TwinsCards.com Franchise History Blog: Coffeyville Whirlwind

August 20, 1961

The Twins defeated the Angels, 9-7, in a game that featured something that did not happen again in the 20th century.

Jack Kralick, the starting pitcher for the Twins, led off the visitor’s half of the third inning with a home run to right field. It was Kralick’s first career major league home run (it took him 75 PA’s). A Lennie Green homer later in the inning tied the score at three.

In the top of the eighth inning, with the Twins ahead 8-6, relief pitcher Al Schroll took an Art Fowler pitch deep to left field. It was Schroll’s first career major league home run (26 PA’s).

It was the first time in American League history that two different pitchers hit a home run in the same game. As metioned, this game also represents the last time that happened in the 20th century.

I posted this poem here about two years ago. Over the weekend, I got a comment from the author with a few revisions, so I decided to post his original version, from “The Minneapolis Review of Baseball” published in 1987:

Hrbek at the Bat

by Phil Bolsta

It looked extremely rocky for the Twins in ‘86,
They expected to contend, but instead they took some licks.
And so when losses mounted and far outnumbered wins,
A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the Twins.

On the last day of the season, though, the fans were not depressed,
For there’s hope that springs eternal within a Twins fan’s breast.
And they knew if mighty Hrbek could unleash his mighty swing,
T’would put a smile on their face and keep them warm till spring.

But it looked as if their wounded pride would not be healed this day,
The score stood four to six with but an inning left to play.
And so when Gagne popped it up and Salas hit it flat,
There seemed but little chance of Hrbek’s getting to the bat.

But Kirby bounced a single off the artificial grass,
Gaetti lined a shot to left that struck the plexiglass!
A hush swept through the Metrodome, for fate had surely beckoned,
For there was Puckett safe on third, and G-Man huggin’ second.

And then the gladdened multitude cheered and screamed and squealed,
It rattled off the scoreboard and the canvas in right field.
They cheered till they could cheer no more, for this was worth the wait,
For Hrbek, mighty Hrbek, was advancing to the plate.

There was ease in Hrbek’s manner and a twinkle in his eyes,
There was grease on Hrbek’s fingers as he polished off some fries.
And when some popcorn spilled out as he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the Dome could doubt ’twas Hrbek at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as the game ground to a halt,
Five thousand tongues applauded as he drained a chocolate malt.
And as the pitcher glared at him, his hands upon his hips,
The mighty Hrbek gestured for a hot dog and some chips.

And then the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Hrbek clutched his stomach as if it struck him there.
The trainer started running out, but Kent just shook his head,
“It’s just some gas,” burped Hrbek. “Strike one,” the Umpire said.

With a smile borne of confidence, he took some practice cuts,
And stepped back in the batter’s box while munching on some nuts.
He signaled to the pitcher and again the spheroid flew,
“Got some salt?” asked Hrbek, and the Umpire said, “Strike two!”

The smile is gone from Hrbek’s lips. He mutters, “Time out, please,”
And hurries to the dugout for a Whopper, double cheese.
And now the pitcher holds the ball and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Hrbek’s blow.

Oh, somewhere there’s a stadium where fans all shout and cheer,
As their team wins its division and the playoffs every year.
But inside the empty Metrodome, all is still and quiet.
But just you wait till next year — mighty Hrbek’s on a diet!

July 9, 1913

Johnson got his first pitching action following a 14-inning outing against Boston just short of a week later. With his team ahead 7-0 after six innings in the second game of a double-header, Clark Griffith had the luxury of giving his ace rest after six scoreless innings pitched. While in the game against Detroit, Johnson allowed two hits, one walk and one strikeout. The Nats went on to win the game 9-0.

Through July 9
25 G  20 GS  19-5  186 IP  25 R  131 H  25 BB  121 K  1.21 RA  0.84 WHIP

1972 Minnesota Twins

Managers Bill Rigney 17th Season (3rd with Minnesota 208-184)
Frank Quilici 1st Season (1st with Minnesota 41-43)
77 W 77 L 537 RS 535 RA 3rd AL West 15.5 GB (Oakland 93-62)
3.49 RPG (AL = 3.47) 2.84 ERA (AL = 3.06)
.724 DER (4th AL)

All Stars (1) Rod Carew

Franchise (1901-1972) 5252-5757-109; 11-21 Post Season; 11-15 WS
Washington (1901-1960) 4214-4864-104; 8-11 WS
Minnesota (1961-1972) 1038-893-5; 3-10 Post Season; 3-4 WS

In February of 1972, Bill Rigney participated in a TSN article discussing the challenges of a modern manager. The gist of Rigney’s argument, it seems, was that the modern player was much more difficult to deal with, making the manager’s job near impossible. Rigney, who was still largely managing in the shadow of his predecessor Billy Martin, knew that he had to succeed in 1972 to keep his job, and seemed to sense that it might not be in the cards for him.

Rigney lasted just about half of the strike-shortened season. In the midst of a team slump and laggin attendance, Rigney got the pink slip on July 6. Griffith gave many reasons for the move, but most interestingly is the fact that he echoed Rigney’s thoughts from that February article when he said he wanted a manager who could relate better to the modern player.

Enter assistant coach Frank Quilici. At 33 he became the youngest manager in the majors. Quilici was a bit of a local celebrity from his days as a utility infielder with the Twins in the mid-1960’s. Griffith hoped that Quilici’s hiring would spark interest among the fans and players.

The Twins finished the season at the .500 mark, just 41-43 under the new manager. Still, Quilici’s contract was renewed and there was hope that 1973 would be a new beginning.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to WAS/MIN in 1972

C George Mitterwald .184/.225/.239 1 HR -0.7 BFW 2 WS 15 FRAR 0.2 WARP3
C Glenn Borgmann .234/.325/.309 3 HR 0.2 BFW 5 WS 10 FRAR 1.4 WARP3
C Phil Roof .205/.235/.356 3 HR -1.0 BFW 2 WS 3 FRAR 0.0 WARP3
Mitterwald and Roof split catching duties for much of the first half of the season. With neither lighting the world on fire, that opened the door for rookie Glenn Borgmann to take over most of the playing time in the second half of the season. 22-year-old Rick Dempsey was also a brief participant the revolving door of catchers for the Twins in 1972.

1B Harmon Killebrew .231/.367/.450 26 HR 2.7 BFW 18 WS 9 FRAR 6.0 WARP3
The 36-year-old sure fire Hall of Fame player had a down year when it came to slugging, but he was still one of the more valuable offensive players in the league. 1972 represents the last of Killebrew’s very good seasons, though he’ll be roughly a league average player in his last three active seasons.

2B Rod Carew .318/.369/.379 0 HR 2.6 BFW 22 WS 34 FRAR 7.8 WARP3
Carew was on his way to a great season in 1970 when his year was cut short by a knee injury. It seems as though it took him a couple of years to get his career back on track:

Year Age OPS+
1970 24 152 *cut short due to injury
1971 25 107
1972 26 119
1973 27 144

Carew’s OPS+ won’t return to the low levels of 1971 and 1972 until he is in his late 30’s.

SS Danny Thompson .276/.318/.356 4 HR 0.9 BFW 15 WS 38 FRAR 6.0 WARP3
Thompson had been a member of the roster since 1970, but didn’t get regular playing time until 1972. By just about every account, he was as well-liked by his teammates as a ballplayer could be. Still, when Cardenas was traded before the season many fans and writers were uneasy with the idea of Thompson as a regular shortstop, particularly considering his past arm trouble. He proved that he belonged, however, with an impressive season in the field and at the plate. During a routine physical in the offseason, Twins team doctors found a high white-cell count in his blood. A few days after his 26th birthday, Danny Thompson was diagnosed with Luekemia.

3B Eric Soderholm .188/.245/.359 13 HR -1.1 BFW 5 WS 16 FRAR 1.4 WARP3
3B Steve Braun .289/.360/.356 2 HR -0.3 BFW 14 WS 20 FRAR 4.7 WARP3
Soderholm was the first-round draft pick of the Twins in 1968. He platooned with another young player, Steve Braun, in 1972 with underwhelming results.

LF Steve Brye .241/.292/.300 0 HR -0.4 BFW 6 WS 19 FRAR 2.0 WARP3
Brye led the Southern Association in batting during the 1970 season, and had a few stints with the major league club that year and in 1971. This was his first taste of regular action.

CF Bobby Darwin .267/.326/.442 22 HR -0.1 BFW 18 WS 6 FRAR 4.5 WARP3
Darwin was orginally drafted by the Angels in 1962 as a pitcher. He was dominant in the low minor leagues but control problems and injuries forced him to make a gradual shift towards the outfield. He was 29 years old when he came to the Twins in a trade with the Dodgers, and looked like a world-beater in his first month of regular play. As of May 9, he was batting .355/.446/.710 with 6 HR in 74 PA’s. He came back down to earth quickly, however, with an extended slump that lasted into July. Darwin was much more consistent in the second half of the season, and ended up with a successful season for himself and the Twins.

RF Cesar Tovar .265/.329/.334 2 HR -0.7 BFW 17 WS 27 FRAR 4.9 WARP3
The 31-year-old Tovar became the second Twin to hit for the cycle (sixth in franchise history) when he did it on September 19. As it turned out, that was one of Tovar’s last games with the Twins. He was traded to the Phillies for three players after the season. Tovar bounced around the majors until 1976. He had a pretty good year with the Rangers in 1974, but was clearly on the downward slope in his career production after the Twins traded him away. In eight seasons with the Twins, Tovar hit .281/.337/.377 with 38 HR. He played at least an inning at each of the nine fielding positions, and compiled 35.3 WARP3.

SP Bert Blyleven 17-17 2.73 ERA 1.10 WHIP 2.4 PW 19 WS 7.4 WARP3
On May 31, Blyleven won his seventh game of the season over the visiting Kansas City Royals. At the time he had just three losses. Over the next two months, Blyleven pitched fairly well, posting a 3.61 ERA in 14 starts. Unfortunately for Blyleven, his record over that same time span was 2-11. Take out the two wins, in which the Twins scored 7 and 5 runs respectively, Blyleven received a whopping 15 runs of offensive support in his 12 appearances. He even pitched 10 scoreless innings against the Yankees on July 8 and only had a no decision to show for it. The lack of support wasn’t lost on Blyleven: “When I look up in the 5th inning and see 0-0, I start thinking ‘well, here we go again.’” Blyleven was able to storm back in the later months to even his record, but the label of a pitcher who “struggles to win games” was already starting to stick to Blyleven, despite the anemic run support.

SP Dick Woodson 14-14 2.72 ERA 1.17 WHIP 0.9 PW 15 WS 3.6 WARP3
On June 25 Woodson was pitching against Kansas City when RIgney decided to go get him. Woodson refused to give the ball to his manager, touching off an argument that continued into the dugout. Woodson was ultimately fined and, as it turned out, it wouldn’t be long before the manager was replaced. Woodson had a pretty good year from a pitching standpoint in the busiest season of his career.

SP Jim Perry 13-16 3.35 ERA 1.15 WHIP -0.3 PW 9 WS 2.2 WARP3
At the end of the 1972 season, the same in which Jim’s brother Gaylord won the AL Cy Young award, the Twins figured to have six starting pitchers for 1973. Since Perry was the highest paid, he was the most logical to go in a trade. In March of 1973, the Twins traded the winningest active pitcher in the AL to Detroit in exchange for pitcher Danny Fife and cash. The trade was a bit of a head-scratcher to observers; Fife wasn’t even on the Tigers’ 40 man roster at the time. It was, perhaps, a fitting end for Perry’s Twins career, however. In 10 seasons with the Twins his record was 128-90 with a 3.15 ERA (113 ERA+) and 46.2 WARP3. He even won a Cy Young award but still managed to be one of the most underrated and underutilized pitchers in Twins’ history. Perry had some success with Detroit and Cleveland before he retired following a brief stint with Oakland in 1975.

SP Ray Corbin 8-9 2.62 ERA 1.16 WHIP 0.8 PW 10 WS 2.9 WARP3
The 23-year-old started the season in relief but became a regular starter by the end of June. He had a string of very good games from August 20 to September 4 in which he allowed just a single run and 14 hits in 28 innings pitched over the course of three starts.

SP Jim Kaat 10-2 2.06 ERA 1.01 WHIP 2.0 PW 12 WS 3.6 WARP3
Early in the season, writers were already suggesting that the 32-year-old had found the “zip” in his pitches again. Kaat was on a roll when, on July 2, his season came to end when he broke his pitching hand while sliding. Despite only playing half a season, Kaat again won the Gold Glove award. Awards and statistics aside, Kaat still didn’t do enough to impress the money out of Griffith’s pocket. Kaat wanted a three-year deal with a raise to total $60,000 per year. Griffith essentially used the reserve clause to force Kaat to play out the 1973 season under his old contract. The owner attempted to spin the move by claiming he could have cut the ace’s salary by 20 percent based on the rules at the time, but instead elected to keep Kaat’s salary steady. Kaat eventually got the contract he wanted, but this is likely the dispute that ultimately led to Kaat’s exit from Minnesota.

RP Wayne Granger 4-6 3.01 ERA 1.24 WHIP -0.1 PW 8 WS 1.4 WARP3
RP Dave LaRoche 5-7 2.83 ERA 1.16 WHIP 0.8 PW 8 WS 3.5 WARP3
The Twins didn’t have many steady options out of the bullpem, but new acquisitions Granger and LaRoche provided some effective innings. Both were traded away following the season; Granger for two players including Larry Hisle and LaRoche for three including Bill Hands and Joe Decker.

August 11, 1998

On May 17, 1998 David Wells threw a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium.

His next start against the Twins came almost three months later. Though the game was not perfect, the result was close to the same. From LEN3’s game story in the Strib:

The chunky Wells, facing the Twins for the first time since he tossed a perfect game at them May 17, increased his scoreless streak against them to 25 innings over three starts.

Wells became only the second pitcher this century to shut out a team in his first start against them after a perfect game. He matched the feat accomplished by Philadelphia’s Jim Bunning against the New York Mets in 1964.

Not surprisingly, Wells’ performance impressed Milton and his teammates.

“What can you say,” Milton said. “The guy threw a complete game shutout. He’s hard to beat.”

Wells required just 101 pitches to shut the Twins down in a four-hitter at Yankee Stadium.

That’s the kind of season the Yankees (86-29) are having. Tuesday’s victory put them 57 games above .500 for the first time since 1939. New York has held leads in 40 consecutive games, tying the record set by the ‘32 Yankees.

The Twins, on the other hand, dropped to 52-65. Though they were in a tie for second place in the division, they were 13 games behind Cleveland.

August 10, 1971

At 35 years, 51 days old, Harmon Killebrew became the 10th member of baseball’s 500 home run club. He hit numbers 500 and 501 in a loss against Baltimore. The list at the time (* = still active as of 8/10/71):

1. Babe Ruth 714
2. Willie Mays* 643
3. Hank Aaron* 623
4. Mickey Mantle 536
5. Jimmie Foxx 534
6. Ted Williams 521
7. Eddie Matthews 512
8. Ernie Banks* 511
9. Mel Ott 511
10. Harmon Killebrew* 501

At the time, he was the fifth youngest player to reach the mark. The youngest had been Jimmie Foxx, with Mays, Aaron, and Ruth also reaching the milestone at a younger age than Killer.

Killebrew hit number 500 in career at-bat number 6,671. At the time, only Babe Ruth had done it with fewer at-bats (5,801).

Today, there are 24 men who have hit 500 major league home runs, with another couple to join in the next year or so (Sheffield, Delgado). Killebrew sits at number nine on the all-time list with 573 career home runs.

Firpo Marberry 1923-1932, 1936

1924
RP Firpo Marberry 11-12 3.09 ERA 1.33 WHIP 1.7 PW 17 WS 4.3 WARP3
Marberry joined the team in August 1923 and pitched in a handful of games towards the end of the season, but 1924 was his first full season in the majors. He appeared in 50 games, most in the AL and though the save was years away from becoming an official stat, Marberry led the league in that category with 15 (teammate Allen Russell was 2nd with 8). Frederick Marberry earned the nickname “Firpo” because he looked like the famous boxer Luis Firpo.

1925
RP Firpo Marberry 9-5 3.47 ERA 1.38 WHIP 1.0 PW 11 WS 2.8 WARP3
Marberry was once again a very good option out of the bullpen in just about any situation. For the second straight season he led the league with 15 saves.

1926
RP Firpo Marberry 12-7 3.00 ERA 1.35 WHIP 2.0 PW 16 WS 5.5 WARP3
Another good season for Marberry, who was just about as reliable as any reliever in the league. In 1926 he appeared in 64 games (59 relief appearances, besting his own record set a year earlier) and earned 22 saves. The saves mark would not be surpassed until 1949.

1927
RP Firpo Marberry 10-7 4.64 ERA 1.58 WHIP -1.4 PW 8 WS 1.8 WARP3
1927 was easily the worst season in Marberry’s career. He pitched better in 1928, but was used mostly as a starter for the rest of his career.

1928
RP Firpo Marberry 13-13 3.85 ERA 1.25 WHIP 0.1 PW 11 WS 3.6 WARP3
Marberry continued to be one of the better AL relievers, but was not as dominant as he had been a few years earlier. 1928 was the start of his transition to the starting rotation.

1929
SP Firpo Marberry 19-12 3.06 ERA 1.21 WHIP 4.0 PW 26 WS 9.8 WARP3
From 1924-1928 he was among the premier relief pitchers in baseball, and is still considered one of the first relief aces in history. At the age of 30, however, Marberry got his first chance to start, and he may have been the best starting pitcher in the American League in 1929. He was second only to Lefty Grove in ERA, and led the league in WHIP. Marberry was fourth in AL strikeouts, and still managed to lead the league in saves with 11.

1930
SP Firpo Marberry 15-5 4.09 ERA 1.31 WHIP 1.5 PW 3.9 WARP3
Though not as impressive as his 1929 season, Marberry’s solid numbers made Washington very deep in starting pitching.

1931
SP Firpo Marberry 16-4 3.45 ERA 1.25 WHIP 2.1 PW 20 WS 5.3 WARP3
Marberry’s W-L record was eye-popping, and earned him a mention on the MVP ballots. Of his 45 pitching appearances in 1931, 20 of them were in relief.

1932

RP Firpo Marberry 8-4 4.01 ERA 1.39 WHIP 0.3 PW 16 WS 3.3 WARP3
1932 would mark Firpo’s 10th, and really his final season in Washington (though he will return for five games in his final season of 1936). Marberry started as one of the first bullpen aces, and may have been one of the more valuable members of the franchise’s only World Championship so far. Later in his career he shifted to the starting rotation and had a lot of success there as well. His final line with Washington (including the five appearances in 1936):

117-71 3.59 ERA (117 ERA+) 11.8 PW 145 WS 41.8 WARP3

Firpo will be traded to Detroit after the season.

The rest of the team…

C Muddy Ruel

1B Joe Judge

2B Buddy Myer

SS Joe Cronin

3B Buddy Lewis

LF Goose Goslin

CF Clyde Milan

RF Sam Rice

SP Walter Johnson

August 9. 1967

20 innings played in five hours and 40 minutes of game time. The Twins had a 7-0 lead over the Washington Senators after six innings of play. WIth two on and two out in the top of the seventh, Tim Cullen singled off of Dave Boswell to knock in two runs and break the ice for Washington. Four batters and two pitchers later, Frank Howard hit a three-run home run that tied the game and capped a seven-run inning for the visitors.

The next run in the game did not come until Ken McMullen homered to lead off the 20th inning. The Senators added another on a sacrifice fly and went on to win the marathon at Metropolitan Stadium 9-7.

Box

1971 Minnesota Twins

Manager: Bill Rigney 16th Season (2nd with Minnesota 172-150)
74 W 86 L 654 RS 670 RA 5th AL West 26.5 GB (Oakland 101-60)
4.09 RPG (AL = 3.87) 3.81 ERA (AL = 3.46)
.703 DER (10th AL)

All Stars (5) Leo Cardenas, Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Jim Perry

Franchise (1901-1971) 5175-5680-109; 11-21 Post Season; 11-15 WS
Washington (1901-1960) 4214-4864-104; 8-11 WS
Minnesota (1961-1971) 961-816-5; 3-10 Post Season; 3-4 WS

After the Twins won four of their first six games it looked as though they might be on their way to a third straight division title. An extended losing streak in April, however, meant that this year’s version of the Twins would be fighting to stay above .500 for most of the first half of the season. By the break, the Twins were well out of contention and began to focus on playing some of their younger players.

As the Twins fell further and further out in the late summer months the talk shifted to Rigney’s future as the team’s manager. While Calvin Griffith held the line that he would not make any decisions until the end of the season, the speculation as to RIgney’s future was a daily topic in Minnesota. Despite an undercurrent of player displeasure with the manager, Griffith renewed Rigney’s contract for another year.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to WAS/MIN in 1971

C George Mitterwald .250/.316/.389 13 HR 0.0 BFW 13 WS 19 FRAR 3.1 WARP3
Mitterwald played more in 1971 than he had in any of his previous four major league seasons. He also had more success at the plate, posting a 97 OPS+. If only he could have faced more lefties, Mitterwald had a pronounced split, batting .301/.370/.521 in 166 PA’s against left-handed pitching, though he was just .219/.282/.310 in 268 PA’s against right-handed pitching.

1B/3B Harmon Killebrew .254/.386/.464 28 HR 1.2 BFW 23 WS 0 FRAR 5.6 WARP3
1B Rich Reese .219/.270/.353 10 HR -2.4 BFW 5 WS 4 FRAR 0.2 WARP3
On August 10, 1971, Harmon Killebrew hit his 500th career home run. Killebrew was 35 years old and playing in his 1,955th game. He hit number 500 in his 8,067th plate appearance and 6,671st at bat. Later in that same game, hit hit number 501. Killebrew started his 18th major league season as the Twins’ primary third baseman, but shifted over to first to make room for rookie Steve Braun. A letter to the editor in the Star Tribune suggested that Griffith look to Killebrew as a player-manager over the unpopular Rigney. Griffith responded that managing is a full time job, but he would certainly consider Killebrew as skipper when the slugger’s playing career was over.

2B Rod Carew .307/.356/.380 2 HR -1.0 BFW 17 WS 14 FRAR 4.2 WARP3
After missing most of the 1970 season due to injury, Carew appeared in 147 games in 1971. Carew had a tough time out of the gate. It got so bad that at one point manager Bill Rigney moved Carew to third base for a couple of games in hopes that a change of scenery would jump start the perennial All Star’s bat. Carew bottomed out on June 13 when, after a 1-for-5 game, his line stood at .215/.258/.287. Rigney did not give up on Carew, however, and he was ultimately rewarded. From June 14th on, Carew batted .359/.410/.432, much more in line with the numbers that the Twins had come to expect.

SS Leo Cardenas .264/.321/.421 18 HR 2.4 BFW 22 WS 54 FRAR 8.5 WARP3
With all of the shifting in the Twins infield, the one constant in 1971 was Leo Cardenas at shortstop. The Cuban turned in another spectacular season in the field, measured both in traditional fielding stats (just 11 errors all season - a new major league record for shortstops), and newer fielding metrics (54 FRAR). That he was somewhat successful with the bat was just icing on the cake for the Twins. Cardenas performance in 1971 was good enough to be considered the team’s MVP. Despite that fact, he found himself on the trading block after the season. Cardenas, who turned 33 in December, was traded to the Angels in exchange for relief pitcher David LaRoche. Most in baseball said that the Twins should have gotten more for Cardenas, who batted .263/.325/.394 in three seasons as a Twin. In the same three seasons, he compiled 24.5 WARP3 and an amazing 175 FRAR.

3B Steve Braun .254/.350/.344 5 HR -0.8 BFW 10 WS 6 FRAR 2.0 WARP3
The New Jersey native jumped from single A to the majors in 1971. He wanted to pattern himself after Pete Rose, and found himself a Twins’ regular by May.

LF Cesar Tovar .311/.356/.368 1 HR 0.8 BFW 21 WS 20 FRAR 5.0 WARP3
Manager Bill Rigney on his lead off man in a June edition of TSN: “He’s a great leadoff man and reminds me of Eddie Stanky. He’s a great competitor too. He always wants to play and would play every inning, if you let him.”

CF Jim Holt .259/.292/.318 1 HR -1.7 BFW 5 WS 9 FRAR 0.5 WARP3
“Hustling Holt” didn’t get a lot of attention from the fans and the media, but he was well respected by Twins’ management. The Vietnam veteran was versatile and a favorite of Rigney in 1971.

RF Tony Oliva .337/.369/.546 22 HR 2.6 BFW 23 WS -5 FRAR 5.1 WARP3
On June 29, Oliva hurt his right knee while chasing a Joe Rudi fly ball in the ninth inning. He played the rest of the season, but it would be the same injury that would cause Oliva to miss all but 10 games of the 1972 season. Despite playing about half the season on the bad knee, Oliva won his third batting title. He credited some of his success in 1971 to a change in batting stance that he played with in the spring due to a sore heel.

SP Bert Blyleven 16-15 2.81 ERA 1.17 WHIP 2.2 PW 20 WS 8.8 WARP3
Blyleven, who turned 20 years of age just as the season started, improved upon his impressive rookie season. He gained 25 pounds in the offseason and reports were that his curveball, already considered one of the best in baseball, was even better in 1971. Despite his numbers, a problem emerged that would plague Blyleven for his entire career. Though he posted a 2.81 ERA in a league with a 3.46 ERA, Blyleven won just one more game than he lost in 1971. The Twins scored two or fewer runs in eight of his 15 credited losses.

SP Jim Kaat 13-14 3.32 ERA 1.24 WHIP 0.8 PW 15 WS 6.4 WARP3
Kaat won his 10th consecutive Gold Glove Award in 1971. Such was his defensive reputation that he will win the award a total of 16 times in a row between 1962 and 1977. Greg Maadux has since compiled 17 Gold Gloves, but Kaat is tied for second with Brooks Robinson for most Gold Gloves in baseball history.

SP Jim Perry 17-17 4.23 ERA 1.35 WHIP -2.0 PW 10 WS 3.9 WARP3
A year after winning the Cy Young Award, Perry struggled with an ERA+ of 84. His ERA was about a run and a half higher than Blyleven’s, but Perry managed to win one more game than the 20-year-old. The 35-year-old Perry was selected to his third and final All Star Game of his career, but he did not play.

SP Steve Luebber 2-5 5.03 ERA 1.62 WHIP -1.2 PW 0 WS -0.1 WARP3
The 21-year-old rookie joined the Twins in late June. He struggled in his first attempt to pitch in the majors, particularly with his control. Luebber walked 37 batters in 68 innings pitched. He wouldn’t return to the major league team for significant playing time again until 1976.

RP/SP Tom Hall 4-7 3.33 ERA 1.25 WHIP 0.5 PW 10 WS 4.2 WARP3
Hall was considered one of the hardest throwers in the majors by his fourth season. He did not have the success that he had a year earlier, and was traded to Cincinnati in the offseason. Hall had what was often considered his best career season with the Reds in 1972, but the fact is he was more dominant with the Twins in 1970.

RP/SP Ray Corbin 8-11 4.10 ERA 1.50 WHIP -1.2 PW 5 WS 2.6 WARP3
Corbin was another young pitcher called upon to get significant innings for the Twins in 1971. While he had a rough rookie season, he would become one of the Twins’ more reliable relief pitchers in 1972 and 1973.

RP Ron Perranoski 1-4 6.75 ERA 2.06 WHIP -2.3 PW 0 WS -1.4 WARP3
The Twins left Perranoski unprotected at teh July deadline and the 35-year-old reliever was claimed off of waivers by the Detroit Tigers. In four seasons with the Twins, Perranoski was one of the best left-handed relievers in the American League. He bounced around in 1972 and 1973, including a brief return to the Dodgers, before retiring.

RP Stan Williams 4-5 4.15 ERA 1.37 WHIP -1.0 PW 3 WS 0.8 WARP3
When Williams’ start to the 1971 season did not match his success of the previous season, he was traded to St. Louis for a player to be named. The Cardinals actually ended up sending two players to Minnesota to complete the trade, one of which was a minor league outfielder named Dan Ford.

RP Hal Haydel 4-2 4.28 ERA 1.33 WHIP -0.3 PW 2 WS 1.2 WARP3
Haydel did not pitch in the majors again after the 1971 season.