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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando

Notes

1. Dave Edwards page at Baseball Reference
2. Jack O'Connor page at Baseball Reference
3. Willie Norwood page at Baseball Reference
4. Bombo Rivera page at Baseball Reference
5. Ken Landreaux page at Baseball Reference
6. Frank Viola page at Baseball Reference
7. Ron Jackson page at Baseball Reference
8. Jerry Koosman page at Baseball Reference

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