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
Baseball was fun to watch at Metropolitan Stadium from 1961-1981 and a lot of MLB and Minnesota Twins “greats” played there. Here is a short list of some of the Twins leaders in some hitting and pitching categories. Keep in mind these are stats accumulated only while playing at Met Stadium.
Games played – Harmon Killebrew-963, Tony Oliva-842, Rod Carew-817
Hits – Rod Carew-1,046, Tony Oliva-935, Harmon Killebrew-844
Jim “Mudcat” Grant was born on August 13, 1935 in Lacoochee, Florida, a small town of about 500 people in central Florida. According to the Cleveland Indians, Mudcat Grant died peacefully in Los Angeles, California on June 11, 2021. Jim Grant was 85 years old.
As we start a new year in 2021 and hope to get the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and head out to Target Field to watch the Twins play ball I wanted to share a list of former Minnesota Twins players and people associated with the Twins that passed away in 2020. We lost some great ones.
Pinch-hitter extraordinaire Julio Becquer was born in La Habana, Cuba on December 20, 1931 and passed away on November 1 at the age of 88. Originally signed by the Washington Senators he appeared in 419 games for them between 1955-1960 before playing in 57 games for the Twins in 1961 and in one game in 1963. Becquer goes down in Twins history for hitting the Twins first pinch-hit grand slam home run and as the first “position” player to pitch in a Twins game.
Carroll Hardy was born in Sturgis, South Dakota on May 18, 1933 and passed away at the age of 87 on August 9th. An amazing athlete, he earned ten letters as a Colorado Buffalo in football, baseball and track. While in the Cleveland Indians farm system he played in the NFL with the San Francisco 49’ers in 1955. He played major league baseball as an outfielder with the Indians, Red Sox, Colt .45s and finished his career with the Twins in 1967 primarily as a pinch hitter appearing in eleven games. In 1960 he became a trivia question for the ages when he became the only player to ever pinch-hit for Ted Williams.
Ron Perranoski a big league relief pitcher for thirteen seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and California Angels passed away at his Vero Beach, Florida home on Friday, October 2, 2020 of complications from a long illness, his sister Pat Zailo told the Associated Press on Saturday. “He was a ballplayer and he loved that life, he thrived on it,” Zailo said.
As the Twins prepare for their 59th season of play in Minnesota we should look back and be thankful for some great seasons these players have given us in the past. I am using B-R Play Index to come up with the ten greatest seasons by Minnesota Twins players over the years and I am once again using WAR as the tool to do this. I think you might be surprised at some of these.
The Minnesota Twins started play in 1961 after moving from Washington D.C. where they were known as the Washington Senators. In their final year as the Senators in 1960 the team had a 73-81 record. Between 1946 and 1960 they had one, just one, winning season and that was in 1952 when they barely made it over the .500 mark with a 78-76 record.
Nevertheless the baseball fans of Minnesota were excited about getting a major league team (some might disagree with that description) to move to their state. Team owner Calvin Griffith felt he had some good young players that were just starting to make their mark.
The 1961 team was managed by Cookie Lavagetto until he was fired by Griffith after a 23-36 start and replaced by coach Sam Mele. The team went on to finish seventh in the ten team American League with a 70-90 mark and 38 games out of first place. The team won 91 games in both 1962 and 1963 but in 1964 they fell back to a 79-83 record and fans were calling for manager Mele to hit the road. However; Griffith stuck with his man and in 1965 Mele’s Twins won 102 games and found themselves in the World Series playing the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale led Los Angeles Dodgers. The Twins came out on the short end of that Series losing four games to three but baseball was exciting in Minnesota.
The 1966 Twins were not able to defend their 1965 pennant and finished with a 89 win season but they were nine games behind the Baltimore Orioles. The 1967 season saw the American League with a pennant race like none before it with the Red Sox, Twins, Tigers, White Sox and Angels battling down to the very end of the season. The Twins started the season at just 25-25 and that was not what the Twins owner was expecting so he fired Mele and brought Cal Ermer to lead his team. The team responded to Ermer and had a one game lead with two games to play with the Red Sox at Fenway Park and they lost both games allowing the Red Sox to win the 1967 AL pennant by one game over Minnesota and Detroit, three games over the White Sox and 7.5 games over the Angels.
The Twins started the 1968 season with six straight wins, five of them on the road but that was their high-water mark for the season and when the season ended so did the managing career of Cal Ermer. Less than two weeks later Calvin Griffith hired Billy Martin as his new manager.
1969 saw the AL break in two divisions with the Twins being part of the six team AL West along with the Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Seattle Pilots, and the Kansas City Royals. 1969 was also the first season that had a best of five ALCS. In this case the West Division winning Twins played the East Division winning Baltimore Orioles and the Twins lost all three games. They lost the first game in Baltimore in 12 innings 4 to 3, the lost game two again in Baltimore in 11 innings 1 to 0 and their third and final game was a blowout 11-2 loss at the Met when Billy Martin went on a hunch and started Bob Miller, a part-time starter/reliever and he lasted just 1.2 innings. Martin’s decision to start Miller turned out to be one of the key reasons he would be fired by Griffith after just one season.
The Twins played winning baseball (.542) in the 60’s and had a record of 789-666. So who were the key Twins hitters and pitchers in the Twins first decade of baseball in the Minnesota? It is difficult to determine the value that a player brings to the team without being arbitrary so the best way that I know of to measure a players worth is WAR. I know of lot of you either don’t like it and don’t know how it is calculated exactly (either do I), but if we apply the same measurement to everyone it will serve our purpose here. The position player with the highest WAR for the period of 1961-1969 probably is no surprise to anyone, it is Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew and the pitcher for that same time period is Jim Kaat.
We all know about the Minnesota Twins players who have been enshrined in the MLB Hall of Fame and it is a great and rare honor to get voted in. Over the years a number of outstanding and I think “hall worthy” Minnesota Twins players have received votes but never enough to get that call they have waited for, I would put players like Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Jack Morris in that category.
Here is a list of other one-time Twins players who received at least one vote in HOF balloting through 2017 voting, some deserved it and others I have to wonder what the voter was thinking.
Jacque Jones, Kenny Rogers, Brad Radke, Bret Boone, Jesse Orosco, Chuck Knoblauch, Gary Gaetti, Rick Aguilera, Chili Davis, Terry Steinbach, Jim Eisenreich, Luis Tiant, Frank Viola, Steve Bedrosian, Jim Deshaies, Jeff Reardon, Kent Hrbek, John Candelaria, Rick Dempsey, Graig Nettles, Don Baylor, Chris Speier, Joe Niekro, Bill Campbell, Jerry Koosman, Mike Marshall, Leo Cardenas, Jim Perry, Ron Perranoski, Vic Wertz, Camilo Pascual, Vic Power, Elmer Valo, and Billy Martin.
The folks at Baseball-Reference.com describe a save as follows:
A save (abbreviated SV or S) is a statistic awarded to a relief pitcher, often called a closer, who enters the game under certain conditions and maintains his team’s lead until the end of the game. The save rule was first adopted for the 1969 season and amended for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. Baseball researchers have worked through the official statistics retroactively to calculate saves for all major league seasons prior to 1969.
The first save credited to a Minnesota Twins pitcher occurred on April 16, 1961 long before the save rule was actually in existence in 1969.
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.
| Rk | Player | #Matching | PA ? | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Gladden | 24 | 115 | 104 | 17 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 12 | .279 | .348 | .771 | 7 |
| 2 | Kirby Puckett | 24 | 109 | 97 | 16 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 8 | 17 | .309 | .361 | .897 | 3 |
| 3 | Kent Hrbek | 24 | 103 | 91 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 12 | .154 | .252 | .516 | 0 |
| 4 | Greg Gagne | 24 | 96 | 89 | 12 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 22 | .213 | .271 | .675 | 0 |
| 5 | Torii Hunter | 21 | 88 | 80 | 15 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 11 | .300 | .337 | .875 | 2 |
| 6 | Jacque Jones | 18 | 79 | 76 | 6 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 23 | .197 | .215 | .557 | 0 |
| 7 | Michael Cuddyer | 21 | 78 | 74 | 5 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 18 | .338 | .372 | .845 | 0 |
| 8 | Corey Koskie | 18 | 78 | 67 | 8 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 21 | .224 | .321 | .679 | 0 |
| 9 | Cristian Guzman | 18 | 75 | 67 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | .239 | .301 | .630 | 3 |
| 10 | Doug Mientkiewicz | 14 | 56 | 53 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | .226 | .268 | .626 | 0 |
| 11 | Chuck Knoblauch | 12 | 55 | 46 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 5 | .326 | .407 | .799 | 6 |
| 12 | Harmon Killebrew | 13 | 54 | 40 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 10 | .250 | .444 | .944 | 0 |
| 13 | Tony Oliva | 13 | 53 | 51 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 | .314 | .340 | .928 | 1 |
| 14 | Gary Gaetti | 12 | 53 | 47 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 8 | .277 | .340 | .914 | 2 |
| 15 | A.J. Pierzynski | 14 | 50 | 45 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | .311 | .360 | .849 | 0 |
| 16 | Tom Brunansky | 12 | 50 | 42 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 7 | .286 | .400 | .924 | 1 |
| 17 | Shane Mack | 11 | 44 | 41 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11 | .220 | .250 | .567 | 2 |
| 18 | Luis Rivas | 14 | 43 | 38 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | .158 | .195 | .379 | 0 |
| 19 | Tim Laudner | 12 | 43 | 36 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 9 | .222 | .349 | .710 | 0 |
| 20 | Chili Davis | 11 | 42 | 35 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 11 | .257 | .381 | .867 | 1 |
| 21 | Brian Harper | 11 | 41 | 39 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | .333 | .366 | .802 | 0 |
| 22 | Joe Mauer | 9 | 39 | 35 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | .286 | .359 | .673 | 0 |
| 23 | Shannon Stewart | 8 | 38 | 35 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | .286 | .316 | .659 | 1 |
| 24 | Steve Lombardozzi | 11 | 37 | 32 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | .344 | .417 | .885 | 0 |
| 25 | Jason Kubel | 8 | 32 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | .069 | .156 | .260 | 0 |
| 26 | Bob Allison | 10 | 30 | 26 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | .077 | .167 | .397 | 1 |
| 27 | Zoilo Versalles | 7 | 30 | 28 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | .286 | .333 | .833 | 1 |
| 28 | David Ortiz | 9 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | .276 | .276 | .655 | 0 |
| 29 | Justin Morneau | 7 | 29 | 29 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | .310 | .310 | .931 | 0 |
| 30 | Mike Pagliarulo | 11 | 28 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .308 | .333 | .910 | 0 |
| 31 | Matt LeCroy | 10 | 28 | 26 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | .269 | .321 | .591 | 0 |
| 32 | Denard Span | 6 | 28 | 28 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .357 | .357 | .750 | 1 |
| 33 | Delmon Young | 6 | 27 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .208 | .296 | .630 | 1 |
| 34 | Cesar Tovar | 6 | 27 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .231 | .259 | .567 | 1 |
| 35 | Randy Bush | 11 | 26 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | .227 | .308 | .671 | 3 |
| 36 | Frank Quilici | 9 | 26 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | .182 | .308 | .580 | 0 |
| 37 | Leo Cardenas | 6 | 26 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | .167 | .200 | .450 | 0 |
| 38 | Don Mincher | 7 | 25 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | .130 | .200 | .461 | 0 |
| 39 | Earl Battey | 7 | 25 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .120 | .120 | .320 | 0 |
| 40 | Nick Punto | 6 | 25 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .286 | .375 | .708 | 0 |
| 41 | Don Baylor | 7 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .389 | .476 | 1.032 | 0 |
| 42 | Joe Nossek | 6 | 21 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .400 | 0 |
| 43 | Rich Reese | 5 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | .158 | .238 | .396 | 0 |
| 44 | Scott Leius | 9 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | .278 | .350 | .794 | 0 |
| 45 | Rod Carew | 5 | 17 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .063 | .118 | .180 | 0 |
| 46 | George Mitterwald | 4 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | .333 | .375 | .775 | 0 |
| 47 | Dustan Mohr | 7 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .500 | .533 | 1.176 | 1 |
| 48 | Orlando Cabrera | 3 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .154 | .267 | .421 | 1 |
| 49 | Lew Ford | 4 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .357 | .690 | 1 |
| 50 | Luis Castillo | 3 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .273 | .429 | .701 | 0 |
| 51 | Jim Thome | 3 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .100 | .308 | .408 | 0 |
| 52 | Orlando Hudson | 3 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .917 | 0 |
| 53 | Gene Larkin | 12 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .273 | .333 | .697 | 0 |
| 54 | Rondell White | 3 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .417 | .417 | 1.167 | 0 |
| 55 | Brendan Harris | 3 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .250 | .250 | .667 | 0 |
| 56 | Al Newman | 6 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .222 | .300 | .744 | 0 |
| 57 | Sandy Valdespino | 5 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .273 | .273 | .636 | 0 |
| 58 | Danny Valencia | 3 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .222 | .273 | .606 | 0 |
| 59 | Jason Bartlett | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .273 | .273 | .636 | 0 |
| 60 | Henry Blanco | 4 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .222 | .847 | 0 |
| 61 | J.J. Hardy | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .100 | .100 | .300 | 0 |
| 62 | Danny Thompson | 3 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .125 | .222 | .472 | 0 |
| 63 | Mudcat Grant | 3 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .250 | 1.000 | 0 |
| 64 | Brant Alyea | 3 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .000 | .222 | .222 | 0 |
| 65 | Bobby Kielty | 7 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .125 | .125 | 0 |
| 66 | Junior Ortiz | 4 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .125 | .125 | .250 | 0 |
| 67 | Jason Tyner | 2 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .000 | .250 | .250 | 1 |
| 68 | Jimmie Hall | 2 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .143 | .250 | .393 | 0 |
| 69 | Jim Kaat | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | .143 | .143 | .286 | 0 |
| 70 | Rick Renick | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .167 | .167 | .333 | 0 |
| 71 | Denny Hocking | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .500 | .500 | 1.167 | 0 |
| 72 | Ted Uhlaender | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .167 | .333 | 0 |
| 73 | Matt Tolbert | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .333 | .533 | 0 |
| 74 | Carlos Gomez | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .333 | .333 | 0 |
| 75 | John Roseboro | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .200 | .400 | 0 |
| 76 | Jim Holt | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 77 | Paul Sorrento | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .250 | .250 | 0 |
| 78 | Roy Smalley | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .500 | .750 | 1.750 | 0 |
| 79 | Jim Perry | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 80 | Paul Ratliff | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .250 | .500 | 0 |
| 81 | Dave Boswell | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 82 | Rich Rollins | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .333 | .333 | 0 |
| 83 | Jose Offerman | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 84 | Tom Prince | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 85 | Phil Nevin | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 86 | Jose Morales | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 87 | Sal Butera | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 | 0 |
| 88 | Charlie Manuel | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .500 | .500 | 0 |
| 89 | Les Straker | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 90 | Jack Morris | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 91 | Jarvis Brown | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 92 | Pat Borders | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 93 | Bert Blyleven | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 94 | Jerry Zimmerman | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 95 | Dick Woodson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 0 |
| 96 | Stan Williams | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | ||
| 97 | Frank Viola | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 98 | Kevin Tapani | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 99 | Mike Ryan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 100 | Ron Perranoski | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 101 | Camilo Pascual | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 102 | Graig Nettles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 0 |
| 103 | Tom Hall | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 104 | Scott Erickson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 105 | Mark Davidson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 106 | Rick Aguilera | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Rk | Player | #Matching | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP ? | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Morris | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 2.23 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36.1 | 35 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 22 | 1.24 |
| 2 | Brad Radke | 6 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 3.60 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35.0 | 37 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 1.29 |
| 3 | Johan Santana | 11 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 3.97 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34.0 | 35 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 32 | 1.32 |
| 4 | Frank Viola | 5 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 4.31 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31.1 | 31 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 1.24 |
| 5 | Bert Blyleven | 5 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 3.18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.1 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 1.13 |
| 6 | Mudcat Grant | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2.74 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23.0 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 1.04 |
| 7 | Kevin Tapani | 4 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 6.04 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.1 | 29 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 1.52 |
| 8 | Jim Perry | 5 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 6.75 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.1 | 21 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 1.56 |
| 9 | Joe Mays | 3 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 4.76 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1.35 |
| 10 | Jim Kaat | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 4.41 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.1 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 1.71 |
| 11 | Eric Milton | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.65 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.1 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 0.98 |
| 12 | Scott Erickson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.2 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 1.50 | |
| 13 | Dave Boswell | 2 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 1.43 |
| 14 | Carl Pavano | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 4.15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 1.23 |
| 15 | Carl Willis | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2.92 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0.81 | |
| 16 | Kyle Lohse | 5 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 3.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 0.92 |
| 17 | Les Straker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.94 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.2 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 1.63 | |
| 18 | Rick Reed | 3 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 8.18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 1.55 |
| 19 | Juan Berenguer | 7 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 5.23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10.1 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1.35 |
| 20 | Jeff Reardon | 8 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2.70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10.0 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1.50 |
| 21 | J.C. Romero | 12 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 5.59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1.66 |
| 22 | Juan Rincon | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5.19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1.38 | |
| 23 | Dan Schatzeder | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 3.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1.04 |
| 24 | Rick Aguilera | 7 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8.1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.96 |
| 25 | Brian Duensing | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 11.25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2.00 |
| 26 | Joe Nathan | 6 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 4.70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7.2 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1.83 |
| 27 | Francisco Liriano | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.87 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1.43 | |
| 28 | Ron Perranoski | 5 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 10.29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2.00 |
| 29 | LaTroy Hawkins | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 6.75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1.50 |
| 30 | Mark Guthrie | 6 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1.35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1.05 |
| 31 | Tom Hall | 3 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 6.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1.67 |
| 32 | Stan Williams | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.50 | |
| 33 | Boof Bonser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.33 | |
| 34 | David West | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 6.35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 1.94 |
| 35 | Nick Blackburn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.59 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.88 | |
| 36 | Al Worthington | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.31 | |
| 37 | Eddie Guardado | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5.0 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2.40 | |
| 38 | Carlos Silva | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 10.80 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.00 |
| 39 | Camilo Pascual | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 5.40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 |
| 40 | Matt Guerrier | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.43 | |
| 41 | Steve Bedrosian | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1.71 | |
| 42 | Jim Merritt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.60 | |
| 43 | Jon Rauch | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1.00 | |
| 44 | Terry Mulholland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 | |
| 45 | Dick Woodson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3.38 | |
| 46 | Johnny Klippstein | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.50 | |
| 47 | Brian Fuentes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.38 | |
| 48 | Grant Balfour | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| 49 | Terry Leach | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.86 | |
| 50 | Scott Baker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.29 | |
| 51 | Jose Mijares | 5 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 4.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.50 |
| 52 | Joe Niekro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | |
| 53 | George Frazier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.50 | |
| 54 | Dean Chance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | |
| 55 | Michael Jackson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4.80 | |
| 56 | Jesse Crain | 4 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 16.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4.80 |
| 57 | Ron Mahay | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.60 | |
| 58 | Keith Atherton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.20 | |
| 59 | Bob Miller | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 5.40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 60 | Bill Zepp | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| 61 | Kenny Rogers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.50 | |
| 62 | Tony Fiore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.50 | |
| 63 | Bob Wells | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | |
| 64 | Dennys Reyes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| 65 | Pat Neshek | 2 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 |
| 66 | Bill Pleis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 | |
| 67 | Matt Capps | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 | |
| 68 | Luis Tiant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | |
| 69 | Joe Grzenda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| 70 | Glen Perkins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
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.
Jose Reyes snapped a scoreless tie with his RBI double off Jared Burton in the eighth inning and he came around to score an insurance run in the Blue Jays’ 2-0 win at Minnesota yesterday. With his loss on Sunday, Burton’s record fell to 2-9 this season, a major-league high for losses by a reliever. Burton’s nine losses match the most for a Minnesota reliever in any of the last 29 years. Two other Twins absorbed nine losses out of the bullpen in one season since 1985: Rick Aguilera (4-9 in 1998) and Matt Guerrier (6-9 in 2008).
If you look back through the Twins entire history going back to 1961 you will find that “Iron Man” Mike Marshall hold the Twins record for most losses by a reliever not starting a single game with 12 in the “L” column. There are some pretty good relievers on this list and it goes to show that won/lost records for relievers mean very little. The list below reads like a list of “Whose Who” of Minnesota relievers.
| Rk | Player | L | Year | Age | G | GS | GF | W | SV | IP | H | SO | HR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Marshall | 12 | 1978 | 35 | 54 | 0 | 51 | 10 | .455 | 21 | 99.0 | 80 | 56 | 2.45 | 3 | .225 |
| 2 | Ron Davis | 11 | 1984 | 28 | 64 | 0 | 57 | 7 | .389 | 29 | 83.0 | 79 | 74 | 4.55 | 11 | .253 |
| 3 | Ron Perranoski | 10 | 1969 | 33 | 75 | 0 | 52 | 9 | .474 | 31 | 119.2 | 85 | 62 | 2.11 | 4 | .205 |
| 4 | Jared Burton | 9 | 2013 | 32 | 65 | 0 | 12 | 2 | .182 | 2 | 61.1 | 57 | 56 | 3.96 | 6 | .243 |
| 5 | Matt Guerrier | 9 | 2008 | 29 | 76 | 0 | 15 | 6 | .400 | 1 | 76.1 | 84 | 59 | 5.19 | 12 | .275 |
| 6 | Rick Aguilera | 9 | 1998 | 36 | 68 | 0 | 64 | 4 | .308 | 38 | 74.1 | 75 | 57 | 4.24 | 8 | .262 |
| 7 | Ron Davis | 9 | 1982 | 26 | 63 | 0 | 53 | 3 | .250 | 22 | 106.0 | 106 | 89 | 4.42 | 16 | .261 |
| 8 | Al Worthington | 9 | 1967 | 38 | 59 | 0 | 44 | 8 | .471 | 16 | 92.0 | 77 | 80 | 2.84 | 6 | .229 |
| 9 | Mike Trombley | 8 | 1999 | 32 | 75 | 0 | 56 | 2 | .200 | 24 | 87.1 | 93 | 82 | 4.33 | 15 | .272 |
| 10 | Jeff Reardon | 8 | 1987 | 31 | 63 | 0 | 58 | 8 | .500 | 31 | 80.1 | 70 | 83 | 4.48 | 14 | .232 |
| 11 | Keith Atherton | 8 | 1986 | 27 | 47 | 0 | 31 | 5 | .385 | 10 | 81.2 | 82 | 59 | 3.75 | 9 | .264 |
| 12 | Ron Davis | 8 | 1983 | 27 | 66 | 0 | 61 | 5 | .385 | 30 | 89.0 | 89 | 84 | 3.34 | 6 | .266 |
| 13 | Tom Burgmeier | 8 | 1975 | 31 | 46 | 0 | 37 | 5 | .385 | 11 | 75.2 | 76 | 41 | 3.09 | 7 | .265 |
| 14 | Ron Perranoski | 8 | 1970 | 34 | 67 | 0 | 52 | 7 | .467 | 34 | 111.0 | 108 | 55 | 2.43 | 7 | .259 |
