1968 Minnesota Twins season

The 1968 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 79–83, seventh in the American League.

1968 Minnesota Twins
79–83, seventh in the American League
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Location
Metropolitan Stadium (since 1961) Bloomington, Minnesota (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)	Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)	Cal Ermer
Local television	WTCN-TV
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon)
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Offseason

• January 27, 1968: Eric Soderholm was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the secondary phase of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft.[1]

Regular season

Leadoff batter César Tovar sparked the offense, finishing second in the AL with 167 hits and third with 89 runs. Tony Oliva was third in the AL with a .289 batting average. Harmon Killebrew had 17 HR and 40 RBI at the All-Star break, but was injured in the game and missed the second half of the season.

It took until their eighth season for the Twins to get no-hit and then it happened profoundly, as their first opposing no-hitter was the perfect game thrown by Oakland's Jim "Catfish" Hunter on May 8 in Oakland. Hunter struck out eleven, and drove in three of his team's four runs.

A first for the Twins: on July 11, Rick Renick played his first-ever major league game, at shortstop. In his first big-league at bat, he homered. The run came off Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich. Renick is the first Twins player to accomplish the feat, later to be joined in history by Dave McKay (1975), Gary Gaetti (1981) and Andre David (1984). They all were then joined in 2015 by Eddie Rosario, who hit a homer not only in his first at bat, but on the first major-league pitch thrown to him.

Three Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, and outfielder Tony Oliva.

On September 22, utility player César Tovar played all nine positions, an inning each, against the Oakland Athletics. Duplicating the feat that Bert Campaneris had performed three years prior, Tovar topped Campy by starting as pitcher and allowing no hits or runs, for a 0.00 earned run average. In the inning, the first man to face Tovar was Campaneris, who fouled out. Tovar then struck out slugger Reggie Jackson.[2]

Four Twins won 10 or more games: Dean Chance (16–16), Jim Kaat (14–12) Jim Merritt (12–16), Dave Boswell (10–13). Pitcher Jim Kaat won his seventh Gold Glove. Al Worthington led the American League with 18 saves.

1,143,257 fans attended Twins games, the fourth highest total in the American League.

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	103	59	0.636	—	56–25	47–34
Baltimore Orioles	91	71	0.562	12	47–33	44–38
Cleveland Indians	86	75	0.534	16½	43–37	43–38
Boston Red Sox	86	76	0.531	17	46–35	40–41
New York Yankees	83	79	0.512	20	39–42	44–37
Oakland Athletics	82	80	0.506	21	44–38	38–42
Minnesota Twins	79	83	0.488	24	41–40	38–43
California Angels	67	95	0.414	36	32–49	35–46
Chicago White Sox	67	95	0.414	36	36–45	31–50
Washington Senators	65	96	0.404	37½	34–47	31–49

Record vs. opponents

1968 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	10–8	11–7	7–11	8–10	10–8	13–5	9–9	14–4
Boston	9–9	—	9–9	14–4	10–8	6–12	9–9	10–8	8–10	11–7
California	8–10	9–9	—	8–10	7–11	5–13	7–11	6–12	5–13	12–6
Chicago	7–11	4–14	10–8	—	5–13	5–13	10–8	6–12	10–8	10–8
Cleveland	11–7	8–10	11–7	13–5	—	6–12	14–4	10–8–1	6–12	7–10
Detroit	10–8	12–6	13–5	13–5	12–6	—	10–8	10–8–1	13–5–1	10–8
Minnesota	8–10	9–9	11–7	8–10	4–14	8–10	—	12–6	8–10	11–7
New York	5–13	8–10	12–6	12–6	8–10–1	8–10–1	6–12	—	10–8	14–4
Oakland	9–9	10–8	13–5	8–10	12–6	5–13–1	10–8	8–10	—	7–11
Washington	4–14	7–11	6–12	8–10	10–7	8–10	7–11	4–14	11–7	—

Roster

1968 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 23 Dave Boswell 32 Dean Chance 18 Tom Hall 36 Jim Kaat 38 Ron Keller 26 Jim Merritt 21,49 Bob Miller 27 Danny Morris 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Jim Perry 19 Jim Roland 42 Buzz Stephen 15 Al Worthington		Catchers 25 Bruce Look 34 George Mitterwald 10,13 Johnny Roseboro 22 Jerry Zimmerman Infielders 29 Rod Carew  8 Ron Clark 24 Jackie Hernández  3 Harmon Killebrew  7 Frank Quilici 20 Rich Reese 10 Rick Renick  9 Rich Rollins		Outfielders  4 Bob Allison 45 Jim Holt 25 Pat Kelly  2 Frank Kostro 28 Graig Nettles  6 Tony Oliva 12 César Tovar 11 Ted Uhlaender		Manager 43 Cal Ermer Coaches 46 George Case 48 Johnny Goryl  1 Billy Martin  5 Bob Oldis 47 Early Wynn

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	John Roseboro	135	380	82	.216	8	39
1B	Harmon Killebrew	100	295	62	.210	17	40
2B	Rod Carew	127	461	126	.273	1	42
SS	Jackie Hernández	83	199	35	.176	2	17
3B	César Tovar	157	613	167	.272	6	47
LF	Bob Allison	145	469	116	.247	22	52
CF	Ted Uhlaender	140	488	138	.283	7	52
RF	Tony Oliva	128	470	136	.289	18	68

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
Rich Reese	126	332	86	.259	4	28
Frank Quilici	97	229	56	.245	1	22
Ron Clark	104	227	42	.185	1	13
Rich Rollins	93	203	49	.241	6	30
Bruce Look	59	118	29	.246	0	9
Frank Kostro	63	108	26	.241	0	9
Jim Holt	70	106	22	.208	0	8
Rick Renick	42	97	21	.216	3	13
Graig Nettles	22	76	17	.224	5	8
Jerry Zimmerman	24	45	5	.111	0	2
Pat Kelly	12	35	4	.114	1	2
George Mitterwald	11	34	7	.206	0	1

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
Dean Chance	43	292	16	16	2.53	234
Jim Merritt	38	238.1	12	16	3.25	181
Jim Kaat	30	208	14	12	2.94	130
Dave Boswell	34	190	10	13	3.32	143
Buzz Stephen	2	11.1	1	1	4.76	4
César Tovar	1	1	0	0	0.00	1

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
Jim Perry	32	139	8	6	2.27	69
Jim Roland	28	61.2	4	1	3.50	36
Tom Hall	8	29.2	2	1	2.43	18
Ron Keller	7	16	0	1	1.69	11
Danny Morris	3	10.2	0	1	1.69	6

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
Ron Perranoski	66	8	7	6	3.10	65
Al Worthington	54	4	5	18	2.71	57
Bob Miller	45	0	3	2	2.74	41

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	Pacific Coast League	Johnny Goryl and Billy Martin
AA	Charlotte Hornets	Southern League	Harry Warner
A	Wilson Tobs	Carolina League	Vern Morgan
A	Orlando Twins	Florida State League	Ralph Rowe
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Ray Bellino and Tom Umphlett
A-Short Season	Auburn Twins	New York–Penn League	Boyd Coffie
A-Short Season	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Carroll Hardy
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando, St. Cloud

Notes

1. Eric Soderholm at Baseball-Reference
2. "Minnesota Twins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 21, 2016.

References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.