2007 Minnesota Twins season

2007 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Carl Pohlad
General manager(s) Terry Ryan, Bill Smith
Manager(s) Ron Gardenhire
Local television FSN North
WFTC (My 29)
(Dick Bremer, Bert Blyleven)
Local radio AM 1500 KSTP
(John Gordon, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris, Kris Atteberry)
Stats ESPN.com
BB-reference
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The Minnesota Twins' 2007 season started off with the Twins trying to repeat as champions of the AL Central.

Offseason

Regular season

For the third year in a row, an important Twins personality died just before the beginning of the season. In 2005, long-time stadium announcer Bob Casey fell to heart failure. In 2006, Hall of Fame center fielder Kirby Puckett died from a massive bilateral stroke brought on by hypertension. In 2007, Herb Carneal, the team's radio play-by-play announcer for 45 years, died from heart failure on April 1, the day before Opening Day. The Twins announced that they would dedicate the 2007 season to Carneal's memory.

Offense

While the 2006 team was known for the "piranhas"—gritty hitters lacking power but possessing speed and guile—the 2007 team saw the continued the development of power hitters such as 2006 league MVP Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, and Jason Kubel. After the Twins swept a July 6 doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox by a combined score of 32-14, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén, the man who coined the term "piranhas" in 2006, stated: "They're not piranhas no more. They're a shark attack now."[6] In the second game of that doubleheader, Morneau became the first Twin to hit three home runs in a game since Tony Oliva against the Kansas City Royals on July 3, 1973. The Twins scored the most runs by one team in a doubleheader since the Boston Red Sox totaled 35 in a sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics on July 4, 1939.[7] Nick Punto, as of August 22, 2007 has the lowest batting average among qualified batters in the American League, at .201.

Pitching

The Twins entered the season with a problem in the starting rotation after Twins staple Brad Radke retired and Francisco Liriano had Tommy John surgery. The Twins signed Ramón Ortiz and Sidney Ponson to start. Ponson was released in May and was replaced by Scott Baker, Ramón Ortiz was moved to the bullpen shortly after and replaced in the rotation by Kevin Slowey. However, Slowey was sent to the minors in early July, replaced by Matt Garza. Ramón Ortiz was traded in August to the Colorado Rockies. On August 31, Baker took a perfect game into the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals, before giving up a leadoff walk to catcher John Buck. His no-hitter also ended when he gave up a 1-out single to Mike Sweeney in the 9th inning. The game was won by the Twins 5-0.

Starter Johan Santana won a Gold Glove Award, the only one of his career.

Season standings

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 96 66 0.593 — 51–29 45–37
Detroit Tigers 88 74 0.543 8 45–36 43–38
Minnesota Twins 79 83 0.488 17 41–40 38–43
Chicago White Sox 72 90 0.444 24 38–43 34–47
Kansas City Royals 69 93 0.426 27 35–46 34–47

Record vs. opponents

2007 American League Records

Sources:

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

Notable transactions

After their great amount of success in 2006, in which they came from behind to win the AL Central, the Twins wanted to be sure to lock up their 3-4-5 hitters (Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer, and Justin Morneau) to multi-year deals. The Twins were able to sign Mauer to a four-year deal worth $33 million, but Morneau and Cuddyer only agreed to sign one-year contracts, worth $4.5 million and $3.575 million respectively.

Game log

2007 Game Log
April
May
June
July
August
September

Roster

2007 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

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO

Other post-season awards

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Stan Cliburn
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Riccardo Ingram
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Kevin Boles
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Jeff Smith
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Nelson Prada

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elizabethton

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2007 Minnesota Twins season.
1st Half: Minnesota Twins Game Log on ESPN.com
2nd Half: Minnesota Twins Game Log on ESPN.com
  1. ↑ Great The OTHER Japanese Red Sox Pitcher Won: Bad Day For Neshek
  2. 1 2 3 "Twins postpone Thursday's game after bridge collapses near Metrodome". ESPN.com. August 1, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Twins postpone Thursday's game after bridge collapses near Metrodome". KARE11. August 1, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Twins ballpark groundbreaking rescheduled for Thursday, Aug. 30". MLB Advanced Media. August 9, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Minnesota Twins Team History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  6. ↑ Jim Souhan: Morneau's bat gives offense some big teeth
  7. ↑ Yahoo! Sports – Sports News, Scores, Rumors, Fantasy Games, and more
  8. ↑ Rockies acquire RHP Ortiz from Twins – MLB – Yahoo! Sports
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