1977 Minnesota Twins season

1977 Minnesota Twins
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Metropolitan Stadium
City	Bloomington, Minnesota
Owners	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managers	Calvin Griffith
Managers	Gene Mauch
Television	WTCN (Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
Seasons

The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 84–77, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

• March 18, 1977: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Twins.

Regular season

In a May 25 double-header at Boston's Fenway Park, outfielder Lyman Bostock tied a major league record with twelve putouts in the first game. His total of seventeen putouts over both games set a new American League record.

On June 26, a crowd of 46,463 turned up at Metropolitan Stadium to watch first baseman Rod Carew's pursuit of a .400 batting average. Carew didn't disappoint, going 4 for 5 with six RBI, raising his batting average seven points to .403. Lost in the commotion was right fielder Glenn Adams' own 4-for-5 performance, as he drove in a Twins-record eight runs. The Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 19–12.

Rod Carew, outfielder Larry Hisle and catcher Butch Wynegar were named to the All-Star Game. Carew was the leading AL vote-getter, scoring 405 of 422 possible votes in the national balloting by sports writers and broadcasters.

Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player. In winning his sixth AL batting title, Carew flirted with becoming the first batter since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit .400, finishing at .388. He also had 239 hits, scored a league-leading 128 runs, hit 14 home runs and collected 100 RBI.

Other offensive stars were Larry Hisle, who hit 28 HR and drove in a league-leading 119 runs, and Lyman Bostock, who hit .338 with 104 runs, 14 HR and 90 RBI.

The Twins' ability to score runs was matched by their pitchers' ability to give up runs. Reliever Tom Johnson replaced Bill Campbell, racking up 16 relief wins along with 20 saves. Dave Goltz became a 20-game winner for the first time.

1,162,727 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in the American League. It was, however, the first time since 1970 that the Twins attracted more than one million fans.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	0.630	—	55–26	47–34
Texas Rangers	94	68	0.580	8	44–37	50–31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	0.556	12	48–33	42–39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	0.522	17½	48–32	36–45
California Angels	74	88	0.457	28	39–42	35–46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	0.395	38	29–52	35–46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	0.391	38½	35–46	28–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 6, 1977: The Twins purchased the contract of Don Carrithers from the Montreal Expos.
• May 2, 1977: Dave Johnson was purchased by the Twins from the Seattle Mariners.
• June 7, 1977: Darrell Jackson was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.

Roster

1977 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 19 Tom Burgmeier 37 Bill Butler 18 Don Carrithers 30 Dave Goltz 21,36 Jeff Holly 31 Jim Hughes 27 Dave Johnson 21 Tom Johnson 33 Mike Pazik 17 Pete Redfern 34 Ron Schueler 20 Gary Serum 28 Jim Shellenback 23 Paul Thormodsgard 38 Geoff Zahn		Catchers 14 Glenn Borgmann 11 Bud Bulling 16 Butch Wynegar Infielders 29 Rod Carew 26 Mike Cubbage 25 Luis Gómez 22 Craig Kusick 40 Sam Perlozzo 32 Bob Randall  5 Roy Smalley  1 Jerry Terrell  7 Rob Wilfong 39 Larry Wolfe		Outfielders  8 Glenn Adams 10 Lyman Bostock 12 Rich Chiles 15 Dan Ford 35 Bob Gorinski  9 Larry Hisle 24 Willie Norwood Other batters  2 Randy Bass		Manager  4 Gene Mauch Coaches 41 Karl Kuehl 42 Don McMahon  6 Tony Oliva 43 Jerry Zimmerman

Game log

Regular season

1977 regular season game log: 84–77 (Home: 48–32; Away: 36–45)
April: 13–9 (Home: 5–4; Away: 6–5) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 11 April 18 @ Royals 12 April 19 @ Royals 13 April 20 @ Royals 14 April 21 @ Rangers 15 April 22 @ Rangers 16 April 23 @ Rangers 17 April 24 @ Rangers 21 April 29 Tigers 22 April 30 Tigers
May: 16–8 (Home: 7–1; Away: 9–7) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 23 May 1 Tigers 29 May 10 @ Tigers 30 May 11 @ Tigers 40 May 25 (1) @ Red Sox 41 May 25 (2) @ Red Sox 42 May 27 @ Orioles 43 May 28 @ Orioles 44 May 29 @ Orioles 45 May 30 Orioles 46 May 31 Orioles
June: 13–15 (Home: 12–10; Away: 1–5) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 47 June 1 Yankees W 4–3 Johnson (5–2) Guidry (3–2) — 2:44 23,684 30–17 W2 48 June 2 Yankees L 3–10 Figueroa (7–3) Holly (2–2) Lyle (8) 2:39 30,741 30–18 L1 49 June 3 Red Sox 50 June 4 Red Sox 51 June 5 Red Sox 52 June 6 White Sox 53 June 7 White Sox 54 June 8 Royals 55 June 9 Royals 56 June 10 @ Yankees L 1–4 Guidry (4–2) Zahn (6–4) Lyle (11) 2:39 21,897 33–23 L2 57 June 11 @ Yankees L 5–6 Hunter (3–3) Goltz (5–4) Lyle (12) 2:43 23,681 33–24 L3 58 June 12 @ Yankees W 6–1 Thormodsgard (4–3) Figueroa (7–5) — 2:18 52,281 34–24 W1 62 June 17 @ Royals 63 June 18 @ Royals 64 June 19 @ Royals 65 June 20 Rangers 66 June 21 Rangers 67 June 22 Rangers 68 June 23 Rangers 69 June 24 White Sox 70 June 25 White Sox 71 June 26 White Sox
July: 17–14 (Home: 8–3; Away: 9–11) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 75 July 1 @ White Sox 76 July 2 @ White Sox 77 July 3 (1) @ White Sox 78 July 3 (2) @ White Sox 48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
August: 16–13 (Home: 12–5; Away: 4–8) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 106 August 1 Royals 107 August 2 Royals 108 August 3 Tigers 109 August 4 Tigers 115 August 12 @ Tigers 116 August 13 @ Tigers 117 August 14 @ Tigers 118 August 15 @ Orioles 119 August 16 @ Orioles 122 August 19 Orioles 124 August 20 Orioles 124 August 21 Orioles 125 August 22 Red Sox 126 August 23 Red Sox 127 August 24 @ Yankees L 1–11 Hunter (9–7) Redfern (5–9) — 2:05 26,676 72–55 L1 128 August 25 @ Yankees L 4–6 Lyle (9–4) Johnson (13–8) — 2:58 38,846 72–56 L2 129 August 26 @ Red Sox 130 August 27 @ Red Sox 131 August 28 @ Red Sox
September: 7–18 (Home: 4–10; Away: 3–8) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 135 September 2 Yankees L 0–4 Guidry (12–6) Goltz (16–8) — 2:18 20,270 75–60 L2 136 September 3 Yankees L 4–7 Figueroa (13–8) Schueler' (7–7) — 2:47 25,465 75–61 L3 137 September 4 Yankees L 0–4 Gullett (11–3) Zahn (11–11) — 1:48 29,969 75–62 L4 140 September 7 Rangers 141 September 9 Royals 142 September 10 Royals 143 September 11 Royals 144 September 12 @ White Sox 145 September 13 @ White Sox 149 September 17 @ Rangers 150 September 18 (1) @ Rangers 151 September 18 (2) @ Rangers 152 September 20 @ Royals 153 September 21 @ Royals 157 September 27 White Sox 158 September 28 White Sox
October: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 2–0) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Twins team member

Player stats

= Indicates team 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	Butch Wynegar	144	532	139	.261	10	79
1B	Rod Carew	156	616	239	.388	14	100
2B	Bob Randall	103	306	73	.239	0	22
3B	Mike Cubbage	129	417	110	.264	9	55
SS	Roy Smalley	150	584	135	.231	6	56
LF	Larry Hisle	141	546	165	.302	28	119
CF	Lyman Bostock	153	593	199	.336	14	90
RF	Dan Ford	144	453	121	.267	11	60
DH	Craig Kusick	115	268	68	.256	12	45

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
Glenn Adams	95	269	91	.338	6	49
Rich Chiles	108	261	69	.264	3	36
Jerry Terrell	93	214	48	.224	1	20
Rob Wilfong	73	171	42	.246	1	13
Bob Gorinski	54	118	23	.195	3	22
Willie Norwood	39	83	19	.229	3	9
Luis Gómez	32	65	16	.246	0	11
Glenn Borgmann	17	43	11	.256	2	7
Bud Bulling	15	32	5	.156	0	5
Larry Wolfe	8	25	6	.240	0	6
Sam Perlozzo	10	24	7	.292	0	0
Randy Bass	9	19	2	.105	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
Dave Goltz	39	303.0	20	11	3.36	186
Paul Thormodsgard	37	218.0	11	15	4.62	100
Geoff Zahn	34	198.0	12	14	4.68	88
Pete Redfern	30	137.1	6	9	5.18	73
Mike Pazik	3	18.0	1	0	2.50	6

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
Ron Schueler	52	134.2	8	7	4.41	77
Dave Johnson	30	72.2	2	5	4.58	33
Jeff Holly	18	48.1	2	3	6.89	32
Bill Butler	6	21.0	0	1	6.86	5

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
Tom Johnson	71	16	7	15	3.13	87
Tom Burgmeier	61	6	4	7	5.09	35
Gary Serum	8	0	0	0	4.37	4
Don Carrithers	7	0	1	0	6.91	3
Jim Shellenback	5	0	0	0	7.94	3
Jim Hughes	2	0	0	0	2.08	1

Awards and honors

• Rod Carew, American League batting champion (.388)
• Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente Award
• Rod Carew, American League MVP

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Twins	Pacific Coast League	Del Wilber and Tom Kelly
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Johnny Goryl
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Roy McMillan
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Jim Rantz, Carlos Pascual and Spencer "Red" Robbins
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Fred Waters

References

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