1992 Minnesota Twins season

Last updated

1992  Minnesota Twins
League American League
Division Western Division
Ballpark Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City Minneapolis
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place2nd
Owners Carl Pohlad
General managers Andy MacPhail
Managers Tom Kelly
Television WCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson, Dick Bremer, Tom Mee)
Radio 830 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 the Oakland Athletics and did not make it to the postseason. This would be the team's last winning season until 2001.

Contents

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 PlayerQuantity
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 PlayerQuantity
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 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 96660.593—51–3045–36
Minnesota Twins 90720.556648–3342–39
Chicago White Sox 86760.5311050–3236–44
Texas Rangers 77850.4751936–4541–40
California Angels 72900.4442441–4031–50
Kansas City Royals 72900.4442444–3728–53
Seattle Mariners 64980.3953238–4326–55

Record vs. opponents

1992 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —8–58–46–67–610–38–46–76–65–86–67–57–55–8
Boston 5–8—8–46–66–74–97–55–83–97–65–76–64–87–6
California 4–84–8—3–106–67–58–55–72–117–55–87–69–45–7
Chicago 6–66–610–3—7–510–27–65–78–58–45–84–95–85–7
Cleveland 6–77–66–65–7—5–85–75–86–67–66–67–55–76–7
Detroit 3–109–45–72–108–5—7–55–83–95–86–69–38–45–8
Kansas City 4–85–75–86–77–55–7—7–56–75–74–97–66–75–7
Milwaukee 7–68–57–57–58–58–55–7—6–66–77–58–47–58–5
Minnesota 6–69–311–25–86–69–37–66–6—7–55–88–56–75–7
New York 8–56–75–74–86–78–57–57–65–7—6–66–66–62–11
Oakland 6–67–58–58–56–66–69–45–78–56–6—12–19–46–6
Seattle 5–76–66–79–45–73–96–74–85–86–61–12—4–94–8
Texas 5–78–44–98–57–54–87–65–77–66–64–99–4—3–9
Toronto 8–56–77–57–57–68–57–55–87–511–26–68–49–3—

Notable transactions

Roster

1992 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Brian Harper 140502154.307973
1B Kent Hrbek 11239496.2441558
2B Chuck Knoblauch 155600178.297256
3B Scott Leius 129409102.249235
SS Greg Gagne 146439108.246739
LF Shane Mack 156600189.3151675
CF Kirby Puckett 160639210.32919110
RF Pedro Muñoz 127418113.2701271
DH Chili Davis 138444128.2881266

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Gene Larkin 11533783.246642
Randy Bush 10018239.214222
Jeff Reboulet 7313726.190116
Lenny Webster 5311833.280113
Mike Pagliarulo 4210521.20009
J.T. Bruett 567619.25002
Terry Jorgensen 225818.31005
Donnie Hill 255115.29402
Darren Reed 14336.18204
Jarvis Brown 35151.06700
Bernardo Brito 8142.14302
Derek Parks 762.33300
Luis Quiñones 351.20001

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
John Smiley 34241.01693.21163
Kevin Tapani 34220.016113.97138
Scott Erickson 32212.013123.40101
Bill Krueger 27161.11064.3086
Willie Banks 1671.0445.7037
Pat Mahomes 1469.2345.0444

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mike Trombley 1046.1323.3038
David West 928.1136.9919

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Rick Aguilera 6426412.8452
Carl Willis 597312.7245
Mark Guthrie 542352.8876
Tom Edens 526332.8357
Gary Wayne 413302.6329
Bob Kipper 253304.4222
Paul Abbott 60003.2713
Larry Casian 61002.702
Mauro Gozzo 200027.001

Other post-season awards

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
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]

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References

  1. 1 2 Bill Krueger at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ John Smiley at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Paul Sorrento at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ "Mauro Gozzo Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  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. ↑ "Jayhawk Owens Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  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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