1977 Minnesota Twins season
The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 84–77, fourth in the American League West.
1977 Minnesota Twins | |
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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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Offseason
- March 18, 1977: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[1]
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 |
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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: | ||||||||||||||
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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
- April 6, 1977: The Twins purchased the contract of Don Carrithers from the Montreal Expos.[4]
- May 2, 1977: Dave Johnson was purchased by the Twins from the Seattle Mariners.[5]
- June 7, 1977: Darrell Jackson was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.[6]
Roster
1977 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
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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 |
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C | Butch Wynegar | 144 | 532 | 139 | .261 | 10 | 79 |
1B | Rod Carew | 156 | 616 | 239 | .388 | 14 | 100 |
2B | Bob Randall | 103 | 306 | 73 | .239 | 0 | 22 |
3B | Mike Cubbage | 129 | 417 | 110 | .264 | 9 | 55 |
SS | Roy Smalley | 150 | 584 | 135 | .231 | 6 | 56 |
LF | Larry Hisle | 141 | 546 | 165 | .302 | 28 | 119 |
CF | Lyman Bostock | 153 | 593 | 199 | .336 | 14 | 90 |
RF | Dan Ford | 144 | 453 | 121 | .267 | 11 | 60 |
DH | Craig Kusick | 115 | 268 | 68 | .256 | 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 |
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Glenn Adams | 95 | 269 | 91 | .338 | 6 | 49 |
Rich Chiles | 108 | 261 | 69 | .264 | 3 | 36 |
Jerry Terrell | 93 | 214 | 48 | .224 | 1 | 20 |
Rob Wilfong | 73 | 171 | 42 | .246 | 1 | 13 |
Bob Gorinski | 54 | 118 | 23 | .195 | 3 | 22 |
Willie Norwood | 39 | 83 | 19 | .229 | 3 | 9 |
Luis Gómez | 32 | 65 | 16 | .246 | 0 | 11 |
Glenn Borgmann | 17 | 43 | 11 | .256 | 2 | 7 |
Bud Bulling | 15 | 32 | 5 | .156 | 0 | 5 |
Larry Wolfe | 8 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 0 | 6 |
Sam Perlozzo | 10 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 0 | 0 |
Randy Bass | 9 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
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Dave Goltz | 39 | 303 | 20 | 11 | 3.36 | 186 |
Paul Thormodsgard | 37 | 218 | 11 | 15 | 4.62 | 100 |
Geoff Zahn | 34 | 198 | 12 | 14 | 4.68 | 88 |
Pete Redfern | 30 | 137.1 | 6 | 9 | 5.18 | 73 |
Mike 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 |
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Ron Schueler | 52 | 134.2 | 8 | 7 | 4.41 | 77 |
Dave Johnson | 30 | 72.2 | 2 | 5 | 4.58 | 33 |
Jeff Holly | 18 | 48.1 | 2 | 3 | 6.89 | 32 |
Bill 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 |
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Tom Johnson | 71 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 3.13 | 87 |
Tom Burgmeier | 61 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5.09 | 35 |
Gary Serum | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.37 | 4 |
Don Carrithers | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.91 | 3 |
Jim Shellenback | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.94 | 3 |
Jim Hughes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 1 |
Awards and honors
- Rod Carew, American League batting champion (.388)
- Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente Award
- Rod Carew, American League MVP
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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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
- Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference
- "Minnesota Twins 19, Chicago White Sox 12". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- "Carew Tops All Voting for All-Stars". Kingman Daily Miner.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- Don Carrithers at Baseball Reference
- Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference
- Darrell Jackson at Baseball Reference
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.