1977 Minnesota Twins season

1977 Minnesota Twins
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)	Gene Mauch
Local television	WTCN (Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
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The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 84-77, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

• March 18, 1977: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[1]

Regular season

In a May 25 double-header at Boston's Fenway Park, outfielder Lyman Bostock tied a major league record with twelve putouts in the first game. His total of seventeen putouts over both games set a new American League record.

On June 26, a crowd of 46,463 turned up at Metropolitan Stadium to watch first baseman Rod Carew's pursuit of a .400 batting average. Carew didn't disappoint, going 4 for 5 with six RBI, raising his batting average seven points to .403. Lost in the commotion was right fielder Glenn Adams' own 4-for-5 performance, as he drove in a Twins-record eight runs. The Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 19-12.^[2]

Rod Carew, outfielder Larry Hisle and catcher Butch Wynegar were named to the All-Star Game. Carew was the leading AL vote-getter, scoring 405 of 422 possible votes in the national balloting by sports writers and broadcasters.^[3]

Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player. In winning his sixth AL batting title, Carew flirted with becoming the first batter since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit .400, finishing at .388. He also had 239 hits, scored a league-leading 128 runs, hit 14 home runs and collected 100 RBI.

Other offensive stars were Larry Hisle, who hit 28 HR and drove in a league-leading 119 runs, and Lyman Bostock, who hit .338 with 104 runs, 14 HR and 90 RBI.

The Twins' ability to score runs was matched by their pitchers' ability to give up runs. Reliever Tom Johnson replaced Bill Campbell, racking up 16 relief wins along with 20 saves. Dave Goltz became a 20-game winner for the first time.

1,162,727 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in the American League. It was, however, the first time since 1970 that the Twins attracted more than one million fans.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	0.630	—	55–26	47–34
Texas Rangers	94	68	0.580	8	44–37	50–31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	0.556	12	48–33	42–39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	0.522	17½	48–32	36–45
California Angels	74	88	0.457	28	39–42	35–46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	0.395	38	29–52	35–46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	0.391	38½	35–46	28–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1977: The Twins purchased the contract of Don Carrithers from the Montreal Expos.^[4]
• May 2, 1977: Dave Johnson was purchased by the Twins from the Seattle Mariners.^[5]
• June 7, 1977: Darrell Jackson was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]

Roster

1977 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 19 Tom Burgmeier 37 Bill Butler 18 Don Carrithers 30 Dave Goltz 21,36 Jeff Holly 31 Jim Hughes 27 Dave Johnson 21 Tom Johnson 33 Mike Pazik 17 Pete Redfern 34 Ron Schueler 20 Gary Serum 28 Jim Shellenback 23 Paul Thormodsgard 38 Geoff Zahn		Catchers 14 Glenn Borgmann 11 Bud Bulling 16 Butch Wynegar Infielders 29 Rod Carew 26 Mike Cubbage 25 Luis Gómez 22 Craig Kusick 40 Sam Perlozzo 32 Bob Randall  5 Roy Smalley  1 Jerry Terrell  7 Rob Wilfong 39 Larry Wolfe		Outfielders  8 Glenn Adams 10 Lyman Bostock 12 Rich Chiles 15 Dan Ford 35 Bob Gorinski  9 Larry Hisle 24 Willie Norwood Other batters  2 Randy Bass		Manager  4 Gene Mauch Coaches 41 Karl Kuehl 42 Don McMahon  6 Tony Oliva 43 Jerry Zimmerman

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	Wynegar, ButchButch Wynegar	144	532	139	.261	10	79
1B	Carew, RodRod Carew	155	616	239	.388	14	100
2B	Randall, BobBob Randall	103	306	73	.239	0	22
3B	Cubbage, MikeMike Cubbage	129	417	110	.264	9	55
SS	Smalley, RoyRoy Smalley	150	584	135	.231	6	56
LF	Hisle, LarryLarry Hisle	141	546	165	.302	28	119
CF	Bostock, LymanLyman Bostock	153	593	199	.336	14	90
RF	Ford, DanDan Ford	144	453	121	.267	11	60
DH	Kusick, CraigCraig Kusick	115	268	68	.254	12	45

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
Norwood, WillieWillie Norwood	39	83	19	.229	3	9
Gómez, LuisLuis Gómez	32	65	16	.246	0	11
Borgmann, GlennGlenn Borgmann	17	43	11	.256	2	7
Bulling, BudBud Bulling	15	32	5	.156	0	5
Bass, RandyRandy Bass	9	19	2	.105	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
Goltz, DaveDave Goltz	39	303	20	11	3.36	186
Thormodsgard, PaulPaul Thormodsgard	37	218	11	15	4.62	94
Zahn, GeoffGeoff Zahn	34	198	12	14	4.68	88
Redfern, PetePete Redfern	30	137.1	6	9	5.18	73
Pazik, MikeMike Pazik	3	18	1	0	2.50	6

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
Schueler, RonRon Schueler	52	134.2	8	7	4.41	77
Johnson, DaveDave Johnson	30	72.2	2	5	4.58	33
Holly, JeffJeff Holly	18	48.1	2	3	6.89	32
Butler, BillBill Butler	6	21	0	1	6.86	5

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
Johnson, TomTom Johnson	71	16	7	15	3.13	87
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier	61	6	4	7	5.09	35
Serum, GaryGary Serum	8	0	0	0	4.37	4
Carrithers, DonDon Carrithers	7	0	1	0	6.91	3
Shellenback, JimJim Shellenback	5	0	0	0	7.94	3
Hughes, JimJim Hughes	2	0	0	0	2.08	1

Awards and honors

• Rod Carew, American League batting champion (.388)
• Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente Award
• Rod Carew, American League MVP

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Twins	Pacific Coast League	Del Wilber and Tom Kelly
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Johnny Goryl
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Roy McMillan
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Jim Rantz, Carlos Pascual and Spencer "Red" Robbins
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Fred Waters

Notes

1. Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference
2. "Minnesota Twins 19, Chicago White Sox 12". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
3. "Carew Tops All Voting for All-Stars". Kingman Daily Miner.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
4. Don Carrithers at Baseball Reference
5. Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference
6. Darrell Jackson at Baseball Reference

References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
• 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.