1967 Minnesota Twins season

1967 Minnesota Twins
91–71, second in the American League
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General manager(s) Calvin Griffith
Manager(s) Sam Mele, Cal Ermer
Local television WTCN-TV
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Merle Harmon)
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The 1967 Minnesota Twins finished 91–73, tied for second in the American League with the Detroit Tigers. The Twins had a one-game lead with two games remaining, but lost both games to the Boston Red Sox in the season's final days. 1,483,547 fans attended Twins games, the second highest total in the American League.

Offseason

Regular season

With a second-place finish in 1966, the Twins appeared poised to contend in 1967. However, at the end of May, they were in sixth place (in a ten team league), with 20 wins and 22 losses.[2] One week later, owner Calvin Griffith fired manager Sam Mele, who had guided the club to a pennant in 1965. He was replaced by Cal Ermer, who had been managing the Twins AAA farm club in Denver.[3]

On May 21, César Tovar became the first Twin to have a four-extra-base day hitting.

The Twins continued to play .500 ball until late June, when Minnesota reeled off an eight-game winning streak. At the all star break, they had risen to third place, two and one half games behind the league leading Chicago White Sox.

On July 26, pitcher Jim Merritt set a club record, pitching the first thirteen innings (and taking a no-decision) in an 18-inning win over the New York Yankees. Facing 46 batters, he allowed just two runs.

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, who led the team with 44 HR and 113 RBI; second baseman Rod Carew, the AL Rookie of the Year; outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Dean Chance, a 20-game winner in 1967.

After a brief slump in late July, the Twins began the month of August by winning 15 of 20 games, including a three-game sweep of the White Sox, which put them in first place on August 13. From that point on, they remained in first place, or never more than two games out of it.

Twins pitcher Dean Chance threw the club's second no-hitter on August 25. Earlier in the month, he pitched a perfect five innings on August 6 -- but the game was called for rain and ultimately not counted. On July 28, Chance got his first hit as a Minnesota Twin after going 0 for 53 since arriving from the California Angels.[4]

On September 14, outfielder Walt Bond died of leukemia. Bond had been diagnosed with the disease several years earlier, but it had gone into remission.[5] He started the season with the Twins and played in 10 games before being removed from the active roster. His final game was on May 7.

With one day left in the regular season, Minnesota was tied for first place with the Boston Red Sox, with the Detroit Tigers just a half game behind them. The two first place teams were scheduled to play one another in Fenway Park, while the Tigers were to meet the California Angels in a doubleheader. Dean Chance threw five scoreless innings and the Twins scored unearned runs in the first and third inning to take a 2–0 lead. However, in the sixth inning, things fell apart for the Twins as the Red Sox took advantage of four consecutive singles, two wild pitches, and an error to score five runs.[6] Minnesota mustered only one more run, and lost the game and their chance for a second league championship in three years. The Tigers won their first game, but lost their second, and Boston earned the American League pennant.

Utilityman César Tovar set an American League record by playing in 164 games this season. Pitcher Jim Kaat won his sixth Gold Glove Award.

Season standings

American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 92 70 0.568 — 49–32 43–38
Detroit Tigers 91 71 0.562 1 52–29 39–42
Minnesota Twins 91 71 0.562 1 52–29 39–42
Chicago White Sox 89 73 0.549 3 49–33 40–40
California Angels 84 77 0.522 7½ 53–30 31–47
Washington Senators 76 85 0.472 15½ 40–40 36–45
Baltimore Orioles 76 85 0.472 15½ 35–42 41–43
Cleveland Indians 75 87 0.463 17 36–45 39–42
New York Yankees 72 90 0.444 20 43–38 29–52
Kansas City Athletics 62 99 0.385 29½ 37–44 25–55

Record vs. opponents

1967 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY WSH
Baltimore — 10–8 6–11 7–11 9–9 3–15 10–8 8–10 13–5 10–8
Boston 8–10 — 10–8 8–10 13–5 11–7 12–6 7–11 12–6 11–7
California 11–6 8–10 — 7–11 14–4 8–10 14–4 7–11 9–9 6–12
Chicago 11–7 10–8 11–7 — 12–6 8–10 8–10 9–9 12–6 8–10
Cleveland 9–9 5–13 4–14 6–12 — 8–10 11–7 10–8 9–9 13–5
Detroit 15–3 7–11 10–8 10–8 10–8 — 12–6 8–10–1 10–8 9–9
Kansas City 8–10 6–12 4–14 10–8 7–11 6–12 — 8–10 7–11 6–11
Minnesota 10–8 11–7 11–7 9–9 8–10 10–8–1 10–8 — 12–6–1 10–8
New York 5–13 6–12 9–9 6–12 9–9 8–10 11–7 6–12–1 — 12–6
Washington 8–10 7–11 12–6 10–8 5–13 9–9 11–6 8–10 6–12 —

Notable transactions

Roster

1967 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
C Zimmerman, JerryJerry Zimmerman 104 234 39 .167 1 12
1B Killebrew, HarmonHarmon Killebrew 163 547 147 .269 44 113
2B Carew, RodRod Carew 137 514 150 .292 8 51
SS Versalles, ZoiloZoilo Versalles 160 581 116 .200 6 50
3B Rollins, RichRich Rollins 109 339 83 .245 6 39
LF Allison, BobBob Allison 153 496 128 .258 24 75
CF Uhlaender, TedTed Uhlaender 133 415 107 .258 6 49
RF Oliva, TonyTony Oliva 146 557 161 .289 17 83

Other batters

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
Tovar, CésarCésar Tovar 164 649 173 .267 6 47
Nixon, RussRuss Nixon 74 170 40 .235 1 22
Battey, EarlEarl Battey 48 109 18 .165 0 8
Reese, RichRich Reese 95 101 25 .248 4 20
Valdespino, SandySandy Valdespino 99 97 16 .165 1 3
Clark, RonRon Clark 20 60 10 .167 2 11
Hernández, JackieJackie Hernández 29 28 4 .143 0 3
Bond, WaltWalt Bond 10 16 5 .313 1 5
Kelly, PatPat Kelly 8 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Chance, DeanDean Chance 41 283.2 20 14 2.73 220
Kaat, JimJim Kaat 42 263.1 16 13 3.04 211
Merritt, JimJim Merritt 37 227.2 13 7 2.53 161
Boswell, DaveDave Boswell 37 222.2 14 12 3.27 204

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Perry, JimJim Perry 37 130.2 8 7 3.03 94
Grant, MudcatMudcat Grant 27 95.1 5 6 4.72 50

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Worthington, AlAl Worthington 59 8 9 16 2.84 80
Kline, RonRon Kline 54 7 1 5 3.77 36
Siebler, DwightDwight Siebler 2 0 0 0 3.00 0
Nelson, MelMel Nelson 1 0 0 0 54.00 0

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Denver Bears Pacific Coast League Cal Ermer and Johnny Goryl
AA Charlotte Hornets Southern League Harry Warner
A Wilson Tobs Carolina League Vern Morgan
A Orlando Twins Florida State League Ralph Rowe
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Ray Bellino
A-Short Season Auburn Twins New York–Penn League Tom Umphlett
A-Short Season St. Cloud Rox Northern League Ken Staples
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn, St. Cloud

Notes

  1. ↑ Bernie Allen at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ 1967 Minnesota Twins game log at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Cal Ermer at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball=Reference.com. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  5. ↑ The Hardball Times article on Walt Bond
  6. ↑ Boston Red Sox 5, Minnesota Twins 3
  7. ↑ Mike Sadek at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Steve Luebber at Baseball Reference

References

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