1981 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersJohnny Goryl, Billy Gardner
TelevisionKMSP-TV
(Bob Kurtz, Larry Osterman)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
Seasons

The 1981 Minnesota Twins finished a combined 41–68, seventh in the American League West. In the strike split season, the Twins were 17–39, seventh place in the first half and 24–29, fourth place in the second half. 469,090 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was also their 21st and final season at Metropolitan Stadium, before moving their home games to the Metrodome the next season. The franchise would not play another outdoor home game until 2010, when Target Field opened.

Offseason

Regular season

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: relief pitcher Doug Corbett.

On August 24, first baseman Kent Hrbek made his major league debut, in a Yankee Stadium game. His twelfth-inning home run beat the Yankees 3-2. Later that week, Hrbek was topped by catcher Tim Laudner, who debuted on August 28 and hit home runs in his first two games.

On September 20, Gary Gaetti made his major league debut and started at third base for the Twins. In his first at bat in the second inning, he homered off Texas Rangers pitcher Charlie Hough to become the third Twin to homer in his first-ever at bat. Gaetti joined Rick Renick (1968) and Dave McKay (1975). Later, Andre David (1984) and Eddie Rosario (2015) will join the trio in Twins history.

The Twins played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on September 30, losing 5-2 to the Kansas City Royals. The club played their last outdoor home game for the next twenty-eight seasons in 56-degree temperature in front of 15,900 fans. "The Met" had been the Twins' home since their Minnesota opener on April 21, 1961 (also a loss). Gary Ward had the final Twins hit in the Met, a single in the ninth inning. Pete Mackanin homered in the second for the final Twins Met Stadium home run.

Offense

John Castino batted .268 with 6 HR and 36 RBI. Shortstop Roy Smalley had 7 HR and collected 22 RBI.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRRoy Smalley7
RBIMickey Hatcher37
BAJohn Castino.268
RunsGary Ward42

Pitching

Reliever Doug Corbett was the Twins' only bright spot on the mound, racking up 17 saves.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAFernando Arroyo3.93
WinsPete Redfern9
SavesDoug Corbett17
StrikeoutsPete Redfern77

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 6445 0.587 — 35–21 29–24
Texas Rangers 5748 0.543 5 32–24 25–24
Chicago White Sox 5452 0.509 8½ 25–24 29–28
Kansas City Royals 5053 0.485 11 19–28 31–25
California Angels 5159 0.464 13½ 26–28 25–31
Seattle Mariners 4465 0.404 20 20–37 24–28
Minnesota Twins 4168 0.376 23 24–36 17–32
AL West
First Half Standings		 W L Pct. GB
Oakland Athletics3723.617—
Texas Rangers3322.6001+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox3122.5852+1⁄2
California Angels3129.5176
Kansas City Royals2030.40012
Seattle Mariners2136.36814+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins1739.30418
AL West
Second Half Standings		 W L Pct. GB
Kansas City Royals3023.566—
Oakland Athletics2722.5511
Texas Rangers2426.4804+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins2429.4536
Seattle Mariners2329.4426+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox2330.4347
California Angels2030.4008+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —2–26–63–64–26–75–32–46–07–67–54–22–15–2
Boston 2–2—2–45–47–66–13–36–72–53–37–59–33–64–0
California 6–64–2—6–77–53–30–64–33–32–22–86–42–46–6
Chicago 6–34–57–6—2–53–32–04–12–45–77–63–32–47–5
Cleveland 2–46–75–75–2—1–54–43–62–17–53–28–42–24–2
Detroit 7–61–63–33–35–1—3–25–89–33–71–25–19–36–4
Kansas City 3–53–36–00–24–42–3—4–59–42–103–36–73–45–3
Milwaukee 4–27–63–41–46–38–55–4—9–33–34–22–24–56–4
Minnesota 0–65–23–34–21–23–94–93–9—3–32–83–6–15–85–1
New York 6–73–32–27–55–77–310–23–33–3—4–32–35–42–3
Oakland 5–75–78–26–72–32–13–32–48–23–4—6–14–210–2
Seattle 2–43–94–63–34–81–57–62–26–3–13–21–6—5–83–3
Texas 1–26–34–24–22–23–94–35–48–54–52–48–5—6–2
Toronto 2–50–46–65–72–44–63–54–61–53–22–103–32–6—

Notable transactions

Roster

1981 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CSal Butera6216740.240018
1BDanny Goodwin5915134.225217
2BRob Wilfong9330575.246319
3BJohn Castino101381102.268636
SSRoy Smalley5616744.263722
LFGary Ward8529578.264329
CFMickey Hatcher9937796.255337
RFDave Engle8224864.258532
DHGlenn Adams7222046.209224

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
Hosken Powell8026463.239225
Pete Mackanin7722552.231418
Ron Jackson5417546.263428
Butch Wynegar4715037.247010
Rick Sofield4110218.17605
Ron Washington288419.22605
Kent Hrbek246716.23917
Chuck Baker406612.18206
Tim Corcoran22519.17604
Tim Laudner14437.16325
Lenny Faedo12418.19506
Ray Smith15408.20011
Gary Gaetti9265.19223
Greg Johnston7162.12500
Mark Funderburk8153.20002

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
Albert Williams23150.06104.0876
Pete Redfern24141.2984.0777
Fernando Arroyo23128.17103.9339
Jerry Koosman1994.1394.2055
Roger Erickson1491.1383.8444
Brad Havens1478.0363.5843

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
Darrell Jackson1432.2334.4126

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
Doug Corbett5426172.5760
Jack O'Connor283205.8616
Don Cooper271504.3033
John Verhoeven250003.9816
Bob Veselic51103.1813
John Hobbs40003.181
Terry Felton100040.501

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Tom Kelly
A Visalia Oaks California League Dick Phillips
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Ken Staples
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando

Notes

References

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