1995 Minnesota Twins season

1995 Minnesota Twins
Kirby Puckett's final season
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (since 1982)
Minneapolis (since 1982)
Other information
Owner(s)	Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)	Terry Ryan
Manager(s)	Tom Kelly
Local television	WCCO-TV KLGT-TV Midwest Sports Channel (Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Gene Larkin, Chad Hartman, Tommy John, Kent Hrbek )
Local radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon)
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Although the 1995 Minnesota Twins were separated from a world championship by only four years, it seemed like eons. Because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, the season got off to a late start. However, it did not end soon enough, as the team finished with a 56–88 record and in last place in its division. The team found it impossible to compete against the runaway Cleveland Indians who won 100 games despite the short season and finished 44 games ahead of the Twins. By July, the team was trading away its veterans in a fire sale. Manager Tom Kelly might have preferred that the strike had continued.

Offseason

• November 4, 1995: Rich Robertson was selected off waivers by the Twins from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• December 16, 1995: Matt Merullo was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
• December 22, 1995: Kevin Maas was signed as a free agent by the Twins.

Regular season

• On May 7, the Twins played their longest game ever—in terms of time—losing in 17 innings to Cleveland after 6 hours and thirty-six minutes.
• May 17 – Kirby Puckett scores his 1000th run, at the Metrodome.
• May 26 – Kirby Puckett gets his 1000th RBI, at the Metrodome.
• The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was outfielder Kirby Puckett.
• On September 13, three Seattle pitchers struck out eighteen Twins, which set a team record for batting futility.
• The highest paid Twin in 1995 was Kirby Puckett at $6,300,000, followed by Rick Aguilera at $4,3500,000.

Offense

Only three players had particularly solid years: second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and outfielders Kirby Puckett and Marty Cordova. Puckett did not know that this would be his last year, but it was a solid one. He would be the team's lone all-star representative. Knoblauch won his first Silver Slugger Award. Cordova had a great year for a rookie, and won the Rookie of the Year award.

Team Leaders

Statistic	Player	Quantity
HR	Marty Cordova	24
RBI	Kirby Puckett	99
BA	Chuck Knoblauch	.333
Runs	Chuck Knoblauch	107

Pitching

The starting rotation was uncertain. Surprisingly, the only certainty was that rookie Brad Radke would get the ball every fifth game. He made 28 starts, but the other pitchers were either injury-prone, inconsistent, or traded by the end of the year, with Kevin Tapani making 20 starts, Mike Trombley 18, Frank Rodriguez 16, Scott Erickson 15, and Jose Parra 12. Closer Rick Aguilera would also be traded midway through the season. He earned 12 saves while Dave Stevens earned 10. Aguilera, Rich Robertson, and Mark Guthrie were the only regular pitchers with ERAs under 5.

Team Leaders

Statistic	Player	Quantity
ERA	Kevin Tapani	4.92
Wins	Brad Radke	11
Saves	Rick Aguilera	12
Strikeouts	Kevin Tapani	88

Defense

Like most of Tom Kelly's teams, the defense was capable. Matt Walbeck was the starting catcher, backed up by Matt Merullo. Scott Stahoviak played in 69 games at first base. Although he was not a good hitter, he had a .998 fielding percentage that year. Knoblauch capably manned second base. Scott Leius played reasonably well at third in his last year with the Twins. Pat Meares continued his decent play at shortstop in his third year with the Twins. The regular outfielders were Puckett, Cordova, and Rich Becker.

Notable Transactions

• April 6, 1994: Carl Willis was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
• May 4, 1994: Carl Willis was released by the Twins.
• May 16, 1994: Kevin Campbell was released by the Twins.
• June 1, 1994: 1994 Major League Baseball draft
  • Mark Redman was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (13th pick).
  • Doug Mientkiewicz was drafted by the Twins in the 5th round.
• July 6, 1994: Rick Aguilera was traded by the Twins to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Frank Rodriguez and a player to be named later. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending J. J. Johnson (minors) to the Twins on October 11.
• July 7, 1994: Scott Erickson was traded by the Twins to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Scott Klingenbeck and a player to be named later. The Orioles completed the trade by sending Kimera Bartee to the Twins on September 19.
• July 31, 1994: Kevin Tapani and Mark Guthrie were traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ron Coomer, Greg Hansell, José Parra, and a player to be named later. The Dodgers completed the deal by sending Chris Latham to the Twins on October 30.
• October 9, 1995: Luis Rivas was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent.

Season standings

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	100	44	0.694	—	54–18	46–26
Kansas City Royals	70	74	0.486	30	35–37	35–37
Chicago White Sox	68	76	0.472	32	38–34	30–42
Milwaukee Brewers	65	79	0.451	35	33–39	32–40
Minnesota Twins	56	88	0.389	44	29–43	27–45

Record vs. opponents

1995 American League Records 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	—	4–9	9–4	6–1	2–10	8–5	4–5	7–5	3–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–1	7–6
Boston	9–4	—	11–3	5–3	6–7	8–5	3–2	8–4	5–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	3–4	8–5
California	4–9	3–11	—	10–2	3–2	6–2	5–7	5–2	8–5	7–5	6–7	7–6	6–7	8–2
Chicago	1–6	3–5	2–10	—	5–8	8–4	8–5	6–7	10–3	3–2–1	7–5	4–9	5–7	6–5
Cleveland	10–2	7–6	2–3	8–5	—	10–3	11–1	9–4	9–4	6–6	7–0	5–4	6–3	10–3
Detroit	5–8	5–8	2–6	4–8	3–10	—	3–4	8–5	7–5	5–8	2–3	5–5	4–8	7–6
Kansas City	5–4	2–3	7–5	5–8	1–11	4–3	—	10–2	6–7	3–7	5–8	7–5	8–6	7–5
Milwaukee	5–7	4–8	2–5	7–6	4–9	5–8	2–10	—	9–4	5–6	7–2	3–2	5–7	7–5
Minnesota	6–3	4–5	5–8	3–10	4–9	5–7	7–6	4–9	—	3–4	5–7	4–8	5–8	1–4
New York	7–6	8–5	5–7	2–3–1	6–6	8–5	7–3	6–5	4–3	—	4–9	4–9	6–3	12–1
Oakland	7–5	4–8	7–6	5–7	0–7	3–2	8–5	2–7	7–5	9–4	—	7–6	5–8	3–7
Seattle	7–6	5–7	6–7	9–4	4–5	5–5	5–7	2–3	8–4	9–4	6–7	—	10–3	3–4
Texas	1–4	4–3	7–6	7–5	3–6	8–4	6–8	7–5	8–5	3–6	8–5	3–10	—	9–3
Toronto	6–7	5–8	2–8	5–6	3–10	6–7	5–7	5–7	4–1	1–12	7–3	4–3	3–9	—

Roster

1995 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 38 Rick Aguilera 52 Kevin Campbell 19 Scott Erickson 18 Eddie Guardado 53 Mark Guthrie 23 Greg Harris 32 LaTroy Hawkins 57 Vince Horsman 52 Scott Klingenbeck 20 Pat Mahomes 55 Oscar Múñoz 56 José Parra 59 Brad Radke 47 Rich Robertson 33 Frankie Rodriguez 54 Mo Sanford 58 Erik Schullstrom 41 Dave Stevens 36 Kevin Tapani 21 Mike Trombley 51 Scott Watkins 51 Carl Willis		Catchers 12 Matt Merullo  9 Matt Walbeck Infielders 15 Ron Coomer 39 Steve Dunn  4 Chip Hale  7 Denny Hocking 11 Chuck Knoblauch 31 Scott Leius 24 Kevin Maas 16 Dan Masteller  8 Dave McCarty  2 Pat Meares 26 Brian Raabe 17 Jeff Reboulet 37 Scott Stahoviak		Outfielders 25 Rich Becker 44 Jerald Clark  1 Alex Cole 40 Marty Cordova  5 Pedro Muñoz 34 Kirby Puckett Other batters 33 Bernardo Brito 24 Riccardo Ingram		Manager 10 Tom Kelly Coaches 46 Terry Crowley (hitting) 35 Ron Gardenhire (third base) 43 Rick Stelmaszek (bullpen) 42 Dick Such (pitching) 45 Scott Ullger

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: 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
CF	Kirby Puckett	137	538	169	.314	23	99

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Dan Masteller	71	198	47	.237	3	21

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Rich Robertson	25	51.2	2	0	3.83	38

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Scott Watkins	27	0	0	0	5.40	11
Kevin Campbell	6	0	0	0	4.66	5

Other post-season awards

• Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Chuck Knoblauch
• Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Brad Radke
• Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Marty Cordova
• Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Pedro Muñoz
• Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Dan Wilson
  • The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA
• Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Kirby Puckett
• Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Player) – Javier Valentín

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Salt Lake Buzz	Pacific Coast League	Phil Roof
AA	Hardware City Rock Cats	Eastern League	Sal Butera
A	Fort Myers Miracle	Florida State League	Al Newman
A	Fort Wayne Wizards	Midwest League	Dan Rohn
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	John Russell
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Mike Boulanger

External links

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
• Twins history through the 1990s, from www.mlb.com
• 1995 Standings