1979 Minnesota Twins season
1979 Minnesota Twins season
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
1979 Minnesota Twins | |
|---|---|
| Major League affiliations | |
| |
| |
| Location | |
| |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) |
| General manager(s) | Calvin Griffith |
| Manager(s) | Gene Mauch |
| Local television | KMSP-TV (Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman) |
| Local radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Joe McConnell) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1979 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 82-80, fourth in the American League West.
Contents
1 Offseason
1.1 Notable transactions
2 Regular season
2.1 Season standings
2.2 Record vs. opponents
2.3 Notable transactions
2.4 Roster
3 Player stats
3.1 Batting
3.1.1 Starters by position
3.1.2 Other batters
3.2 Pitching
3.2.1 Starting pitchers
3.2.2 Other pitchers
3.2.3 Relief pitchers
4 Farm system
5 Notes
6 References
Offseason[edit]
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[edit]
- October 3, 1978: Dave Johnson was released by the Twins.[2]
- December 4, 1978: Dan Ford was traded by the Twins to the California Angels for Ron Jackson and Danny Goodwin.[3]
- December 8, 1978: Greg Field (minors) and a player to be named later were traded by the Twins to the New York Mets for Jerry Koosman. The Twins completed the deal by sending Jesse Orosco to the Mets on February 7, 1979.[4]
- January 6, 1979: Mike Marshall was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[5]
- February 3, 1979: Rod Carew was traded by the Twins to the California Angels for Ken Landreaux, Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, and Brad Havens.[6]
Regular season[edit]
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[edit]
AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
California Angels | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | — | 49–32 | 39–42 |
Kansas City Royals | 85 | 77 | 0.525 | 3 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 5 | 44–37 | 39–42 |
Minnesota Twins | 82 | 80 | 0.506 | 6 | 39–42 | 43–38 |
Chicago White Sox | 73 | 87 | 0.456 | 14 | 33–46 | 40–41 |
Seattle Mariners | 67 | 95 | 0.414 | 21 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
Oakland Athletics | 54 | 108 | 0.333 | 34 | 31–50 | 23–58 |
Record vs. opponents[edit]
1979 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |
Notable transactions[edit]
- June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
Randy Bush was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round.[8]
Mike Kinnunen was drafted by the Twins in the 10th round.[9]
- June 29, 1979: Rudy Meoli was purchased by the Twins from the Philadelphia Phillies.[10]
- July 25, 1979: Craig Kusick was purchased from the Twins by the Toronto Blue Jays.[11]
Roster[edit]
| 1979 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
| Outfielders
Other batters
| Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats[edit]
| = Indicates team leader |
Batting[edit]
Starters by position[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | Ron Jackson | 159 | 583 | 158 | .271 | 14 | 68 |
| SS | Roy Smalley | 162 | 621 | 168 | .271 | 24 | 95 |
| LF | Ken Landreaux | 151 | 564 | 172 | .305 | 15 | 83 |
Other batters[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Norwood | 76 | 270 | 67 | .248 | 6 | 30 |
| Bombo Rivera | 112 | 263 | 74 | .281 | 2 | 31 |
| Dave Edwards | 96 | 229 | 57 | .249 | 8 | 35 |
| Bob Randall | 80 | 199 | 49 | .246 | 0 | 14 |
| José Morales | 92 | 191 | 51 | .267 | 2 | 27 |
| Danny Goodwin | 58 | 159 | 46 | .289 | 5 | 27 |
| Glenn Borgmann | 31 | 70 | 14 | .200 | 0 | 8 |
| Craig Kusick | 24 | 54 | 13 | .241 | 3 | 6 |
| Jesús Vega | 4 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching[edit]
Starting pitchers[edit]
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 Koosman | 37 | 263.2 | 20 | 13 | 3.38 | 157 |
| Dave Goltz | 36 | 250.2 | 14 | 13 | 4.16 | 132 |
| Paul Hartzell | 28 | 163 | 6 | 10 | 5.36 | 44 |
| Geoff Zahn | 26 | 169 | 13 | 7 | 3.57 | 58 |
| Roger Erickson | 24 | 123 | 3 | 10 | 5.63 | 47 |
Other pitchers[edit]
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 Redfern | 40 | 108.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.49 | 85 |
| Darrell Jackson | 24 | 69.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.28 | 43 |
| Gary Serum | 20 | 64 | 1 | 3 | 6.61 | 31 |
Relief pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Marshall | 90 | 10 | 15 | 32 | 2.65 | 81 |
| Mike Bacsik | 31 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4.39 | 33 |
| Ken Brett | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.97 | 3 |
| Jeff Holly | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.11 | 5 |
| Kevin Stanfield | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 1 |
| Terry Felton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Farm system[edit]
| 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[edit]
^ United Press International (January 30, 1979). "Yankees, Twins still dickering". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 19, 2009..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}
^ Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference
^ Dan Ford at Baseball Reference
^ Jerry Koosman at Baseball Reference
^ Mike Marshall at Baseball Reference
^ Rod Carew at Baseball Reference
^ "Baseball Awards Voting for 1979". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
^ Randy Bush at Baseball Reference
^ Mike Kinnunen at Baseball Reference
^ Rudy Meoli at Baseball Reference
^ Craig Kusick at Baseball Reference
References[edit]
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.
- Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
- Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
Categories:
- Minnesota Twins seasons
- 1979 Major League Baseball season
- 1979 in sports in Minnesota
(window.RLQ=window.RLQ||).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.432","walltime":"0.535","ppvisitednodes":{"value":3021,"limit":1000000},"ppgeneratednodes":{"value":0,"limit":1500000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":154272,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":4600,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":12,"limit":40},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":1,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":10306,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 347.764 1 -total"," 26.21% 91.133 4 Template:Navbox"," 24.76% 86.108 1 Template:Reflist"," 18.93% 65.846 1 Template:Minnesota_Twins"," 17.20% 59.805 1 Template:Cite_news"," 13.20% 45.903 1 Template:Infobox_MLB_yearly"," 12.04% 41.862 1 Template:Infobox"," 9.98% 34.721 26 Template:Sortname"," 9.22% 32.053 1 Template:Use_mdy_dates"," 4.42% 15.372 1 Template:1979_AL_West_standings"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.130","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":4149922,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw1243","timestamp":"20181106103416","ttl":1900800,"transientcontent":false}}});mw.config.set({"wgBackendResponseTime":91,"wgHostname":"mw1327"});});
