1985 Minnesota Twins season

The 1985 Minnesota Twins finished with a record of 77–85, tied for fourth in the American League West, and 14 games behind the division winner and eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

1985 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis, Minnesota
Record77–85 (.475)
Divisional place4th
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersHoward Fox, Andy MacPhail
ManagersBilly Gardner, Ray Miller
TelevisionKMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Harmon Killebrew)
Spectrum
(Harmon Killebrew, Dick Bremer)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Joe Angel)
← 1984 Seasons 1986 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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On June 20, after a disappointing start, manager Billy Gardner was replaced by Ray Miller.

Minnesota, the Twins and the Metrodome hosted the All-Star Game. Only one Twins player made the American League team, outfielder Tom Brunansky. Bruno finished second in the first-ever Home Run Derby, behind Dave Parker. Three Minnesota natives, not yet Twins, played as a team on the same major league field for the first and only time -- Dave Winfield, Jack Morris and Paul Molitor.

In Anaheim on August 4, pitcher Frank Viola gave up a double to longtime-Twin now-an Angel Rod Carew. The two-bagger was Carew's 3000th career hit.[5]

The pitcher on the mound on September 25, as the Twins won their 2000th game, is the same pitcher that won Minnesota's 1000th game on July 12, 1972 -- Bert Blyleven.

1,651,814 fans attended Twins games, a Twins attendance record, but still the sixth lowest total in the American League.

Offense

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Leadoff batter Kirby Puckett hit .288 and scored 80 runs. Kent Hrbek hit .311 with 21 HR and 93 RBI. Tom Brunansky hit 27 HR and 90 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit 20 HR and 63 RBI.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Tom Brunansky 27
RBI Kent Hrbek 93
BA Kirby Puckett .288
Runs Kirby Puckett 80

Pitching

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For the first time in years, the Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (18-14), Mike Smithson (15-14), and John Butcher (11-14). Reliever Ron Davis had 25 saves.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Frank Viola 4.09
Wins Frank Viola 18
Saves Ron Davis 25
Strikeouts Frank Viola 135

Season standings

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 91 71 .562 50‍–‍32 41‍–‍39
California Angels 90 72 .556 1 49‍–‍30 41‍–‍42
Chicago White Sox 85 77 .525 6 45‍–‍36 40‍–‍41
Minnesota Twins 77 85 .475 14 49‍–‍35 28‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics 77 85 .475 14 43‍–‍36 34‍–‍49
Seattle Mariners 74 88 .457 17 42‍–‍41 32‍–‍47
Texas Rangers 62 99 .385 28½ 37‍–‍43 25‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore 5–8 7–5 8–4 8–5 6–7 6–6 9–4 6–6 1–12 7–5 6–6 10–2 4–8
Boston 8–5 5–7 4–8–1 8–5 6–7 5–7 5–8 7–5 5–8 8–4 6–6 5–7 9–4
California 5–7 7–5 8–5 8–4 8–4 4–9 9–3 9–4 3–9 6–7 9–4 9–4 5–7
Chicago 4–8 8–4–1 5–8 10–2 6–6 5–8 5–7 6–7 6–6 8–5 9–4 10–3 3–9
Cleveland 5–8 5–8 4–8 2–10 5–8 2–10 7–6 4–8 6–7 3–9 6–6 7–5 4–9
Detroit 7–6 7–6 4–8 6–6 8–5 5–7 9–4 3–9 9–3 8–4 5–7 7–5 6–7
Kansas City 6–6 7–5 9–4 8–5 10–2 7–5 8–4 7–6 5–7 8–5 3–10 6–7 7–5
Milwaukee 4–9 8–5 3–9 7–5 6–7 4–9 4–8 9–3 7–6 3–9 4–8 8–3 4–9
Minnesota 6–6 5–7 4–9 7–6 8–4 9–3 6–7 3–9 3–9 8–5 6–7 8–5 4–8
New York 12–1 8–5 9–3 6–6 7–6 3–9 7–5 6–7 9–3 7–5 9–3 8–4 6–7
Oakland 5–7 4–8 7–6 5–8 9–3 4–8 5–8 9–3 5–8 5–7 8–5 6–7 5–7
Seattle 6–6 6–6 4–9 4–9 6–6 7–5 10–3 8–4 7–6 3–9 5–8 6–7 2–10
Texas 2–10 7–5 4–9 3–10 5–7 5–7 7–6 3–8 5–8 4–8 7–6 7–6 3–9
Toronto 8–4 4–9 7–5 9–3 9–4 7–6 5–7 9–4 8–4 7–6 7–5 10–2 9–3


Notable transactions

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Roster

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1985 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Mark Salas 120 360 108 .300 9 41
1B Kent Hrbek 158 593 165 .278 21 93
2B Tim Teufel 138 434 113 .260 10 50
SS Greg Gagne 114 293 66 .225 2 23
3B Gary Gaetti 160 560 138 .246 20 63
LF Mickey Hatcher 116 444 125 .282 3 49
CF Kirby Puckett 161 691 199 .288 4 74
RF Tom Brunansky 157 567 137 .242 27 90
DH Roy Smalley 129 388 100 .258 12 45

Other batters

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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
Randy Bush 97 234 56 .239 10 35
Mike Stenhouse 81 179 40 .223 5 21
Dave Engle 70 172 44 .256 7 25
Tim Laudner 72 164 39 .238 7 19
Ron Washington 70 135 37 .274 1 14
Dave Meier 71 104 27 .260 1 8
Mark Funderburk 23 70 22 .314 2 13
Álvaro Espinoza 32 57 15 .263 0 9
Steve Lombardozzi 28 54 20 .370 0 6
Jeff Reed 7 10 2 .200 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Mike Smithson 37 257.0 15 14 4.34 127
Frank Viola 36 250.2 18 14 4.09 135
John Butcher 34 207.2 11 14 4.98 92
Ken Schrom 29 160.2 9 12 4.99 74
Bert Blyleven 14 114.0 8 5 3.00 77

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Pete Filson 40 95.2 4 5 3.67 42
Dennis Burtt 5 28.1 2 2 3.81 9
Mark Portugal 6 24.1 1 3 5.55 12
Tom Klawitter 7 9.1 0 0 6.75 5
Rich Yett 1 0.1 0 0 27.00 0

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Ron Davis 57 2 6 25 3.48 72
Frank Eufemia 39 4 2 2 3.79 30
Rick Lysander 35 0 2 3 6.05 26
Curt Wardle 35 1 3 1 5.51 47
Steve Howe 13 2 3 0 6.16 10
Mark Brown 6 0 0 0 6.89 5
Len Whitehouse 5 0 0 1 11.05 4

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Charlie Manuel
A Visalia Oaks California League Danny Schmitz
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Duffy Dyer
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kenosha

Notes

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  1. ^ Albert Williams page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Mike Benjamin page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Jack O'Connor page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Mark Brown page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ "Carew's 3000th Hit". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  6. ^ Lenny Faedo page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Sports Illustrated, August 2, 2010, Where are they Now?, p.84, Published by Time Inc.

References

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