Franchise Timeline

1980

The Twins’ 77-84 mark in 1980 was the result of off-years for several players from the previous season. On the plus side was the continued development of John Castino (.302, 13 HR), rookie relief sensation Doug Corbett (8-6, 1.98 ERA, 23 saves), a new league fielding record by second baseman Rob Wilfong (.995), a club record 31-game hitting streak by Ken Landreaux and solid pitching from veteran Jerry Koosman (16 wins), who had inked a three-year contract with the club at the conclusion of the '79 season.

On August 24, 1980, Gene Mauch resigned as manager and was succeeded by coach Johnny Goryl. The team, plagued with inconsistency to that time, stabilized their play and went 23-13 the rest of the way, including a 12-game winning streak and an 18-7 September record. Goryl was subsequently signed to manage the club in 1981.

Just 10 miles north of the Twins’ ongoing season at Met Stadium, the new home of the Twins and football Vikings was taking shape. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, its legal and lease groundwork completed in late 1979, was due to become the first air-supported dome in Major League Baseball in April of 1982. Located on the eastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, the facility, with its central location and invulnerability to the elements, gave the Twins hope for a rejuvenation in annual attendance figures.

1981

The strike of 1981 placed a black mark on the season for all teams and the Twins didn't fare much better on the field, finishing with a 41-68 overall mark. In the season's "second half," however, the club remained in contention for the West Division crown into the final week. The poor start in 1981 signaled a managerial change on May 22 when Billy Gardner, the Twins original 1961 second baseman, took over for Goryl. Gardner, in this his first big league managing job, hoped to emulate his minor league managing career, which included six championships in 13 seasons.

The Metropolitan Stadium Era came to a close on September 30, with the Kansas City Royals taking a 5-2 decision in the Met's final baseball game. Almost 16,000 fans turned out for the finale, played in chilly, rainy conditions – ironically the same type of afternoon experienced for the Twins' 1961 opener at the stadium.

1982

The 1982 season was a year of dramatic changes for the organization. The Metrodome, though saddled with first-year growing pains – a lack of air conditioning the most prominent – nonetheless proved to be an excellent stadium and home for the Twins and Vikings.

The Twins made a few major changes early on, deciding to deal veterans and give younger players a chance. Roy Smalley was swapped to the New York Yankees for reliever Ron Davis and minor league shortstop Greg Gagne; Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong were dispatched to California for outfielder Tom Brunansky; and Roger Erickson and Butch Wynegar were traded to New York for Larry Milbourne, John Pacella and Pete Filson. The Twins were just 16-54 through June 23, but from that point, the promise of the younger players began to blossom. The team went 44-48 the rest of the way, and only a lack of solid relief pitching prevented a .500-plus mark in that span.

Standouts of '82 included Kent Hrbek, with his .301 average, 23 homers, 92 RBI and sterling defensive play; Gary Gaetti, the solid third baseman who totaled 25 home runs; Gary Ward, who slugged a club-leading 28 homers and drove in 91 runs; Brunansky, who hit 20 home runs while contributing good outfield play; and Bobby Castillo, an offseason acquisition from the Los Angeles Dodgers who won a club-leading 13 games.

1983

Virtually the same team returned for the 1983 season, and the added experience and cohesiveness of the group began to show with more victories. Although not a winning record, the 70-92 finish was a full 10-game improvement over 1982, as well as moving up two rungs in the West Division standings, to fifth.

Tom Brunansky led the Twins with 28 homers, while Kent Hrbek drove in 84 runs and hit .297 to pace the team, also totaling 41 doubles (fifth most in the league). On a part-time basis, Mickey Hatcher hit a career-high .317 and Dave Engle hit .305. On the pitching end, Ken Schrom (picked up in the spring as a free agent) delivered with a 15-8 record, despite not joining the club until the first week of May. Ron Davis led the bullpen, ranking third in the majors with 30 saves.

1984

The 1984 season brought another wave of changes to the Twins, beginning off the field. Griffith had a 20-year contract with the Metrodome which stated the club had to draw an average of 1.4 million fans in any three-year period or he could break the lease and move the team, so he began threatening to exercise this option and move the Twins to Tampa, Florida. A group of local civic leaders banded together in an attempt to purchase enough tickets to keep the Twins in Minnesota. From mid-May to late-June, they administered a ticket buyout. On June 22, prominent local businessman Carl Pohlad stepped forward and signed an agreement in principle to purchase the team from Griffith and his sister, Thelma Griffith Haynes, and keep the Twins in Minnesota. The deal was finalized on September 7, ending an era of 72 years of Griffith family control over the Twins/Senators franchise.

On the field, the Twins reached the .500 mark (81-81) for the first time since 1979 (82-80). An offseason trade with Texas brought pitchers John Butcher and Mike Smithson to the Twins in exchange for Gary Ward provided the Twins with two quality starters. The trio of Butcher, Smithson and Frank Viola combined for 46 of the club's 81 victories. Ron Davis added 29 saves, while Kent Hrbek (.311, 27, 107) and Tom Brunansky (.254, 32, 85) paced the offense. 1984 also marked the emergence of rookie center fielder Kirby Puckett. He joined the team on May 8 and recorded four hits in his first major league game.

1985

For the first time in 20 years, Minnesota played host to the 56th All-Star Gam on July 16, 1985, as 54,960 witnessed a 6-1 win by the National League at the Metrodome. The Twins' sole representative, Tom Brunansky, went hitless in his only at-bat, but was the winner in the All-Star Home Run Derby the day before the game. The Twins re-acquired Bert Blyleven from Cleveland for four players in a late-season deal. The trade wasn't enough to keep the Twins from finishing tied for fourth place (77-85), but it would pay dividends a couple of years down the road. June 21 marked a changing of the guard with Ray Miller replacing Billy Gardner as Twins manager.

1986

1986 was a rebuilding year for the Twins. Bert Blyleven, reacquired the prior year, joined Mike Smithson and Frank Viola in the Twins’ starting rotation. On June 20, the Twins sent John Butcher to Cleveland for lefty Neal Heaton and a minor leaguer, but the pitching staff would struggle all season. Less than two months later the Twins traded struggling reliever Ron Davis to the Chicago Cubs for relievers George Frazier and Ray Fontenot. While the pitching staff was struggling, the offense was explosive. Gary Gaetti (.287, 34 HR, 108 RBI) had his most productive season. Kirby Puckett hit .328 with 31 home runs and 96 RBI after hitting just four home runs in his first two seasons combined. Kent Hrbek and Tom Brunansky added 29 and 23 homers, respectively. But the lack of pitching dropped the club to a 71-91 record and led to the firing of manager Ray Miller on September 12. He was replaced by Tom Kelly, the third Twins manager in two years.

1987

1987 is a year that lives on in mythical and majestic ways in the collective memory of fans across Twins Territory and beyond. The offseason prior to the 1987 campaign proved to be a busy one for the Twins. The first major move occurred November 24, 1986, when Andy MacPhail was promoted to Executive Vice-President/General Manager. It didn't take him long to make his presence felt. On February 3, 1987, the Twins acquired ace reliever Jeff Reardon, and on March 31, the Twins acquired Dave Blakley and future franchise legend Dan Gladden from the San Francisco Giants.

The Twins won each of their first four games and ended April in first place, a spot the club held for 127 days in the 1987 regular season; Minnesota won the American League West division title by 2.0 games ahead of Kansas City. Kirby Puckett hit .332 and hit 28 home runs while driving in 99 runs, and slugger Kent Hrbek paced the team with 34 homers. Southpaw Frank Viola led the Twins’ pitching staff by going 17-10 with a 2.90 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 36 starts, while the newly-acquired Reardon tied for second in the AL with 31 saves.

In the Postseason, Minnesota powered past Detroit, 4-1, in the American League Championship Series before facing National League Champion the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, the Twins’ first World Series appearance since 1965 and second in the franchise’s Minnesota Era. The Twins took a resounding 2-0 series lead in the first two games at the Metrodome, outscoring the Cardinals 18-5 in those games. However, St. Louis won the next three to take a 3-2 series lead. When the set returned to Minnesota, the Twins won Game 6, 11-5, before outlasting the Cardinals 4-2 in pivotal Game 7 to win the club’s first title in Minnesota history and first overall since the Senators won it all in 1924.

1988

After the excitement of 1987, the 1988 season was one of accomplishment and of frustration. The Twins became the first American League team since the 1954 Yankees to improve its record the season after they won the World Series and not repeat as division champs. Even though they posted a 91-71 record, the Twins finished second in the AL West because the Oakland A's produced an incredible 104-58 record.

Although the Twins found themselves in second place from May 31 to the end of the season, many players had great years. Frank Viola went 24-7 on his way to becoming only the second Twin (Jim Perry, 1970) to win the AL Cy Young Award. Puckett hit .356, the highest batting average by a right-hand hitter in the AL since Joe DiMaggio's .357 in 1941. He also led the majors in hits, multi-hit games and total bases, while finishing second in batting average and RBI. Kent Hrbek (.312) and Gary Gaetti (.301) also recorded career-best batting averages. The Twins led the majors with a .421 team slugging percentage.

Reardon tallied a club-record 42 saves, second most in the majors. The Twins received unexpected help from left-hander Allan Anderson. The 1982 second-round pick was called up from Triple-A Portland early in the season and went 16-9 with a league-leading 2.45 ERA. Combined with Viola, he helped stabilize a pitching staff that had a 3.93 ERA, lowest for the Twins since 1984 (3.85).

The Twins also set major league records by committing only 84 errors (the previous record was 91) and by posting a .986 fielding percentage. The high-water mark for the club was 20 games over .500 and came after the final game, a 3-2 win over California. The drastic improvement was the club's 44-37 road record. The fans of Minnesota were also record-setters in 1988. The Twins became the first American League team to draw three million fans when 3,030,672 passed through the turnstiles.

1989

The 1989 season will be remembered as the year the Twins gambled by trading away their best pitcher, Frank Viola, to the New York Mets on July 31, in exchange for five young pitchers. With a lack of pitching depth, the Twins had few alternatives other than dealing Viola for potential future dividends. In the deal, the Twins acquired 28-year-old veteran Rick Aguilera, rookie southpaw David West (considered to be the Mets' top prospect), rookie right-handers Kevin Tapani, Tim Drummond and Jack Savage. Despite struggling, the team finished in fifth place with an 80-82 record.

Allan Anderson followed up his ERA title-winning season by leading the staff with 17 wins. Offensively, the season will be remembered as the year Puckett won his batting title, hitting .339 and recording 200+ hits (215) for the fourth-straight season, including 45 doubles.

Following the '89 season, the Twins were faced with the dilemma of trying to re-sign free agents Kent Hrbek and Jeff Reardon. After teams drove up the price on the big first baseman, the Twins finally won him back as he turned down more lucrative offers for a five-year, $14-million contract, while the Twins allowed the veteran reliever to sign a huge three-year deal with the Boston Red Sox.