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1992 Minnesota Twins season

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1992 Minnesota Twins
File:MIN 1190.gif
DivisionWestern Division
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
OwnersCarl Pohlad
ManagersTom Kelly
TelevisionWCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson, Dick Bremer, Tom Mee)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
← 1991 Seasons 1993 →

Coming off a World Series victory, the 1992 Minnesota Twins continued the team's winning spree. The team finished in second place to Oakland Athletics and did not make it to the postseason. This would be the team's last winning season until 2001.

Offseason

Regular season

Offense

Outfielder Kirby Puckett got 200 hits for the fifth time in his career, as well as 100 runs and 100 RBI. He also hit over .300 for the seventh time in nine seasons. Finally, he hit the first three grand slams of his career. He was twice named American League Player of the Month. Puckett would go on to win his fifth Silver Slugger Award.

Chuck Knoblauch and Shane Mack also notched 100 runs, making Puckett, Knoblauch, and Mack the first trio of Twins in team history to score 100 times in a season.

First baseman Kent Hrbek began his fight against the injury bug, getting only 394 at-bats, a number that would decline over the next two years. Catcher Brian Harper had the second of three seasons batting over .300. Scott Leius saw a majority of the time at third base, but hit only .249 with 2 home runs. In his last year with the Twins, shortstop Greg Gagne hit .246 — right around his career average. Pedro Muñoz saw a majority of the time in right field, while Chili Davis served as the designated hitter in his second and last year with the Twins.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Kirby Puckett 19
RBI Kirby Puckett 110
BA Kirby Puckett .329
Runs Kirby Puckett and Chuck Knoblauch 104

Pitching

The first four pitchers in the starting rotation had winning records and solid ERAs, including John Smiley (16-9, 3.21), Kevin Tapani (16-11, 3.97), Scott Erickson (13-12, 3.40), and Bill Krueger (10-6, 4.30). The fifth spot in the rotation was a question mark, with Pat Mahomes making 13 mediocre starts, Willie Banks 12 poor starts, and Mike Trombley 7 reasonably capable ones.

The bullpen was outstanding, anchored by closer Rick Aguilera. Aguilera earned 41 saves, and became the Twins' all-time leader in saves on September 1 when he earned his 109th with the team. The four regular arms in the bullpen all had ERAs under three: Carl Willis, Mark Guthrie, Tom Edens, and Gary Wayne.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA John Smiley 3.21
Wins John Smiley and Kevin Tapani 16
Saves Rick Aguilera 41
Strikeouts John Smiley 163

Defense

As expected for a Tom Kelly team, the defense was strong. Puckett would win the last of his six Gold Glove Awards. Hrbek was always strong at first base (although Don Mattingly prevented him from winning a Gold Glove), as was Knoblauch at second (at least at this point in his career). Gagne was a capable shortstop, but Leius was a question mark at third with a .955 fielding percentage. Mack and Muñoz had good years defensively alongside Puckett.

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 96 66 .593 — 51‍–‍30 45‍–‍36
Minnesota Twins 90 72 .556 6 48‍–‍33 42‍–‍39
Chicago White Sox 86 76 .531 10 50‍–‍32 36‍–‍44
Texas Rangers 77 85 .475 19 36‍–‍45 41‍–‍40
California Angels 72 90 .444 24 41‍–‍40 31‍–‍50
Kansas City Royals 72 90 .444 24 44‍–‍37 28‍–‍53
Seattle Mariners 64 98 .395 32 38‍–‍43 26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1992 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 — 8–5 8–4 6–6 7–6 10–3 8–4 6–7 6–6 5–8 6–6 7–5 7–5 5–8
Boston 5–8 — 8–4 6–6 6–7 4–9 7–5 5–8 3–9 7–6 5–7 6–6 4–8 7–6
California 4–8 4–8 — 3–10 6–6 7–5 8–5 5–7 2–11 7–5 5–8 7–6 9–4 5–7
Chicago 6–6 6–6 10–3 — 7–5 10–2 7–6 5–7 8–5 8–4 5–8 4–9 5–8 5–7
Cleveland 6–7 7–6 6–6 5–7 — 5–8 5–7 5–8 6–6 7–6 6–6 7–5 5–7 6–7
Detroit 3–10 9–4 5–7 2–10 8–5 — 7–5 5–8 3–9 5–8 6–6 9–3 8–4 5–8
Kansas City 4–8 5–7 5–8 6–7 7–5 5–7 — 7–5 6–7 5–7 4–9 7–6 6–7 5–7
Milwaukee 7–6 8–5 7–5 7–5 8–5 8–5 5–7 — 6–6 6–7 7–5 8–4 7–5 8–5
Minnesota 6–6 9–3 11–2 5–8 6–6 9–3 7–6 6–6 — 7–5 5–8 8–5 6–7 5–7
New York 8–5 6–7 5–7 4–8 6–7 8–5 7–5 7–6 5–7 — 6–6 6–6 6–6 2–11
Oakland 6–6 7–5 8–5 8–5 6–6 6–6 9–4 5–7 8–5 6–6 — 12–1 9–4 6–6
Seattle 5–7 6–6 6–7 9–4 5–7 3–9 6–7 4–8 5–8 6–6 1–12 — 4–9 4–8
Texas 5–7 8–4 4–9 8–5 7–5 4–8 7–6 5–7 7–6 6–6 4–9 9–4 — 3–9
Toronto 8–5 6–7 7–5 7–5 7–6 8–5 7–5 5–8 7–5 11–2 6–6 8–4 9–3 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1992 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
C Brian Harper 140 502 154 .307 9 73
1B Kent Hrbek 112 394 96 .244 15 58
2B Chuck Knoblauch 155 600 178 .297 2 56
3B Scott Leius 129 409 102 .249 2 35
SS Greg Gagne 146 439 108 .246 7 39
LF Shane Mack 156 600 189 .315 16 75
CF Kirby Puckett 160 639 210 .329 19 110
RF Pedro Muñoz 127 418 113 .270 12 71
DH Chili Davis 138 444 128 .288 12 66

Other batters

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Terry Jorgensen 22 58 18 .310 0 5
Derek Parks 7 6 2 .333 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
John Smiley 34 241 16 9 3.21 163
Bill Krueger 27 161.1 10 6 4.30 86

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Rick Aguilera 64 2 6 41 2.84 52

Other post-season awards

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Scott Ullger
AA Orlando Sun Rays Southern League Phil Roof
A Visalia Oaks California League Steve Liddle
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Dan Rohn
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Jim Dwyer
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Jim Lemon

[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Bill Krueger at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ John Smiley at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Paul Sorrento at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gozzoma01.shtml
  5. ^ Enrique Wilson at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Dan Serafini at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Gus Gandarillas at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Dan Naulty at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Scott Watkins at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/owensja02.shtml
  11. ^ 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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