Record: 94-68, 1st, AL West
Postseason: WON ALCS vs. Cleveland Indians (3-1), LOST World Series vs. New York Mets (4-3)
Ballpark: Metropolitan Stadium, aka "The Met" (102 hits, 96 HR)
Runs scored: 740 (2nd)
Runs allowed: 600 (5th)
Pythag record: 96-66 (-2)
Recap: What a season! The Twins followed up a great pennant chase in 1968 - they lost a one-game playoff to the Red Sox - with another one in 1969. They started slow - as of July 1 they were still only 38-36 - but got hot at exactly the right time, with a record of 39-19 from August 1 to the end of the regular season. Then they shocked the Cleveland Indians 3-1, and then took a 2-0 lead in the World Series against the Mets. They actually outscored New York 17 to 7 over those first two games and frankly, it looked like it was going to be over soon. Then the Mets pitching shut down that offense, winning 4 of the last 5 games of the series, none of them by more than 3 runs.
History: Divisional play couldn't have come sooner for Minnesota: they finished 2nd in the AL in the previous *4* seasons to 1969. They did reach the final round in 1963 so I would not call Minnesota baseball fans starved. They also somehow managed to take home two pennants when they were the original Washington Senators, including a parity-league special in 1959, when an 85-69 record was enough to put it through.
Outlook: Why not Minnesota? They're returning everyone they needed to and if anything underperformed a little bit last year. They've very much established themselves as a low to mid 90s win team in this era.
Rotation
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Chris | Benavides | 20 | 10 | 0.667 | 0 | 2.75 | 36 | 36 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 268.0 | 1107 | 263 | 98 | 82 | 12 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 77 | 2 | 159 | 5 | 4 | 8.8 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 5.3 |
| Mike | Larsen | 13 | 13 | 0.500 | 0 | 3.33 | 32 | 31 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 216.0 | 921 | 235 | 92 | 80 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 65 | 4 | 106 | 9 | 0 | 9.8 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 4.4 |
| Ricardo | Magdaleno | 13 | 8 | 0.619 | 0 | 3.14 | 31 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 197.2 | 802 | 186 | 80 | 69 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 2 | 86 | 6 | 1 | 8.5 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 3.9 |
| Angelo | Ramos | 9 | 9 | 0.500 | 0 | 3.28 | 21 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 148.1 | 615 | 154 | 63 | 54 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 43 | 1 | 96 | 3 | 0 | 9.3 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 5.8 |
| Victor | Ruiz | 9 | 7 | 0.563 | 0 | 3.65 | 19 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 123.1 | 508 | 108 | 57 | 50 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 48 | 1 | 91 | 5 | 0 | 7.9 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 6.6 |
| Rich | Reese | 7 | 5 | 0.583 | 0 | 4.84 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 89.1 | 388 | 88 | 50 | 48 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 50 | 0 | 71 | 6 | 0 | 8.9 | 0.5 | 5.0 | 7.2 |
| Cody | Graham | 8 | 4 | 0.667 | 0 | 2.99 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 84.1 | 362 | 92 | 31 | 28 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 58 | 4 | 1 | 9.8 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 6.2 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
This Twins rotation was much stronger than the stats look (4th in AL ERA) down the stretch. They leaned on the newly emergent star Chris Benavides the whole season long. Benavides, 28, won 20 for the first time in his career and finished 6th in the league in ERA. Angelo Ramos missed a chunk of time to injury but he's a career 185 game winner and really showed that talent when it really counted, going 5-1 in September with 3 complete games in 7 starts and then very nearly leading the Twins to a world championship with a 2-1, 2.19 ERA postseason performance.
Mike Larsen and Ricardo Magdeleno split time as the team's 3rd starter in the playoffs. Larsen pitched to a .500 record for only the second time in his career (meaning, he's had a winning record in every other year except for an injury-shortened 1965) but the 29 year old right hander turned it on when it counted, posting a 2.00 ERA in 9 postseason innings. Magdaleno came over from Cincinnati - some would say he was rescued - and once he proved himself worthy of a rotation job he finished second on the Twins in complete games with 10. The last man in the rotation is Victor Ruiz, who's manned the back half of the Twins staff all decade long. He doesn't really have the stamina to go deep into games but somehow the man is still a 102 game winner over the course of his career.
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Pete | Lynn | 6 | 5 | 0.545 | 19 | 2.27 | 59 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 126.2 | 501 | 95 | 35 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 42 | 0 | 112 | 6 | 2 | 6.8 | 0.1 | 3.0 | 8.0 |
| Melvin | Melena | 3 | 4 | 0.429 | 1 | 3.05 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 56.0 | 233 | 59 | 24 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 9.5 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 4.3 |
| Danny | Mojica | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 6 | 3.68 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 44.0 | 174 | 38 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 39 | 2 | 0 | 7.8 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 8.0 |
| Jim | Marceau | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 4 | 2.39 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 37.2 | 151 | 38 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 9.1 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 7.6 |
| Pete | Eason | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 3 | 3.65 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 24.2 | 112 | 32 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 11.7 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 5.5 |
| Raul | Ortiz | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 4.01 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 24.2 | 113 | 29 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 10.6 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
| Walt | Gurganus | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 4.09 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11.0 | 46 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 13.9 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 6.5 |
| Bryan | Lewis | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 9.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Twins pulled off the coup of the offseason, acquiring MLB saves leader Todd Thiesen from the Indians for Cody Graham, CF Jorge Sanchez, and outfield prospect Bobby Kaplan. Minnesota already had an embarrassment of riches in the bullpen and now you have to just assume you've lost if you can't pull a lead against them into the 7th inning. Pete Eason is a former Cy Young Award winner who was converted into relief following a bad 1966 season (5-9, 4.06 ERA). He was looking like he'd finally figured out the relief thing when he went down with a forearm injury in July. Pete Lynn wound up having to be their full-time stopper for much of the year and he looked pretty good altogether. He doesn't quite have the resume that Thiesen does, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Brad | Reed | 123 | 410 | 58 | 113 | 23 | 1 | 13 | 55 | 55 | 7 | 80 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.276 | 0.358 | 0.432 |
| C | Matt | Theroff | 56 | 137 | 14 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 24 | 7 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.161 | 0.285 | 0.248 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Minnesota used just two catchers the entire year, All Star Brad Reed and last year's starter Matt Theroff. Theroff has hit .178 and .161 over the past two years and while his reputation around the league is solid, reputation can only take you so far. He's still only 28 so could be something other than a modern day Bill Bergen, possibly. Reed actually made the ASG in 1968 as a backup catcher, which only goes to show that sometimes OOTP makes some weird decisions.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Mike | Grigg | 100 | 310 | 35 | 103 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 25 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0.332 | 0.381 | 0.387 |
| 1B | Brandon | Samuels | 65 | 115 | 11 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.270 | 0.286 | 0.374 |
| 1B | Jeff | Franks | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.250 | 0.400 |
| 2B | Marty | Mendel | 137 | 472 | 44 | 128 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 46 | 3 | 41 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 0.271 | 0.336 | 0.303 |
| 2B | Daniel | Gilmet | 111 | 398 | 52 | 128 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 0.322 | 0.358 | 0.402 |
| 3B | Mike | Brookes | 125 | 433 | 80 | 105 | 20 | 4 | 23 | 75 | 116 | 13 | 58 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0.242 | 0.401 | 0.467 |
| 3B | Chris | Sladewski | 64 | 151 | 16 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 19 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.205 | 0.297 | 0.265 |
| 3B | Jeff | Franks | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.250 | 0.400 |
| 3B | Darrel | Bump | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.400 | 0.571 | 0.600 |
| SS | Danny | Pellot | 88 | 274 | 24 | 61 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 35 | 20 | 5 | 47 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0.223 | 0.268 | 0.350 |
| SS | Dong-hak | Park | 29 | 90 | 10 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.256 | 0.299 | 0.289 |
| SS | Nate | Malphrus | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| SS | Jason | Erickson | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.500 | 0.500 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
First base was uncharacteristically messy for such a good team in 1969. The 1968 starter was Scott Segal but after 4 years of him hitting around .200 I felt that the Twins needed more offensive contribution at that position (he did, to be fair, walk a *ton*, but all the walks in the world won't help when you can't break a .300 SLG). Angelo Martinez wound up starting the second half of the season there and his play was so stellar that he wound up taking home the 1969 MVP. This may have been more of a "best player on the best team" award than usual, but you can't say he didn't deserve it.
The Twins missed Daniel Gilmet for the entire playoffs, prompting South Korean free agent Dong-hak Park to work the keystone instead. Park didn't allow anyone to forget about Gilmet, who hit for his highest average since leading the league in batting in 1966 (.335 that year), but he did flash the leather enough that he'll probably displace Marty Mendel at shortstop for the 1970 season. Gilmet, meanwhile, is another one of those guys who you think has to be like 36 because he's been around the league forever. But no, even when we won the MVP back in 1963 (with a .369 BA!) he did so as a 25 year old kid. This is a player who is still very much in his prime.
Mike Brookes led the AL in homeruns in both 1967 and 1968 but last year's total was an embarrassing 23. He equaled that mark this year in spite of missing 37 games but, as you might have figured out, this was way, way off the pace. He was still the most feared hitter in the AL, leading the junior circuit in both walks and intentional walks, and even cut his strikeouts down to a career-low 58. The Twins' replacement for him when he was out was Chris Sladewski, who I can't help but call "Skadooshkey" when he comes to bat. Skadooshkey served as a valuable reminder to Twins fans that a third baseman with mid-20 HR power is not the worst thing to have.
Marty Mendel is a tweener and not in the good sense. A .381 average as a backup in 1968 led the Twins to trying him out full-time last year and, to be frank, he hit like a middle infielder while fielding like a man who had no business playing shortstop, at least. A subpar arm is the main culprit but the obvious position move here, second base, is not available. Instead he'll be fighting it out with Dong-hak Park for the starting SS gig.
Outfield
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| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Alejandro | Cortes | 113 | 445 | 69 | 127 | 17 | 3 | 20 | 73 | 26 | 2 | 88 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0.285 | 0.324 | 0.472 |
| LF | Scott | Segal | 80 | 197 | 28 | 38 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 50 | 1 | 44 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0.193 | 0.356 | 0.299 |
| CF | Jose | Villasenor | 98 | 358 | 53 | 101 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 40 | 23 | 2 | 43 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0.282 | 0.323 | 0.422 |
| CF | Jorge | Sanchez | 47 | 130 | 20 | 38 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0.292 | 0.333 | 0.423 |
| CF | Zach | Dempsey | 16 | 46 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.174 | 0.264 | 0.196 |
| RF | Angelo | Martinez | 153 | 604 | 99 | 176 | 33 | 1 | 18 | 96 | 73 | 3 | 59 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0.291 | 0.366 | 0.439 |
| RF | Lou | Morgenstern | 109 | 444 | 82 | 132 | 23 | 12 | 8 | 50 | 54 | 0 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 0.297 | 0.372 | 0.457 |
| RF | Kyle | Ship | 39 | 81 | 12 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.358 | 0.391 | 0.494 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Alejandro Cortez was still a mile off from the hitting prowess of his 1966 MVP campaign (.293 BA, 43 HR, 122 R, 107 RBI) but still cracked the 20 HR mark for a team with a power attack that was wider than it was deep last year. At this point, a fully healthy season is too much to ask and so the Twins are pretty happy that they have a player the caliber of Mike Grigg to be their 4th outfielder. What Grigg lacks in power, he made up for in timely hits, and while he was one of those guys who definitely benefitted from an expansion season (his last taste in the major leagues prior to last year was a 19 game cup of coffee in 1964), his minor league numbers indicate he is eminently capable of that .300 average.
Jose Villasenor capped off an impressive rookie season with an ALCS MVP award thanks to 8 hits in 14 at-bats with 5 RBIs against the Indians. Villasenor has decent range and looks like he could continue to develop into a league average fielder at that position, which would be a real bonus given his obvious hitting skills.
Lou Morgenstern led the league in triples for the 4th time in his career but if 1969 is memorable for anything for him, it's that it was the year the Twins finally decided they couldn't put up with him in center anymore. Villasenor might not be there yet but Morgenstern simply does not have the range to cover the larger outfields in the American League anymore. Back to good things: his .372 OBP was the highest of his 9 year career.