1991 Minnesota Twins season

The 1991 Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB) won the World Series, the second time the Twins had won the World Series since moving to Minnesota in 1961. During the 1991 regular season the Twins had an MLB-leading 15-game win streak, which remains a club record. On June 17, 1991, the streak came to an end at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles but not before the Twins moved from fifth place to first, a lead they would not relinquish until winning baseball's championship. The Twins' winning streak of 1991 falls just seven games short of the all-time American League (AL) record of 22 consecutive regular season wins set by the Cleveland Indians in 2017.

1991 Minnesota Twins
World Series Champions
American League Champions
AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record95–67 (.586)
Divisional place1st
Other information
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersAndy MacPhail
ManagersTom Kelly
Local televisionWCCO-TV
KITN
Midwest Sports Channel
(Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson, Dick Bremer)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
< Previous season     Next season >

The Twins finished 95-67, first in the AL West, which represented a turnaround from 1990, when the team finished last in the division with a 74-88 record. They were the first team to go from a last-place finish to a World Series championship. They and the Atlanta Braves were the first teams to go from last place to a pennant. The Twins defeated the Braves in seven games in a Series which has been considered one of the best to have ever been played.[1][2][3][4]

There was a considerable reshaping of the team in January and February, beginning when third baseman Gary Gaetti left as a free agent on January 25 and signed with the California Angels. Less than 12 hours after Gaetti's departure, the Twins signed free agent Mike Pagliarulo from the New York Yankees as a new third baseman. Two more key free agent signings followed with designated hitter Chili Davis on January 30 and St. Paul native Jack Morris on February 5.[5] The July 1989 blockbuster trade that sent 1988 AL Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola to the New York Mets in exchange for relief pitchers Rick Aguilera and David West and starter Kevin Tapani proved to be pivotal to the 1991 season. There were only seven players still on the roster from the 1987 World Championship team, none of them pitchers: Randy Bush, Greg Gagne, Dan Gladden, Kent Hrbek, Gene Larkin, Al Newman, and future Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.[6] Into this framework, young stars were blended successfully, including Scott Leius to platoon with Pagliarulo at third, Shane Mack in right field, Scott Erickson, a 20-game winner with a 12-game winning streak,[7] and A.L. Rookie of the Year second baseman Chuck Knoblauch.

2,293,842 fans attended Twins games, the eighth highest total in the American League.

Offseason

The club moved spring training operations from Orlando's Tinker Field, where the franchise had trained since 1936, to the Lee County Sports Complex in Ft. Myers.

Regular season

For the second time in his career, Kirby Puckett had a six-hit game on May 23. This was an eleven-inning game; the previous time in 1987 was in nine innings.

The highest paid player on the team was Jack Morris at $3,700,000; followed by Kirby Puckett at $3,166,667.

Offense


Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRChili Davis29
RBIChili Davis93
BAKirby Puckett.319
RunsKirby Puckett92

Pitching

Jack Morris, Kevin Tapani, and Scott Erickson were a solid, 1-2-3 punch in the team's rotation. The fourth and fifth spots were less certain, with Allan Anderson, David West, and Mark Guthrie starting over 10 games. Rick Aguilera was a solid closer, earning 42 saves.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAKevin Tapani2.99
WinsScott Erickson20*
SavesRick Aguilera42
StrikeoutsJack Morris163
*League leader

Defense

The regular lineup included Kent Hrbek at first base, rookie Chuck Knoblauch at second, Greg Gagne at shortstop, Brian Harper at catcher, and Kirby Puckett, Shane Mack, and Dan Gladden in the outfield. Mike Pagliarulo and Scott Leius platooned at third. Junior Ortiz was the backup catcher, and Al Newman was a reliable utility infielder.

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9567 0.586 — 51–30 44–37
Chicago White Sox 8775 0.537 8 46–35 41–40
Texas Rangers 8577 0.525 10 46–35 39–42
Oakland Athletics 8478 0.519 11 47–34 37–44
Seattle Mariners 8379 0.512 12 45–36 38–43
Kansas City Royals 8280 0.506 13 40–41 42–39
California Angels 8181 0.500 14 40–41 41–40

Record vs. opponents
1991 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–56–64–87–65–84–83–104–85–83–94–89–35–8
Boston 5–8—4–87–59–45–87–57–63–96–78–49–35–79–4
California 6–68–4—8–57–55–79–46–68–56–61–126–75–86–6
Chicago 8–45–75–8—6–64–87–67–58–58–47–67–68–57–5
Cleveland 6–74–95–76–6—7–64–85–82–106–75–72–104–81–12
Detroit 8–58–57–58–46–7—8–44–94–88–54–88–46–65–8
Kansas City 8–45–74–96–78–44–8—9–36–77–56–77–67–65–7
Milwaukee 10–36–76–65–78–59–43–9—6–66–78–43–97–56–7
Minnesota 8–49–35–85–810–28–47–66–6—10–28–59–46–74–8
New York 8–57–66–64–87–65–85–77–62–10—6–63–95–76–7
Oakland 9–34–812–16–77–58–47–64–85–86–6—6–74–96–6
Seattle 8–43–97–66–710–24–86–79–34–99–37–6—5–85–7
Texas 3–97–58–55–88–46–66–75–77–67–59–48–5—6–6
Toronto 8–54–96–65–712–18–57–57–68–47–66–67–56–6—

Roster
1991 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Notable transactions

Player stats

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
CBrian Harper123441137.3111069
1BKent Hrbek132462131.2842089
2BChuck Knoblauch151565159.281150
3BMike Pagliarulo121365102.279636
SSGreg Gagne139408108.265842
LFDan Gladden126461114.247652
CFKirby Puckett152611195.3191589
RFShane Mack143442137.3101874
DHChili Davis153534148.2772993

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
Gene Larkin9825573.286219
Al Newman11824647.191019
Scott Leius10919957.286520
Randy Bush9316550.303623
Pedro Muñoz5113839.283726
Junior Ortiz6113428.209011
Paul Sorrento264712.255413
Jarvis Brown38378.21600
Lenny Webster183410.29438
Carmelo Castillo9122.16700

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
Jack Morris34246.218123.43163
Kevin Tapani35244.21692.99135
Scott Erickson32204.02083.18108
Allan Anderson29134.15114.9651
David West1571.1444.5452

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
Paul Abbott1547.1314.7543
Tom Edens833.0224.0919
Denny Neagle720.0014.0514
Larry Casian1518.1007.366
Willie Banks517.1115.7116
Gary Wayne812.1105.117

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
Rick Aguilera6345422.3561
Mark Guthrie417524.3272
Carl Willis408322.6353
Steve Bedrosian565364.4244
Terry Leach501203.6132

Postseason

See 1991 American League Championship Series and 1991 World Series.

Seven players and five of the coaching staff from the 1987 World Champions repeated as 1991 World Champions.

Only one man has been a part of each of the three Minnesota Twins World Series teams: Tony Oliva. An outfielder in 1965, he was the hitting coach on the 1987 team and bench coach in 1991.

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Other post-season awards

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Russ Nixon
AA Orlando Sun Rays Southern League Scott Ullger
A Visalia Oaks California League Steve Liddle
A Kenosha Twins Midwest League Joel Lepel
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Dan Rohn

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando[21]

References
  1. Murphy, Brian (April 2001). "Twins' 'Overachiever' Kirby Puckett Gets Call to Glory". Baseball Digest. It was his play in Game 6 of the '91 Series against Atlanta that cemented his legacy in Twin Cities sports history. After robbing the Braves' Ron Gant of a home run in the field, Puckett hit an 11th-inning homer off Charlie Leibrandt to force a seventh game that the Twins eventually won in what some baseball historians consider the greatest World Series ever.
  2. Hurst, Matt (October 28, 2011). "World Series 2011: The 5 Best Fall Classic Game 6's Ever". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 21, 2012. The 1991 World Series is easily the best World Series ever played, with three games being won in the final at-bat and four coming down to the final pitch. Kirby Puckett's heroics in Game 6 allowed the Twins to stay alive and eventually win Game 7.
  3. Yellon, Al (October 28, 2011). "The Top 10 World Series Games, Including (Of Course) 2011 Game 6". Baseball Nation. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2012. No. 10: 1991 World Series, Game 6: This is the game where Jack Buck exclaimed "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" In addition to Puckett's extra-inning heroics, the Twins' bullpen held the Braves scoreless for the last four innings of the game, allowing just three singles, two of which were erased by double plays.
  4. Yellon, Al (October 28, 2011). "The Top 10 World Series Games, Including (Of Course) 2011 Game 6". Baseball Nation. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2012. No. 6: 1991 World Series, Game 7: The Senators franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961; 30 years later, the team played two of the most excruciatingly exciting World Series games on consecutive nights. It's the only Series I'm honoring here with a pair of games. This one featured a 10-inning shutout thrown by Minnesota's Jack Morris while the Twins were leaving 12 men on base, finally scoring the game-winner on Gene Larkin's bases-loaded single with one out in the bottom of the 10th.
  5. Kelly, Tom; Robinson, Ted (1992). Season of Dreams: The Minnesota Twins' Drive to the 1991 World Championship. Voyageur Pr. pp. 22–26. ISBN 978-0-89658-209-5.
  6. Kelly, Tom; Robinson, Ted (1992). Season of Dreams: The Minnesota Twins' Drive to the 1991 World Championship. Voyageur Pr. pp. 121–158. ISBN 978-0-89658-209-5.
  7. Kelly, Tom; Robinson, Ted (1992). Season of Dreams: The Minnesota Twins' Drive to the 1991 World Championship. Voyageur Pr. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-89658-209-5.
  8. Roy Smith at Baseball Reference
  9. Tom Edens at Baseball Reference
  10. Mike Pagliarulo at Baseball Reference
  11. Chili Davis at Baseball Reference
  12. Jack Morris at Baseball Reference
  13. Nelson Liriano at Baseball Reference
  14. "Carmelo Castillo Stats".
  15. David McCarty at Baseball Reference
  16. Scott Stahoviak at Baseball Reference
  17. LaTroy Hawkins at Baseball Reference
  18. Brad Radke at Baseball Reference
  19. Matt Lawton at Baseball Reference
  20. "Brian Harper Stats".
  21. 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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