1964 Minnesota Twins season

After winning 91 games the previous two seasons, the 1964 Minnesota Twins slumped to 79–83, a disappointing tie for sixth with the Cleveland Indians in the American League, 20 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees.

1964 Minnesota Twins
79–83, sixth place finish
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
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)	Sam Mele
Local television	WTCN-TV
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Ray Scott, Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall)
< Previous season     Next season >

Offseason

• December 2, 1963: Rudy May was drafted from the Twins by the Chicago White Sox in the 1963 first-year draft.[1]

Regular season

On May 2, in Kansas City, Missouri, Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew hit consecutive 11th-inning home runs, to tie a major league record first set by the Milwaukee Braves in 1961 and duplicated by the Cleveland Indians in 1963. The Twins finished the year with 221 homers, their second-best total ever.

On July 15, new Twin Mudcat Grant allowed thirteen singles and a walk in facing the Washington Senators. None would score, and Grant gets a shutout, 6-0.

Five Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Bob Allison, outfielders Harmon Killebrew, Jimmie Hall and Tony Oliva and pitcher Camilo Pascual.

Tony Oliva became the first black player in the history of the American League to win the AL Rookie of the Year award.[2] He led the major leagues in hits (217), extra base hits and total bases. He led the American League in batting average (.323), runs scored (109) and doubles.

Six Twins hit 20 or more home runs: Harmon Killebrew (49 HR, 111 RBI), Tony Oliva (32 HR, 96 RBI, 109 runs), Bob Allison (32 HR, 86 RBI), Jimmie Hall (25 HR, 75 RBI), Don Mincher (23 HR, 56 RBI), and Zoilo Versalles (20 HR, 94 runs).

Jim Kaat led the Twins with 17 wins and won his third Gold Glove; Camilo Pascual again led the Twins in strikeouts with 213.[3]

1,207,514 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	99	63	0.611	—	50–31	49–32
Chicago White Sox	98	64	0.605	1	52–29	46–35
Baltimore Orioles	97	65	0.599	2	49–32	48–33
Detroit Tigers	85	77	0.525	14	46–35	39–42
Los Angeles Angels	82	80	0.506	17	45–36	37–44
Cleveland Indians	79	83	0.488	20	41–40	38–43
Minnesota Twins	79	83	0.488	20	40–41	39–42
Boston Red Sox	72	90	0.444	27	45–36	27–54
Washington Senators	62	100	0.383	37	31–50	31–50
Kansas City Athletics	57	105	0.352	42	26–55	31–50

Record vs. opponents

1964 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	LAA	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	10–8	8–10	11–7	13–5–1	11–7	10–8	10–8	13–5
Boston	7–11	—	4–14	9–9	5–13	12–6	9–9	5–13	9–9	12–6
Chicago	8–10	14–4	—	12–6	11–7	16–2	10–8	9–9	6–12	12–6
Cleveland	10–8	9–9	6–12	—	11–7	10–8	9–9	10–8–1	3–15–1	11–7
Detroit	7–11	13–5	7–11	7–11	—	11–7	10–8	11–7	8–10–1	11–7
Kansas City	5–13–1	6–12	2–16	8–10	7–11	—	6–12	9–9	6–12	8–10
Los Angeles	7–11	9–9	8–10	9–9	8–10	12–6	—	12–6	7–11	10–8
Minnesota	8–10	13–5	9–9	8–10–1	7–11	9–9	6–12	—	8–10	11–7
New York	8–10	9–9	12–6	15–3–1	10–8–1	12–6	11–7	10–8	—	12–6
Washington	5–13	6–12	6–12	7–11	7–11	10–8	8–10	7–11	6–12	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1964: Andy Kosco was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[4]
• June 24, 1964: Rod Carew was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.[5]

Roster

1964 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 35 Gerry Arrigo 23 Dave Boswell 15 Bill Dailey 21 Gary Dotter 21 Bill Fischer 26 Jerry Fosnow 33 Mudcat Grant 36 Jim Kaat 27 Johnny Klippstein 29 Chuck Nieson 17 Camilo Pascual 31 Jim Perry 19 Bill Pleis 25,44 Jim Roland 21 Garland Shifflett 34 Dwight Siebler 20 Lee Stange 18 Dick Stigman 58 Bill Whitby 15 Al Worthington		Catchers 10 Earl Battey 12 Ron Henry 12,48 Joe McCabe 22 Jerry Zimmerman Infielders  1 Bernie Allen  4 Bob Allison 20 Bill Bethea 26,49 Bud Bloomfield  8 Johnny Goryl 16 Jerry Kindall 11 Frank Kostro  5 Don Mincher 28 Vic Power 13 Rich Reese  9 Rich Rollins 21 Jim Snyder  2 Zoilo Versalles 30 Jay Ward		Outfielders  7 Lenny Green 30,7 Jimmie Hall  3 Harmon Killebrew 16 Joe Nossek 37,6 Tony Oliva Other batters  7 George Banks		Manager 14 Sam Mele Coaches 53 Floyd Baker 52 Ed Fitz Gerald 54 Gordon Maltzberger 51 Hal Naragon

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	Earl Battey	131	405	110	.272	12	52
1B	Bob Allison	149	492	141	.287	32	86
2B	Bernie Allen	74	243	52	.214	6	20
3B	Rich Rollins	148	596	161	.270	12	68
SS	Zoilo Versalles	160	659	171	.259	20	64
LF	Harmon Killebrew	158	577	156	.270	49	111
CF	Jimmie Hall	149	510	144	.282	25	75
RF	Tony Oliva	161	672	217	.323	32	94

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
Don Mincher	120	287	68	.237	23	56
Jim Snyder	26	71	11	.155	1	9
Vic Power	19	45	10	.222	0	1

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
Camilo Pascual	36	267.1	15	12	3.30	213
Jim Kaat	36	243	17	11	3.22	171
Dick Stigman	32	190	6	15	4.03	159
Mudcat Grant	26	166	11	9	2.82	75
Dave Boswell	4	23.1	2	0	4.24	25

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
Gerry Arrigo	41	105.2	7	4	3.84	96

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
Al Worthington	41	5	6	14	1.37	59
Bill Pleis	47	4	1	4	3.91	42
Johnny Klippstein	33	0	4	2	1.97	39
Bill Dailey	14	1	2	0	8.22	6
Dwight Siebler	9	0	0	0	4.91	10
Bill Fischer	9	0	1	0	7.36	2
Jerry Fosnow	7	0	1	0	10.97	9
Gary Dotter	3	0	0	0	2.08	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Atlanta Crackers	International League	Jack McKeon and Pete Appleton
AA	Charlotte Hornets	Southern League	Al Evans
A	Wilson Tobs	Carolina League	Ralph Rowe
A	Orlando Twins	Florida State League	Harry Warner
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Joe Christian
A	Bismarck-Mandan Pards	Northern League	Vern Morgan
Rookie	Melbourne Twins	Cocoa Rookie League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Melbourne

Notes

1. Rudy May at Baseball Reference
2. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 199, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
3. "Minnesota Twins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
4. Andy Kosco at Baseball Reference
5. Rod Carew 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.