1976 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersGene Mauch
TelevisionWTCN
(Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
← 1975 Seasons 1977 →

The 1976 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77, third in the American League West. Only 715,394 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was the third year in a row that the Twins attracted the fewest fans in the AL.

Offseason

Regular season

In June and July, Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock became the third and fourth Twins to hit for the cycle. Hisle cycled on June 4 in an 8–6 win over Baltimore, going double, triple, single, home run. He is the only Twin that took an extra inning (homering in the tenth) to accomplish the feat, as he'd grounded out in his first at-bat. Six weeks later Bostock became the second Twin to cycle during a season, a first for the club.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew and catcher Butch Wynegar.

On July 24, Lyman Bostock, batting fourth, went four-for-four (3B-HR-2B-1B) to become the fourth Twin to hit for the cycle. He had four RBI and scored four runs in the 17–2 win over Chicago.[5]

Steve Luebber is the Minnesota pitcher to come closest to a no-hitter without achieving it. On August 7, he was one out away before losing his bid when Texas Ranger Roy Howell singled. Luebber then lost the shutout when Mike Hargrove singled Howell home. The Twins won the game, 3–1.[6]

For the first time in four years, Carew did not win the AL batting title, finishing third with a .331 batting average. Carew did have 200 hits and 90 RBI. Larry Hisle hit 14 home runs and collected 96 RBI. Dan Ford added 20 HR and 86 RBI. The Twins set a season-record low with just 81 homers.

Reliever Bill Campbell led the Twins pitchers with 17 wins, all in relief. He also led the team in saves (20) and appearances (78). His earned run average of 3.01 was second only to reliever Tom Burgmeier's 2.50; Burgmeier added 8 relief wins and a save. The Twins needed the relief help because the starting pitching was terrible, with only Dave Goltz (14–14) managing double digit wins.

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 90 72 0.556 — 49–32 41–40
Oakland Athletics 87 74 0.540 2½ 51–30 36–44
Minnesota Twins 85 77 0.525 5 44–37 41–40
Texas Rangers 76 86 0.469 14 39–42 37–44
California Angels 76 86 0.469 14 38–43 38–43
Chicago White Sox 64 97 0.398 25½ 35–45 29–52

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore — 7–11 8–4 8–4 7–11 12–6 6–6 11–7 4–8 13–5 4–8 8–4
Boston 11–7 — 7–5 6–6 9–9 14–4 3–9 12–6 7–5 7–11 4–8 3–9
California 4–8 5–7 — 11–7 7–5 6–6 8–10 4–8 8–10 5–7 6–12 12–6
Chicago 4–8 6–6 7–11 — 3–9 6–6 8–10 7–5 7–11 1–11 8–9 7–11
Cleveland 11–7 9–9 5–7 9–3 — 6–12 6–6 11–6 9–3 4–12 4–8 7–5
Detroit 6–12 4–14 6–6 6–6 12–6 — 4–8 12–6 4–8 9–8 6–6 5–7
Kansas City 6–6 9–3 10–8 10–8 6–6 8–4 — 8–4 10–8 7–5 9–9 7–11
Milwaukee 7–11 6–12 8–4 5–7 6–11 6–12 4–8 — 4–8 5–13 5–7 10–2
Minnesota 8–4 5–7 10–8 11–7 3–9 8–4 8–10 8–4 — 2–10 11–7 11–7
New York 5–13 11–7 7–5 11–1 12–4 8–9 5–7 13–5 10–2 — 6–6 9–3
Oakland 8–4 8–4 12–6 9–8 8–4 6–6 9–9 7–5 7–11 6–6 — 7–11
Texas 4–8 9–3 6–12 11–7 5–7 7–5 11–7 2–10 7–11 3–9 11–7 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1976 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 Butch Wynegar 149 534 139 .260 10 69
1B Rod Carew 156 605 200 .331 9 90
2B Bob Randall 153 475 127 .267 1 34
3B Mike Cubbage 104 342 89 .260 3 49
SS Roy Smalley 103 384 104 .271 2 36
LF Larry Hisle 155 581 158 .272 14 96
CF Lyman Bostock 128 474 153 .323 4 60
RF Dan Ford 145 514 137 .267 20 86
DH Craig Kusick 109 266 69 .259 11 36

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
Steve Braun 122 417 120 .288 3 61
Steve Brye 87 258 68 .264 2 23
Jerry Terrell 89 171 42 .246 0 8
Dave McKay 45 138 28 .203 0 8
Danny Thompson 34 124 29 .234 0 6
Tony Oliva 67 123 26 .211 1 16
Glenn Borgmann 24 65 16 .246 1 6
Luis Gómez 38 57 11 .193 0 3
Phil Roof 18 46 10 .217 0 4

Pitching

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
Dave Goltz 36 249.1 14 14 3.36 133
Jim Hughes 37 177.0 9 14 4.98 87
Bill Singer 26 172.0 9 9 3.77 63
Pete Redfern 23 118.0 8 8 3.51 74
Bert Blyleven 12 95.1 4 5 3.12 75
Eddie Bane 17 79.1 4 7 5.11 24
Joe Decker 13 58.0 2 7 5.28 35

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
Steve Luebber 38 119.1 4 5 4.00 45

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
Bill Campbell 78 17 5 20 3.01 115
Tom Burgmeier 57 8 1 1 2.50 45
Vic Albury 23 3 1 0 3.58 23
Tom Johnson 18 3 1 0 2.61 37
Mike Pazik 5 0 0 0 7.00 6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Twins Pacific Coast League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Dick Phillips
A Reno Silver Sox California League Johnny Goryl
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Harry Warner
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Notes

  1. ^ Sergio Ferrer page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Bob Randall page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Pete Redfern page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Johnny Briggs page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ "Minnesota Twins 17, Chicago White Sox 2". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "Minnesota Twins 3, Texas Rangers1". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  7. ^ Jeff Holly page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference

References

External links

1976 MLB season by team
Minnesota Twins
Categories