1987 Minnesota Twins season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Minnesota Twins
season = 1987
misc = World Champions

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Western Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform
ballpark = Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
y4 = 1982
city = Minneapolis
y5 = 1982
owners = Carl Pohlad
managers = Tom Kelly
television = KMSP-TV
(John Rooney, Harmon Killebrew)
Twinsvision
(Dick Bremer, Frank Quilici)
radio = 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)|The 1987 Minnesota Twins won the World Series for the first time since moving from Washington in 1961, marking the second time that the franchise had won the World Series. (The Washington Senators had won it in 1924.) Manager Tom Kelly managed the rare feat of winning the World Series in his first full season as manager.

Offseason

*November 12, 1986: The Twins traded a player to be named later to the New York Mets for Ron Gardenhire. The Twins completed the trade by sending Dominic Iasparro (minors) to the Mets on April 4, 1987. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gardero01.shtml Ron Gardenhire page on Baseball Reference] ]
*January 9, 1987: Juan Berenguer was signed as a free agent by the Twins. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gardero01.shtml Juan Berenguer page on Baseball Reference] ]
*February 3, 1987: Neal Heaton, Yorkis Perez, Jeff Reed and minor leaguer Al Cardwood were traded by the Twins to the Montreal Expos for Jeff Reardon and Tom Nieto. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/reardje01.shtml Jeff Reardon page at Baseball Reference] ]
*February 20, 1987: Minor leaguer Mike Shade was traded by the Twins to the Montreal Expos for Al Newman.
*February 24, 1987: Billy Sample was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Twins. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/samplbi01.shtml Billy Sample page on Baseball Reference] ]

Regular season

The Twins were 85-77, first in the American League West. The team had one of the lowest winning percentages ever for a World Series champion, at .525. It also had the remarkably bad road record of 29-52 (.358 percentage). Fortunately for the team, the Twins played in the weak American League West Division, where first and last place were separated by only ten games. 2,081,976 fans attended Twins games, the sixth highest total in the American League.

Only one Twin made the All-Star Game, outfielder Kirby Puckett. The highest paid player was Kent Hrbek at $1,310,000; followed by Bert Blyleven at $1,150,000.

1987 was the first year the Twins started using their modernized logos and uniforms, which are still in use today.

Joe Niekro, a pitcher for the Twins, was suspended for 10 games when umpire Steve Palermo discovered a nail file in his pocket. Niekro said he was filing his nails in the dugout, but American League president Dr. Bobby Brown didn't believe him, and ordered the suspension.

*The Homer Hanky was introduced for the first time in 1987.

Offense

This was the last year for a long time that the Twins were stocked with power hitters. In particular, Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, and Tom Brunansky combined to hit 125 home runs. (The team as a whole hit 196.) Hrbek, Gaetti, and Brunansky each surpassed 30 home runs, a number that no Twin would reach until Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter in 2006.

Kirby Puckett led the AL with 207 hits.

Player stats

Batting

"Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In"

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Postseason

See 1987 American League Championship Series and 1987 World Series.

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1987.shtml Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1987&t=MIN Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline_article2.jsp The 1987 Twins, from www.mlb.com.]
* [http://shrpsports.com/mlb/stand/1987finaldiv.htm 1987 Standings]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/1987TwinsWorldSeries A set of 10 audio clips of plays from the World Series with the Cardinals]

succession box
title = AL West Championship Season
years = 1987
before = California Angels
1986
after = Oakland Athletics
1988succession box
title = American League Championship
years = 1987
before =Boson Red Sox
1986
after = Oakland Athletics
1988succession box
title = World Series Champions
Minnesota Twins
years = 1987
before = New York Mets
1986
after = Los Angeles Dodgers
1988