Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins
2012 Minnesota Twins season
Established	1894
Based in Minnesota since 1961
Team logo Cap Insignia
Major league affiliations
American League (1901–present) Central Division (1994–present)
Current uniform
Retired numbers	3, 6, 14, 28, 29, 34, 42
Colors
Navy blue, red, white
Name
Minnesota Twins (1961–present)
Washington Nationals/Senators (1901–1960) Kansas City Blues (1894–1900) (Western League)
Other nicknames
Twinkies
Ballpark
Target Field (2010–present) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2009) Metropolitan Stadium (1961–1981) Griffith Stadium (1911–1960) a.k.a. National Park (1911–1920) National Park (1903–1910) American League Park (1901–1902)
Major league titles
World Series titles (3)	1991 • 1987 • 1924
AL Pennants (6)	1991 • 1987 • 1965 • 1933 1925 • 1924
Central Division titles (6)	2010 • 2009 • 2006 • 2004 2003 • 2002
West Division titles (4)	1991 • 1987 • 1970 • 1969
Wild card berths (0)	None
Front office
Owner(s)	Jim Pohlad
Manager	Ron Gardenhire
General Manager	Terry Ryan (interim)

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from 1982 to 2009. They played their inaugural game at the newly completed Target Field on April 12, 2010.^[1]

The team was founded in Kansas City in 1894 as a Western League team and would move to Washington, D.C., in 1901 as one of the eight original teams of the American League, named the Washington Senators or Washington Nationals. Although the Washington team endured long bouts of mediocrity (immortalized in the Broadway musical Damn Yankees), they had a period of prolonged success in the 1920s and 1930s, led by Hall-of-Famers Bucky Harris, Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, and above all Walter Johnson. Manager Clark Griffith joined the team in 1912 and became the team's owner in 1920. The franchise remained under Griffith family ownership until 1984.

In 1960, Major League Baseball granted the city of Minneapolis an expansion team. Washington owner Calvin Griffith, Clark's nephew and adopted son, requested that he be allowed to move his team to Minneapolis and instead give Washington the expansion team. Upon league approval, the team moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season, setting up shop in Metropolitan Stadium, while Washington fielded a brand new "Washington Senators" (which later became the Texas Rangers prior to the 1972 season).

Success came quickly to the team in Minnesota. Sluggers Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison, who had already been stars in Washington, were joined by Tony Oliva and Zoilo Versalles, and later second baseman Rod Carew and pitchers Jim Kaat and Jim Perry, winning the American League pennant in 1965. A second wave of success came in the late 1980s and early 1990s, led by Kent Hrbek, Bert Blyleven, Frank Viola, and Kirby Puckett, winning the franchise's second and third World Series (and first in Minnesota).

Through the 2010 season, the franchise has won three World Series championships (1924, 1987, and 1991), and has fielded 18 American League batting champions.

Team history

Main article: History of the Minnesota Twins

Washington Nationals/Senators: 1901–1960

Washington's Bucky Harris scores on his home run in the fourth inning of Game 7 of the 1924 World Series

For a time, from 1911 to 1933, the Washington Senators were one of the more successful franchises in major-league baseball. The team's rosters included Hall of Famers Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, Bucky Harris, Heinie Manush and one of the greatest pitchers of all time, Walter Johnson.

In the 1924 World Series, the Senators defeated the New York Giants in seven games. The following season, they repeated as American League champions but ultimately lost the 1925 World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After Walter Johnson’s retirement in 1927, he was hired as manager of the Senators. After enduring a few losing seasons, the team returned to contention in 1930. In 1933, Senators owner Clark Griffith returned to the formula that worked for him nine years before, and 26-year-old shortstop Joe Cronin became player-manager. The Senators posted a 99–53 record and cruised to the pennant seven games ahead of the New York Yankees, but in the 1933 World Series the Giants exacted their revenge, winning in five games. Following the loss, the Senators sank all the way to seventh place in 1934, and attendance began to fall. Despite the return of Harris as manager from 1935–42 and again from 1950–54, Washington was mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years, contending for the pennant only during World War II. Washington came to be known as "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League",^[2] with their hard luck being crucial to the plot of the musical and film Damn Yankees. In 1954, the Senators signed future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. By 1959, he was the Senators’ regular third baseman, leading the league with 42 home runs and earning a starting spot on the American League All-Star team.

President Calvin Coolidge (left) and Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson (right) shake hands following the Senators' 1924 championship

After Griffith's death in 1955, his nephew and adopted son Calvin took over the team presidency. He sold Griffith Stadium to the city of Washington and leased it back, leading to speculation that the team was planning to move, as the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Athletics had all done in the early 1950s. By 1957, after an early flirtation with San Francisco (where the New York Giants would eventually move after that season ended), Griffith began courting Minneapolis-St. Paul, a prolonged process that resulted in his rejecting the Twin Cities' first offer^[3] before agreeing to relocate. The American League opposed the move at first, but in 1960 a deal was reached: The Senators would move and would be replaced with an expansion Senators team for 1961. Thus, the old Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins.

Team nickname

The Washington franchise was known as both "Senators" and "Nationals" at various times, and sometimes at the same time. In 1905, the team changed its official name to the "Washington Nationals."^[4] The name "Nationals" appeared on uniforms for only two seasons, and was then replaced with the "W" logo for the next 52 years. The media often shortened the nickname to "Nats." Many fans and newspapers (especially out-of-town papers) persisted in using the "Senators" nickname. Over time, "Nationals" faded as a nickname, and "Senators" became dominant. Baseball guides listed the club's nickname as "Nationals or Senators," acknowledging the dual-nickname situation.

The team name was officially changed to Washington Senators around the time of Clark Griffith's death. It was not until 1959 that the word "Senators" first appeared on team shirts. "Nats" continued to be used by space-saving headline writers, even for the 1961 expansion team, which was never officially known as "Nationals."

Minnesota Twins: 1961 to present

The name "Twins" was derived from the popular name of the region, the Twin Cities. The NBA's Minneapolis Lakers had re-located to Los Angeles in 1960 due to poor attendance which was believed to have been caused in part by the reluctance of fans in St. Paul to support the team.^{[citation needed]} Griffith was determined not to alienate fans in either city by naming the team after one city or the other, so his desire was to name the team the "Twin Cities Twins",^{[citation needed]} however MLB objected. Griffith therefore named the team the Minnesota Twins. However, the team was allowed to keep its original "TC" (for Twin Cities) insignia for its caps. The team's logo shows two men, one in a Minneapolis Millers uniform and one in a St. Paul Saints uniform, shaking hands across the Mississippi River. The "TC" remained on the Twins' caps until 1987, when they adopted their current uniforms. By this time, the team felt it was established enough to put an "M" on its cap without having St. Paul fans think it stood for Minneapolis. The "TC" logo was moved to a sleeve on the jerseys, and occasionally appeared as an alternate cap design. Both the "TC" and "Minnie & Paul" logos remain the team's primary insignia. As of 2010, the "TC" logo has been reinstated on the cap as their cap logo.

1960s

The Twins were eagerly greeted in Minnesota when they arrived in 1961. They brought a nucleus of talented players: Killebrew, Bob Allison, Camilo Pascual, Zoilo Versalles, Jim Kaat, Earl Battey, and Lenny Green. The Twins won 91 games in 1962, the most by the franchise since 1933. The Twins won 102 games and the American League Pennant in 1965, but they were defeated in the 1965 World Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games (behind the World Series Most Valuable Player, Sandy Koufax, with a 2–1 record, including winning the seventh game).

Heading into the final weekend of the season in 1967, the Twins, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers all had a shot at clinching the American League championship. The Twins and the Red Sox started the weekend tied for 1st place and played against each other in Boston for the final three games of the season. The Red Sox won two out of the three games, seizing their first pennant since 1946 with a 92–70 record. The Twins and Tigers both finished one game back, with 91–71 records, while the White Sox finished three games back, at 89–73. In 1969, the new manager of the Twins, Billy Martin, pushed aggressive base running all-around, and Rod Carew set the all-time Major League record by stealing home seven times.^[5] These 1969 Twins won the very first American League Western Division Championship, but they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the first American League Championship Series. This same situation was also repeated during their 1970 season, with the Twins winning the Western Division behind the star pitching of Jim Perry (24 -12) and the Orioles winning the Eastern Division Championship behind the star pitching of Jim Palmer. Once again, the Orioles won the A.L. Championship Series.

1970s

After winning the division again in 1970, the team entered an eight-year dry spell, finishing around the .500 mark. Killebrew departed after 1974. Owner Calvin Griffith faced financial difficulty with the start of free agency, costing the Twins the services of Lyman Bostock and Larry Hisle, who left as free agents after the 1977 season, and Carew, who was traded after the 1978 season.

1980s–90s

The Metrodome, 2007

In the early 1980s, the Twins moved into the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which they shared with the Minnesota Vikings, but the team continued to struggle. In 1984, Griffith sold the Twins to multi-billionaire banker/financier Carl Pohlad. The Metrodome hosted the 1985 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. After several losing seasons, the team, led by Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven, Jeff Reardon, and rising star Kirby Puckett, returned to the World Series, defeating the Tigers in the ALCS. Tom Kelly managed the Twins to World Series victories over the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987 and the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Twins' pitcher Jack Morris was the star of the series in 1991.^[6] 1991 marked the first time that any team that finished in last place the previous year advanced to the World Series. (The Atlanta Braves also did this in 1991, in the National League.)

The World Series in 1991 is regarded by many as one of the classics of all time. In this Series, four games were won during the teams' final at-bat, and three of these were in extra innings. The Atlanta Braves won all three of their games in Atlanta, and the Twins won all four of their games in Minnesota. The seventh game was tied 0–0 after the regulation nine innings, and marked only the second time that the seventh game of the World Series had ever gone into extra innings.The Twins won by scoring a run in the bottom of the 10th inning, and Morris had pitched a shutout for all ten innings against the Braves.

After a winning season in 1992, the Twins fell into a years-long stretch of mediocrity, posting a losing record each year for the next eight years: 71–91 in 1993, 50–63 in 1994, 56–88 in 1995, 78–84 in 1996, 68–94 in 1997, 70–92 in 1998, 63–97 in 1999 and 69–93 in 2000. From 1994 to 1997, a long sequence of retirements and injuries hurt the team badly, and Tom Kelly spent the remainder of his managerial career attempting to rebuild the Twins. In 1997, owner Carl Pohlad almost sold the Twins to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver, who would have moved the team to the Piedmont Triad area.^[7]

2000s

Justin Morneau, drafted in 1999 by the Twins, won the AL MVP award in 2006

The Twins dominated the Central Division in the first decade of the new century, winning the division in six of those ten years ('02, '03, '04, '06, '09 and '10), and nearly winning it in '08 as well. From 2001 to 2006, the Twins compiled the longest streak of consecutive winning seasons since moving to Minnesota.

Threatened with closure by league contraction,^[8] the 2002 team battled back to reach the American League Championship Series before being eliminated 4–1 by that year's World Series champion Anaheim Angels.

2006

Main article: 2006 Minnesota Twins season

In 2006, the Twins won the division on the last day of the regular season (the only day all season they held sole possession of first place) but lost to the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS. Ozzie Guillén coined a nickname for this squad, calling the Twins "little piranhas". The Twins players embraced the label, and in response, the Twins Front office started a "Piranha Night", with piranha finger puppets given out to the first 10,000 fans. Scoreboard operators sometimes played an animated sequence of piranhas munching under that caption in situations where the Twins were scoring runs playing "small ball", and the stadium vendors sold tee-shirts and hats advertising "The Little Piranhas". The Twins also had the AL MVP in Justin Morneau, the AL batting champion in Joe Mauer, and the AL Cy Young Award winner in Johan Santana.

2008

Main article: 2008 Minnesota Twins season

In 2008, the Twins finished the regular season tied with the White Sox on top of the AL Central, forcing a one-game playoff in Chicago to determine the division champion. The Twins lost that game and missed the playoffs. The game location was determined by rule of a coin flip that was conducted in mid-September . This rule was changed for the start of the 2009 season, making the site for any tiebreaker game to be determined by the winner of the regular season head-to-head record between the teams involved.

2009

Main article: 2009 Minnesota Twins season

After a mediocre year where the Twins played .500 baseball for most of the season, they won 17 of their last 21 games to tie the Detroit Tigers for the lead in the Central Division. The Twins were able to use the play-in game rule to their advantage when they won the AL Central at the end of the regular season and winning a 12-inning tiebreaker on a walk-off hit by Alexi Casilla. However, they failed to advance to the American League Championship Series as they lost the American League Divisional Series in three straight games to the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees. That year Joe Mauer became only the second catcher in 33 years to win the AL MVP award (Iván Rodríguez won for the Texas Rangers in 1999, previous to that, the last catcher to win an AL MVP was the New York Yankees Thurman Munson in 1976).

2010

Main article: 2010 Minnesota Twins season

In their inaugural season played at Target Field, the Twins finished the regular season with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses, clinching the AL Central Division title for the 6th time in 9 years under manager Ron Gardenhire. New regular players included rookie Danny Valencia at third base, designated hitter Jim Thome, closer Matt Capps, infielder J.J. Hardy, and infielder Orlando Hudson. In relief pitching roles were late additions Brian Fuentes and Randy Flores. On July 7, the team suffered a major blow when Justin Morneau sustained a concussion, which knocked him out for the rest of the season. In the divisional series, the Twins lost to the Yankees in a 3 game sweep for the second consecutive year. Following the season, Ron Gardenhire finally received AL Manager of the Year honors after finishing as a runner up in several prior years.

2011

Main article: 2011 Minnesota Twins season

After repeating as AL Central champions in 2010, the Twins entered 2011 with no players on the disabled list, and the team seemed poised for another strong season. During the off-season, the team signed Japanese shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka to fill a hole in the middle infield, re-signed Jim Thome, who was in pursuit of career home run number 600, and also re-signed Carl Pavano. However, the season was largely derailed by an extensive list of injuries. Nishioka's broken leg in a collision at second base^[9] led the way and was followed by DL stints from Kevin Slowey, Joe Mauer, Jason Repko, Thome, Delmon Young (two stints on the DL), Jose Mijares, Glen Perkins, Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, Jason Kubel, Denard Span (two stints), Justin Morneau, Scott Baker, and Alexi Casilla. The team's low point was arguably on May 1 when the team started 7 players who were batting below .235 in a game against Kansas City.^[10] From that day forward, the Twins made a strong push to get as close as 5 games back of the division lead by the All-Star break. However, the team struggled down the stretch and fell back out of contention. The team failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and experienced their first losing season in four years. Despite an AL-worst 63-99 record, the team drew over 3 million fans for the second consecutive year.

Michael Cuddyer served as the Twins representative at the All-Star game, his first appearance.^[11] Bert Blyleven's number was retired during the season and he was also inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during the month of July.^[12]. On August 10, Nathan recorded his 255th save, passing Rick Aguilera for first place on the franchise's all-time saves list.^[13] On August 15, Thome hit 599th and 600th homerun at Comerica Park to become the eighth player in Major League history to hit 600 homeruns, joining Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriguez.^[14].

Threatened contraction or re-location of the team

The Metrodome in 2006

The quirks of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, including the turf floor and the white roof, gave the Twins a significant home-field advantage that played into their winning the World Series in both 1987 and 1991, at least in the opinion of their opponents, as the Twins went 12–1 in post season home games during those two seasons.^[15] These were the first two World Series in professional baseball history in which a team won the championship by winning all four home games.^[16] (The feat has since been repeated once, by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.) Nevertheless, the Twins argued that the Metrodome was obsolete and that the lack of a dedicated baseball-only ballpark limited team revenue and made it difficult to sustain a top-notch, competitive team. The team was rumored to contemplate moving to such places as New Jersey, Las Vegas, Portland, Oregon, the Raleigh–Durham area, and elsewhere in search of a more financially competitive market. In 2002, the team was nearly disbanded when Major League Baseball selected the Twins and the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals franchise) for elimination due to their financial weakness relative to other franchises in the league. The impetus for league contraction diminished after a court decision forced the Twins to play out their lease on the Metrodome. However, the Twins continued their efforts to relocate, pursuing litigation against the Metropolitan Stadium Commission and obtaining a state court ruling that they were not obligated to play in the Metrodome after the 2006 season. This cleared the way for the Twins to either be relocated or disbanded prior to the 2007 season if a new deal was not reached.

Target Field

Opening day at Target Field in 2010

In response to the threatened loss of the Twins, the Minnesota private and public sector negotiated and approved a financing package for a replacement stadium— a baseball-only outdoor, natural turf ballpark in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis— owned by a new entity known as the Minnesota Ballpark Authority.^[17] Target Field was constructed at a cost of $544.4 million (including site acquisition and infrastructure), utilizing the proceeds of a $392 million public bond offering based on a 0.15 percent sales tax in Hennepin County and private financing of $185 million provided by the Pohlad family.^[18][19] As part of the deal, the Twins also signed a 30-year lease of the new stadium, effectively guaranteeing the continuation of the team in Minnesota for a long time to come. Construction of the new field began in 2007, and was completed in December 2009, in time for the 2010 season. Commissioner Bud Selig, who earlier had threatened to disband the team, observed that without the new stadium the Twins could not have committed to sign their star player, catcher Joe Mauer, to an unprecedented 8-year, $184 million contract extension. The first regular season game in Target Field was played against the Boston Red Sox on April 12, 2010, with Mauer driving in two runs and going 3-for-5 to help the Twins defeat the Red Sox, 5–2.

On May 18, 2011, Target Field was named "The Sports Facility of the Year" by Street and Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal at the magazine's 2011 Sports Business Awards Ceremony in New York City.^[20] It was also named "The Best Sports Stadium in North America" by ESPN The Magazine in a ranking that included over 120 different stadiums, ballparks and arenas from around North America.^[21]

Current roster

Minnesota Twins rosterview · talk · edit
Active roster				Inactive roster		Coaches/Other
Pitchers 30 Scott Baker 53 Nick Blackburn -- David Bromberg 31 Alex Burnett 58 Scott Diamond 52 Brian Duensing -- Jeff Gray 76 Deolis Guerra 62 Liam Hendriks 37 Jim Hoey 47 Francisco Liriano -- Matt Maloney 49 Jeff Manship 50 José Mijares 17 Lester Oliveros 48 Carl Pavano 15 Glen Perkins 59 Kevin Slowey 51 Anthony Swarzak -- Esmerling Vasquez 57 Kyle Waldrop		Catchers 41 Drew Butera  7 Joe Mauer Infielders -- Jamey Carroll 12 Alexi Casilla 38 Luke Hughes 33 Justin Morneau  1 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 64 Chris Parmelee 24 Trevor Plouffe 19 Danny Valencia Outfielders 63 Joe Benson 11 Ben Revere  2 Denard Span 23 Rene Tosoni Designated hitters None specified				Manager 35 Ron Gardenhire Coaches 40 Rick Anderson (pitching) 75 Nate Dammann (coach)  9 Steve Liddle (third base) 43 Rick Stelmaszek (bullpen) 45 Scott Ullger (bench) 46 Joe Vavra (hitting) 13 Jerry White (first base) 35 Active, 0 Inactive 7- or 15-day disabled list † Suspended list # Personal leave Roster updated November 15, 2011 Transactions • Depth chart → All MLB rosters

Minnesota Twins all-time roster: A complete list of players who played in at least one game for the Twins franchise.

Minor league affiliates

Level	Team	League	Location
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Rochester, NY
AA	New Britain Rock Cats	Eastern League	New Britain, CT
Advanced A	Fort Myers Miracle	Florida State League	Fort Myers, FL
A	Beloit Snappers	Midwest League	Beloit, WI
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Elizabethton, TN
	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Fort Myers, FL
	DSL Twins	Dominican Summer League	Dominican Republic

Baseball Hall of Famers

Minnesota Twins Hall of Famers
Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Washington Senators Stan Coveleski Joe Cronin Ed Delahanty Rick Ferrell Lefty Gomez Goose Goslin Clark Griffith Bucky Harris Whitey Herzog Walter Johnson Heinie Manush Sam Rice Al Simmons George Sisler Tris Speaker Early Wynn Minnesota Twins Bert Blyleven Rod Carew Steve Carlton Paul Molitor Harmon Killebrew Dave Winfield Kirby Puckett Players listed in bold are depicted on their Hall of Fame plaques wearing a Twins or Senators cap insignia.

Molitor and Winfield, St. Paul natives and University of Minnesota graduates, came to the team late in their careers and were warmly received as "hometown heroes," but were elected to the Hall on the basis of their tenures with other teams. Both swatted their 3,000th hit with the Twins.

Cronin, Goslin, Griffith, Harris, Johnson, Killebrew and Wynn are listed on the Washington Hall of Stars display at Nationals Park (previously they were listed at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium). So are Ossie Bluege, George Case, Joe Judge, George Selkirk, Roy Sievers, Cecil Travis, Mickey Vernon and Eddie Yost.

Ford C. Frick Award recipients

Minnesota Twins Ford C. Frick Award recipients
Affiliation according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Herb Carneal Russ Hodges Arch McDonald Chuck Thompson Bob Wolff Names in bold received the award based primarily on their work as broadcasters for the Twins or Senators.

Twins Hall of Fame

Class of 2000	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Harmon Killebrew	First Baseman	1961–74
Rod Carew	Second Baseman	1967–78
Tony Oliva	Outfielder	1962–76
Kent Hrbek	First Baseman	1981–94
Kirby Puckett	Outfielder	1984–95
Calvin Griffith	President and Owner	1961–83
Class of 2001	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Herb Carneal	Radio Broadcaster	1962–2007
Jim Kaat	Left-handed Pitcher	1961–73
Class of 2002	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Bert Blyleven	Right-handed Pitcher	1970–76, 1985–88
Tom Kelly	Manager	1986–2001
Class of 2003	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Bob Allison	Outfielder	1961–70
Bob Casey	Public Address Announcer	1961–2004
Class of 2004	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Earl Battey	Catcher	1961–67
Class of 2005	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Frank Viola	Left-handed Pitcher	1982–89
Carl Pohlad	Owner	1984–2009
Class of 2006	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Zoilo Versalles	Shortstop	1961–67
Class of 2007	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Gary Gaetti	Third Baseman	1981–90
Jim Rantz	Director of Minor Leagues	1986 – present
Class of 2008	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Rick Aguilera	Right-handed Pitcher	1989–95, 1996–99
Class of 2009[22]	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Brad Radke	Right-handed Pitcher	1995–2006
George Brophy	Front office executive	1961–85
Class of 2010[23]	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Greg Gagne	Shortstop	1983–92
Class of 2011[24]	Affiliation	Years w/ Twins
Jim Perry	Right-handed Pitcher	1963–72

Retired numbers

Metrodome retired numbers and championships banners

The Metrodome's upper deck in center and right fields was partly covered by a curtain containing banners of various titles won, and retired numbers. There was no acknowledgment of the Twins' prior championships in Washington and several Senator Hall of Famers, such as Walter Johnson, played in the days prior to numbers being used on uniforms. Killebrew did play seven seasons as a Senator, including two full seasons as a regular prior to the move to Minnesota in 1961.

Harmon Killebrew OF-1B-3B: 1954–60 (WAS) OF-1B-3B: 1961–74 (MIN)

Tony Oliva OF: 1962–76 (MIN) Coach: 1976–78 (MIN) Coach: 1985–91 (MIN)

Kent Hrbek 1B: 1981–94 (MIN)

Bert Blyleven P: 1970-1976 (MIN) P: 1985-1988 (MIN)

Rod Carew 1B-2B: 1967–78 (MIN)

Kirby Puckett OF: 1984–95 (MIN)

Jackie Robinson Retired by Baseball

Target Field retired number signs

In the Metrodome, the numbers ran in that order from left to right. In Target Field, they run from right to left, presumably to allow space for additional numbers in the future.

The retired numbers also serve as entry points at Target Field, The center field gate is Gate No. 3, honoring Killebrew, the left field gate is Gate No. 6 honoring Oliva, the home plate gate is Gate No. 14 for Hrbek, the right field gate serves as Gate No. 29 in tribute to Carew, and the plaza gate is known as Gate No. 34, honoring Puckett.

The numbers that have been retired hang within Target Field in front of the tower that serves as the Twins' executive offices in left field foul territory. The championships banners have been replaced by small pennants that fly on masts at the back of the left field upper deck. Those pennants, along with the flags flying in the plaza behind right field, serve as a visual cue for the players, suggesting the wind direction and speed.

Jackie Robinson's number, 42, was retired by Major League Baseball on April 15, 1997 and formally honored by the Twins on May 23, 1997.^[25] Robinson's number was positioned to the left of the Twins numbers in both venues.

Player	Jersey	Date retired
Harmon Killebrew	3	May 4, 1975
Rod Carew	29	July 19, 1987
Tony Oliva	6	July 14, 1991
Kent Hrbek	14	August 13, 1995
Jackie Robinson	42	April 15, 1997
Kirby Puckett	34	May 25, 1997
Bert Blyleven	28	July 16, 2011

^[26][27]

Awards

Main article: Minnesota Twins award winners and league leaders

Team records

Main article: Minnesota Twins team records

Team seasons

Main article: List of Minnesota Twins seasons

Year	Regular Season						Post Season
	Wins	Losses	Win %	Finish	Attendance	Attend./Game	Record	Win %	Result
2001	85	77	.525	2nd – AL Central	1,782,929	22,011	0–0	.000
2002	94	67	.584	1st – AL Central	1,924,473	23,906	4–6	.400	Won ALDS vs Oakland Athletics, 3–2 Lost ALCS to Anaheim Angels, 1–4
2003	90	72	.556	1st – AL Central	1,946,011	24,025	1–3	.250	Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 1–3
2004	92	70	.568	1st – AL Central	1,911,490	23,599	1–3	.250	Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 1–3
2005	83	79	.512	3rd – AL Central	2,034,243	25,114	0–0	.000
2006	96	66	.593	1st – AL Central	2,285,018	28,210	0–3	.000	Lost ALDS to Oakland Athletics, 0–3
2007	79	83	.488	3rd – AL Central	2,296,347	28,349	0–0	.000
2008	88	75	.540	2nd – AL Central	2,302,611	28,427	0–0	.000
2009	87	76	.534	1st – AL Central	2,416,237	29,466	0–3	.000	Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 0–3
2010	94	68	.580	1st – AL Central	3,223,640	39,798	0–3	.000	Lost ALDS to New York Yankees, 0–3
2011	63	99	.389	5th – AL Central	3,168,107	39,112	0–0	.000
Total as Twins	4072	4051	.501	–	–	–	25–39	.391	–
Totals	8,295	8,915	.482	–	101,015,524	11,851*	33–47	.413	3 World Series Championships

Radio and television

See also: List of Minnesota Twins broadcasters

As of 2007, the Twins took the rights to the broadcasts in-house and created the Twins Radio Network (TRN). With that new network in place the Twins secured a new Metro Affiliate flagship radio station in KSTP, 1500 kHz AM. It replaced WCCO, which held broadcast rights for the Twins since the team moved to Minneapolis in 1961. The original radio voices of the Twins in 1961 were Ray Scott, Halsey Hall and Bob Wolff. After the first season, Herb Carneal replaced Wolff. Twins TV and radio broadcasts were originally sponsored by the Hamm's Brewing Company. In 2009, Treasure Island Resort & Casino became the first ever naming rights partner for the Twins Radio Network, making the commercial name of TRN the Treasure Island Baseball Network."Schedule". Twins Radio Network. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/schedule/trn.jsp. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 

The 2011 season was announcer John Gordon's last with the Twins. He had been the radio voice for the Twins for 25 years. Gordon started broadcasting for Minnesota in 1987, the year in which the organization won its first World Series since moving to Minnesota. His trademark phrase is "Touch 'em all" and he shouts this whenever a Twins player hits a home run. Gordon is 71 years old, and decided to retire in order to spend more time with his family.^[28] He was replaced by Cory Provus, former partner of Bob Uecker in Milwaukee, in November, 2011.^[29]

TRN broadcasts are originated from the studios at Minnesota News Network and Minnesota Farm Networks. Kris Atteberry hosts the pre-game show, the "Lineup Card" and the "Post-game Download" from those studios except when filling in for John Gordon or Dan Gladden doing play-by-play while they are on vacation.

On April 1, 2007, Herb Carneal, the radio voice of the Twins for all but one year of their existence, died at his home in Minnetonka, Minnesota after a long battle with a list of illnesses. Carneal is in the broadcasters wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bert Blyleven

The television rights are held by Fox Sports North FS-North, Twins announce TV schedule Fox Sports North February 16, 2011 with Dick Bremer as the play-by-play announcer and former Twin, and 2011 MLB Hall of Fame inductee, Bert Blyleven as color analyst. They are sometimes joined by Ron Coomer and Roy Smalley.

Bob Casey was the Twins first public-address announcer starting in 1961 and continuing until his death in 2005. He was well known for his unique delivery and his signature announcements of "No smoking in the Metrodome, either go outside or quit!" (or "go back to Boston", etc.), "Batting 3rd, the center-fielder, No. 34, KIRBY PUCKETT!!!" and asking fans not to 'throw anything or anybody' onto the field.

Community activities

• Minnesota Twins Community Fund – Play Ball! Minnesota^[30]

Team and franchise traditions

Fans wave a Homer Hanky to rally the team during play-offs and other crucial games.

The party atmosphere of the Twins clubhouse after a win is well-known,^[31] the team's players unwinding with loud rock music (usually the choice of the winning pitcher) and video games.^[31]

The club has several hazing rituals, such as requiring the most junior relief pitcher on the team to carry water and snacks to the bullpen in a brightly colored small child's backpack (Barbie in 2005, SpongeBob SquarePants in 2006, Hello Kitty in 2007, Disney Princess and Tinkerbell in 2009, Chewbacca and Darth Vader in 2010),^[31] and many of its players, both past and present, are notorious pranksters.^[31] For example, Bert Blyleven earned the nickname "The Frying Dutchman" for his ability to pull the "hotfoot" – which entails crawling under the bench in the dugout and lighting a teammate's shoelaces on fire.

See also

• Baseball Hall of Fame
• List of Minnesota Twins managers

References

1. ^ "Minnesota Twins Move Into Target Field". minnesota.twins.mlb.com. January 4, 2010. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100104&content_id=7870938&vkey=pr_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
2. ^ "Washington Senators". BaseballLibrary.com. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Washington_Senators. Retrieved Aug. 7, 2009 
3. ^ "Senators Reject Bids to Move to Minneapolis or St. Paul". New York Times. October 27, 1957. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EF93A5A177B93C0AB178BD95F438585F9&scp=2&sq=giants+relocate+minneapolis&st=p. Retrieved May 2, 2008 
4. ^ "Minnesota Twins Team History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/. Retrieved Sept. 24, 2008. 
5. ^ Rod Carew Baseball Hall of Fame
6. ^ Caple, Jim (November 19, 2003). "1991 World Series had it all". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/classic/s/1991_series_caple.html. 
7. ^ Twins Meet Don Beaver: He Inks Letter of Intent to Buy Team Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily
8. ^ Gettings, John (2001). "Labor Pains: A guide to Major League Baseball's contraction issue". Infoplease.com. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/contraction1.html. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
9. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/team/transactions.jsp?c_id=min#month=4&year=2011&team_id=142
10. ^ http://sportsillustrated.ca/baseball/mlb/gameflash/2011/05/01/36730_boxscore.html
11. ^ http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/03/michael-cuddyer-a-first-time-all-star-at-age-32/
12. ^ http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/id/6798447/roerto-alomar-bert-blyleven-pat-gillick-welcomed-hof
13. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110811&content_id=23062942&vkey=news_min&c_id=min
14. ^ http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/127799298.html
15. ^ Adams, Dan (March 30, 2010). "Minnesota Twins Organization, World Series Dreams Trashed by Target Field?". Bleacher Report. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/371214-twins-baseball-and-world-series-dreams-trashed-by-target-field. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
16. ^ Gammons, Peter (2006). The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. New York: Sterling Pub. Co.. ISBN 9781402736254. http://books.google.com/books?id=eUe37F9gN00C&pg=PT1679&lpg=PT1679&dq=only+World+Series+in+which+home+team+won+every+game&source=bl&ots=FXvzTUWA5-&sig=JqC616rbH97s8eovZnacs0XAu9E&hl=en&ei=iMy7S9eeMY_K8wTe-PCCCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=only%20World%20Series%20in%20which%20home%20team%20won%20every%20game&f=false. 
17. ^ Weiner, Jay (April 1, 2010). "Target Field: 'The House That Jerry Bell Willed to Completion'". MinnPost. http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2010/04/01/17066/target_field_the_house_that_jerry_bell_willed_to_completion. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
18. ^ "Editorial: Target Field built to exceed expectations". Star Tribune. May 31, 2009. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/46497222.html. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
19. ^ Gordon, Jack (March 2010). "The Coolest Ballpark in America". Twin Cities Business Magazine. http://www.tcbmag.com/print.aspx?print_page=%2Findustriestrends%2Fcommercialrealestate%2F127061printp1.aspx&string_referer=/industriestrends/commercialrealestate/127061p1.aspx. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
20. ^ Vomhof Jr., John (May 19, 2011). "Target Field named Sports Facility of the Year". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/blog/sports-business/2011/05/target-field-named-sports-facility-of.html. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
21. ^ Hart Van Denburg (July 2, 2010). "ESPN Magazine calls Target Field the best stadium in North America". City Pages. http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/07/espn_calls_trag.php. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 
22. ^ Thesier, Kelly (Jan. 23, 2009). "Radke, Brophy join Twins Hall of Fame". Minnesota Twins. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090123&content_id=3767718&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2009. 
23. ^ Thesier, Kelly (February 9, 2010). "Gagne elected to Twins Hall of Fame". Minnesota Twins. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100209&content_id=8043022&c_id=min&vkey=news_min. Retrieved Jul. 17, 2010. 
24. ^ Thesier, Kelly (January 25, 2011). "Twins great Perry gains entrance to club's Hall". Minnesota Twins. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110125&content_id=16496926&vkey=news_min&c_id=min. Retrieved Jan. 25, 2011. 
25. ^ Jackie Robinson honored by Twins
26. ^ [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats10.shtml Baseball-Almanac – Twins retired numbers
27. ^ Twins history – retired numbers
28. ^ McLeister, Joey. "Twins announcer Gordon to retire after season". Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/115156014.html. Retrieved March 3, 2011. 
29. ^ http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111102&content_id=25871996&vkey=news_min&c_id=min
30. ^ "Home page". Play Ball! Minnesota. Minnesota Twins Community Fund. http://playballmn.com/. Retrieved 2011-11-03. 
31. ^ ^{a b c d} "Twins Auction: Grounds Crew for a Day". Fox Sports North. http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/pages/video?PID=4FfjGl8ICsfp815bR3W0WYX6g_Suap8v. Retrieved July 27, 2011. 

Further reading

• Povich, Shirley (1954). The Washington Senators. New York: Putnam. 

External links

• Major League Baseball
• Minnesota Twins official website