List of Minnesota Twins managers

In its 108-year history, the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise of the American League has employed 29 managers.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/managers.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins Managerial Record|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07] The duties of the manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. Eight of these team managers have been "player-managers", all during the era; specifically, they managed the team while still playing for it.

The Minnesota franchise began its life as the Washington Senators in Washington, D. C., where they played from their inception in mlby|1901 to mlby|1960. In the early twentieth century, the Senators were managed consecutively by three future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, bookended by Bucky Harris, who managed the team from mlby|1924 to mlby|1928 and again from mlby|1935 to mlby|1942. Walter Johnson managed the team for four seasons from mlby|1929 to mlby|1932, and he was followed by Joe Cronin, who led for the next two seasons (mlby|1933–mlby|1934). In 1960, the American League awarded an expansion franchise to Minneapolis, Minnesota; however, owner Calvin Griffith moved his team to Minnesota, [cite web|url=http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/history/timeline1.jsp|title=Twins Timeline (1960-1969)|publisher=Minnesota Twins|accessdate=2008-08-07] [cite web|url=http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/1020/124107.html|title=Griffith dies after developing kidney infection|date=1999-10-20|work=ESPN|publisher=Associated Press|accessdate=2008-08-07] and Washington was awarded the expansion team instead. Thus, the Minnesota Twins began play at Metropolitan Stadium in downtown Minneapolis the following year, during the tenure of manager Cookie Lavagetto, [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1961.shtml|title=1961 Minnesota Twins Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07] and have played in the city since.

Seven managers have taken the franchise to the postseason, with current manager Ron Gardenhire leading them to four playoff appearances, the most in their franchise history.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/|title=Minnesota Twins Team History|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07] Two managers have won the World Series with the franchise: Bucky Harris, in 1924 against the New York Giants;cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSH/1924.shtml|title=1924 Washington Senators Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07] and Tom Kelly, in 1987 against the St. Louis Cardinalscite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1987.shtml|title=1987 Minnesota Twins Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07] and 1991 against the Atlanta Braves.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1991.shtml|title=1991 Minnesota Twins Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07] Harris is also the longest-tenured manager in their franchise history, with 2,776 games of service in parts of 18 seasons between 1924 and mlby|1954; he is followed by Kelly, who managed 2,386 games over 16 seasons from mlby|1986 to mlby|2001. The manager with the highest winning percentage in team history is Billy Martin, who managed the team in mlby|1969 and achieved a record of 97–65 (.599). Conversely, the manager with the lowest winning percentage is Malachi Kittridge, whose winning percentage of .059 was achieved with a record of 1–16 in the first half of mlby|1904. Kittridge's tenure is also the shortest in team history.

Table key

Managers

"Statistics current through 2007 season"

Footnotes

*note label|Number|a|a

#: running total of the number of Twins managers. Thus, any manager who has two or more separate terms is only counted once.
*note label|Kelly|b|bTom Kelly won the Manager of the Year Award in mlby|1991. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/manage.shtml|title=Manager of the Year Award Winners|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07]

References

;General references
*cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/|title=Minnesota Twins Team History|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07
*cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/managers.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins Managerial Records|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-08-07
*cite web|url=http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/history/managers.jsp|title=Twins All-Time Managers|publisher=Minnesota Twins|accessdate=2008-08-07;In-text citations

External links

* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com Official Website of the Minnesota Twins]