After winning 91 games the previous two seasons, the 1964 Minnesota Twins slumped to 79–83, a disappointing tie for sixth with the Cleveland Indians in the American League, 20 games behind the AL champion New York Yankees.
| 1964 Minnesota Twins | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Ballpark | Metropolitan Stadium | |
| City | Bloomington, Minnesota | |
| Owners | Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes) | |
| General managers | Calvin Griffith | |
| Managers | Sam Mele | |
| Television | WTCN-TV | |
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Ray Scott, Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall) | |
| ||
Offseason
edit- December 2, 1963: Rudy May was drafted from the Twins by the Chicago White Sox in the 1963 first-year draft.[1]
Regular season
editOn May 2, in Kansas City, Missouri, Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew hit consecutive 11th-inning home runs, to tie a major league record first set by the Milwaukee Braves in 1961 and duplicated by the Cleveland Indians in 1963. The Twins finished the year with 221 homers, their second-best total ever.
On July 15, new Twin Mudcat Grant allowed thirteen singles and a walk in facing the Washington Senators. None would score, and Grant pitches a shutout, 6–0.
Five Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Bob Allison, outfielders Harmon Killebrew, Jimmie Hall and Tony Oliva and pitcher Camilo Pascual.
Tony Oliva became the first black player in the history of the American League to win the AL Rookie of the Year award.[2] He led the major leagues in hits (217), extra base hits and total bases. He led the American League in batting average (.323), runs scored (109) and doubles.
Six Twins hit 20 or more home runs: Harmon Killebrew (49 HR, 111 RBI), Tony Oliva (32 HR, 96 RBI, 109 runs), Bob Allison (32 HR, 86 RBI), Jimmie Hall (25 HR, 75 RBI), Don Mincher (23 HR, 56 RBI), and Zoilo Versalles (20 HR, 94 runs).
Jim Kaat led the Twins with 17 wins and won his third Gold Glove; Camilo Pascual again led the Twins in strikeouts with 213.[3]
1,207,514 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.
Season standings
edit| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 50–31 | 49–32 |
| Chicago White Sox | 98 | 64 | .605 | 1 | 52–29 | 46–35 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 97 | 65 | .599 | 2 | 49–32 | 48–33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 14 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 82 | 80 | .506 | 17 | 45–36 | 37–44 |
| Cleveland Indians | 79 | 83 | .488 | 20 | 41–40 | 38–43 |
| Minnesota Twins | 79 | 83 | .488 | 20 | 40–41 | 39–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 72 | 90 | .444 | 27 | 45–36 | 27–54 |
| Washington Senators | 62 | 100 | .383 | 37 | 31–50 | 31–50 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 57 | 105 | .352 | 42 | 26–55 | 31–50 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KCA | LAA | MIN | NYY | WSH | |||
| Baltimore | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 13–5–1 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 13–5 | |||
| Boston | 7–11 | — | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 12–6 | |||
| Chicago | 8–10 | 14–4 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 16–2 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 12–6 | |||
| Cleveland | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 10–8–1 | 3–15–1 | 11–7 | |||
| Detroit | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 7–11 | — | 11–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–10–1 | 11–7 | |||
| Kansas City | 5–13–1 | 6–12 | 2–16 | 8–10 | 7–11 | — | 6–12 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 8–10 | |||
| Los Angeles | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 12–6 | 7–11 | 10–8 | |||
| Minnesota | 8–10 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 8–10–1 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–12 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| New York | 8–10 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 15–3–1 | 10–8–1 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 12–6 | |||
| Washington | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–11 | 6–12 | — | |||
Notable transactions
edit- June 6, 1964: Andy Kosco was signed as a free agent by the Twins.[4]
- June 24, 1964: Rod Carew was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.[5]
Roster
edit| 1964 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
edit| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
editStarters by position
editNote: 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 | Earl Battey | 131 | 405 | 110 | .272 | 12 | 52 |
| 1B | Bob Allison | 149 | 492 | 141 | .287 | 32 | 86 |
| 2B | Bernie Allen | 74 | 243 | 52 | .214 | 6 | 20 |
| 3B | Rich Rollins | 148 | 596 | 161 | .270 | 12 | 68 |
| SS | Zoilo Versalles | 160 | 659 | 171 | .259 | 20 | 64 |
| LF | Harmon Killebrew | 158 | 577 | 156 | .270 | 49 | 111 |
| CF | Jimmie Hall | 149 | 510 | 144 | .282 | 25 | 75 |
| RF | Tony Oliva | 161 | 672 | 217 | .323 | 32 | 94 |
Other batters
editNote: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Mincher | 120 | 287 | 68 | .237 | 23 | 56 |
| Jerry Kindall | 62 | 128 | 19 | .148 | 1 | 6 |
| Jerry Zimmerman | 63 | 120 | 24 | .200 | 0 | 12 |
| Johnny Goryl | 58 | 114 | 16 | .140 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Kostro | 59 | 103 | 28 | .272 | 3 | 12 |
| Jim Snyder | 26 | 71 | 11 | .155 | 1 | 9 |
| Vic Power | 19 | 45 | 10 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Ron Henry | 22 | 41 | 5 | .122 | 2 | 5 |
| Jay Ward | 12 | 31 | 7 | .226 | 0 | 2 |
| Bill Bethea | 10 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe McCabe | 14 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 2 |
| Lenny Green | 26 | 15 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Bud Bloomfield | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Rich Reese | 10 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Nossek | 7 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| George Banks | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editStarting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camilo Pascual | 36 | 267.1 | 15 | 12 | 3.30 | 213 |
| Jim Kaat | 36 | 243.0 | 17 | 11 | 3.22 | 171 |
| Dick Stigman | 32 | 190.0 | 6 | 15 | 4.03 | 159 |
| Mudcat Grant | 26 | 166.0 | 11 | 9 | 2.82 | 75 |
| Lee Stange | 14 | 79.2 | 3 | 6 | 4.74 | 54 |
| Dave Boswell | 4 | 23.1 | 2 | 0 | 4.24 | 25 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerry Arrigo | 41 | 105.2 | 7 | 4 | 3.84 | 96 |
| Jim Roland | 30 | 94.1 | 2 | 6 | 4.10 | 63 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Worthington | 41 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 1.37 | 59 |
| Bill Pleis | 47 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3.91 | 42 |
| Jim Perry | 42 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3.44 | 55 |
| Johnny Klippstein | 33 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1.97 | 39 |
| Bill Dailey | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8.22 | 6 |
| Garland Shifflett | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4.58 | 8 |
| Dwight Siebler | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 10 |
| Bill Fischer | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.36 | 2 |
| Jerry Fosnow | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.97 | 9 |
| Bill Whitby | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.53 | 2 |
| Gary Dotter | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 6 |
| Chuck Nieson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 5 |
Farm system
editLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Melbourne
References
edit- ^ "Rudy May". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ Nemec, David; Flatow, Scott (2008). Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Firsts. SIGNET. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-45-122363-0.
- ^ "1964 Minnesota Twins Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Andy Kosco". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Rod Carew". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
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.