Puneet Varma (Editor)

1986 Minnesota Twins season

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Owner(s)
  
Carl Pohlad

Manager(s)
  
Ray Miller, Tom Kelly

General manager(s)
  
Andy MacPhail

Local television
  
KMSP-TV (Bob Kurtz, Harmon Killebrew)

Local radio
  
830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Joe Angel)

The 1986 Minnesota Twins finished a 71-91, sixth in the AL West. 1,255,453 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League.

Contents

Offseason

  • December 20, 1985: Rick Lysander was released by the Twins.
  • January 7, 1986: Ken Schrom and Bryan Oelkers were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Roy Smith and Ramón Romero.
  • January 14, 1986: Jarvis Brown was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed May 23, 1986.
  • January 16, 1986: Tim Teufel and Pat Crosby (minors) were traded by the Twins to the New York Mets for Billy Beane, Joe Klink and Bill Latham.
  • January 16, 1986: Dave Engel was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Pittaro and Alejandro Sánchez.
  • March 31, 1986: Mike Hart was traded by the Twins to the Baltimore Orioles for Ben Bianchi (minors), Steve Padia (minors), and a player to be named later. The Orioles completed the deal by sending Jeff Hubbard (minors) to the Twins on April 23.

    • Regular season

    On May 30, Roy Smalley homered from both sides of the plate, the first Twin to do so.

    Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, outfielder Kirby Puckett.

    On August 1, Puckett hit for the cycle, the only time he'd do so in his major league career. Going triple, double, single, homer, he became the seventh Twin in history to cycle. On the same night, pitcher Bert Blyleven struck out Oakland's Mike Davis to notch his 3000th strikeout. Only eight other pitchers had reached that plateau.

    After a disappointing start, manager Ray Miller was replaced by Tom Kelly on September 12.

    In a game against the Chicago White Sox held on October 4, Greg Gagne of the Twins hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game. Pitcher Bert Blyleven was on the mound for the Twins; the last time a batter had hit two inside-the-park homers in one game, it was Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox on July 31, 1972, and his homers were hit off Blyleven.

    Also on October 4, Blyleven allowed his 50th home run of the season (to Chicago's Daryl Boston) to set a major league record. (When he serves up 46 in 1987, he'll set another record with 96 homers allowed over consecutive seasons.)

    Offense

    Kirby Puckett, switched from leadoff to third in the batting order, blasted 31 HR drove in 96 runs and scored 119. Kent Hrbek hit .267 with 29 HR and 91 RBI. Tom Brunansky hit 23 HR and 75 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .287 with 34 HR and 108 RBI. With Roy Smalley's 20 home runs, five players reached 20 homers this season, the first time that's happened since six players topped 20 in 1964.

    Pitching

    The Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (16-13), Bert Blyleven (17-14), and Mike Smithson (13-14). Reliever Keith Atherton had 10 saves.

    Defense

    Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their first Gold Glove Award. They were the first Twins to win a gold glove since Jim Kaat in 1973.

    Notable transactions

  • April 8, 1986: Houston Jiménez was released by the Twins.
  • May 20, 1986: Keith Atherton was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later and cash. The Minnesota Twins sent Eric Broersma (minors) (May 23, 1986) to the Oakland Athletics to complete the trade.
  • June 2, 1986: Derek Parks was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.
  • June 20, 1986: John Butcher was traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Neal Heaton.

    • 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

    References

    1986 Minnesota Twins season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA