1985 Minnesota Twins season explained

Minnesota Twins
Season:	1985
League:	American League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City:	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Record:	77–85
Divisional Place:	4th
Owners:	Carl Pohlad
General Managers:	Howard Fox, Andy MacPhail
Managers:	Billy Gardner, Ray Miller
Television:	KMSP-TV (Bob Kurtz, Harmon Killebrew) Spectrum (Harmon Killebrew, Dick Bremer)
Radio:	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Joe Angel)

The 1985 Minnesota Twins finished with a record of 77–85, tied for fourth in the American League West, and 14 games behind the division winner and eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

Offseason

• October 17, 1984: Albert Williams was released by the Twins.^[1]
• January 3, 1985: Mike Benjamin was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[2]
• January 9, 1985: Jack O'Connor was traded by the Twins to the Montreal Expos for Mike Stenhouse.^[3]
• March 27, 1985: Brad Havens was traded by the Twins to the Baltimore Orioles for Mark Brown.^[4]

Regular season

On June 20, after a disappointing start, manager Billy Gardner was replaced by Ray Miller.

Minnesota, the Twins and the Metrodome hosted the All-Star Game. Only one Twins player made the American League team, outfielder Tom Brunansky. Bruno finished second in the first-ever Home Run Derby, behind Dave Parker. Three Minnesota natives, not yet Twins, played as a team on the same major league field for the first and only time -- Dave Winfield, Jack Morris and Paul Molitor.

In Anaheim on August 4, pitcher Frank Viola gave up a double to longtime-Twin now-an Angel Rod Carew. The two-bagger was Carew's 3000th career hit.^[5]

The pitcher on the mound on September 25, as the Twins won their 2000th game, is the same pitcher that won Minnesota's 1000th game on July 12, 1972 -- Bert Blyleven.

1,651,814 fans attended Twins games, a Twins attendance record, but still the sixth lowest total in the American League.

Offense

Leadoff batter Kirby Puckett hit .288 and scored 80 runs.Kent Hrbek hit .311 with 21 HR and 93 RBI.Tom Brunansky hit 27 HR and 90 RBI.Gary Gaetti hit 20 HR and 63 RBI.

Team Leaders! Statistic !! Player !! Quantity

		27
		93
		.288
		80

Pitching

For the first time in years, the Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (18-14), Mike Smithson (15-14), and John Butcher (11-14).Reliever Ron Davis had 25 saves.

Team Leaders! Statistic !! Player !! Quantity

		4.09
		18
		25
		135

Notable transactions

• April 4, 1985: Lenny Faedo was released by the Twins.^[6]
• August 1, 1985: Curt Wardle, Jay Bell, Jim Weaver, and a player to be named later were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Bert Blyleven. The Twins completed the deal by sending Rich Yett to the Indians on September 17.^[7]
• The Twins drafted pitcher Jeff Bumgarner with the thirteenth overall pick in the 1985 Draft.^[8]

Roster

1985 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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
C		120	360	108	.300	9	41
1B		158	593	165	.278	21	93
2B		138	434	113	.260	10	50
SS		114	293	66	.225	2	23
3B		160	560	138	.246	20	63
LF		116	444	125	.282	3	49
CF		161	691	199	.288	4	74
RF		157	567	137	.242	27	90
DH		129	388	100	.258	12	45

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
	97	234	56	.239	10	35
	81	179	40	.223	5	21
	70	172	44	.256	7	25
	72	164	39	.238	7	19
	70	135	37	.274	1	14
	71	104	27	.260	1	8
	23	70	22	.314	2	13
	32	57	15	.263	0	9
	28	54	20	.370	0	6
	7	10	2	.200	0	0

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
	37	257.0	15	14	4.34	127
	36	250.2	18	14	4.09	135
	34	207.2	11	14	4.98	92
	29	160.2	9	12	4.99	74
	14	114.0	8	5	3.00	77

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
	40	95.2	4	5	3.67	42
	5	28.1	2	2	3.81	9
	6	24.1	1	3	5.55	12
	7	9.1	0	0	6.75	5
	1	0.1	0	0	27.00	0

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
	57	2	6	25	3.48	72
	39	4	2	2	3.79	30
	35	0	2	3	6.05	26
	35	1	3	1	5.51	47
	13	2	3	0	6.16	10
	6	0	0	0	6.89	5
	5	0	0	1	11.05	4

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kenosha

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willial03.shtml Albert Williams page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/benjami01.shtml Mike Benjamin page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/o/o'conja02.shtml Jack O'Connor page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownma02.shtml Mark Brown page at Baseball Reference
5. Web site: Carew's 3000th Hit. Baseball-Reference.com. 2016-02-04.
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/f/faedole01.shtml Lenny Faedo page at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blylebe01.shtml Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference
8. Sports Illustrated, August 2, 2010, Where are they Now?, p.84, Published by Time Inc.