Tag: Tom Burgmeier

Another occurrence of strange but true

Ryan Harper

This past Thursday Ryne Harper pitched 3.1 innings of solid relief against the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field giving his team a chance to come back and win the game. The Twins didn’t come back to win the game but the 31-year-old rookie pitcher did his share. 

Twins relief pitchers have pitched 3 or more innings in a game 1,787 times since 1961. From 1961-1969 Twins relievers did it 282 times, in the 70’s they did it 475 times, in the 80’s they did it 388 times, in the 90’s they did it 358 times, in the 2000’s Twins relievers did it 161 times and from 2010 through yesterday it has been done 123 times and to be fair, some of these occurrences starting in 2018 are “primary pitchers” following an “opener”. 

Ray Corbin

The longest Twins relief appearance took place back on May 25, 1975 when Ray Corbin relieved Vic Albury after just two outs when the Detroit Tigers jumped on Albury for three first inning runs at Metropolitan Stadium and manager Frank Quilici had seen enough. Corbin pitched the next 10.1 innings allowing just two runs (one earned) on seven hits and four walks along with four strikeouts. The game was tied at 4-4 after five innings until the Tigers scored an unearned run off Corbin (Corbin’s error) in the top of the 11th inning to take a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the 11th Tiger pitcher John Hiller walked Steve Brye and Larry Hisle followed with a two-run home run and the Twins walked off the Tigers 6-5 with Ray Corbin getting the well deserved win. Just four days earlier Corbin had pitched 6.1 innings of relief.

Vic Albury

As irony would have it, just over a month later on June 30th the Twins were facing the California Angels at the Met and the Twins started Ray Corbin. Before Corbin could retire a single Angel batter he gave up five straight singles and John Doherty followed with a three-run homer, the only home run he would hit that season and the Angels were up 6-0 and Twins skipper Frank Quilici sent Corbin to the showers and called for Vic Albury. Albury held the Angels scoreless for 8 innings before running into trouble in the ninth when he gave up four runs but only one earned run on three hits and an error. Albury pitched 9 innings of relief allowing the one earned run on six hits and seven walks while striking out four batters and ended up with a no decision for his days work as the Angels beat the Twins 10-3.

Twins relievers have pitched seven or more innings in a game a total of 33 times. Ray Corbin and Tom Burgmeier each did it on three occasions. It has been a long time since it was done last, 34 years ago Dennis Burtt was the last Twins pitcher to pitch seven or more innings of relief when he did it in October of 1985 in a 8-6 Twins loss to the Indians at the Metrodome.

Here is a list of games in which a Minnesota Twins reliever pitched seven or more innings.

It appears that it is just not starting pitchers that are pitching fewer innings in each start, it looks like relievers don’t stay in games as long either.

This Day in Twins History – September 10, 1974

Vic AlburyForty years ago today only 3,285 fans witness what turns out to be a wild and wooly game between the Chicago White Sox and the Twins at the Met. Twins starter Vic Albury leaves after 7 with a 3-1 lead and closer Bill Campbell comes in to shut the door in what seems to be a routine ball game. Campbell retires the Whitey’s in the 8th with no scoring but in the top of the 9th all hell breaks loose. Before Campbell can retire a batter he gives up a single, then a double and Brian Downing then steps up to the plate and promptly hits a 3-run home run to tie the game at 4. The next batter singles and manager Quilici has seen enough and he brings in Tom Burgmeier who quickly gives up another single but settles down and retires the next three White Sox without any further damage and the Twins fail to score in the bottom of the ninth so to extra innings we go.

Tom Johnson
Tom Johnson

Larry HisleNeither team scores in the 10th but in the top of the 11th inning the White Sox get a single, a sacrifice and another single and take a 5-4 lead but Burgmeier closes the door. Craig Kusick leads off the bottom of the 11th for the Twins with a home run and once again we are tied, this time at 5. The 12th inning is scoreless. In the 13th the White Sox put a couple of hits together off of Burgy and take a 6-5 lead but once again the Twins fight back with walks to Eric Soderholm, Craig Kusick, and a sacrifice/fielders choice by Danny Thompson and the Twins have the bases loaded with one out. Glenn Borgmann singles to left to score Soderholm but Jerry Terrell who was running for Kusick is thrown out at home but the game is tied at 6 apiece. The White Sox escape further damage and the game moves on to the 14th inning. For some reason, Twins manager Frank Quilici brings in St. Paul native Tom Johnson to make his major league pitching debut in the 14th inning in a tie ball game. The rookie pitcher gives up two singles and commits an error and the White Sox push a run across to take a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the 14h inning the Twins get a single from Soderholm and a double from Tony Oliva and yes, the game is tied at 7 once again. Johnson pitches a 1-2-3 top of the 15th and the Twins come to bat in the bottom of the inning facing future hall of famer, Goose Gossage. Steve Brye strikes out but Rod Carew singles and proceeds to steal second, Larry Hisle steps up and singles to left and Carew scores and the Twins have an unbelievable 8-7 victory. Twins Tom Burgmeier pitched 5 innings of relief and Tom Johnson pitched two innings in his major league debut and won his first major league game in his first big league appearance. The fans sure got their money’s worth in this 4 hour and 7 minute game.

Box score

Twins pitchers that went the extra mile

The Twins have been in Minnesota for 53 years and have played 8,455 games winning 4,204 and losing 4,243. (just a FYI, the Angels who also started play in 1961 have won 4,220 games). Over the 53 years and 8,455 games Twins starters have pitched 9 innings or more in a start exactly 300 times (3.55%). Keep in mind that I am talking 9 innings or more pitched in a start, not complete games.

But sometimes just going 9 innings does not get the job done as you can see in the table below. In these 71 games the Twins starter took the mound in inning number 10 and sometimes even innings 11 and 12. The last Twins starter to hurl more than 9 innings in a start was Brad Radke in 1997.

But only one starting pitcher for the Twins, Jim Merritt has gone 13 innings and that remains a team record that in today’s pitch count world will probably never be broken. The franchise record is 18 innings held by Hall of Famer Walter Johnson who went the distance in a 1-0 Washington Senators win over the Chicago White Sox at Griffith Stadium in just 2 hours and 50 minutes on May 15, 1918.

Jim Merritt
Jim Merritt
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO BF
1 Jim Merritt 1967-07-26 (2) MIN NYY W 3-2 GS-13 13.0 7 2 2 1 7 46
2 Camilo Pascual 1963-07-23 MIN CLE L 2-3 CG 13 ,L 12.2 7 3 3 2 11 46
3 Dave Boswell 1969-07-14 MIN CHW W 4-3 GS-12 12.0 10 3 2 0 7 46
4 Jim Kaat 1969-05-20 MIN BAL W 3-2 GS-13 ,W 12.0 8 2 1 4 4 47
5 Camilo Pascual 1964-10-01 MIN KCA L 4-5 CG 12 ,L 12.0 12 5 1 3 14 52
6 Jim Roland 1964-05-19 MIN NYY W 7-2 GS-12 ,W 12.0 7 2 2 6 8 50
7 Camilo Pascual 1962-09-12 MIN CHW L 1-2 CG 12 ,L 12.0 12 2 2 2 7 47
8 Dave Goltz 1977-07-25 MIN OAK W 2-1 CG 11 ,W 11.0 8 1 1 1 14 41
9 Bill Singer 1976-09-01 MIN MIL W 3-2 GS-11 11.0 6 2 2 6 3 43
10 Dave Goltz 1976-05-18 MIN OAK W 4-3 CG 11 ,W 11.0 7 3 3 3 7 43
11 Bert Blyleven 1975-08-27 MIN MIL W 1-0 SHO11 ,W 11.0 6 0 0 1 13 39
12 Jim Kaat 1973-06-23 MIN CAL L 1-3 CG 11 ,L 11.0 11 3 3 4 6 46
13 Jim Kaat 1972-05-24 MIN KCR W 1-0 GS-11 ,W 11.0 5 0 0 3 7 40
14 Jim Perry 1970-08-07 MIN OAK W 2-1 CG 11 ,W 11.0 5 1 1 3 7 41
15 Jim Kaat 1969-04-09 MIN KCR L 3-4 GS-12 11.0 8 3 2 5 4 42
16 Jim Kaat 1964-04-26 MIN DET W 3-2 CG 11 ,W 11.0 7 2 2 3 11 43
17 Jim Kaat 1962-08-01 MIN BAL W 3-1 CG 11 ,W 11.0 9 1 1 4 12 47
18 Pedro Ramos 1961-04-28 MIN LAA L 5-6 GS-11 11.0 6 4 4 4 10 43
19 Mudcat Grant 1966-08-28 (1) MIN CHW L 3-4 GS-11 10.2 9 3 3 4 2 44
20 Jack Kralick 1961-04-30 MIN CHW L 3-5 GS-11 ,L 10.2 12 5 5 6 6 50
21 Bert Blyleven 1972-09-27 (1) MIN OAK L 0-1 CG 11 ,L 10.1 7 1 1 2 9 39
22 Jim Kaat 1962-08-10 MIN LAA L 0-1 CG 11 ,L 10.1 6 1 1 4 8 42
23 Brad Radke 1997-09-21 MIN MIL W 2-1 CG 10 ,W 10.0 6 1 1 0 9 36
24 Allan Anderson 1986-06-11 MIN TEX L 2-6 GS-10 10.0 8 2 2 4 3 37
25 John Butcher 1985-05-15 MIN DET W 5-4 GS-10 10.0 12 4 4 2 7 45
26 Frank Viola 1984-09-20 MIN CHW W 5-4 GS-10 10.0 4 4 4 2 6 36
27 Darrell Jackson 1980-08-14 MIN OAK L 1-2 GS-10 10.0 6 1 1 3 4 38
28 Jerry Koosman 1980-07-30 MIN NYY W 2-1 CG 10 ,W 10.0 3 1 1 5 4 38
29 Darrell Jackson 1980-05-10 MIN NYY W 1-0 GS-10 ,W 10.0 5 0 0 1 2 35
30 Dave Goltz 1979-09-27 MIN CHW L 2-4 CG 10 ,L 10.0 12 4 4 1 5 42
31 Paul Hartzell 1979-07-01 MIN CHW W 2-1 CG 10 ,W 10.0 8 1 1 2 1 38
32 Dave Goltz 1978-08-24 MIN TEX L 1-4 CG 10 ,L 10.0 6 4 4 1 4 36
33 Roger Erickson 1978-08-17 MIN KCR W 6-5 CG 10 ,W 10.0 8 5 5 4 3 41
34 Dave Goltz 1976-06-29 MIN KCR L 0-1 CG 10 ,L 10.0 3 1 0 4 2 36
35 Bert Blyleven 1975-09-15 MIN CAL W 7-6 GS-10 10.0 12 6 5 3 12 42
36 Bert Blyleven 1975-07-17 MIN BAL L 3-6 GS-10 10.0 8 3 3 5 7 42
37 Vic Albury 1974-06-22 MIN CHW L 1-3 CG 10 ,L 10.0 5 3 3 4 5 40
38 Ray Corbin 1973-09-29 MIN CAL L 3-4 GS-10 10.0 7 3 3 3 5 39
39 Bert Blyleven 1973-08-30 MIN TEX W 5-2 GS-11 ,W 10.0 12 2 2 2 7 43
40 Dick Woodson 1973-07-17 (1) MIN NYY L 3-4 GS-10 10.0 5 3 2 4 2 37
41 Ray Corbin 1972-08-27 (2) MIN DET L 0-1 GS-10 10.0 5 0 0 3 2 36
42 Ray Corbin 1972-08-06 (1) MIN OAK L 3-6 GS-10 10.0 8 3 1 2 4 43
43 Bert Blyleven 1972-07-08 MIN NYY L 0-1 GS-10 10.0 7 0 0 6 10 41
44 Bert Blyleven 1971-09-01 MIN CHW L 0-2 GS-10 10.0 5 0 0 1 6 36
45 Jim Perry 1971-07-15 MIN BOS L 0-3 GS-10 10.0 3 0 0 4 5 36
46 Jim Perry 1968-09-11 MIN CLE L 0-1 GS-10 10.0 8 0 0 0 5 37
47 Jim Merritt 1968-04-22 MIN BAL L 1-2 CG 10 ,L 10.0 6 2 2 2 6 36
48 Jim Kaat 1967-09-18 MIN KCA W 2-0 SHO10 ,W 10.0 6 0 0 0 12 36
49 Dean Chance 1967-08-30 MIN BAL L 2-4 CG 10 ,L 10.0 9 4 3 1 7 41
50 Jim Kaat 1964-09-10 MIN CHW L 1-2 CG 10 ,L 10.0 8 2 2 2 5 40
51 Dick Stigman 1964-07-03 MIN NYY W 1-0 SHO10 ,W 10.0 4 0 0 2 5 32
52 Camilo Pascual 1963-08-25 MIN BAL W 5-3 CG 10 ,W 10.0 10 3 1 7 8 45
53 Dick Stigman 1963-05-03 MIN NYY L 3-4 CG 10 ,L 10.0 8 4 4 2 8 39
54 Jim Kaat 1962-08-05 (1) MIN DET W 8-3 GS-10 ,W 10.0 7 2 2 1 5 37
55 Camilo Pascual 1961-09-06 (2) MIN CHW L 2-4 CG 10 ,L 10.0 10 4 2 4 3 47
56 Jim Hughes 1975-06-19 MIN OAK L 2-5 GS-10 ,L 9.2 9 5 5 6 5 43
57 Jim Kaat 1971-06-09 MIN BAL L 1-2 CG 10 ,L 9.2 11 2 1 0 6 40
58 Jim Merritt 1968-05-20 MIN DET L 3-4 GS-10 ,L 9.2 6 4 1 2 6 39
59 Camilo Pascual 1961-05-02 MIN NYY L 4-6 GS-10 ,L 9.2 7 6 6 5 7 41
60 Kevin Tapani 1992-08-20 MIN CLE L 1-2 CG 10 ,L 9.1 3 2 2 2 4 32
61 Neal Heaton 1986-10-02 MIN CHW L 4-8 GS-10 ,L 9.1 7 6 5 1 6 35
62 Brad Havens 1982-09-22 MIN TOR L 2-3 GS-10 ,L 9.1 6 3 2 1 8 33
63 Roger Erickson 1981-05-23 MIN KCR L 0-1 GS-10 9.1 7 0 0 1 7 34
64 Pete Redfern 1981-05-09 MIN CLE L 1-2 GS-10 ,L 9.1 10 2 1 3 7 39
65 Jerry Koosman 1981-05-04 MIN BAL L 3-4 GS-10 ,L 9.1 10 4 3 4 6 41
66 Roger Erickson 1980-07-18 MIN BOS L 0-1 CG 10 ,L 9.1 8 1 1 2 3 38
67 Jerry Koosman 1980-07-02 MIN KCR L 3-4 GS-10 ,L 9.1 10 4 4 2 5 38
68 Dave Goltz 1976-06-21 MIN CAL L 1-2 CG 10 ,L 9.1 8 2 2 2 1 36
69 Ray Corbin 1972-09-27 (2) MIN OAK L 1-2 CG 10 ,L 9.1 9 2 2 1 5 39
70 Jim Kaat 1962-05-20 (2) MIN NYY W 4-2 GS-10 9.1 4 2 1 7 7 38
71 Camilo Pascual 1961-09-29 MIN DET L 4-6 GS-10 ,L 9.1 12 6 6 4 7 43
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/25/2013.

What about the relievers?

But it is not just starting pitchers that have toiled long and hard to win a game. Here I look at relievers who have pitched 7 or more innings of relief in a game and Ray Corbin holds the team record for pitching 10.1 innings of relief against the Tigers in 1975. Corbin who was a starter/reliever during his five years in Minnesota pitched in just 11 more big league games after this long relief outing allowing at least one earned run in each appearance and never again pitched in a big league game.

Ray Corbin
Ray Corbin
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO BF
1 Ray Corbin 1975-05-21 MIN DET W 6-5 1-11f,W 10.1 7 2 1 4 4 42
2 Jim Kaat 1969-09-06 MIN OAK W 8-6 9-18 ,W 9.1 8 1 1 5 10 44
3 John Sutton 1978-08-07 MIN SEA L 5-6 5-13 9.0 5 0 0 3 4 34
4 Vic Albury 1975-06-30 MIN CAL L 3-10 1-9f 9.0 6 4 1 7 4 38
5 John Verhoeven 1980-07-21 (1) MIN BAL W 8-7 3-11f,W 8.2 7 2 2 2 2 34
6 Tom Burgmeier 1976-08-30 MIN MIL W 10-3 1-9f ,W 8.2 3 1 1 0 4 29
7 Tom Burgmeier 1976-04-25 MIN BAL W 7-2 1-9f ,W 8.2 5 1 1 1 1 30
8 Al Worthington 1967-08-09 MIN WSA L 7-9 8-16 8.2 2 0 0 2 8 30
9 Tom Johnson 1976-09-02 MIN MIL W 8-4 1-9f ,W 8.1 6 1 1 0 6 31
10 Bill Campbell 1975-06-10 MIN CLE W 5-3 1-10 8.1 7 1 1 1 3 32
11 Tom Hall 1969-08-17 MIN WSA W 4-3 3-11 8.0 2 1 1 3 5 30
12 Pedro Ramos 1961-06-16 MIN CHW W 6-1 2-9f ,W 8.0 4 0 0 1 4 28
13 Dennis Burtt 1985-10-04 MIN CLE L 6-8 1-8 ,L 7.2 6 3 3 0 2 28
14 Pete Filson 1985-05-19 MIN TOR W 8-2 2-9f ,W 7.2 3 1 1 1 2 27
15 Mac Scarce 1978-06-07 MIN CHW L 3-8 2-9f 7.2 6 1 1 2 4 27
16 Tom Burgmeier 1976-08-25 MIN NYY L 4-5 12-19f,L 7.2 3 1 1 2 1 25
17 Vic Albury 1975-06-24 MIN OAK L 4-6 1-8f 7.2 6 2 2 7 4 34
18 Bill Butler 1974-09-13 MIN KCR W 6-5 2-9 7.2 2 0 0 4 3 28
19 Jim Kaat 1962-05-12 MIN KCA W 5-4 2-9f ,W 7.2 2 0 0 1 4 25
20 Dave Goltz 1974-07-19 MIN DET W 7-5 1-8 ,W 7.1 7 2 2 1 4 29
21 Danny Fife 1973-08-22 MIN BAL L 3-4 1-8f ,L 7.1 3 1 1 4 3 28
22 Dave Boswell 1965-05-11 MIN CAL W 3-2 1-8 7.1 4 1 0 2 9 28
23 Lee Stange 1962-08-04 MIN DET W 4-3 2-9f ,W 7.1 6 0 0 1 3 27
24 Bill Pleis 1962-07-04 (1) MIN BOS W 8-4 2-9f ,W 7.1 5 2 2 1 2 28
25 Jack O’Connor 1982-06-26 MIN TOR W 4-3 1-8 7.0 6 1 1 0 5 27
26 Jeff Holly 1977-05-01 MIN DET W 6-5 3-9f ,W 7.0 2 0 0 1 6 23
27 Tom Johnson 1975-08-11 MIN MIL W 8-7 3-9f ,W 7.0 5 1 1 2 4 28
28 Ray Corbin 1975-07-24 MIN BOS L 2-6 3-9f 7.0 5 3 2 4 1 29
29 Jim Hughes 1975-05-04 MIN KCR W 6-3 3-9f ,W 7.0 4 0 0 4 5 30
30 Bill Campbell 1974-08-08 MIN KCR W 3-2 8-14f,W 7.0 5 1 0 6 2 31
31 Bill Hands 1973-09-01 MIN TEX W 10-7 3-9f ,W 7.0 6 1 0 1 6 28
32 Ray Corbin 1971-07-17 MIN WSA W 5-3 3-9f ,W 7.0 4 0 0 1 4 25
33 Jim Perry 1964-08-06 MIN BOS W 6-5 1-7 ,W 7.0 7 1 1 4 6 31
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/25/2013.

 

 

According to Elias

Jared Burton
Jared Burton

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.

Twins relievers with 8 or more losses in a season

Mike Marshall - Twins pitcher 1978 - 1980
Mike Marshall – Twins pitcher 1978 – 1980
Rk Player L Year Age G GS GF W W-L% SV IP H SO ERA HR BA
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
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/9/2013.

Twins pitchers with great ERA’s

The Twins finished with a 66-96 record in 2012 and the teams starting pitching was blamed for the teams poor play. The teams starting pitching had a league worst 5.40 ERA and the starters posted a 39-75 record. As a whole the entire pitching staff posted a 4.77 ERA which is the seventh worst in team history. Previous Twins teams that had higher ERA’s than the 2012 Twins were –

The 1995 team had a 5.76 ERA and finished with a 56-88 mark.

The 1994 team had a 5.68 ERA and finished with a 53-60 mark.

The 1996 team had a 5.28 ERA and finished with a 78-84 mark.

The 2000 team had a 5.14 ERA and finished with a 69-93 mark.

The 1999 team had a 5.00 ERA and finished with a 63-97 mark.

The 1997 team had a 5.00 ERA and finished with a 68-94 mark.

It is easy to forget some of the horrendous pitching staffs that Tom Kelly managed in the mid to late 90’s. But this article is not about how bad the Twins pitching has been over the years but instead is just laying some ground work to highlite some of the Twins best pitching performances over the years based simply on ERA. I know that ERA is not necessarily the best way to determine pitching quality but ERA has been around for a long time and provides us with a measurement tool of sort. The Twins have used many pitchers since the team moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season  but I can only find 12 Twins pitchers, barely enough to comprise a pitching staff that have thrown 100 or more innings and posted an ERA of 2.50 or under in a single season. So lets take a look at who these pitchers were and the dominating season that they had.

1. Doug Corbett in his first season in the big leagues in 1980 pitched in 63 games, all in relief and posted a 1.98 ERA in 136.1 innings and had 23 saves to go along with his 8-6 record. Corbett was acquired by the Twins in December 1979 as a Rule 5 draftee from the Cincinnati Reds.

2. Bill Dailey in his first season in Minnesota and third in the big leagues in 1963 pitched in 66 games, all in relief and posted a 1.99 ERA in 108.2 innings and had 21 saves to go along with his 6-3 record.

3. Stan Williams in his 12 big league season and first as a Twin in 1970 pitched in 68 games, all in relief and posted a 1.99 ERA in 113.1 innings and had 15 saves to go along with his 10-1 record.

4. Jim Kaat was in his 12th season for the Twins and in 1972 had started 15 games before getting hurt in early July and sitting out the rest of the season. In this 15 games he pitched 113.1 innings and posted a 2.06 ERA to go along with his 10-2 record.

5. Ron Perranoski in his second season in Minnesota in 1969 appeared in 75 games, all in relief and posted a 2.11 ERA in 119.2 innings and had a league leading 31 saves to go along with his 9-10 record.

6. Francisco Liriano in his first full season as a Twin in 2006 appeared in 28 games starting 16 of them and posted a 2.16 ERA in 121 innings. Liriano put up a 12-3 record to go along with his first big league save.

7. Jim Perry in his 10th big league season and his 6th in Minnesota in 1968 appeared in 32 games starting 18 of them and posted a 2.27 ERA in 139 innings while notching 1 save to go along with his 8-6 record. Perry went on to win 20 games in 1969 and a league leading 24 wins in 1970 when he won the Cy Young award.

8. Ron Perranoski is the only pitcher to make this list twice. In 1970 Perranoski had a 2.43 ERA when appeared in 67 games throwing 111 innings and once again led the league in saves with 34 to go with his 7-8 won/lost record.

9. Allan Anderson had a breakout season in 1988 when he started 30 games throwing 202.1 innings and putting up a league leading 2.45 ERA to go along with his 16-9 record.

10. Camilo Pascual was in his 10th season with the Senators/Twins in 1963 when he started 31 games throwing 248.1 innings with a league leading 18 complete games and posted a nifty 2.46 ERA that went well with his 21-9 record.

11. Dave Goltz made the list in 1978 which was his 7th big league season with Minnesota when he had a 2.49 ERA when he started 29 games and pitched 220.1 innings going 15-10 and that was a season after he had won 20 games.

12. Tom Burgmeier was in his 9th big league season and third with the Twins in 1976 when he appeared in relief in 57 games when he pitched 115.1 innings posting a 2.50 ERA to go along with his 8-1 record.

So what kind of ERA did the Twins World Series teams have? The 1965 Twins pitching staff had a 3.14 ERA, the 1991 Twins put up a 3.69 ERA and the 1987 world champs had a 4.63 ERA.