1988 Minnesota Twins season

The 1988 Minnesota Twins finished at 91-71, second in the AL West. 3,030,672 fans attended Twins games, at the time, establishing a new major league record. Pitcher Allan Anderson had his most successful season in 1988, winning the American League ERA title at 2.45 and compiling a record of 16-9 in 30 starts.

1988 Minnesota Twins
91-71, second in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)Andy MacPhail
Manager(s)Tom Kelly
Local televisionKMSP-TV
(Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson)
Twinsvision
(Dick Bremer, Harmon Killebrew)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
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Offseason

Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game, third baseman Gary Gaetti, outfielder Kirby Puckett, catcher Tim Laudner, starting pitcher Frank Viola, and relief pitcher Jeff Reardon.

On September 16, Puckett got his 1000th hit, becoming just the fifth major leaguer to achieve that total before completing his fifth year.

On September 17, reliever Reardon collected his 40th save of the season. With 41 saves as a 1985 Montreal Expo, he became the only major league player to reach 40 saves in each league.

Frank Viola became the first Twins player since Jim Perry in 1970 to win the AL Cy Young Award.

Offense

Kirby Puckett hit .356 with 24 HR, drove in 121 runs and scored 109. Puckett led the AL with 234 hits, 163 singles, and 358 total bases. Puckett's 234 hits were the most by a right-handed batter since Joe Medwick had 237 hits in 1937.

Kent Hrbek hit .312 with 25 HR and 76 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .301 with 28 HR and 88 RBI.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRGary Gaetti28
RBIKirby Puckett121
BAKirby Puckett.356
RunsKirby Puckett109

Pitching

The Twins had two solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (24-7), and Allan Anderson (16-9). Frank Viola led the AL with 24 wins. Allan Anderson led the AL with a 2.45 ERA. Reliever Jeff Reardon had 42 saves. Bert Blyleven (10-17, 5.43 ERA) led the AL with 17 losses, 125 earned runs allowed, and 16 hit batsmen.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAAllan Anderson2.45*
WinsFrank Viola24*
SavesJeff Reardon42
StrikeoutsFrank Viola193
*League leader

Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their third Gold Glove Award.

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 10458 0.642 — 54–27 50–31
Minnesota Twins 9171 0.562 13 47–34 44–37
Kansas City Royals 8477 0.522 19½ 44–36 40–41
California Angels 7587 0.463 29 35–46 40–41
Chicago White Sox 7190 0.441 32½ 40–41 31–49
Texas Rangers 7091 0.435 33½ 38–43 32–48
Seattle Mariners 6893 0.422 35½ 37–44 31–49

Record vs. opponents
1988 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —4–95–74–74–95–80–124–93–93–104–87–56–65–8
Boston 9–4—8–47–58–56–76–610–37–59–43–96–68–42–11
California 7–54–8—9–48–45–75–83–94–96–64–96–78–56–6
Chicago 7–45–74–9—3–93–97–66–64–93–95–89–48–57–5
Cleveland 9–45–84–89–3—4–96–69–45–76–74–85–76–66–7
Detroit 8–57–67–59–39–4—8–45–81–118–54–89–38–45–8
Kansas City 12–06–68–56–76–64–8—3–97–66–68–57–57–64–8
Milwaukee 9–43–109–36–64–98–59–3—7–56–73–98–48–47–6
Minnesota 9–35–79–49–47–511–16–75–7—3–95–88–57–67–5
New York 10–34–96–69–37–65–86–67–69–3—6–65–75–66–7
Oakland 8–49–39–48–58–48–45–89–38–56–6—9–48–59–3
Seattle 5–76–67–64–97–53–95–74–85–87–54–9—6–75–7
Texas 6–64–85–85–86–64–86–74–86–76–55–87–6—6–6
Toronto 8–511–26–65–77–68–58–46–75–77–63–97–56–6—

Roster
1988 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders
  • 27 Mark Davidson
 Manager

Coaches

Notable transactions
  • April 5, 1988: John Moses was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[9]
  • April 22, 1988: The Twins trade outfielder Tom Brunansky for Cardinals second baseman Tom Herr.
  • May 28, 1988: John Christensen was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[10]
  • June 27, 1988: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[3]

Notable games
  • September 17: Jeff Reardon becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to record 40 saves in both leagues in a 3-1 win versus the White Sox.[11]

Player stats

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
CTim Laudner11737594.2511354
3BGary Gaetti133468141.3012888
CFKirby Puckett158657234.35624121

Other batters
Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Brian Harper6016649.295320
John Christensen233810.26305
Eric Bullock16175.29403

Pitching

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Roy Smith937302.6817

Relief pitchers
Player G W L SV ERA SO
Dan Schatzeder100101.747

Awards and honors
  • Gary Gaetti, Third Baseman, Gold Glove Award
  • Kirby Puckett, Centerfield, Gold Glove Award
  • Kirby Puckett – American League Leader At-Bats (657)
  • Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Hits (234)
  • Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Singles (163)
  • Kirby Puckett – Major League Baseball Leader Total Bases (358)

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Jim Mahoney and Jim Shellenback
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Duane Gustavson
A Visalia Oaks California League Scott Ullger
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Ron Gardenhire
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith

[12]

References
  1. Eric Bullock at Baseball Reference
  2. Don Baylor at Baseball Reference
  3. Dan Schatzeder at Baseball Reference
  4. Mike Smithson at Baseball Reference
  5. Vic Rodriguez at Baseball Reference
  6. Brian Harper at Baseball Reference
  7. Sal Butera at Baseball Reference
  8. Billy Beane at Baseball Reference
  9. John Moses at Baseball Reference
  10. John Christensen at Baseball Reference
  11. "Reardon reaches major milestone." Gainesville Sun. 1988 Sept 18.
  12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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