1969 Minnesota Twins season

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.

1969 Minnesota Twins
American League West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)Billy Martin
Local televisionWTCN-TV
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon)
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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
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9765 0.599 — 57–24 40–41
Oakland Athletics 8874 0.543 9 49–32 39–42
California Angels 7191 0.438 26 43–38 28–53
Kansas City Royals 6993 0.426 28 36–45 33–48
Chicago White Sox 6894 0.420 29 41–40 27–54
Seattle Pilots 6498 0.395 33 34–47 30–51

Record vs. opponents
1969 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA WSH
Baltimore —10–86–69–313–511–711–18–411–78–49–313–5
Boston 8–10—8–45–712–610–810–27–511–74–86–66–12
California 6–64–8—9–98–45–79–97–113–96–129–9–15–7
Chicago 3–97–59–9—8–43–98–105–133–98–1010–84–8
Cleveland 5–136–124–84–8—7–117–55–79–85–77–53–15
Detroit 7–118–107–59–311–7—8–46–610–87–510–27–11
Kansas City 1–112–109–910–85–74–8—8–105–7–18–1010–87–5
Minnesota 4–85–711–713–57–56–610–8—10–213–512–66–6
New York 7–117–119–39–38–98–107–5–12–10—6–67–510–8
Oakland 4–88–412–610–87–55–710–85–136–6—13–58–4
Seattle 3–96–69–9–18–105–72–108–106–125–75–13—7–5
Washington 5–1312–67–58–415–311–75–76–68–104–85–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1969 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers
  • 13 Johnny Roseboro

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
CJohnny Roseboro11536195.263332
1BRich Reese132419135.3221669
2BRod Carew123458152.332856
3BHarmon Killebrew162555153.27649140
SSLeo Cárdenas160578162.2801070
LFBob Allison81554151.273862
CFTed Uhlaender152554151.273862
RFTony Oliva153637197.30924101

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 Tovar158535154.2881152
Graig Nettles9622550.222726
George Mitterwald6918748.257513
Charlie Manuel8316434.207224
Frank Quilici11814425.174212
Rick Renick7113934.254517
Tom Tischinski37479.19102
Jim Holt12145.35712
Cotton Nash692.22200
Ron Clark581.12500
Rick Dempsey563.50000
Frank Kostro220.00000
Herman Hill1620.00000

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
Jim Perry46261.22062.82153
Dave Boswell39256.120123.23190
Jim Kaat40242.114133.49139
Tom Hall20140.2873.3392
Dean Chance2088.1542.9550

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 Miller48119.1553.0257
Dick Woodson44110.1753.6766
Danny Morris35.1015.061

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 Perranoski75910312.1162
Al Worthington4691034.5751
Joe Grzenda384133.8824
Jerry Crider211014.7116
Charley Walters60005.402
Bill Zepp40006.752
Bucky Brandon30002.701

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

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.
  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
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References
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