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1977 Minnesota Twins season

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1977 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersGene Mauch
TelevisionWTCN
(Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 84–77, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

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  • March 18, 1977: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[1]

Regular season

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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

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 102 60 .630 55‍–‍26 47‍–‍34
Texas Rangers 94 68 .580 8 44‍–‍37 50‍–‍31
Chicago White Sox 90 72 .556 12 48‍–‍33 42‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins 84 77 .522 17½ 48‍–‍32 36‍–‍45
California Angels 74 88 .457 28 39‍–‍42 35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners 64 98 .395 38 29‍–‍52 35‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics 63 98 .391 38½ 35‍–‍46 28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
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

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Roster

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1977 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

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Regular season

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1977 regular season game log: 84–77 (Home: 48–32; Away: 36–45)
April: 13–9 (Home: 5–4; Away: 6–5)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
11 April 18 @ Royals
12 April 19 @ Royals
13 April 20 @ Royals
14 April 21 @ Rangers
15 April 22 @ Rangers
16 April 23 @ Rangers
17 April 24 @ Rangers
21 April 29 Tigers
22 April 30 Tigers
May: 16–8 (Home: 7–1; Away: 9–7)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
23 May 1 Tigers
29 May 10 @ Tigers
30 May 11 @ Tigers
40 May 25
(1)
@ Red Sox
41 May 25
(2)
@ Red Sox
42 May 27 @ Orioles
43 May 28 @ Orioles
44 May 29 @ Orioles
45 May 30 Orioles
46 May 31 Orioles
June: 13–15 (Home: 12–10; Away: 1–5)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
47 June 1 Yankees W 4–3 Johnson (5–2) Guidry (3–2) 2:44 23,684 30–17 W2
48 June 2 Yankees L 3–10 Figueroa (7–3) Holly (2–2) Lyle (8) 2:39 30,741 30–18 L1
49 June 3 Red Sox
50 June 4 Red Sox
51 June 5 Red Sox
52 June 6 White Sox
53 June 7 White Sox
54 June 8 Royals
55 June 9 Royals
56 June 10 @ Yankees L 1–4 Guidry (4–2) Zahn (6–4) Lyle (11) 2:39 21,897 33–23 L2
57 June 11 @ Yankees L 5–6 Hunter (3–3) Goltz (5–4) Lyle (12) 2:43 23,681 33–24 L3
58 June 12 @ Yankees W 6–1 Thormodsgard (4–3) Figueroa (7–5) 2:18 52,281 34–24 W1
62 June 17 @ Royals
63 June 18 @ Royals
64 June 19 @ Royals
65 June 20 Rangers
66 June 21 Rangers
67 June 22 Rangers
68 June 23 Rangers
69 June 24 White Sox
70 June 25 White Sox
71 June 26 White Sox
July: 17–14 (Home: 8–3; Away: 9–11)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
75 July 1 @ White Sox
76 July 2 @ White Sox
77 July 3
(1)
@ White Sox
78 July 3
(2)
@ White Sox
48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
August: 16–13 (Home: 12–5; Away: 4–8)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
106 August 1 Royals
107 August 2 Royals
108 August 3 Tigers
109 August 4 Tigers
115 August 12 @ Tigers
116 August 13 @ Tigers
117 August 14 @ Tigers
118 August 15 @ Orioles
119 August 16 @ Orioles
122 August 19 Orioles
124 August 20 Orioles
124 August 21 Orioles
125 August 22 Red Sox
126 August 23 Red Sox
127 August 24 @ Yankees L 1–11 Hunter (9–7) Redfern (5–9) 2:05 26,676 72–55 L1
128 August 25 @ Yankees L 4–6 Lyle (9–4) Johnson (13–8) 2:58 38,846 72–56 L2
129 August 26 @ Red Sox
130 August 27 @ Red Sox
131 August 28 @ Red Sox
September: 7–18 (Home: 4–10; Away: 3–8)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
135 September 2 Yankees L 0–4 Guidry (12–6) Goltz (16–8) 2:18 20,270 75–60 L2
136 September 3 Yankees L 4–7 Figueroa (13–8) Schueler' (7–7) 2:47 25,465 75–61 L3
137 September 4 Yankees L 0–4 Gullett (11–3) Zahn (11–11) 1:48 29,969 75–62 L4
140 September 7 Rangers
141 September 9 Royals
142 September 10 Royals
143 September 11 Royals
144 September 12 @ White Sox
145 September 13 @ White Sox
149 September 17 @ Rangers
150 September 18
(1)
@ Rangers
151 September 18
(2)
@ Rangers
152 September 20 @ Royals
153 September 21 @ Royals
157 September 27 White Sox
158 September 28 White Sox
October: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 2–0)
# Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/
Streak
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Twins team member

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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 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

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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
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

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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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 Goltz 39 303.0 20 11 3.36 186
Paul Thormodsgard 37 218.0 11 15 4.62 100
Geoff Zahn 34 198.0 12 14 4.68 88
Pete Redfern 30 137.1 6 9 5.18 73
Mike Pazik 3 18.0 1 0 2.50 6

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
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 0 1 6.86 5

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
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

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Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
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

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  1. ^ Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ "Minnesota Twins 19, Chicago White Sox 12". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Carew Tops All Voting for All-Stars". Kingman Daily Miner.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  4. ^ Don Carrithers at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Darrell Jackson at Baseball Reference

References

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