1970 Minnesota Twins season

The 1970 Minnesota Twins season was the 10th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 10th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 70th overall in the American League.

Led by new manager Bill Rigney, the Twins won the American League West with a 98Ã¢ÂÂ64 record, nine games ahead of the Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. Of note, the Twins were the only team in the American League to have a winning record in the regular season versus the Orioles. The 1970 ALCS would be the last MLB postseason games played at Metropolitan Stadium, as the Twins would not return to the postseason stage until 1987 when they won the World Series.

Offseason

October 13, 1969: John Roseboro was released by the Twins.
December 1, 1969: 1969 rule 5 draft
Mike Sadek was drafted from the Twins by the San Francisco Giants.
Hal Haydel was drafted by the Twins from the San Francisco Giants.
December 10, 1969: Graig Nettles, Dean Chance, Bob Miller, and Ted Uhlaender were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.
March 21, 1970: Joe Grzenda and Charley Walters were traded by the Twins to the Washington Senators for Brant Alyea.

Regular season

On April 7, newly acquired Twin Brant Alyea homered twice in going 4 for 4 and driving in 7 RBIs. The RBI total set a record for major league baseball's Opening Day.

On May 20, in a 10Ã¢ÂÂ5 win over the Kansas City Royals, Rod Carew became the first Twin to hit for the cycleÃ¢ÂÂgoing single, homer, double, triple. Over time, his feat will be matched by nine other Twins (CÃÂ©sar Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976; Lyman Bostock, 1976; Mike Cubbage, 1978; Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986; Carlos GÃÂ³mez, 2008; Jason Kubel, 2009; and Michael Cuddyer, 2009).

On June 5, pitcher Bert Blyleven debuted, allowing a home run off the first batter he faced.

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

On September 16, Blyleven struck out the first six batters he faced to tie a major league record. However, the Twins lost the game to the California Angels, 5Ã¢ÂÂ1.

The Twins are no-hit for the second time in their history, losing 6Ã¢ÂÂ0 to Oakland's Vida Blue.

The Twins won the American League West, led by leadoff batter CÃÂ©sar Tovar (120 runs), Oliva (.325, 23 HR, 107 RBI) and Killebrew (41 HR, 113 RBI). Carew was batting .366 (after 51 games) when his knee was injured turning a double play. Perry won 24 games and became the first Twins pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award. Jim Kaat added 14 wins and rookie Bert Blyleven won 10. Kaat also won his 9th Gold Glove Award. Reliever Ron Perranoski led the AL with 34 saves.

1,261,887 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

June 27, 1970: Craig Kusick was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.

Roster

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

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Tied with Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally (both with Baltimore) for league lead

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts