1971 Minnesota Twins season

The 1971 Minnesota Twins finished 74–86, fifth in the American League West. 940,858 fans attended Twins games, the fifth-highest total in the American League, the first time the Twins failed to attract over one million fans since moving to Minnesota.

1971 Minnesota Twins
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Metropolitan Stadium
City	Bloomington, Minnesota
Owners	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managers	Calvin Griffith
Managers	Bill Rigney
Television	WTCN-TV (Halsey Hall, Frank Buetel, Bob Allison)
Radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, Ray Christensen)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, shortstop Leo Cárdenas, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry.

On August 10, at Metropolitan Stadium, slugger Harmon Killebrew hit his 500th career home run, in the first inning off the Baltimore Orioles' Mike Cuellar. He followed that in the sixth inning with his 501st, also off Cuellar.

Lead off batter César Tovar led the AL with 204 hits and was second with 94 runs. Tony Oliva won his third batting title with a .337 average and led the AL with a .546 slugging percentage. Harmon Killebrew hit 28 HR and 119 RBI. Rod Carew hit .307.

Jim Perry (17–17), Bert Blyleven (16–15), and Jim Kaat (13–14) were the Twins' best pitchers. Kaat won his tenth Gold Glove Award.

Shortstop Leo Cárdenas topped the AL with a .985 fielding percentage—the highest for an American League shortstop since records began in 1901.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	101	60	.627	—	46‍–‍35	55‍–‍25
Kansas City Royals	85	76	.528	16	44‍–‍37	41‍–‍39
Chicago White Sox	79	83	.488	22½	39‍–‍42	40‍–‍41
California Angels	76	86	.469	25½	35‍–‍46	41‍–‍40
Minnesota Twins	74	86	.463	26½	37‍–‍42	37‍–‍44
Milwaukee Brewers	69	92	.429	32	34‍–‍48	35‍–‍44

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	7–5	8–4	13–5	8–10	6–5	9–3	10–2	11–7	7–4	13–3
Boston	9–9	—	6–6	10–2	11–7	12–6	1–11	6–6	8–4	7–11	3–9	12–6
California	5–7	6–6	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	8–10	6–12	12–6	6–6	7–11	4–8
Chicago	4–8	2–10	10–8	—	3–9	7–5	9–9	11–7	7–11	5–7	11–7	10–2
Cleveland	5–13	7–11	4–8	9–3	—	6–12	2–10	4–8	4–8	8–10	4–8	7–11
Detroit	10–8	6–12	6–6	5–7	12–6	—	8–4	10–2	6–6	10–8	4–8	14–4
Kansas City	5–6	11–1	10–8	9–9	10–2	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	5–7	5–13	9–3
Milwaukee	3–9	6–6	12–6	7–11	8–4	2–10	10–8	—	10–7	2–10	3–15	6–6
Minnesota	2–10	4–8	6–12	11–7	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–10	—	8–4	8–10	5–6
New York	7–11	11–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	8–10	7–5	10–2	4–8	—	5–7	7–11
Oakland	4–7	9–3	11–7	7–11	8–4	8–4	13–5	15–3	10–8	7–5	—	9–3
Washington	3–13	6–12	8–4	2–10	11–7	4–14	3–9	6–6	6–5	11–7	3–9	—

Notable transactions

• April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell was released by the Twins.^[1]
• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
  • Dave Edwards was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round.^[2]
  • Future NFL quarterback Joe Theismann was drafted by the Twins in the 39th round.^[3]
  • Glenn Borgmann was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the secondary phase.^[4]
• July 8, 1971: Paul Ratliff was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for Phil Roof.^[5]

Roster

1971 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 24 Steve Barber 28 Bert Blyleven 19 Sal Campisi 23 Ray Corbin 16 Bob Gebhard 21 Tom Hall 33,24 Pete Hamm 30 Hal Haydel 36 Jim Kaat 32 Steve Luebber 16 Ron Perranoski 31 Jim Perry 19 Jim Strickland 35 Stan Williams		Catchers 25 Rick Dempsey 15 George Mitterwald  8 Paul Ratliff  8 Phil Roof 22 Tom Tischinski Infielders  4 Steve Braun 17 Leo Cárdenas 29 Rod Carew  3 Harmon Killebrew 20 Rich Reese 10 Rick Renick  1 Eric Soderholm  5 Danny Thompson		Outfielders 11 Brant Alyea 37 Steve Brye 26 Jim Holt  9 Charlie Manuel  7 Jim Nettles  6 Tony Oliva  7 Paul Powell 24 George Thomas 12 César Tovar		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  2 Frankie Crosetti 46 Marv Grissom 44 Vern Morgan 43 Frank Quilici 45 Buck Rodgers

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	George Mitterwald	125	388	97	.250	13	44
1B	Harmon Killebrew	147	500	127	.254	28	119
2B	Rod Carew	147	577	177	.307	2	48
SS	Leo Cárdenas	153	554	146	.264	18	75
3B	Steve Braun	128	343	87	.254	5	35
LF	César Tovar	157	657	204	.311	1	45
CF	Jim Holt	126	340	88	.259	1	29
RF	Tony Oliva	126	487	164	.337	22	81

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
Rich Reese	120	329	72	.219	10	39
Jim Nettles	70	168	42	.250	6	24
Brant Alyea	79	158	28	.177	2	15
Steve Brye	28	107	24	.224	3	11
Phil Roof	31	87	21	.241	0	6
Eric Soderholm	21	64	10	.156	1	4
Danny Thompson	48	57	15	.263	0	7
Rick Renick	27	45	10	.222	1	8
Paul Ratliff	21	44	7	.159	2	6
Paul Powell	20	31	5	.161	1	2
George Thomas	23	30	8	.267	0	2
Tom Tischinski	21	23	3	.130	0	2
Charlie Manuel	18	16	2	.125	0	1
Rick Dempsey	6	13	4	.308	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
Bert Blyleven	38	278.1	16	15	2.81	224
Jim Perry	40	270.0	17	17	4.23	126
Jim Kaat	39	260.1	13	14	3.32	137

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
Ray Corbin	52	140.1	8	11	4.10	83
Tom Hall	48	129.2	4	7	3.33	137
Steve Luebber	18	68.0	2	5	5.03	35
Pete Hamm	13	44.0	2	4	6.75	16
Steve Barber	4	11.2	1	0	6.17	4

Tom Hall led the Twins in saves with 9.

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
Ron Perranoski	36	1	4	5	6.75	21
Stan Williams	46	4	5	4	4.15	47
Hal Haydel	31	4	2	1	4.28	29
Jim Strickland	24	1	0	1	1.44	21
Bob Gebhard	17	1	2	0	3.00	13
Sal Campisi	6	0	0	0	4.15	2

Awards and honors

• Harmon Killebrew, Lou Gehrig Award

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Ralph Rowe
AA	Charlotte Hornets	Southern League	Harry Warner
A	Lynchburg Twins	Carolina League	Johnny Goryl
A	Orlando Twins	Florida State League	Jackie Ferrell
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Weldon Bowlin
A-Short Season	Auburn Twins	New York–Penn League	Boyd Coffie
A-Short Season	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Ken Staples
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte, St. Cloud