2002 Minnesota Twins season

2002 Minnesota Twins
AL Central champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Carl Pohlad
General manager(s) Terry Ryan
Manager(s) Ron Gardenhire
Local television KSTC-TV
Fox Sports Minnesota
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
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After facing contraction talks at the previous winter meeting, and coming out of a second-place finish in the AL Central with a pitching staff with only two players with an ERA under 4.0, the 2002 Minnesota Twins won their division and made it to the 2002 American League Championship Series (ALCS) with the youngest team in the league, and with a new manager, Ron Gardenhire. The Twins had a solid first half of the season (45–36), but had a better second half (49–31), which led them to being the division champions.

New Alternate Logos

For the 2002 season, the Twins adopted a secondary logo based on those used from 1970 to 1986, with twins (one representing Minneapolis and the other St. Paul) shaking hands while standing by the river which separates the two cities. The logo also features the team's primary logo, replacing the "Win Twins!" baseball used in the 1976–1986 version.

The season also marked the revival of the "TC" cap logo, which had last been used as such in 1986.

Offseason

Regular season

Offense

No player hit 30 home runs or drove in 100 RBIs, but many players enjoyed solid seasons. Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones hit 29 and 27 home runs, respectively, while designated hitter David Ortiz battled injuries and hit 20. Catcher A. J. Pierzynski had a good year for a catcher, hitting .300. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz saw his average drop significantly from the prior year, from .306 to .261. Third baseman Corey Koskie had a subpar year offensively, shortstop Cristian Guzmán was average, and second baseman Luis Rivas was not strong. The Twins enjoyed solid production out of the right field spot, whether the position was manned by opening day starter Brian Buchanan, Dustan Mohr, Bobby Kielty, or Michael Cuddyer.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Torii Hunter 29
RBI Torii Hunter 94
BA Jacque Jones .300
Runs Jacque Jones 96

Pitching

The starting rotation resembled a tubercular ward. Brad Radke, Eric Milton, and Joe Mays suffered serious injuries, requiring Rick Reed to carry the starting rotation. He was able to fulfill this role, going 9-2 in the second half. For inexplicable reasons, manager Ron Gardenhire resisted putting Johan Santana into the starter role until he was forced to by injuries. Santana started only 14 games, but quickly established himself as a dominant starting pitcher, posting an 8-6 record, 2.99 ERA, and a team-leading 137 strikeouts. Kyle Lohse enjoyed his only solid year as a starter, going 13-8 with a 4.23 ERA. Matt Kinney also made 12 starts. Eddie Guardado excelled in his first full year as the team's closer, earning 45 saves, while J. C. Romero, LaTroy Hawkins, and Mike Jackson had strong years as set-up men. Tony Fiore had a bafflingly strong year out of the bullpen, going 10-3 with an ERA of 3.16.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Rick Reed 3.78
Wins Rick Reed 15
Saves Eddie Guardado 45
Strikeouts Johan Santana 137

Defense

A. J. Pierzynski was the team's all-star starting catcher, backed up by Tom Prince. Doug Mientkiewicz followed up his Gold Glove year with another superb year defensively. Unfortunately, his relatively weak hitting in 2002 may have prevented him from winning a second consecutive Gold Glove award, as it went to John Olerud. The rest of the infield was defensively solid, with Luis Rivas at second, Cristian Guzmán at short, and Corey Koskie at third. In the outfield, two-thirds of the "Soul Patrol" remained, with Jacque Jones in left and Torii Hunter in center. (This would be Hunter's second consecutive Gold Glove year.) Right field was a question mark, with Brian Buchanan not lasting long after being the opening day right fielder. The void was filled for most of the season by the platoon of Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty, known collectively by fans as "Dusty Kielmohr". However, Dusty Kielmohr gave way to Michael Cuddyer for the post-season run.

Season standings

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 94 67 0.584 — 54–27 40–40
Chicago White Sox 81 81 0.500 13½ 47–34 34–47
Cleveland Indians 74 88 0.457 20½ 39–42 35–46
Kansas City Royals 62 100 0.383 32½ 37–44 25–56
Detroit Tigers 55 106 0.342 39 33–47 22–59

Record vs. opponents

2002 American League Records

Sources:

Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim — 7–2 3–4 6–3 6–3 8–1 6–3 4–5 3–4 9–11 9–10 8–1 12–7 7–2 11–7
Baltimore 2–7 — 6–13 3–4 1–5 2–4 7–0 5–1 6–13 4–5 5–4 10–9 3–6 4–15 9–9
Boston 4–3 13–6 — 2–4 5–4 5–4 4–2 3–3 9–10 6–3 4–5 16–3 4–3 13–6 5–13
Chicago 3–6 4–3 4–2 — 9–10 12–7 11–8 8–11 2–4 2–7 5–4 4–3 5–4 4–2 8–10
Cleveland 3–6 5–1 4–5 10–9 — 10–9 9–10 8–11 3–6 2–5 3–4 4–2 4–5 3–3 6–12
Detroit 1–8 4–2 4–5 7–12 9–10 — 9–10 4–14 1–8 1–6 2–5 2–4 5–4 0–6 6–12
Kansas City 3–6 0–7 2–4 8–11 10–9 10–9 — 5–14 1–5 1–8 3–6 4–2 7–2 3–4 5–13
Minnesota 5–4 1–5 3–3 11–8 11–8 14–4 14–5 — 0–6 3–6 5–4 5–2 6–3 6–1 10–8
New York 4–3 13–6 10–9 4–2 6–3 8–1 5–1 6–0 — 5–4 4–5 13–5 4–3 10–9 11–7
Oakland 11–9 5–4 3–6 7–2 5–2 6–1 8–1 6–3 4–5 — 8–11 8–1 13–6 3–6 16–2
Seattle 10–9 4–5 5–4 4–5 4–3 5–2 6–3 4–5 5–4 11–8 — 5–4 13–7 6–3 11–7
Tampa Bay 1–8 9–10 3–16 3–4 2–4 4–2 2–4 2–5 5–13 1–8 4–5 — 4–5 8–11 7–11
Texas 7–12 6–3 3–4 4–5 5–4 4–5 2–7 3–6 3–4 6–13 7–13 5–4 — 8–1 9–9
Toronto 2–7 15–4 6–13 2–4 3–3 6–0 4–3 1–6 9–10 6–3 3–6 11–8 1–8 — 9–9

Notable transactions

Roster

2002 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
CF Torii Hunter 148 561 162 .289 29 94

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
Brian Buchanan 44 135 34 .252 5 15
Michael Cuddyer 41 112 29 .259 4 13
David Lamb 7 10 1 .100 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Rick Reed 33 188 15 7 3.78 121

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Juan Rincón 10 28.2 0 2 6.28 21

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Eddie Guardado 68 1 3 45 2.93 70
Mike Jackson 58 2 3 0 3.27 29
Jack Cressend 23 0 1 0 5.91 22
Kevin Frederick 8 0 0 0 10.03 5
Mike Trombley 5 0 1 0 15.75 3
José Rodríguez 4 0 1 0 14.73 1

Post Season

The Twins made it to the ALCS, beating the Oakland Athletics in the Divisional series. They then lost to the eventual World Series Champions, the Anaheim Angels.

Divisional Series

The Twins won game one at Oakland before losing two straight including one at home. The Twins rebounded, and won the final two games to win the series and move on to face Anaheim in the ALCS.

Game One

October 1, at Oakland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 012 003 100 7133
Oakland 320 000 000 5120
W: Brad Radke (1-0)  L: Ted Lilly (0-1)  SV: Eddie Guardado (1)  
HRs: MIN – Corey Koskie (1), Doug Mientkiewicz (1)

Game Two

October 2, at Oakland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 000 001 000 170
Oakland 300 510 000 9140
W: Mark Mulder (1-0)  L: Joe Mays (0-1)  
HRs: OAK – Eric Chavez (1),MIN – Cristian Guzmán (1)

Game Three

October 4, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 200 101 200 691
Minnesota 000 12 0000 380
W: Barry Zito (1-0)  L: Rick Reed (0-1)  
HRs: OAK – Ray Durham (1), Scott Hatteberg (1), Terrence Long (1), Jermaine Dye, (1)

Game Four

October 5, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 002 000 000 272
Minnesota 002 700 20X 11120
W: Eric Milton (1-0)  L: Tim Hudson (0-1)  
HRs: OAK – Miguel Tejada (1),MIN – Doug Mientkiewicz (2)

Game Five

October 6, at Oakland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 011 000 003 5120
Oakland 100 000 003 4110
W: Brad Radke (2-0)  L: Mark Mulder (1-1)  
HRs: OAK – Ray Durham (2), Mark Ellis (1) MIN – AJ Pierzynski (1)

ALCS

The Twins won the first game at home vs. the Angels, before losing the next four in a row, allowing the Angels to move on to the World Series, who won the Series in seven games against the San Francisco Giants.

Game One

October 8, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim 001 000 000 140
Minnesota 010 010 00X 251
W: Joe Mays (1-0)  L: Kevin Appier (0-1)  SV: Eddie Guardado (1)
HRs: None

Game Two

October 9, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim 130 002 000 6100
Minnesota 000 003 000 3111
W: Ramón Ortiz (1-0)  L: Rick Reed (0-1)  SV: Troy Percival (1)
HRs: ANA – Darin Erstad (1), Brad Fullmer (1)

Game Three

October 11, at Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 000 000 100 160
Anaheim 010 000 01X 272
W: Francisco Rodríguez (1-0)  L: J. C. Romero (0-1)  SV: Troy Percival (2)
HRs: ANA – Garret Anderson (1), Troy Glaus (1)

Game Four

October 12, at Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 000 000 001 162
Anaheim 000 000 25X 7100
W: John Lackey (1-0)  L: Brad Radke (0-1)  
HRs: None

Game Five

October 13, at Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 110 000 300 590
Anaheim 001 020 100X 13180
W: Francisco Rodríguez (2-0)  L: Johan Santana (0-1)  
HRs: ANA – Adam Kennedy (3), Scott Spiezio (1)

Other post-season awards

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Edmonton Trappers Pacific Coast League John Russell
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Jeff Carter
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Rudy Hernández

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Edmonton[12][13]

Sources

References

  1. ↑ David Lamb at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Mike Jackson at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ http://www.umdbulldogs.com/viewmoment.php?height=500&width=700&modal=true&id=55
  4. ↑ "Twins 23, Indians 2". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  5. ↑ "2002 ALCS Game 2". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  6. ↑ "Home Run Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  7. 1 2 Mike Trombley at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Jesse Crain at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ José Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Brian Buchanan at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ David Ortiz Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  12. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  13. ↑ Baseball America 2003 Annual Directory

External links

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