago	3–9	7–5	9–9	—	8–4	3–9	8–10	5–13	3–9	8–10	10–8	4–8
Cleveland	5–13	6–12	4–8	4–8	—	7–11	7–5	5–7	9–8	5–7	7–5	3–15
Detroit	7–11	8–10	7–5	9–3	11–7	—	8–4	6–6	10–8	7–5	10–2	7–11
Kansas City	1–11	2–10	9–9	10–8	5–7	4–8	—	8–10	5–7–1	8–10	10–8	7–5
Minnesota	4–8	5–7	11–7	13–5	7–5	6–6	10–8	—	10–2	13–5	12–6	6–6
New York	7–11	7–11	9–3	9–3	8–9	8–10	7–5–1	2–10	—	6–6	7–5	10–8
Oakland	4–8	8–4	12–6	10–8	7–5	5–7	10–8	5–13	6–6	—	13–5	8–4
Seattle	3–9	6–6	9–9–1	8–10	5–7	2–10	8–10	6–12	5–7	5–13	—	7–5
Washington	5–13	12–6	7–5	8–4	15–3	11–7	5–7	6–6	8–10	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1969: 1969 Major League Baseball draft
  
  
  
  • 
    Bert Blyleven was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round.^[3]
    
  
  
  • 
    Jim Hughes was drafted by the Twins in the 33rd round.^[4]
    
  
  
  
  

Roster

1969 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 23 Dave Boswell 24 Bucky Brandon 32 Dean Chance 27 Jerry Crider 17 Joe Grzenda 21 Tom Hall 36 Jim Kaat 49 Bob Miller 27 Danny Morris 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Jim Perry 27 Charlie Walters 18 Dick Woodson 19 Al Worthington 25 Bill Zepp		Catchers  8 Rick Dempsey 15 George Mitterwald 13 Johnny Roseboro 22 Tom Tischinski Infielders  5 Leo Cárdenas 29 Rod Carew  8 Ron Clark  3 Harmon Killebrew 34 Cotton Nash  7 Frank Quilici 20 Rich Reese 10 Rick Renick		Outfielders  4 Bob Allison 28 Herman Hill 26 Jim Holt  9 Charlie Manuel  2 Graig Nettles  6 Tony Oliva 12 César Tovar 11 Ted Uhlaender Other batters  2 Frank Kostro		Manager  1 Billy Martin Coaches 43 Art Fowler 45 Johnny Goryl 44 Vern Morgan 46 Charlie Silvera 47 Early Wynn

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	Johnny Roseboro	115	361	95	.263	3	32
1B	Rich Reese	132	419	135	.322	16	69
2B	Rod Carew	123	458	152	.332	8	56
3B	Harmon Killebrew	162	555	153	.276	49	140
SS	Leo Cárdenas	160	578	162	.280	10	70
LF	Bob Allison	81	554	151	.273	8	62
RF	Tony Oliva	153	637	197	.309	24	101

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
César Tovar	158	535	154	.288	11	52
Graig Nettles	96	225	50	.222	7	26
George Mitterwald	69	187	48	.257	5	13
Charlie Manuel	83	164	34	.207	2	24
Frank Quilici	118	144	25	.174	2	12
Rick Renick	71	139	34	.254	5	17
Tom Tischinski	37	47	9	.191	0	2
Jim Holt	12	14	5	.357	1	2
Cotton Nash	6	9	2	.222	0	0
Ron Clark	5	8	1	.125	0	0
Rick Dempsey	5	6	3	.500	0	0
Frank Kostro	2	2	0	.000	0	0
Herman Hill	16	2	0	.000	0	0

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
Jim Perry	46	261.2	20	6	2.82	153
Dave Boswell	39	256.1	20	12	3.23	190
Jim Kaat	40	242.1	14	13	3.49	139
Tom Hall	20	140.2	8	7	3.33	92
Dean Chance	20	88.1	5	4	2.95	50

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
Bob Miller	48	119.1	5	5	3.02	57
Dick Woodson	44	110.1	7	5	3.67	66
Danny Morris	3	5.1	0	1	5.06	1

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	75	9	10	31	2.11	62
Al Worthington	46	9	10	3	4.57	51
Joe Grzenda	38	4	1	3	3.88	24
Jerry Crider	21	1	0	1	4.71	16
Charley Walters	6	0	0	0	5.40	2
Bill Zepp	4	0	0	0	6.75	2
Bucky Brandon	3	0	0	0	2.70	1

Postseason

Main article: 1969 American League Championship Series

The Twins were swept 3–0 by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 American League Championship Series.

Awards and honors

• 
  Harmon Killebrew, Third Base, American League MVP

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Don Heffner
AA	Charlotte Hornets	Southern League	Ralph Rowe
A	Red Springs Twins	Carolina League	Tom Umphlett
A	Orlando Twins	Florida State League	Harry Warner
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Tom Videtich
A-Short Season	Auburn Twins	New York–Penn League	Steve Thornton
A-Short Season	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Jim Merrick
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte

Notes

1. 
   ^ "May 18, 1969 Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ "June 21, 1969 Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics Box Score and Play by Play". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
   


3. 
   ^ Bert Blyleven at Baseball Reference
   


4. 
   ^ Jim Hughes at Baseball Reference
   

References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com


• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com


• 
  Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  

v t e American League West champions

1969: Minnesota Twins 1970: Minnesota Twins 1971: Oakland Athletics 1972: Oakland Athletics 1973: Oakland Athletics 1974: Oakland Athletics 1975: Oakland Athletics 1976: Kansas City Royals 1977: Kansas City Royals 1978: Kansas City Royals 1979: California Angels 1980: Kansas City Royals 1981: Oakland Athletics 1982: California Angels 1983: Chicago White Sox 1984: Kansas City Royals 1985: Kansas City Royals 1986: California Angels 1987: Minnesota Twins 1988: Oakland Athletics 1989: Oakland Athletics 1990: Oakland Athletics 1991: Minnesota Twins 1992: Oakland Athletics 1993: Chicago White Sox 1994: No champion 1995: Seattle Mariners 1996: Texas Rangers 1997: Seattle Mariners 1998: Texas Rangers 1999: Texas Rangers 2000: Oakland Athletics 2001: Seattle Mariners 2002: Oakland Athletics 2003: Oakland Athletics 2004: Anaheim Angels 2005: Los Angeles Angels 2006: Oakland Athletics 2007: Los Angeles Angels 2008: Los Angeles Angels 2009: Los Angeles Angels 2010: Texas Rangers 2011: Texas Rangers 2012: Oakland Athletics 2013: Oakland Athletics 2014: Los Angeles Angels 2015: Texas Rangers 2016: Texas Rangers 2017: Houston Astros 2018: Houston Astros

v t e 1969 MLB season by team
AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit New York Washington
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle
NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco
1969 MLB draft 1969 All-Star Game 1969 World Series

v t e 1969 Major League Baseball postseason
World Series
American League Championship Series National League Championship Series
American League teams	Baltimore Orioles Minnesota Twins
National League teams	Atlanta Braves New York Mets

v t e Minnesota Twins
Established in 1901 Formerly the Washington Nationals and the Washington Senators Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Twin Cities)
Franchise	Franchise history in Washington Seasons Records No-hitters Awards Players Managers Owners and executives Broadcasters First-round draft picks Opening Day starting pitchers
Ballparks	American League Park National Park Griffith Stadium Metropolitan Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Target Field Spring Training: Plant Field Tinker Field Hammond Stadium
Culture and lore	Homer Hanky Little Big League Major League: Back to the Minors Continental League "The Piranhas" AL Central tie-breaker games 2008 2009 Damn Yankees musical film The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
Important figures	Senators Hall of Famers Herb Carneal Goose Goslin Bucky Harris Walter Johnson Arch McDonald Sam Rice Wall of Fame members Rick Aguilera Bob Allison Earl Battey Bert Blyleven George Brophy Rod Carew Bob Casey Gary Gaetti Calvin Griffith Kent Hrbek Jim Kaat Tom Kelly Harmon Killebrew Tony Oliva Carl Pohlad Kirby Puckett Brad Radke Jim Rantz Zoilo Versalles Frank Viola
Key personnel	Owner Jim Pohlad President Dave St. Peter Vice president/Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey General manager Thad Levine Manager Rocco Baldelli
World Series championships (3)	1924 1987 1991
Pennants (6)	American League: 1924 1925 1933 1965 1987 1991
Division titles (10)	.mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal} West 1969 1970 1987 1991 Central 2002 2003 2004 2006 2009 2010
Wild Card titles (1)	2017
Minor league affiliates	Triple-A Rochester Red Wings Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos A Adv. Fort Myers Miracle A Cedar Rapids Kernels Rookie Adv. Elizabethton Twins Rookie GCL Twins DSL Twins
Seasons (119) 1900s 1900 . 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

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