1975 Minnesota Twins season

The 1975 Minnesota Twins finished 76–83, fourth in the American League West.

1975 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersFrank Quilici
TelevisionWTCN
(Larry Calton, Joe Boyle, Ray Scott)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Larry Calton)
← 1974 Seasons 1976 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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Having released Harmon Killebrew during the off-season, owner Calvin Griffith devised "Harmon Killebrew Day" as a promotion for the slugger's return with his new club, the Kansas City Royals. On Sunday, May 4, DH Killebrew greeted the crowd of just 14,805 with a first-inning home run. In the fifth inning, Minnesota pitcher Jim Hughes hit Harmon with a pitch.

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, second baseman Rod Carew. Only 737,156 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League.

On August 22, Dave McKay debuted in the majors as the starting third baseman for the Twins. In his first at bat leading off the third inning, he homered off Detroit's Vern Ruhle. Only one other Twin had homered in his first at bat – Rick Renick in 1968. The duo will be joined in history by Gary Gaetti (1981), Andre David (1984) and Eddie Rosario (2015), who homers on the first major-league pitch thrown to him.

Carew won his fifth AL batting title with a .359 average. Three pitchers had double digit wins: Jim Hughes (16–14), Bert Blyleven (15–10), and Dave Goltz (14–14).

Season standings

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 98 64 .605 54‍–‍27 44‍–‍37
Kansas City Royals 91 71 .562 7 51‍–‍30 40‍–‍41
Texas Rangers 79 83 .488 19 39‍–‍41 40‍–‍42
Minnesota Twins 76 83 .478 20½ 39‍–‍43 37‍–‍40
Chicago White Sox 75 86 .466 22½ 42‍–‍39 33‍–‍47
California Angels 72 89 .447 25½ 35‍–‍46 37‍–‍43

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore 9–9 6–6 7–4 10–8 12–4 7–5 14–4 6–6 8–10 4–8 7–5
Boston 9–9 6–6 8–4 7–11 13–5 7–5 10–8 10–2 11–5 6–6 8–4
California 6–6 6–6 9–9 3–9 6–5 4–14 7–5 8–10 7–5 7–11 9–9
Chicago 4–7 4–8 9–9 7–5 5–7 9–9 8–4 9–9 6–6 9–9 5–13
Cleveland 8–10 11–7 9–3 5–7 12–6 6–6 9–9 3–6 9–9 2–10 5–7
Detroit 4–12 5–13 5–6 7–5 6–12 6–6 7–11 4–8 6–12 6–6 1–11
Kansas City 5–7 5–7 14–4 9–9 6–6 6–6 7–5 11–7 7–5 11–7 14–4
Milwaukee 4–14 8–10 5–7 4–8 9–9 11–7 5–7 2–10 9–9 5–7 6–6
Minnesota 6–6 2–10 10–8 9–9 6–3 8–4 7–11 10–2 4–8 6–12 8–10
New York 10–8 5–11 5–7 6–6 9–9 12–6 5–7 9–9 8–4 6–6 8–4
Oakland 8–4 6–6 11–7 9–9 10–2 6–6 11–7 7–5 12–6 6–6 12–6
Texas 5–7 4–8 9–9 13–5 7–5 11–1 4–14 6–6 10–8 4–8 6–12


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1975 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Glenn Borgmann 125 352 73 .207 2 33
1B Johnny Briggs 87 264 61 .231 7 39
2B Rod Carew 143 535 192 .359 14 80
SS Danny Thompson 112 355 96 .270 5 37
3B Eric Soderholm 117 419 120 .286 11 58
LF Steve Braun 136 453 137 .302 11 45
CF Dan Ford 130 440 123 .280 15 59
RF Lyman Bostock 98 369 104 .282 0 29
DH Tony Oliva 131 455 123 .270 13 58

Other batters

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jerry Terrell 108 385 110 .286 1 36
Larry Hisle 80 255 80 .314 11 51
Steve Brye 86 246 62 .252 9 34
Bobby Darwin 48 169 37 .219 5 18
Craig Kusick 57 156 37 .237 6 27
Tom Kelly 49 127 23 .181 1 11
Phil Roof 63 126 38 .302 7 21
Dave McKay 33 125 32 .256 2 16
Sergio Ferrer 32 81 20 .247 0 2
Luis Gómez 89 72 10 .139 0 5
Danny Walton 42 63 11 .175 1 8
Mike Poepping 14 37 5 .135 0 1
Tom Lundstedt 18 28 3 .107 0 1

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bert Blyleven 35 275.2 15 10 3.00 233
Jim Hughes 37 249.2 16 14 3.82 130
Dave Goltz 32 243.0 14 14 3.67 128
Eddie Bane 4 28.1 3 1 2.86 14

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Vic Albury 32 135.0 6 7 4.53 72
Ray Corbin 18 89.2 5 7 5.12 49
Bill Butler 23 81.2 5 4 5.95 55
Mark Wiley 15 38.2 1 3 6.05 15
Joe Decker 10 26.1 1 3 8.54 8
Mike Pazik 5 19.2 0 4 8.24 8

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Tom Burgmeier 46 5 8 11 3.09 41
Bill Campbell 47 4 6 5 3.79 76
Tom Johnson 18 1 2 3 4.19 17

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Twins Pacific Coast League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Dick Phillips
A Reno Silver Sox California League Harry Warner
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Johnny Goryl
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Notes

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References

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  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
  • Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com