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.

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.Eric Bullock at Baseball Reference 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). 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). December 12, 1988: Randy Bush was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Randy Bush at Baseball Reference December 21, 1988: John Christensen was released by the Twins.John Christensen at Baseball Reference February 13, 1989: Lee Tunnell was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Lee Tunnell at Baseball Reference March 26, 1989: Keith Atherton was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Carmelo Castillo.

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 QuantityHR Kent Hrbek 25RBI Kirby Puckett 85BA 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 QuantityERA Frank Viola 3.79Wins Allan Anderson 17Saves Jeff Reardon 31Strikeouts Frank Viola 138

Defense

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

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 1, 1989: Randy St. Claire was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Randy St. Claire at Baseball Reference 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.Chuck Knoblauch at Baseball Reference Denny Neagle was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round. Player signed June 22, 1989.Denny Neagle at Baseball Reference Dan Masteller was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round.Dan Masteller at Baseball Reference Denny Hocking was drafted by the Twins in the 52nd round. Player signed May 15, 1990.Dennis Hocking at Baseball Reference June 29, 1989: Freddie Toliver was traded by the Twins to the San Diego Padres for Greg Booker.Greg Booker at Baseball Reference

Roster 1989 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 126 385 125 .325 8 57 1B 109 375 102 .272 25 84 2B 87 299 69 .231 1 26 3B 130 498 125 .251 19 75 SS 149 460 125 .272 9 48 LF 120 461 136 .295 8 46 CF 159 635 215 .339 9 85 RF 141 391 103 .263 14 54 DH 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 10 23 4 .174 0 2 14 21 5 .238 0 1 Lenny Webster 14 20 6 .300 0 1 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 32 172.1 10 6 3.92 92 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 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 10 1 0 0 6.00 7 Tim Drummond 8 0 0 1 3.86 9 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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: ElizabethtonJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

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