1989 Minnesota Twins season

The 1989 Minnesota Twins season was the 29th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 8th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 89th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 80–82, fifth in the American League West. 2,277,438 fans attended Twins games, the 7th highest total in the American League.

1989 Minnesota Twins
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Record	80–82 (.494)
Divisional place	5th
Owners	Carl Pohlad
General managers	Andy MacPhail
Managers	Tom Kelly
Television	WCCO-TV Midwest Sports Channel (Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson, Dick Bremer)
Radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

Offseason

• October 24, 1988: Eric Bullock, Tom Herr and Tom Nieto were traded by the Twins to the Philadelphia Phillies for Shane Rawley and cash.^[1]
• November 3, 1988: Bert Blyleven and Kevin Trudeau (minors) were traded by the Twins to the California Angels for Mike Cook, Paul Sorrento, and Rob Wassenaar (minors).^[2]
• December 7, 1988: Jeff Bumgarner (minors), Steve Gasser (minors) and Toby Nivens (minors) were traded by the Twins to the New York Mets for Wally Backman and Mike Santiago (minors).^[3]
• December 12, 1988: Randy Bush was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[4]
• December 21, 1988: John Christensen was released by the Twins.^[5]
• February 13, 1989: Lee Tunnell was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[6]
• March 26, 1989: Keith Atherton was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Carmelo Castillo.^[7]

Regular season

Kirby Puckett tied a major league record when, on May 13, he hit four doubles in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was the thirty-fifth player to accomplish the feat.

When Jeff Reardon got his 30th save on September 14, he became the first major leaguer to reach 30 saves in five consecutive seasons.

Offense

Puckett led the AL in batting with a .339 average and hits with 215. Kirby hit 9 HR, drove in 85 runs, scored 75, and was rewarded with a Silver Slugger Award. Kent Hrbek hit .272 with 25 HR and 84 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit 19 HR and 75 RBI. Al Newman led the team with 25 stolen bases.

Team Leaders

Statistic	Player	Quantity
HR	Kent Hrbek	25
RBI	Kirby Puckett	85
BA	Kirby Puckett	.339*
Runs	Kirby Puckett	75

*League leader

Pitching

Only two Twins had double digit wins: Allan Anderson (17-10) and Roy Smith (10-6). Frank Viola was 8-12 before being traded to the New York Mets on July 31. Reliever Jeff Reardon had 31 saves.

Team Leaders

Statistic	Player	Quantity
ERA	Frank Viola	3.79
Wins	Allan Anderson	17
Saves	Jeff Reardon	31
Strikeouts	Frank Viola	138

Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their fourth Gold Glove Award.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	99	63	.611	—	54‍–‍27	45‍–‍36
Kansas City Royals	92	70	.568	7	55‍–‍26	37‍–‍44
California Angels	91	71	.562	8	52‍–‍29	39‍–‍42
Texas Rangers	83	79	.512	16	45‍–‍36	38‍–‍43
Minnesota Twins	80	82	.494	19	45‍–‍36	35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners	73	89	.451	26	40‍–‍41	33‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox	69	92	.429	29½	35‍–‍45	34‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1989: Randy St. Claire was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[8]
• June 5, 1989: 1989 Major League Baseball draft
  • Chuck Knoblauch was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (25th pick). Player signed June 9, 1989.^[9]
  • Denny Neagle was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round. Player signed June 22, 1989.^[10]
  • Dan Masteller was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round.^[11]
  • Denny Hocking was drafted by the Twins in the 52nd round. Player signed May 15, 1990.^[12]
• June 29, 1989: Freddie Toliver was traded by the Twins to the San Diego Padres for Greg Booker.^[13]

Roster

1989 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 17 Rick Aguilera 49 Allan Anderson 40 Juan Berenguer 51 Greg Booker 33 Mike Cook 54 Tim Drummond 39 Mike Dyer 46 Germán González 53 Mark Guthrie 30 Francisco Oliveras 18 Shane Rawley 41 Jeff Reardon 36 Steve Shields 23 Roy Smith 38 Randy St. Claire 36 Kevin Tapani 31 Freddie Toliver 27 Lee Tunnell 16 Frank Viola 47 Gary Wayne 50 David West		Catchers 12 Brian Harper 15 Tim Laudner  4 Orlando Mercado 11 Greg Olson 52 Lenny Webster Infielders  2 Wally Backman 21 Doug Baker  8 Gary Gaetti  7 Greg Gagne 58 Chip Hale 14 Kent Hrbek 56 Terry Jorgensen  9 Gene Larkin 26 Al Newman 20 Vic Rodriguez 55 Paul Sorrento		Outfielders 25 Randy Bush 22 Carmen Castillo  5 Jim Dwyer 32 Dan Gladden  1 John Moses 34 Kirby Puckett		Manager 10 Tom Kelly Coaches  6 Tony Oliva 44 Rick Renick 43 Rick Stelmaszek 42 Dick Such 45 Wayne Terwilliger

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league 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	Brian Harper	126	385	125	.325	8	57
1B	Kent Hrbek	109	375	102	.272	25	84
2B	Wally Backman	87	299	69	.231	1	26
3B	Gary Gaetti	130	498	125	.251	19	75
SS	Greg Gagne	149	460	125	.272	9	48
LF	Dan Gladden	120	461	136	.295	8	46
CF	Kirby Puckett	159	635	215	.339	9	85
RF	Randy Bush	141	391	103	.263	14	54
DH	Jim Dwyer	88	225	71	.316	3	23

Other batters

Note: G = Games pitched; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Al Newman	141	446	113	.253	0	38
Gene Larkin	136	446	119	.267	6	46
John Moses	129	242	68	.281	1	31
Tim Laudner	100	239	53	.222	6	27
Carmen Castillo	94	218	56	.257	8	33
Doug Baker	43	78	23	.295	0	9
Chip Hale	28	67	14	.209	0	4
Orlando Mercado	19	38	4	.105	0	1
Terry Jorgensen	10	23	4	.174	0	2
Paul Sorrento	14	21	5	.238	0	1
Lenny Webster	14	20	6	.300	0	1
Vic Rodriguez	6	11	5	.455	0	0
Greg Olson	3	2	1	.500	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
Allan Anderson	33	196.2	17	10	3.80	69
Frank Viola	24	175.2	8	12	3.79	138
Roy Smith	32	172.1	10	6	3.92	92
Shane Rawley	27	145.0	5	12	5.21	68
Rick Aguilera	11	75.2	3	5	3.21	57
Mike Dyer	16	71.0	4	7	4.82	37
Kevin Tapani	5	32.2	2	2	3.86	21

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
Mark Guthrie	13	57.1	2	4	4.55	38
Francisco Oliveras	12	55.2	3	4	4.53	24
David West	10	39.1	3	2	6.41	31
Freddie Toliver	7	29.0	1	3	7.76	11

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
Jeff Reardon	65	5	4	31	4.07	46
Gary Wayne	60	3	4	1	3.30	41
Juan Berenguer	56	9	3	3	3.48	93
Germán González	22	3	2	0	4.66	25
Mike Cook	15	0	1	0	5.06	15
Randy St. Claire	14	1	0	1	5.24	14
Steve Shields	11	0	1	0	7.79	12
Lee Tunnell	10	1	0	0	6.00	7
Tim Drummond	8	0	0	1	3.86	9
Greg Booker	6	0	0	0	4.15	3
Dan Gladden	1	0	0	0	9.00	0
John Moses	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• Kirby Puckett – American League Batting Champion (.339)
• Gary Gaetti – Gold Glove Award winner, third base
• Kirby Puckett – Gold Glove Award winner, center field
• Kirby Puckett – Silver Slugger Award, outfield

All-Star Game

• Gary Gaetti, third base, reserve
• Kirby Puckett, outfield, starter

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Phil Roof
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Ron Gardenhire
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Scott Ullger
A	Kenosha Twins	Midwest League	Steve Liddle
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Ray Smith
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Joel Lepel

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elizabethton^[14]