Puneet Varma (Editor)

1971 Minnesota Twins season

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General manager(s)
  
Calvin Griffith

Manager(s)
  
Bill Rigney

Owner(s)
  
Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)

Local television
  
WTCN-TV (Halsey Hall, Frank Buetel, Bob Allison)

Local radio
  
830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Ray Christensen)

The 1971 Minnesota Twins finished 74–86, fifth in the American League West. 940,858 fans attended Twins games, the fifth highest total in the American League, the first time the Twins failed to attract over one million fans since moving to Minnesota.

Contents

Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, shortstop Leo Cárdenas, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry.

On August 10, at Metropolitan Stadium, slugger Harmon Killebrew hit his 500th career home run, in the first inning off the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. He followed that in the sixth inning with his 501st, also off Cuellar.

Lead off batter César Tovar led the AL with 204 hits and was second with 94 runs. Tony Oliva won his third batting title with a .337 average and led the AL with a .546 slugging percentage. Harmon Killebrew hit 28 HR and 119 RBI. Rod Carew hit .307.

Jim Perry (17–17), Bert Blyleven (16–15), and Jim Kaat (13–14) were the Twins' best pitchers. Kaat won his tenth Gold Glove Award.

Shortstop Leo Cárdenas topped the AL with a .985 fielding percentage—the highest for an American League shortstop since records began in 1901.

Notable transactions

  • April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell was released by the Twins.
  • June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
  • Dave Edwards was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round.
  • Future NFL quarterback Joe Theismann was drafted by the Twins in the 39th round.
  • Glenn Borgmann was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the secondary phase.
  • July 8, 1971: Paul Ratliff was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for Phil Roof.

    • Starters by position

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

    Other batters

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

    Starting pitchers

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

    Other pitchers

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

    Relief pitchers

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

    Awards and honors

  • Harmon Killebrew, Lou Gehrig Award

    • Farm system

    LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte, St. Cloud

    References

    1971 Minnesota Twins season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA