1981 Minnesota Twins season

1981 Minnesota Twins
combined 41-68, seventh in the AL Western Division
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Metropolitan Stadium (since 1961)
Bloomington, Minnesota (since 1961)
Other information
Owner(s)	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s)	Calvin Griffith
Manager(s)	Johnny Goryl, Billy Gardner
Local television	KMSP-TV (Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman)
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
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The 1981 Minnesota Twins finished a combined 41-68, seventh in the American League West. In the strike split season, the Twins were 17-39, seventh place in the first half and 24-29, fourth place in the second half. 469,090 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was also their 21st and final season at Metropolitan Stadium, before moving their home games to the Metrodome the next season. The franchise would not play another outdoor home game until 2010, when Target Field opened.

Offseason

December 8, 1980: Dave Edwards was traded by the Twins to the San Diego Padres for Chuck Baker.^[1]
December 8, 1980: Jack O'Connor was drafted by the Twins from the Montreal Expos in the rule 5 draft.^[2]
December 12, 1980: Willie Norwood was traded by the Twins to the Seattle Mariners for Byron McLaughlin.^[3]
March 27, 1981: Bombo Rivera was released by the Twins.^[4]
March 30, 1981: Ken Landreaux was traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mickey Hatcher, Kelly Snider (minors), and Matt Reeves (minors).^[5]

Regular season

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: relief pitcher Doug Corbett.

On August 24, first baseman Kent Hrbek made his major league debut, in a Yankee Stadium game. His twelfth-inning home run beat the Yankees 3-2. Later that week, Herbie was topped by catcher Tim Laudner, who debuted on August 28 and hit home runs in his first two games.

On September 20, Gary Gaetti made his major league debut and started at third base for the Twins. In his first at bat in the second inning, he homered off Texas Rangers pitcher Charlie Hough to become the third Twin to homer in his first-ever at bat. Gaetti joined Rick Renick (1968) and Dave McKay (1975). Later, Andre David (1984) and Eddie Rosario (2015) will join the trio in Twins history.

The Twins played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on September 30, losing 5-2 to the Kansas City Royals. The club played their last outdoor home game for the next twenty-eight seasons in 56-degree temperature in front of 15,900 fans. "The Met" had been the Twins' home since their Minnesota opener on April 21, 1961 (also a loss). Gary Ward had the final Twins hit in the Met, a single in the ninth inning. Pete Mackanin homered in the second for the final Twins Met Stadium home run.

Offense

John Castino batted .268 with 6 HR and 37 RBI. Shortstop Roy Smalley had 7 HR and collected 22 RBI.

**Team Leaders**
Statistic	Player	Quantity
HR	Roy Smalley	7
RBI	Mickey Hatcher	37
BA	John Castino	.268
Runs	Gary Ward	42

Pitching

Reliever Doug Corbett was the Twins' only bright spot on the mound, racking up 17 saves.

**Team Leaders**
Statistic	Player	Quantity
ERA	Fernando Arroyo	3.93
Wins	Pete Redfern	9
Saves	Doug Corbett	17
Strikeouts	Pete Redfern	77

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	64	45	0.587	—	35–21	29–24
Texas Rangers	57	48	0.543	5	32–24	25–24
Chicago White Sox	54	52	0.509	8½	25–24	29–28
Kansas City Royals	50	53	0.485	11	19–28	31–25
California Angels	51	59	0.464	13½	26–28	25–31
Seattle Mariners	44	65	0.404	20	20–37	24–28
Minnesota Twins	41	68	0.376	23	24–36	17–32

AL West First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Oakland Athletics	37	23	.617
Texas Rangers	33	22	.600
Chicago White Sox	31	22	.585
California Angels	31	29	.517
Kansas City Royals	20	30	.400
Seattle Mariners	21	36	.368
Minnesota Twins	17	39	.304

AL West Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Kansas City Royals	30	23	.566
Oakland Athletics	27	22	.551
Texas Rangers	24	26	.480
Minnesota Twins	24	29	.453
Seattle Mariners	23	29	.442
Chicago White Sox	23	30	.434
California Angels	20	30	.400

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Notable transactions

June 8, 1981: Frank Viola was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
August 23, 1981: Ron Jackson was traded by the Twins to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Tim Corcoran to the Twins on September 4.^[7]
August 30, 1981: Jerry Koosman was traded by the Twins to the Chicago White Sox for Ivan Mesa (minors), Ronnie Perry (minors), a player to be named later, and cash. The White Sox completed the trade by sending Randy Johnson to the Twins on September 2.^[8]

Roster

1981 Minnesota Twins

Roster

Pitchers

30 Fernando Arroyo

34 Don Cooper

23 Doug Corbett

19 Roger Erickson

21 Terry Felton

39,27 Brad Havens

40 John Hobbs

15,31 Darrell Jackson

36 Jerry Koosman

33 Jack O'Connor

17 Pete Redfern

22 John Verhoeven

35 Bob Veselic

28 Albert Williams

Catchers

11 Sal Butera

15 Tim Laudner

18 Ray Smith

16 Butch Wynegar

Infielders

24 Chuck Baker

2 John Castino

1 Tim Corcoran

12,21 Lenny Faedo

39 Gary Gaetti

25 Danny Goodwin

26 Kent Hrbek

15 Ron Jackson

14 Pete Mackanin

5 Roy Smalley

38 Ron Washington

7 Rob Wilfong

Outfielders

51,20 Dave Engle

4 Mark Funderburk

44,9 Mickey Hatcher

21 Greg Johnston

10 Hosken Powell

12 Rick Sofield

32 Gary Ward

Other batters

8 Glenn Adams

Manager

42 Billy Gardner

45 Johnny Goryl

Coaches

42 Billy Gardner

41 Karl Kuehl

Jim Lemon

46 Johnny Podres

43 Rick Stelmaszek

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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
3B	Castino, JohnJohn Castino	101	381	102	.268	6	36
SS	Smalley, RoyRoy Smalley	56	167	44	.263	7	22
LF	Ward, GaryGary Ward	85	295	78	.264	3	29
CF	Hatcher, MickeyMickey Hatcher	99	377	96	.255	3	37

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jackson, RonRon Jackson	54	175	46	.263	4	28
Baker, ChuckChuck Baker	40	66	12	.182	0	6
Corcoran, TimTim Corcoran	22	51	9	.176	0	4
Faedo, LennyLenny Faedo	12	41	8	.195	0	6

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Williams, AlbertAlbert Williams	23	150	6	10	4.08	76
Redfern, PetePete Redfern	24	141.2	9	8	4.07	77
Arroyo, FernandoFernando Arroyo	23	128.1	7	10	3.93	39
Koosman, JerryJerry Koosman	19	94.1	3	9	4.20	55
Erickson, RogerRoger Erickson	14	91.1	3	8	3.84	44

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Jackson, DarrellDarrell Jackson	14	32.2	3	3	4.41	26

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Corbett, DougDoug Corbett	54	2	6	17	2.57	60
O'Connor, JackJack O'Connor	28	3	2	0	5.86	16
Cooper, DonDon Cooper	27	1	5	0	4.30	33

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Cal Ermer
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Tom Kelly
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Dick Phillips
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Ken Staples
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Fred Waters

Notes

References

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

1981 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1981 MLB draft 1981 All-Star Game 1981 strike 1981 World Series

Minnesota Twins

Formerly the Washington Nationals and the Washington Senators
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Twin Cities)

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring Training: Plant Field
Tinker Field
Hammond Stadium

Culture

Homer Hanky
Little Big League
Major League: Back to the Minors
Continental League
"The Piranhas"
AL Central tie-breaker games
- 2008
- 2009
Damn Yankees

Important figures

Senators Hall of Famers	Herb Carneal Goose Goslin Bucky Harris Walter Johnson Arch McDonald Sam Rice

Wall of Fame members	Rick Aguilera Bob Allison Earl Battey Bert Blyleven George Brophy Rod Carew Bob Casey Gary Gaetti Calvin Griffith Kent Hrbek Jim Kaat Tom Kelly Harmon Killebrew Tony Oliva Carl Pohlad Kirby Puckett Brad Radke Jim Rantz Zoilo Versalles Frank Viola

Key personnel

Owner Jim Pohlad
President Dave St. Peter
Vice president/Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey
General manager Thad Levine
Manager Paul Molitor

World Series
championships (3)

Pennants (6)

American League: 1924
1925
1933
1965
1987
1991

Division titles (10)

West: 1969; 1970; 1987; 1991
Central: 2002; 2003; 2004; 2006; 2009; 2010

Minor league affiliates

Triple-A: Rochester Red Wings
Double-A: Chattanooga Lookouts
A Adv.: Fort Myers Miracle
A: Cedar Rapids Kernels
Rookie Adv.: Elizabethton Twins
Rookie: GCL Twins; DSL Twins

Seasons (117)

1900s	1900 . 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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