1994 Minnesota Twins season

The 1994 Minnesota Twins played in an abbreviated, strike-shortened season. The strike overshadowed the season's accomplishments. These included Scott Erickson's no-hitter on April 27, Chuck Knoblauch's 85-game errorless streak and league-leading 45 doubles, Kirby Puckett's 2,000th hit, and Kent Hrbek's retirement. In 113 games, Manager Tom Kelly's team finished with a record of 53–60, for fourth place in the newly created American League Central Division.

1994 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record53-60 (.496)
Divisional place4th
Other information
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersAndy MacPhail
ManagersTom Kelly
Local televisionWCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Al Newman, Dick Bremer, Chad Hartman, Tommy John )
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Jim Powell)
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Offseason

Regular season

On April 27 at home, Scott Erickson no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers—the Metrodome's first no-hitter—for a 6-0 win. His is the third Twins' no-hitter, 27 years after Dean Chance no-hit the Cleveland Indians in 1967.[4]

On May 20, the team put up 22 hits against the Boston Red Sox—not a record. But two club records were set in the fifth inning, when eight consecutive players hit safely, and a total of ten hits were recorded in the half-inning. The Twins won, 21-2.[5]

The Twins' All-Star representatives were outfielder Kirby Puckett and second baseman Chuck Knoblauch.

By Friday, August 12, the Twins had compiled a 53-60 record through 113 games. They had scored 594 runs (5.26 per game) and allowed 688 runs (6.09 per game).[6]

Throughout the strike-shortened season, the Twins pitching staff struggled and finished with a 5.68 ERA: the highest in the majors. In 1,005.0 innings pitched, they gave up 1,197 hits and 634 earned runs: the most among all 28 teams. They did, however, issue the fewest intentional walks in the Majors, with 20.[7]

Terry Ryan was named Twins General Manager, replacing Andy MacPhail, architect of the team's 1991 world champion team.

The highest paid Twin in 1994 was Puckett at $5,300,000, followed by Aguilera at $3,260,000.

Offense

Despite the short season, Kirby Puckett managed to belt 20 home runs and drive in 112 runs, winning his sixth Silver Slugger Award. Outfielder Shane Mack had a solid year in his last year with the Twins, batting .333. Knoblauch and outfielder Alex Cole lit up the base paths, stealing 35 and 29 bases, respectively. Designated hitter Dave Winfield had a mediocre year in his last season with his hometown team. (He would play in 46 games for the Cleveland Indians in 1995 before announcing his retirement.)

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRKirby Puckett20
RBIKirby Puckett112
BAShane Mack.333
RunsChuck Knoblauch85

Pitching

The starting rotation was not a strong one, although the starters at least started consistently every fifth day, unlike in subsequent years for the Twins. Jim Deshaies, Kevin Tapani, Scott Erickson, Pat Mahomes, and Carlos Pulido started all but six games for the team. Despite the no-hitter, Erickson's year was disappointing, as he posted a 5.44 ERA. Rick Aguilera continued to be a reliable closer while the only reliable arm out of the bullpen was Kevin Campbell with an ERA of 2.92.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAKevin Tapani4.62
WinsKevin Tapani11
SavesRick Aguilera23
StrikeoutsScott Erickson104

Defense

Matt Walbeck and Derek Parks were a strong 1-2 punch at catcher, at least defensively. (Both had .993 fielding percentages.) Kent Hrbek ended his career with a solid one defensively with a .997 average. As mentioned, Knoblauch excelled defensively at this point in his career. Scott Leius and Pat Meares were defensively average on the left side of the infield. Puckett and Mack were strong in the outfield, while Alex Cole was average. Pedro Muñoz also saw substantial time in the outfield.

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 6746 0.593 — 34–19 33–27
Cleveland Indians 6647 0.584 1 35–16 31–31
Kansas City Royals 6451 0.557 4 35–24 29–27
Minnesota Twins 5360 0.469 14 32–27 21–33
Milwaukee Brewers 5362 0.461 15 24–32 29–30
Division leaders W L Pct.
New York Yankees 7043 0.619
Chicago White Sox 6746 0.593
Texas Rangers 5262 0.456
Wild Card team
(Top team qualifies for postseason)		 W L Pct. GB
Cleveland Indians 6647 0.584 —
Baltimore Orioles 6349 0.562 2½
Kansas City Royals 6451 0.557 3
Toronto Blue Jays 5560 0.478 12
Boston Red Sox 5461 0.470 13
Minnesota Twins 5360 0.469 13
Detroit Tigers 5362 0.461 14
Milwaukee Brewers 5362 0.461 14
Oakland Athletics 5163 0.447 15½
Seattle Mariners 4963 0.438 16½
California Angels 4768 0.409 20

Record vs. opponents
1994 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —4–28–42–44–63–44–17–34–54–67–54–63–37–2
Boston 2–4—7–52–43–74–24–25–51–83–79–36–61–57–3
California 4–85–7—5–50–53–46–43–33–34–83–62–76–43–4
Chicago 4–24–25–5—7–58–43–79–32–44–26–39–14–52–3
Cleveland 6–47–35–05–7—8–21–45–29–30–96–03–25–76–4
Detroit 4–32–44–34–82–8—4–86–43–33–35–46–35–75–4
Kansas City 1–42–44–67–34–18–4—5–76–44–27–36–44–36–6
Milwaukee 3–75–53–33–92–54–67–5—6–62–74–14–23–37–3
Minnesota 5–48–13–34–23–93–34–66–6—4–52–53–34–54–8
New York 6–47–38–42–49–03–32–47–25–4—7–58–43–23–4
Oakland 5–73–96–33–60–64–53–71–45–25–7—4–37–35–1
Seattle 4–66–67–21–92–33–64–62–43–34–83–4—9–11–5
Texas 3–35–14–65–47–57–53–43–35–42–33–71–9—4–8
Toronto 2–73–74–33–24–64–56–63–78–44–31–55–18–4—

Notable transactions

Roster
1994 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
CMatt Walbeck9733869.204535
1BKent Hrbek8127474.2701053
2BChuck Knoblauch109445139.312551
SSPat Meares8022961.266224
3BScott Leius9735086.2461449
LFShane Mack81303101.3331561
CFAlex Cole105345102.296423
RFKirby Puckett108439139.31720112
DHDave Winfield7729474.2521043

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
Pedro Muñoz7524472.2951136
Jeff Reboulet7418949.259323
Dave McCarty4413134.260112
Chip Hale6711831.263111
Rich Becker289826.26518
Derek Parks318917.19119
Steve Dunn14358.22904
Denny Hocking113110.32302

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
Kevin Tapani24156.01174.6291
Scott Erickson23144.08115.44104
Jim Deshaies25130.16127.3978
Pat Mahomes21120.0954.7353
Eddie Guardado417.0028.478

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
Carlos Pulido1984.1375.9832

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 Aguilera4414233.6346
Mark Guthrie504216.1438
Carl Willis492435.9237
Larry Casian331317.0818
Mike Trombley242006.3332
Dave Stevens245206.8024
Brett Merriman150106.3510
Kevin Campbell141002.9215
Erik Schullstrom90012.7713
Keith Garagozzo70009.643

Other post-season awards

Designated hitter Dave Winfield won the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team", as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. Rod Carew in 1977 is the only Twin to have won this award in the past. Kirby Puckett will win it in 1996.

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Scott Ullger
AA Nashville Xpress Southern League Phil Roof
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Steve Liddle
A Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League Jim Dwyer
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Jose Marzan

[17]

References
  1. Willie Banks at Baseball Reference
  2. Alex Cole at Baseball Reference
  3. Enrique Wilson at Baseball Reference
  4. "Minnesota Twins 6, Milwaukee Brewers 0". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  5. "Minnesota Twins 21, Boston Red Sox 2". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  6. "1994 American League Season Summary".
  7. "1994 Major League Baseball Season Summary".
  8. Lenny Webster at Baseball Reference
  9. Todd Walker at Baseball Reference
  10. Travis Miller at Baseball Reference
  11. Cleatus Davidson at Baseball Reference
  12. A. J. Pierzynski at Baseball Reference
  13. David Dellucci at Baseball Reference
  14. Corey Koskie at Baseball Reference
  15. Larry Casian at Baseball Reference
  16. Dave Winfield at Baseball Reference
  17. 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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