1971 Minnesota Twins season

1971 Minnesota Twins
74-86, fifth in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Metropolitan Stadium (since 1961)
Bloomington, Minnesota (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)	Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)	Bill Rigney
Local television	WTCN-TV (Halsey Hall,Frank Buetel, Bob Allison)
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Ray Christensen)
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The 1971 Minnesota Twins finished 74-86, fifth in the American League West. 940,858 fans attended Twins games, the fifth highest total in the American League, the first time the Twins failed to attract over one million fans since moving to Minnesota.

Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, shortstop Leo Cárdenas, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry.

Lead off batter César Tovar led the AL with 204 hits and was second with 94 runs. Tony Oliva won his third batting title with a .337 average and led the AL with a .546 slugging percentage. Harmon Killebrew hit 28 HR and 119 RBI. Rod Carew hit .307.

Jim Perry (17-17), Bert Blyleven (16-15), and Jim Kaat (13-14) were the Twins' best pitchers. Kaat won his tenth Gold Glove Award.

Shortstop Leo Cárdenas topped the AL with a .985 fielding percentage -- the highest for an American League shortstop since records began in 1901.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	101	60	0.627	—	46–35	55–25
Kansas City Royals	85	76	0.528	16	44–37	41–39
Chicago White Sox	79	83	0.488	22½	39–42	40–41
California Angels	76	86	0.469	25½	35–46	41–40
Minnesota Twins	74	86	0.463	26½	37–42	37–44
Milwaukee Brewers	69	92	0.429	32	34–48	35–44

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	7–5	8–4	13–5	8–10	6–5	9–3	10–2	11–7	7–4	13–3
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	10–2	11–7	12–6	1–11	6–6	8–4	7–11	3–9	12–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	8–10	6–12	12–6	6–6	7–11	4–8
Chicago	4–8	2–10	10–8	—	3–9	7–5	9–9	11–7	7–11	5–7	11–7	10–2
Cleveland	5–13	7–11	4–8	9–3	—	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	8–10	4–8	7–11
Detroit	10–8	6–12	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	8–4	10–2	6–6	10–8	4–8	14–4
Kansas City	5–6	11–1	10–8	9–9	10–2	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	5–7	5–13	9–3
Milwaukee	3–9	6–6	12–6	7–11	8–4	2–10	10–8	—	10–7	2–10	3–15	6–6
Minnesota	2–10	4–8	6–12	11–7	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–10	—	8–4	8–10	5–6
New York	7–11	11–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	8–10	7–5	10–2	4–8	—	5–7	7–11
Oakland	4–7	9–3	11–7	7–11	8–4	8–4	13–5	15–3	10–8	7–5	—	9–3
Washington	3–13	6–12	8–4	2–10	11–7	4–14	3–9	6–6	6–5	11–7	3–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell was released by the Twins.
• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Dave Edwards was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round.
  • Future NFL quarterback Joe Theismann was drafted by the Twins in the 39th round.
  • Glenn Borgmann was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the secondary phase.
• July 8, 1971: Paul Ratliff was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for Phil Roof.

Roster

1971 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 24 Steve Barber 28 Bert Blyleven 19 Sal Campisi 23 Ray Corbin 16 Bob Gebhard 21 Tom Hall 33,24 Pete Hamm 30 Hal Haydel 36 Jim Kaat 32 Steve Luebber 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Jim Perry 19 Jim Strickland 35 Stan Williams		Catchers 25 Rick Dempsey 15 George Mitterwald  8 Paul Ratliff  8 Phil Roof 22 Tom Tischinski Infielders  4 Steve Braun 17 Leo Cárdenas 29 Rod Carew  3 Harmon Killebrew 20 Rich Reese 10 Rick Renick  1 Eric Soderholm  5 Danny Thompson		Outfielders 11 Brant Alyea 37 Steve Brye 26 Jim Holt  9 Charlie Manuel  7 Jim Nettles  6 Tony Oliva  7 Paul Powell 24 George Thomas 12 César Tovar		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  2 Frankie Crosetti 46 Marv Grissom 44 Vern Morgan 43 Frank Quilici 45 Buck Rodgers

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
1B	Harmon Killebrew	147	500	127	.254	28	119
SS	Leo Cárdenas	153	554	146	.264	18	75
LF	César Tovar	157	657	204	.311	1	45
RF	Tony Oliva	126	487	164	.337	22	81

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
Danny Thompson	48	57	15	.263	0	7
Paul Ratliff	21	44	7	.159	2	6

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
Bert Blyleven	38	278.1	16	15	2.81	224
Jim Perry	40	270	17	17	4.23	126
Jim Kaat	39	260.1	13	14	3.32	137

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
Ray Corbin	52	140.1	8	11	4.10	83
Tom Hall	48	129.2	4	7	3.33	137
Steve Luebber	18	68	2	5	5.03	35
Steve Barber	4	11.2	1	0	6.17	4

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
Bob Gebhard	17	1	2	0	3.00	13
Sal Campisi	6	0	0	0	4.15	2

Awards and honors

• Harmon Killebrew, Lou Gehrig Award

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Ralph Rowe
AA	Charlotte Hornets	Southern League	Harry Warner
A	Lynchburg Twins	Carolina League	Johnny Goryl
A	Orlando Twins	Florida State League	Jackie Ferrell
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Weldon Bowlin
Short-Season A	Auburn Twins	New York-Penn League	Boyd Coffie
Short-Season A	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Ken Staples
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte, St. Cloud

References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com