1995 Minnesota Twins season explained

Minnesota Twins
Season:1995
League:American League
Division:Central
City:Minneapolis
General Managers:Terry Ryan
Managers:Tom Kelly
Television:WCCO-TV
KLGT-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Gene Larkin, Chad Hartman, Tommy John, Kent Hrbek)
Radio:830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
Record:56-88 (.389)
Divisional Place:5th

Although the 1995 Minnesota Twins were separated from a world championship by only four years, it seemed like eons. Because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, the season got off to a late start. However, it did not end soon enough, as the team finished with a 56–88 record and in last place in its division. The team found it impossible to compete against the runaway Cleveland Indians who won 100 games despite the shortened season and finished 44 games ahead of the Twins. By July, the team was trading away its veterans in a fire sale. Manager Tom Kelly might have preferred that the strike had continued.

Offseason

Regular season

Offense

Only three players had particularly solid years: second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and outfielders Kirby Puckett and Marty Cordova. Puckett did not know that this would be his last year, but it was a solid one. He would be the team's lone all-star representative. Knoblauch won his first Silver Slugger Award. Cordova had a great year for a rookie, and won the Rookie of the Year award.

Team Leaders! Statistic !! Player !! Quantity
24
99
.333
107

Pitching

The starting rotation was uncertain. Surprisingly, the only certainty was that rookie Brad Radke would get the ball every fifth game. He made 28 starts, but the other pitchers were either injury-prone, inconsistent, or traded by the end of the year, with Kevin Tapani making 20 starts, Mike Trombley 18, Frank Rodriguez 16, Scott Erickson 15, and Jose Parra 12. Closer Rick Aguilera would also be traded midway through the season. He earned 12 saves while Dave Stevens earned 10. Aguilera, Rich Robertson, and Mark Guthrie were the only regular pitchers with ERAs under 5.

Team Leaders! Statistic !! Player !! Quantity
4.92
11
12
88

Defense

Like most of Tom Kelly's teams, the defense was capable. Matt Walbeck was the starting catcher, backed up by Matt Merullo. Scott Stahoviak played in 69 games at first base. Although he was not a good hitter, he had a .998 fielding percentage that year. Knoblauch capably manned second base. Scott Leius played reasonably well at third in his last year with the Twins. Pat Meares continued his decent play at shortstop in his third year with the Twins. The regular outfielders were Puckett, Cordova, and Rich Becker.

Notable Transactions

Roster

1995 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchersInfieldersOutfieldersOther battersManagerCoaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C 115 393 101 .257 1 44
1B 94 263 70 .266 3 23
2B 136 538 179 .333 11 63
SS 116 390 105 .269 12 49
3B 117 372 92 .247 4 45
LF 137 512 142 .277 24 84
CF 106 392 93 .237 2 33
RF 137 538 169 .314 23 99
DH 104 376 113 .301 18 58

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
87 216 63 .292 4 23
71 198 47 .237 3 21
76 195 55 .282 1 27
36 109 37 .339 3 15
69 103 27 .262 2 18
37 101 26 .257 5 19
28 79 27 .342 1 14
21 60 19 .317 1 12
22 57 11 .193 1 5
25 55 12 .218 0 4
9 25 5 .200 0 3
6 14 3 .214 0 1
4 8 1 .125 0 1
5 6 0 .000 0 0
5 5 1 .200 1 1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
29 181.0 11 14 5.32 75
20 133.2 6 11 4.92 88
20 97.2 4 8 5.62 68
16 90.1 5 6 5.38 45
15 87.2 4 6 5.95 45
12 61.2 1 5 7.59 29
7 32.2 0 5 8.82 21
6 27.0 2 3 8.67 9

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
47 94.2 4 10 6.37 67
25 51.2 2 0 3.83 38
18 48.1 0 2 8.57 27
10 35.1 2 1 5.60 25

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
56 5 4 10 5.07 47
51 4 9 2 5.12 71
37 0 0 0 6.89 21
36 5 3 0 4.46 48
27 0 0 0 5.40 11
22 1 1 12 2.52 29
11 0 0 0 5.30 17
6 0 0 0 4.66 5
6 0 0 0 7.00 4
3 0 0 0 94.50 0

Other post-season awards

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/roberri02.shtml Rich Robertson
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/merulma01.shtml Matt Merullo
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maaske01.shtml Kevin Maas
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willica01.shtml Carl Willis
  5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/campbke01.shtml Kevin Campbell
  6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/redmama01.shtml Mark Redman
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mientdo01.shtml Doug Mientkiewicz
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/aguilri01.shtml Rick Aguilera
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/e/ericksc01.shtml Scott Erickson
  10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lathach01.shtml Chris Latham
  11. Web site: Luis Rivas Stats.
  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