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1988 Minnesota Twins season

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1988 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis, Minnesota
Record91–71 (.562)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersAndy MacPhail
ManagersTom Kelly
TelevisionKMSP-TV
(Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson)
Twinsvision
(Dick Bremer, Harmon Killebrew)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 ⊟

The 1988 Minnesota Twins finished at 91–71, second in the American League West. 3,030,672 fans attended Twins games, at the time, establishing a new major league record. Pitcher Allan Anderson had his most successful season in 1988, winning the American League ERA title at 2.45 and compiling a record of 16-9 in 30 starts.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Five Twins made the All-Star Game, third baseman Gary Gaetti, outfielder Kirby Puckett, catcher Tim Laudner, starting pitcher Frank Viola, and relief pitcher Jeff Reardon.

On September 16, Puckett got his 1000th hit, becoming just the fifth major leaguer to achieve that total before completing his fifth year.

On September 17, reliever Reardon collected his 40th save of the season. With 41 saves as a 1985 Montreal Expo, he became the only major league player to reach 40 saves in each league.

Frank Viola became the first Twins player since Jim Perry in 1970 to win the AL Cy Young Award.

Offense

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Kirby Puckett hit .356 with 24 HR, drove in 121 runs and scored 109. Puckett led the AL with 234 hits, 163 singles, and 358 total bases. Puckett's 234 hits were the most by a right-handed batter since Joe Medwick had 237 hits in 1937.

Kent Hrbek hit .312 with 25 HR and 76 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .301 with 28 HR and 88 RBI.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Gary Gaetti 28
RBI Kirby Puckett 121
BA Kirby Puckett .356
Runs Kirby Puckett 109

Pitching

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The Twins had two solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (24-7), and Allan Anderson (16-9). Frank Viola led the AL with 24 wins. Allan Anderson led the AL with a 2.45 ERA. Reliever Jeff Reardon had 42 saves. Bert Blyleven (10-17, 5.43 ERA) led the AL with 17 losses, 125 earned runs allowed, and 16 hit batsmen.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Allan Anderson 2.45*
Wins Frank Viola 24*
Saves Jeff Reardon 42
Strikeouts Frank Viola 193
*League leader

Defense

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

Season standings

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 104 58 .642 — 54‍–‍27 50‍–‍31
Minnesota Twins 91 71 .562 13 47‍–‍34 44‍–‍37
Kansas City Royals 84 77 .522 19½ 44‍–‍36 40‍–‍41
California Angels 75 87 .463 29 35‍–‍46 40‍–‍41
Chicago White Sox 71 90 .441 32½ 40‍–‍41 31‍–‍49
Texas Rangers 70 91 .435 33½ 38‍–‍43 32‍–‍48
Seattle Mariners 68 93 .422 35½ 37‍–‍44 31‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

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1988 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 — 4–9 5–7 4–7 4–9 5–8 0–12 4–9 3–9 3–10 4–8 7–5 6–6 5–8
Boston 9–4 — 8–4 7–5 8–5 6–7 6–6 10–3 7–5 9–4 3–9 6–6 8–4 2–11
California 7–5 4–8 — 9–4 8–4 5–7 5–8 3–9 4–9 6–6 4–9 6–7 8–5 6–6
Chicago 7–4 5–7 4–9 — 3–9 3–9 7–6 6–6 4–9 3–9 5–8 9–4 8–5 7–5
Cleveland 9–4 5–8 4–8 9–3 — 4–9 6–6 9–4 5–7 6–7 4–8 5–7 6–6 6–7
Detroit 8–5 7–6 7–5 9–3 9–4 — 8–4 5–8 1–11 8–5 4–8 9–3 8–4 5–8
Kansas City 12–0 6–6 8–5 6–7 6–6 4–8 — 3–9 7–6 6–6 8–5 7–5 7–6 4–8
Milwaukee 9–4 3–10 9–3 6–6 4–9 8–5 9–3 — 7–5 6–7 3–9 8–4 8–4 7–6
Minnesota 9–3 5–7 9–4 9–4 7–5 11–1 6–7 5–7 — 3–9 5–8 8–5 7–6 7–5
New York 10–3 4–9 6–6 9–3 7–6 5–8 6–6 7–6 9–3 — 6–6 5–7 5–6 6–7
Oakland 8–4 9–3 9–4 8–5 8–4 8–4 5–8 9–3 8–5 6–6 — 9–4 8–5 9–3
Seattle 5–7 6–6 7–6 4–9 7–5 3–9 5–7 4–8 5–8 7–5 4–9 — 6–7 5–7
Texas 6–6 4–8 5–8 5–8 6–6 4–8 6–7 4–8 6–7 6–5 5–8 7–6 — 6–6
Toronto 8–5 11–2 6–6 5–7 7–6 8–5 8–4 6–7 5–7 7–6 3–9 7–5 6–6 —


Roster

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1988 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Notable transactions

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Notable games

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  • September 17: Jeff Reardon becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to record 40 saves in both leagues in a 3-1 win versus the White Sox.[12]

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Tim Laudner 117 375 94 .251 13 54
1B Kent Hrbek 143 510 159 .312 25 76
2B Steve Lombardozzi 103 287 60 .209 3 27
SS Greg Gagne 149 461 109 .236 14 48
3B Gary Gaetti 133 468 141 .301 28 88
LF Dan Gladden 141 576 155 .269 11 62
CF Kirby Puckett 158 657 234 .356 24 121
RF Randy Bush 136 394 103 .261 14 51
DH Gene Larkin 149 505 135 .267 8 70

Other batters

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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
Tom Herr 86 304 80 .263 1 21
Al Newman 105 260 58 .223 0 19
John Moses 105 206 65 .316 2 12
Brian Harper 60 166 49 .295 3 20
Mark Davidson 100 106 23 .217 1 10
Tom Nieto 24 60 4 .067 0 0
Jim Dwyer 20 41 12 .293 2 15
John Christensen 23 38 10 .263 0 5
Eric Bullock 16 17 5 .294 0 3
Kelvin Torve 12 16 3 .188 1 2
Doug Baker 11 7 0 .000 0 0
Dwight Lowry 7 7 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Frank Viola 35 255.1 24 7 2.64 193
Bert Blyleven 33 207.1 10 17 5.43 145
Allan Anderson 30 202.1 16 9 2.45 83
Charlie Lea 24 130.0 7 7 4.85 72
Freddie Toliver 21 114.2 7 6 4.24 69
Les Straker 16 82.2 2 5 3.92 23

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Roy Smith 9 37.0 3 0 2.68 17
Joe Niekro 5 11.2 1 1 10.03 7
Steve Carlton 4 9.2 0 1 16.76 5

Relief pitchers

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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 63 2 4 42 2.47 56
Juan Berenguer 57 8 4 2 3.96 99
Keith Atherton 49 7 5 3 3.41 43
Mark Portugal 26 3 3 3 4.53 31
Germán González 16 0 0 1 3.38 19
Karl Best 11 0 0 0 6.00 9
Dan Schatzeder 10 0 1 0 1.74 7
Jim Winn 9 1 0 0 6.00 9
Mike Mason 5 0 1 0 10.80 7
Tippy Martinez 3 0 0 0 18.00 3
Dan Gladden 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and honors

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  • Frank Viola, Pitcher, Cy Young Award
  • Gary Gaetti, Third Baseman, Gold Glove Award
  • Kirby Puckett, Centerfield, Gold Glove Award
  • Kirby Puckett – American League Leader At-Bats (657)
  • Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Hits (234)
  • Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Singles (163)
  • Kirby Puckett – Major League Baseball Leader Total Bases (358)
  • Frank Viola – Major League Baseball Leader Total Wins (24)

All-Star Game

  • Gary Gaetti, third base, reserve
  • Tim Laudner, catcher, reserve
  • Kirby Puckett, outfield, reserve
  • Jeff Reardon, relief pitcher, reserve
  • Frank Viola, pitcher, starter

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Jim Mahoney and Jim Shellenback
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Duane Gustavson
A Visalia Oaks California League Scott Ullger
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Ron Gardenhire
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith

[13]

References

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  1. ^ Eric Bullock at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Don Baylor at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ a b Dan Schatzeder at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Mike Smithson at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Vic Rodriguez at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Brian Harper at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Sal Butera at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Billy Beane at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ John Moses at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ "Tom Brunansky Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  11. ^ John Christensen at Baseball Reference
  12. ^ "Gainesville Sun - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  13. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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