1976 Minnesota Twins season

The 1976 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77, third in the American League West. Only 715,394 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was the third year in a row that the Twins attracted the fewest fans in the AL.

1976 Minnesota Twins
85–77, third in the AL Western Division
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 televisionWTCN
(Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
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Offseason

Regular season

In June and July, Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock became the third and fourth Twins to hit for the cycle. Hisle cycled on June 4 in an 8–6 win over Baltimore, going double, triple, single, home run. He is the only Twin that took an extra inning (homering in the tenth) to accomplish the feat, as he'd grounded out in his first at-bat. Six weeks later Bostock became the second Twin to cycle during a season, a first for the club.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew and catcher Butch Wynegar.

On July 24, Lyman Bostock, batting fourth, went four-for-four (3B-HR-2B-1B) to become the fourth Twin to hit for the cycle. He had four RBI and scored four runs in the 17–2 win over Chicago.[5]

Steve Luebber is the Minnesota pitcher to come closest to a no-hitter without achieving it. On August 7, he was one out away before losing his bid when Texas Ranger Roy Howell singled. Luebber then lost the shutout when Mike Hargrove singled Howell home. The Twins won the game, 3–1.[6]

For the first time in four years, Carew did not win the AL batting title, finishing third with a .331 batting average. Carew did have 200 hits and 90 RBI. Larry Hisle hit 14 home runs and collected 96 RBI. Dan Ford added 20 HR and 86 RBI. The Twins set a season-record low with just 81 homers.

Reliever Bill Campbell led the Twins pitchers with 17 wins, all in relief. He also led the team in saves (20) and appearances (78). His earned run average of 3.01 was second only to reliever Tom Burgmeier's 2.50; Burgy added 8 relief wins and a save. The Twins needed the relief help because the starting pitching was terrible, with only Dave Goltz (14–14) managing double digit wins.

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9072 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Oakland Athletics 8774 0.540 2½ 51–30 36–44
Minnesota Twins 8577 0.525 5 44–37 41–40
Texas Rangers 7686 0.469 14 39–42 37–44
California Angels 7686 0.469 14 38–43 38–43
Chicago White Sox 6497 0.398 25½ 35–45 29–52

Record vs. opponents
1976 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore —7–118–48–47–1112–66–611–74–813–54–88–4
Boston 11–7—7–56–69–914–43–912–67–57–114–83–9
California 4–85–7—11–77–56–68–104–88–105–76–1212–6
Chicago 4–86–67–11—3–96–68–107–57–111–118–97–11
Cleveland 11–79–95–79–3—6–126–611–69–34–124–87–5
Detroit 6–124–146–66–612–6—4–812–64–89–86–65–7
Kansas City 6–69–310–810–86–68–4—8–410–87–59–97–11
Milwaukee 7–116–128–45–76–116–124–8—4–85–135–710–2
Minnesota 8–45–710–811–73–98–48–108–4—2–1011–711–7
New York 5–1311–77–511–112–48–95–713–510–2—6–69–3
Oakland 8–48–412–69–88–46–69–97–57–116–6—7–11
Texas 4–89–36–1211–75–77–511–72–107–113–911–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1976 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers
  • 21 Tom Johnson
 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders 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
CButch Wynegar149534139.2601069
1BRod Carew156605200.331990
2BBob Randall153475127.267134
3BMike Cubbage10434289.260349
SSRoy Smalley103384104.271236
LFLarry Hisle155581158.2721496
CFLyman Bostock128474153.323460
RFDan Ford145514137.2672086
DHCraig Kusick10926669.2591136

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
Steve Braun122417120.288361
Steve Brye8725868.264223
Jerry Terrell8917142.24608
Dave McKay4513828.20308
Danny Thompson3412429.23406
Tony Oliva6712326.211116
Glenn Borgmann246516.24616
Luis Gómez385711.19303
Phil Roof184610.21704

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
Dave Goltz36249.114143.36133
Jim Hughes371779144.9887
Bill Singer26172993.7763
Pete Redfern23118883.5174
Bert Blyleven1295.1453.1275
Eddie Bane1779.1475.1124
Joe Decker1358275.2835

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
Steve Luebber38119.1454.0045

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
Bill Campbell78175203.01115
Tom Burgmeier578112.5045
Vic Albury233103.5823
Tom Johnson183102.6137
Mike Pazik50007.006

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Twins Pacific Coast League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Dick Phillips
A Reno Silver Sox California League Johnny Goryl
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Harry Warner
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Notes
  1. Sergio Ferrer page at Baseball Reference
  2. Bob Randall page at Baseball Reference
  3. Pete Redfern page at Baseball Reference
  4. Johnny Briggs page at Baseball Reference
  5. "Minnesota Twins 17, Chicago White Sox 2". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  6. "Minnesota Twins 3, Texas Rangers1". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  7. Jeff Holly page at Baseball Reference
  8. Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference

References
  • 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.
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