About the Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team which plays in the central division of the American League in Major League Baseball (MLB) .  Their central division opponents include; the Chicago White Sox , Cleveland Indians , Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers.  The Minnesota Twins play home games at the Metrodome  in Minneapolis, MN.

In 1961 the Washington Senators relocated to Minnesota and were named the Minnesota Twins. After finishing in seventh the Minnesota Twins won through the sixties and into the seventies with many valuable trades throughout this time. During a poor 1964 season, Tony Oliva came into the majors and right away began winning batting titles with a .323 average, 32 HRs, and 94 runs. Despite that bad season, the Minnesota Twins took their pennant next season. 1966 was not a repeat, but their play after July 4th was better than anyone else's. Again, in 1967 the team missed on the pennant but rookie Rod Carew joined the team and had an impact in hitting.

Lack of talent at shortstop is blamed for 1968's disappointing season, but a trade made up for it in 1969 along with Carew's .332 batting average and MVP Harmon Killebrew (49 HR, 141 RBI) to launch to Minnesota Twins into the pennant again. They repeated in 1970, but pitching gave way to a wretched 1971 campaign. After 1972, the twins immediately hit the trade market to build up the team, but 1973 and 1974 ended the same for the Minnesota Twins who lost Killebrew at the end of the season, but got .364 out of Carew in 1974. Since 1975 was a bomb, the Minnesota Twins were ripped up for 1976, which included new infielders Bobby Randal and Roy Smalley who set a club record for double plays. Through dominant hitting and decent pitching, the 1977 Minnesota Twins were a sight to see. Carew led in batting average (.388), hits (239), runs (128), and triples (16) becoming MVP; Larry Hisle led AL RBIs (119); and Lyman Bostock added to the average (.336). The Minnesota Twins lost both Hisle and Bostock to the expansion draft and did not win enough in 1978 resulting in the team being gutted, even Carew was sent off in the off season.

While 1979 was a much better season with solid infielders and a well rounded pitching staff, the team had some big slumps and just finished 82-80. Going 23-13 after the firing of their manager was not enough to make the 1980 season a winning one as key players slumped with new players taking the reins including a record .995 fielding percentage by 2B Wilfong. Kent Hrbek and Gary Gaetti broke through in 1982, but the Minnesota Twins did not, with trades dumping vets for youngsters. Since the Minnesota Twins was full of young players, they improved next season, but still were far from a winning team. Their first .500 season in the 1980's was 1984, the same year that Kirby Puckett was brought up to play for the team. That seemed a fluke as the team dropped back down in 1985 and pitching held them back in a 1986 season with big hitting from Gaetti, Puckett, Hrbek, and Brunansky.

1987 was a huge year for all of Minnesota as their Minnesota Twins swung around and took their division, won the ALCS with fans waving "Homer Hankys" in support of hitters like Puckett, and then dropped the Atlanta Braves in seven World Series games for the first pro sports championship in Minnesota history. Good pitching from the team improved from within along with the hitting better than ever, but the 1988 Minnesota Twins would be known as the first World Series Champions to improve on their previous record and still not make the playoffs. Lack of depth forced the team to trade away its best pitcher, Viola, in 1989, in a season that went under .500. 1990 was a let down with bright spots including the Minnesota Twins being the first team to turn two triple plays in one game.

The Minnesota Twins pulled a huge turnaround in 1991 and went back up against the Atlanta Braves in a seven game World Series that they won. While winning 90 games in 1992, the team did not make the playoffs. With the hitting continuing, led by Puckett, the team plummeted to fifth in 1993. This trend continued through the rest of the nineties, Hrbek retiring after the strike and Puckett after getting glaucoma, with 1999 getting 17 rookies shoved on the field. This built to three consecutive first place finishes and counting for the Minnesota Twins, led by Torii Hunter.

A new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins is being planned as they continue to play in the Metrodome, the first indoor pro baseball field, which is more for the Vikings than the Minnesota Twins.