TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
The 21st century started on 1/1/2001 so the first quarter century has passed at the end of 2025. So lets take a look at what Minnesota Twins starters have started the most games for the Twins in that time period. I’m not going to look at their wins or losses, just how many times they have been able to take the bump to start the game. I will also try identify which pitchers were drafted by the Twins and which were not.
It turns out the leader of the pack is Kyle Gibson who pitched for the Twins between 2013-2019 and had a record of 67-68 with 845 strikeouts in 1,087 innings with a 4.33 ERA. A Twins 1st round pick (22nd overall) in 2009 and debuted on 6/29/2013.
D means he was drafted by the Twins and the number after it indicated the round. Trade means he was acquired in a trade, FA means signs as a free agent, Rule 5 means the Twins drafted him in a Rule 5 draft, and amateur FA means Twins signed him as an amateur free agent.
Keep in mind that some pitchers career’s started in the previous century so their number may look a bit strange.
Back on December 19 in 2006 pitcher Brad Radke announced his plans to retire after 12 season of wearing the colors of the Minnesota Twins. That got me to wondering where the Twins pitchers with the most starts for Minnesota came from.
Jim Kaat had 422 starts with the Twins and was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1957 long before the draft was instituted and was one of the original Minnesota Twins in 1961. Debuted August 2, 1959 with the Senators.
Brad Radke had 377 starts with the Twins and was an eighth round pick in the June amateur draft in 1991. Radke debuted on April 29, 1995 in three not so stellar innings of relief and started every game that he appeared in after that.
Bert Blyleven had 345 starts with the Twins after being drafted by Minnesota in round three of the 1969 June amateur draft. Bert debuted on June 5, 1970 and all his appearances but three were starts.
Frank Viola had 259 and just one relief appearance with the Twins after being selected in round 16 of June 1978 amateur draft. Sweet Music debuted on June 6, 1982.
Jim Perry had 249 start for Minnesota after being acquired in a trade on May 2, 1963 from the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Jack Kralick.
Dave Goltz had 215 starts for the Twins after drafted in the round five of the 1967 June amateur draft. The Rothsay, Minnesota native debuted on July 18, 1972.
Kyle Gibson had 188 starts with Minnesota after being drafted 22nd in round one of the 2009 June amateur draft. Gibson debuted on June 29, 2013.
Kevin Tapani had 180 starts in 181 appearances in a Twins uniform after being acquired in a trade from the New York Mets in the Frank Viola trade on July 31, 1989. Tapani had debuted with the Mets on July 4, 1989.
Camilo Pascual had 179 starts with Minnesota and was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent prior to the 1952 season long before the draft was instituted and was one of the original Minnesota Twins in 1961. Pascual debuted on April 15, 1954.
Johan Santana had 175 starts with the Twins after being drafted by the Florida Marlins from the Houston Astros in the 1999 rule 5 draft and then being traded to the Twins for Jared Camp who the Twins had originally drafted in the Rule 5 draft that year. Santana debuted on April 3, 2000.
Adalberto Mejia (P) – August 20, 2016 – Traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Minnesota Twins for Eduardo Nunez on July 28, 2016. It is never easy to make your debut when your team is down 8 to zip in the fifth inning but that was Mejia’s task at Kauffmann Stadium. Mejia went 2.1 innings allowing 5 hits, 1 walk and 2 earned runs in his first time on a big league mound.
Paul Abbott (P) – August 21, 1990 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 1985 amateur draft. A tough start for Mr. Abbott against the Kansas City Royals at Royals Stadium when he is pinned with the loss after giving up 7 earned runs in 3 innings on 6 hits and 5 walks in his 84 pitches that day.
Dave McKay (3B/2B/SS) – August 22, 1975 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 1971. McKay was the starting third baseman against the Tigers at the Met. Started a Twins four run rally by leading off the bottom of the third inning with a home run off Tiger pitcher Vern Ruhle in his first big league at bat. Ended up 1 for 3 with a RBI and run scored.
Jason Ryan (P) – August 24, 1999 – Traded by the Chicago Cubs with Kyle Lohse to the Minnesota Twins for Rick Aguilera and Scott Downs. Probably drew the short straw when his big league debut was at the Met against the Red Sox and Pedro Martinez. Ryan lasted 4.1 innings giving up 4 earned runs on 4 hits and 6 walks and getting the loss in a 7-1 Red Sox victory.
Kent Hrbek (1B) – August 24, 1981 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 17th round of the 1978 amateur draft. First big league action was a start at first base in Yankee Stadium II against Tommy John in the 8 hole in the batting order. Hrbek went 2 for 5 with a run scored and 2 RBI. One of his 2 hits was a home run off George Frazier leading off the top of the 12th inning which provided the winning run in a Twins 3-2 victory over the Bronx Bombers.
Armando Gabino (P) – August 25, 2009 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins from the Cleveland Indians in the 2004 minor league draft on December 13, 2004. Gabino started his big league career with a start at the Dome against the Orioles. Gabino unfortunately lasted just 2.2 innings when he gave up 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks but the Twins came back to win the game 7-6.
Travis Miller (P) – August 25, 1996 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (34th pick) of the 1994 amateur draft. Travis Miller kind of showed right away that starting was not his thing when he started against the Texas Rangers at the Dome and was lifted after throwing 48 pitches in his first and only inning when he gave up 5 hits and 2 walks while allowing 7 Rangers runs. Two of the five hits were home runs. Oh, he did get the loss.
Alex Wimmers (P) – August 26, 2016 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (21st) of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft. Debuted at Rogers Centre in relief and pitched a slick 1 inning striking out 2 batters in a 15-8 Twins loss to the Bluejays.
Jack Cressend (P) – August 26, 2000 – Selected off waivers by the Minnesota Twins from the Boston Red Sox on April 22, 1999. The Twins were down 6-2 to the Tigers when Cressend entered the game in relief and pitched 1 inning giving up one run on two hits. The Twins eventually lost the game 8-2.
Dwight Siebler
Dwight Siebler (P) – August 26, 1963 – Purchased by the Minnesota Twins from the Philadelphia Phillies on August 24, 1963. Siebler entered the game in relief of Jim Kaat with runners on first and second and one out. Siebler got the first batter on a weak foul popup to the third baseman, but then he issued a bases filling walk before hitting the next batter to force in a run, walked the next guy to force in another run before retiring the next batter for the final out of the inning. It all sounds bad but his line was 2/3 of an inning with 2 walks, a HBP and zero runs on his record.
Rosario hits a grand slam in his second first-inning AB
Eddie Rosario
After grounding out as his team’s second batter, Eddie Rosario then capped the Twins’ nine-run first inning with a grand slam as Minnesota went on to rout Arizona, 12–5. Only one other first-, second-, or third-place batter in franchise history had ever hit a bases-loaded home run in the first inning. On June 28, 1933, Hall of Famer Heinie Manush, batting second in the Washington Senators’ lineup, hit a first-inning grand slam in a 15–2 win at Cleveland.
Colon completes his bingo card against a team that didn’t exist when he debuted
Bartolo Colon
Bartolo Colon allowed four runs in six innings, but that was good enough to earn the victory in the Twins’ 12–5 win over the visiting Diamondbacks. Entering Sunday, Arizona was the only one of the 30 current major-league teams that the 44-year-old righty had never beaten. In fact, Colon made his major-league debut in 1997, one year before the D-Backs played their first game. Two other active pitchers have beaten all 30 teams – John Lackey and Max Scherzer.
Colon’s task was made easier when his teammates scored nine times in the first inning. Before Sunday, the most first-inning runs Colon had ever benefitted from in his previous 519 major-league starts was six, in an A’s win over the Astros on April 17, 2013.
Colon became the 18th pitcher in baseball history to record at least one win against all 30 big league teams. The veteran righty was 0-2 in four previous career starts against the D’Backs, but he finally notched that elusive win in his 20th MLB season. Former Twins pitcher Kyle Lohse is also one of the 18 that has beaten all 30 teams.
Current Twins pitcher Ervin Santana has beaten 29 teams and still needs to beat the Brewers and former Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano is also one team short still searching for a way to beat the Marlins.
We have one player making his major league debut as a Minnesota Twin on June 22
Kyle Lohse
Kyle Lohse (P) – June 22, 2001 – Traded by the Chicago Cubs with Jason Ryan to the Minnesota Twins for Rick Aguilera and Scott Downs on May 21, 1999. Lohse’s debut was a start at Comerica Park against the Tigers and he pitched into the 7th inning but after 106 pitches and the scored tied at 4-4, Twins skipper Tom Kelly had seen enough.
The Designated Hitter rule came into play in the American League for the first time in 1973 and pitchers in the AL had to put their bats into storage where they still sit today. Since 1973 very few AL pitchers have had to dust off and apply pine tar to their bats before walking to home plate to try to get some wood on the ball.
Do you know what pitcher got the last hit for the Minnesota Twins before the DH cane into play? How about that last Twins pitcher to bat before the DH?
I guess it was fitting that a Minnesota native Dave Goltz would be the last Twins pitcher to bat at Met Stadium before pitchers were told not to bother to bring their bats to spring training the following season. But back to the last Twins pitcher to get a hit before the DH, it happened in the same game that Goltz had the last pitcher’s at bat in front of only 3,193 fans at Met Stadium. This pitcher finished his 1972 season with a .160 average which was a career best and six RBI. Two of those six RBI came in that last at bat when he hit a double and had two RBI off Chicago White Sox pitcher Dan Neumeier to make the score Twins 10 and the mighty whitey’s 0 in the top of the fifth inning. So who was this guy? You might be surprised. But if you can’t figure it out at least take a guess and then you can look it up in the box score.
Bobby Korecky
After the 1972 season Twins pitchers never got a hit again outside of any post season action until 1997 when Interleague play was introduced. With Interleague play pitchers once again batted in NL parks but the DH was still in play in AL parks. There was one game since the DH started that a Twins pitcher came to bat in a home game and actually had a hit and that was Bobby Korecky back on May 19, 2008 in a four hour 12 inning marathon against the Texas Rangers.
Here is a list of Twins pitchers that have gotten hits since the DH came on the scene in 1973
Note that in 2009 Twins pitchers had no hits. Twins pitchers also had no hits between 1973 and 1996 although four pitchers had plate appearances, but sadly they all culminated with a strike out.
Of the 15 remaining active Major Leaguers who were drafted in 1997 or earlier, four (LaTroy Hawkins, Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski and Michael Cuddyer) were selected by the Minnesota Twins as Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out. That doesn’t include Kyle Lohse, who was drafted in 1996 by the Cubs but played his first several big-league seasons with Minnesota.
As 2014 is coming to an end it is a good time to look back on another Twins season, their fourth in a row without post season play. But you have to be a winner to make post season play and the Twins have been anything but a winner the last few years. It has been a toss-up when you try to determine who has been more inept, the Twins players on the field or the ownership and Twins executives that sit behind their desks and make the decisions that determine the experience that Twins fans will have to live with during the up-coming season.
The Twins have had many losing seasons over the years and the real core Twins fans complained but they accepted the team they had and they looked forward to the next season with renewed hope for more wins “next year”. But it is seems different now, I am not sure why, maybe the fans are more passionate, maybe it is social media that allows Twins fans to better express their frustrations but today’s Twins fans are just plain mad and disgusted with the caliber of play their home team has displayed since the 2010 ended. Hopefully the Minnesota Twins organization feels some of the passion that Twins fans have and will start to look at the product from the fans perspective and see what they can do to make the fans experience a little more fun and and not so tough on the wallet.
Since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins the team has played 8,617 regular season games, winning 4,274, losing 4,335 and playing to a tie on eight occasions in 54 seasons of play. Boy, how time flies by, I still remember that 1961 season.
Looking back at Twins history they have two World Series winners and a third World Series appearance in which they lost game seven to Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition to the 8,617 regular season games the team has played a total of 64 post season games winning 25 and losing 39. Their last post season appearance was in 2010 and that brief playoff run lasted just three games when they were swept by the New York Yankees 3 games to zip. The teams last post season win was back in 2004 (if I am not mistaken that is about 10 years ago, YIKES!) when they beat the Yankees in game 1 of the ALDS series before losing the next three games.
So let’s take a look at the hitting and pitching statistics of the Minnesota Twins in post season play. Let’s see who stood out under the bright lights of post season play and who couldn’t or didn’t deliver when the pressure was on. The names you will see below will bring back many memories, some good, some bad, some sad and in some cases you will say “who in the hell is so and so, I don’t remember him”. But it is fun looking back.
Since the Twins started play in 1961 through the 2014 season a total of 751 players have put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and appeared in a game either as a hitter or a pitcher. Only 162 of them or 21.57% have appeared in a Twins post season game over the 54 seasons the Twins have called Minnesota home.
Minnesota Twins pitchers allowed 147 home runs in 2014. The fewest home runs allowed by a Twins pitching staff in a full season of 162 games occurred in 1976 when that pitching staff gave up just 89 round trippers to the opponents and the Twins went on to finish with an 85-77 record. On the opposite end of the spectrum the 1996 Twins pitching staff allowed a franchise record 233 home runs and finished the season with a 78-84 record. It only took one season for Ricky Nolasco to make the list but he can pitch his way off this list, the others can’t.
Twins career HR/9 with minimum of 120 innings pitched
The list below show The Twins pitching staff leader board of home runs allowed. Bert Blyleven loves to talk about how many home runs he has allowed but he is only third best or worst, depending on how you want to look at it.
Phil Hughes struck out six without walking a batter over seven innings, earning a victory in the Twins’ 4-1 win over the Royals at Target Field last night. It was the 13th start this season in which Hughes didn’t issue a base on balls, the highest such total in the majors. The only other pitchers in double figures are Hisashi Iwakuma (11) and Tim Hudson (10).
The Twins record for most starts in a season with no walks is held by Carlos Silva who had 18 games with no walks in 2005. That same season, Brad Radke had 17 starts with no walks. That same year Johan Santana and Joe Mays had seven games with walks and Kyle Lohse had six games with no bases on balls. Twins opponents had to hit their way on base back then. In 2005 Twins starters had a total of 58 games where they did not walk a batter and is an all time best. In 2014 Twins starters have 30 games todate with no walks. The Twins worst season for starters not allowing a walk was back in 1976 when they had only six games with zero walks.
