1977 Minnesota Twins season

1977 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 WTCN
(Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
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The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 84-77, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

Regular season

In a May 25 double-header at Boston's Fenway Park, outfielder Lyman Bostock tied a major league record with twelve putouts in the first game. His total of seventeen putouts over both games set a new American League record.

On June 26, a crowd of 46,463 turned up at Metropolitan Stadium to watch first baseman Rod Carew's pursuit of a .400 batting average. Carew didn't disappoint, going 4 for 5 with six RBI, raising his batting average seven points to .403. Lost in the commotion was right fielder Glenn Adams' own 4-for-5 performance, as he drove in a Twins-record eight runs. The Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 19-12.[2]

Rod Carew, outfielder Larry Hisle and catcher Butch Wynegar were named to the All-Star Game. Carew was the leading AL vote-getter, scoring 405 of 422 possible votes in the national balloting by sports writers and broadcasters.[3]

Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player. In winning his sixth AL batting title, Carew flirted with becoming the first batter since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit .400, finishing at .388. He also had 239 hits, scored a league-leading 128 runs, hit 14 home runs and collected 100 RBI.

Other offensive stars were Larry Hisle, who hit 28 HR and drove in a league-leading 119 runs, and Lyman Bostock, who hit .338 with 104 runs, 14 HR and 90 RBI.

The Twins' ability to score runs was matched by their pitchers' ability to give up runs. Reliever Tom Johnson replaced Bill Campbell, racking up 16 relief wins along with 20 saves. Dave Goltz became a 20-game winner for the first time.

1,162,727 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in the American League. It was, however, the first time since 1970 that the Twins attracted more than one million fans.

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 102 60 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Texas Rangers 94 68 0.580 8 44–37 50–31
Chicago White Sox 90 72 0.556 12 48–33 42–39
Minnesota Twins 84 77 0.522 17½ 48–32 36–45
California Angels 74 88 0.457 28 39–42 35–46
Seattle Mariners 64 98 0.395 38 29–52 35–46
Oakland Athletics 63 98 0.391 38½ 35–46 28–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 6–8 5–6 5–5 11–4 12–3 4–7 11–4 6–4 8–7 8–2 7–3 4–6 10–5
Boston 8–6 — 7–3 3–7 8–7 9–6 5–5 9–6 4–6 8–7 8–3 10–1 6–4 12–3
California 6–5 3–7 — 8–7 6–4 4–6 6–9 5–5 7–8 4–7 5–10 9–6 5–10 6–4
Chicago 5–5 7–3 7–8 — 6–4 4–6 8–7 6–5 10–5 3–7 10–5 10–5 6–9 8–3
Cleveland 4–11 7–8 4–6 4–6 — 8–7 3–7 11–4 2–9 3–12 7–3 7–3 2–9 9–5
Detroit 3–12 6–9 6–4 6–4 7–8 — 3–8 10–5 5–5 6–9 5–5 5–6 2–8 10–5
Kansas City 7–4 5–5 9–6 7–8 7–3 8–3 — 8–2 10–5 5–5 9–6 11–4 8–7 8–2
Milwaukee 4–11 6–9 5–5 5–6 4–11 5–10 2–8 — 3–8 8–7 5–5 7–3 5–5 8–7
Minnesota 4–6 6–4 8–7 5–10 9–2 5–5 5–10 8–3 — 2–8 8–6 7–8 8–7 9–1
New York 7–8 7–8 7–4 7–3 12–3 9–6 5–5 7–8 8–2 — 9–2 6–4 7–3 9–6
Oakland 2–8 3–8 10–5 5–10 3–7 5–5 6–9 5–5 6–8 2–9 — 7–8 2–13 7–3
Seattle 3–7 1–10 6–9 5–10 3–7 6–5 4–11 3–7 8–7 4–6 8–7 — 9–6 4–6
Texas 6–4 4–6 10–5 9–6 9–2 8–2 7–8 5–5 7–8 3–7 13–2 6–9 — 7–4
Toronto 5–10 3–12 4–6 3–8 5–9 5–10 2–8 7–8 1–9 6–9 3–7 6–4 4–7 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1977 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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
C Wynegar, ButchButch Wynegar 144 532 139 .261 10 79
1B Carew, RodRod Carew 155 616 239 .388 14 100
2B Randall, BobBob Randall 103 306 73 .239 0 22
3B Cubbage, MikeMike Cubbage 129 417 110 .264 9 55
SS Smalley, RoyRoy Smalley 150 584 135 .231 6 56
LF Hisle, LarryLarry Hisle 141 546 165 .302 28 119
CF Bostock, LymanLyman Bostock 153 593 199 .336 14 90
RF Ford, DanDan Ford 144 453 121 .267 11 60
DH Kusick, CraigCraig Kusick 115 268 68 .254 12 45

Other batters

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
Norwood, WillieWillie Norwood 39 83 19 .229 3 9
Gómez, LuisLuis Gómez 32 65 16 .246 0 11
Borgmann, GlennGlenn Borgmann 17 43 11 .256 2 7
Bulling, BudBud Bulling 15 32 5 .156 0 5
Bass, RandyRandy Bass 9 19 2 .105 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Goltz, DaveDave Goltz 39 303 20 11 3.36 186
Thormodsgard, PaulPaul Thormodsgard 37 218 11 15 4.62 94
Zahn, GeoffGeoff Zahn 34 198 12 14 4.68 88
Redfern, PetePete Redfern 30 137.1 6 9 5.18 73
Pazik, MikeMike Pazik 3 18 1 0 2.50 6

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Schueler, RonRon Schueler 52 134.2 8 7 4.41 77
Johnson, DaveDave Johnson 30 72.2 2 5 4.58 33
Holly, JeffJeff Holly 18 48.1 2 3 6.89 32
Butler, BillBill Butler 6 21 0 1 6.86 5

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Johnson, TomTom Johnson 71 16 7 15 3.13 87
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier 61 6 4 7 5.09 35
Serum, GaryGary Serum 8 0 0 0 4.37 4
Carrithers, DonDon Carrithers 7 0 1 0 6.91 3
Shellenback, JimJim Shellenback 5 0 0 0 7.94 3
Hughes, JimJim Hughes 2 0 0 0 2.08 1

Awards and honors

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Twins Pacific Coast League Del Wilber and Tom Kelly
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Johnny Goryl
A Visalia Oaks California League Roy McMillan
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Jim Rantz, Carlos Pascual
and Spencer "Red" Robbins
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

Notes

  1. ↑ Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ "Minnesota Twins 19, Chicago White Sox 12". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  3. ↑ "Carew Tops All Voting for All-Stars". Kingman Daily Miner.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  4. ↑ Don Carrithers at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference
  6. ↑ Darrell Jackson at Baseball Reference

References

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