1986 Minnesota Twins season

The 1986 Minnesota Twins finished at 71-91, sixth in the AL West, 21 games behind the eventual AL runner-up California Angels. 1,255,453 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Pitcher Bert Blyleven made a prediction on Fan Appreciation Day on October 3, saying that if the team came together as a unit and signed some other good players, they could potentially bring a World Series championship to Minnesota. That prediction proved accurate the next year.

1986 Minnesota Twins
71-91, sixth in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)Andy MacPhail
Manager(s)Ray Miller, Tom Kelly
Local televisionKMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Harmon Killebrew)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Joe Angel)
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Offseason

Regular season

On May 30, Roy Smalley homered from both sides of the plate, the first Twin to do so.

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, outfielder Kirby Puckett.

On August 1, Puckett hit for the cycle, the only time he'd do so in his major league career. Going triple, double, single, homer, he became the seventh Twin in history to cycle. On the same night, pitcher Bert Blyleven struck out Oakland's Mike Davis to notch his 3000th strikeout. Only eight other pitchers had reached that plateau.

After a disappointing start, manager Ray Miller was replaced by Tom Kelly on September 12.

In a game against the Chicago White Sox held on October 4, Greg Gagne of the Twins hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game.[7] Pitcher Bert Blyleven was on the mound for the Twins; the last time a batter had hit two inside-the-park homers in one game, it was Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox on July 31, 1972, and his homers were hit off Blyleven.

Also on October 4, Blyleven allowed his 50th home run of the season (to Chicago's Daryl Boston) to set a major league record. (When he serves up 46 in 1987, he'll set another record with 96 homers allowed over consecutive seasons.)

Offense

Kirby Puckett, switched from leadoff to third in the batting order, blasted 31 HR drove in 96 runs and scored 119. Kent Hrbek hit .267 with 29 HR and 91 RBI. Tom Brunansky hit 23 HR and 75 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .287 with 34 HR and 108 RBI. With Roy Smalley's 20 home runs, five players reached 20 homers this season, the first time that's happened since six players topped 20 in 1964.

Pitching

The Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (16-13), Bert Blyleven (17-14), and Mike Smithson (13-14). Reliever Keith Atherton had 10 saves.

Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their first Gold Glove Award. They were the first Twins to win a gold glove since Jim Kaat in 1973.

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 9270 0.568 — 50–32 42–38
Texas Rangers 8775 0.537 5 51–30 36–45
Kansas City Royals 7686 0.469 16 45–36 31–50
Oakland Athletics 7686 0.469 16 47–36 29–50
Chicago White Sox 7290 0.444 20 41–40 31–50
Minnesota Twins 7191 0.438 21 43–38 28–53
Seattle Mariners 6795 0.414 25 41–41 26–54

Record vs. opponents
1986 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —4–96–69–34–91–126–66–78–45–85–76–65–78–5
Boston 9–4—5–77–510–37–66–66–610–25–87–58–48–47–6
California 6–67–5—7–66–67–58–55–77–67–510–38–58–56–6
Chicago 3–95–76–7—5–76–67–65–76–76–67–68–52–116–6
Cleveland 9–43–106–67–5—4–98–48–56–65–810–29–36–63–10–1
Detroit 12–16–75–76–69–4—5–78–57–56–76–66–67–54–9
Kansas City 6–66–65–86–74–87–5—6–66–74–88–55–88–55–7
Milwaukee 7–66–67–57–55–85–86–6—4–88–55–76–64–87–6
Minnesota 4–82–106–77–66–65–77–68–4—4–86–76–76–74–8
New York 8–58–55–76–68–57–68–45–88–4—5–78–47–57–6
Oakland 7–55–73–106–72–106–65–87–57–67–5—10–33–108–4
Seattle 6–64–85–85–83–96–68–56–67–64–83–10—4–96–6
Texas 7–54–85–811–26–65–75–88–47–65–710–39–4—5–7
Toronto 5–86–76–66–610–3–19–47–56–78–46–74–86–67–5—

Notable transactions

Roster
1986 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

  •  1 Alvaro Espinoza
  •  5 Roy Smalley
 Outfielders
  • 27 Mark Davidson

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
CMark Salas9125860.233833
1BKent Hrbek149550147.2672991
2BSteve Lombardozzi156453103.227833
3BGary Gaetti157596171.28734108
SSGreg Gagne156472118.2501254
LFRandy Bush13035796.269745
CFKirby Puckett161680223.3283196
RFTom Brunansky157593152.2562375
DHRoy Smalley143459113.2462057

[12]

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
Mickey Hatcher11531788.278332
Tim Laudner7619346.2441029
Billy Beane8018339.213315
Jeff Reed6816539.23629
Ron Washington487419.257411
Mark Davidson36688.11802
Alvaro Espinoza37429.21401
Al Woods23289.32128
Chris Pittaro11212.09500
Alejandro Sánchez8162.12501
Andre David551.20000

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
Frank Viola37245.716134.51191
Bert Blyleven36271.717144.01215
Mike Smithson3419813144.77114
Neal Heaton21124.3493.9866

[12]

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
John Butcher1670036.3029
Bill Latham716017.318

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
Keith Atherton4758103.7559
George Frazier151164.3925
Roy Smith50206.978

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Charlie Manuel
AA Orlando Twins Southern League George Mitterwald
A Visalia Oaks California League Danny Schmitz
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Don Leppert
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

[13]

Notes
  1. "Rick Lysander Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  2. Roy Smith at Baseball Reference
  3. Jarvis Brown at Baseball Reference
  4. "Billy Beane Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  5. "Dave Engle Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  6. Mike Hart at Baseball Reference
  7. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.262, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  8. "Houston Jimenez Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  9. "Keith Atherton Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  10. Derek Parks at Baseball Reference
  11. "John Butcher Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  12. "1986 Minnesota Twins Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References
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