The 1989 Minnesota Twins finished 80–82, fifth in the American League West. 2,277,438 fans attended Twins games, the 7th highest total in the American League.

Offseason

October 24, 1988: Eric Bullock, Tom Herr and Tom Nieto were traded by the Twins to the Philadelphia Phillies for Shane Rawley and cash.^[1]
November 3, 1988: Bert Blyleven and Kevin Trudeau (minors) were traded by the Twins to the California Angels for Mike Cook, Paul Sorrento, and Rob Wassenaar (minors).^[2]
December 7, 1988: Jeff Bumgarner (minors), Steve Gasser (minors) and Toby Nivens (minors) were traded by the Twins to the New York Mets for Wally Backman and Mike Santiago (minors).^[3]
December 12, 1988: Randy Bush was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[4]
December 21, 1988: John Christensen was released by the Twins.^[5]
February 13, 1989: Lee Tunnell was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[6]
March 26, 1989: Keith Atherton was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Carmelo Castillo.^[7]

Regular season

Kirby Puckett tied a major league record when, on May 13, he hit four doubles in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was the thirty-fifth player to accomplish the feat.

When Jeff Reardon got his 30th save on September 14, he became the first major leaguer to reach 30 saves in five consecutive seasons.

Offense

Puckett led the AL in batting with a .339 average and hits with 215. Kirby hit 9 HR, drove in 85 runs, scored 75, and was rewarded with a Silver Slugger Award. Kent Hrbek hit .272 with 25 HR and 84 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit 19 HR and 75 RBI. Al Newman led the team with 25 stolen bases.

**Team Leaders**
Statistic	Player	Quantity
HR	Kent Hrbek	25
RBI	Kirby Puckett	85
BA	Kirby Puckett	.339*
Runs	Kirby Puckett	75

*League leader

Pitching

Only two Twins had double digit wins: Allan Anderson (17-10) and Roy Smith (10-6). Frank Viola was 8-12 before being traded to the New York Mets on July 31. Reliever Jeff Reardon had 31 saves.

**Team Leaders**
Statistic	Player	Quantity
ERA	Frank Viola	3.79
Wins	Allan Anderson	17
Saves	Jeff Reardon	31
Strikeouts	Frank Viola	138

Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their fourth Gold Glove Award.

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	99	63	0.611	—	54–27	45–36
Kansas City Royals	92	70	0.568	7	55–26	37–44
California Angels	91	71	0.562	8	52–29	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	16	45–36	38–43
Minnesota Twins	80	82	0.494	19	45–36	35–46
Seattle Mariners	73	89	0.451	26	40–41	33–48
Chicago White Sox	69	92	0.429	29½	35–45	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League record v t e 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	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

Notable transactions

April 1, 1989: Randy St. Claire was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[8]
June 5, 1989: 1989 Major League Baseball draft
- Chuck Knoblauch was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (25th pick). Player signed June 9, 1989.^[9]
- Denny Neagle was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round. Player signed June 22, 1989.^[10]
- Dan Masteller was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round.^[11]
- Denny Hocking was drafted by the Twins in the 52nd round. Player signed May 15, 1990.^[12]
June 29, 1989: Freddie Toliver was traded by the Twins to the San Diego Padres for Greg Booker.^[13]

Roster

1989 Minnesota Twins

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

10 Tom Kelly

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league 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	Brian Harper	126	385	125	.325	8	57
1B	Kent Hrbek	109	375	102	.272	25	84
2B	Wally Backman	87	299	69	.231	1	26
3B	Gary Gaetti	130	498	125	.251	19	75
SS	Greg Gagne	149	460	125	.272	9	48
LF	Dan Gladden	120	461	136	.295	8	46
CF	Kirby Puckett	159	635	215	.339	9	85
RF	Randy Bush	141	391	103	.263	14	54
DH	Jim Dwyer	88	225	71	.316	3	23

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Al Newman	141	446	113	.253	0	38
Gene Larkin	136	446	119	.267	6	46
John Moses	129	242	68	.281	1	31
Tim Laudner	100	239	53	.222	6	27
Carmen Castillo	94	218	56	.257	8	33
Doug Baker	43	78	23	.295	0	9
Chip Hale	28	67	14	.209	0	4
Orlando Mercado	19	38	4	.105	0	1
Terry Jorgensen	10	23	4	.174	0	2
Paul Sorrento	14	21	5	.238	0	1
Lenny Webster	14	20	6	.300	0	1
Vic Rodriguez	6	11	5	.455	0	0
Greg Olson	3	2	1	.500	0	0

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
Allan Anderson	33	196.2	17	10	3.80	69
Frank Viola	24	175.2	8	12	3.79	138
Roy Smith	32	172.1	10	6	3.92	92
Shane Rawley	27	145.0	5	12	5.21	68
Rick Aguilera	11	75.2	3	5	3.21	57
Mike Dyer	16	71.0	4	7	4.82	37
Kevin Tapani	5	32.2	2	2	3.86	21

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
Mark Guthrie	13	57.1	2	4	4.55	38
Francisco Oliveras	12	55.2	3	4	4.53	24
David West	10	39.1	3	2	6.41	31
Freddie Toliver	7	29.0	1	3	7.76	11

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
Jeff Reardon	65	5	4	31	4.07	46
Gary Wayne	60	3	4	1	3.30	41
Juan Berenguer	56	9	3	3	3.48	93
Germán González	22	3	2	0	4.66	25
Mike Cook	15	0	1	0	5.06	15
Randy St. Claire	14	1	0	1	5.24	14
Steve Shields	11	0	1	0	7.79	12
Lee Tunnell	10	1	0	0	6.00	7
Tim Drummond	8	0	0	1	3.86	9
Greg Booker	6	0	0	0	4.15	3
Dan Gladden	1	0	0	0	9.00	0
John Moses	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

Kirby Puckett – American League Batting Champion (.339)
Gary Gaetti – Gold Glove Award winner, third base
Kirby Puckett – Gold Glove Award winner, center field
Kirby Puckett – Silver Slugger Award, outfield

All-Star Game

Gary Gaetti, third base, reserve
Kirby Puckett, outfield, starter

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Phil Roof
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Ron Gardenhire
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Scott Ullger
A	Kenosha Twins	Midwest League	Steve Liddle
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Ray Smith
Rookie	GCL Twins	Gulf Coast League	Joel Lepel

References

External links

1989 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Minnesota Twins

Established in 1901
Formerly the Washington Senators
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Twin Cities)

Franchise

Ballparks

Culture and lore

Presidential first pitch
Homer Hanky
Little Big League
Major League: Back to the Minors
Continental League
"We're Gonna Win Twins"
"Marching On Together"
AL Central tie-breaker games
- 2008
- 2009
Damn Yankees
2001 Major League Baseball contraction plan
Statue of Calvin Griffith
"And we'll see you tomorrow night!"
0-18 finally ends

Rivalries

Chicago White Sox

Important figures

Senators Hall of Famers	Herb Carneal Goose Goslin Bucky Harris Walter Johnson Arch McDonald Sam Rice
Wall of Fame members	Rick Aguilera Bob Allison Earl Battey Bert Blyleven George Brophy Rod Carew Bob Casey Gary Gaetti Calvin Griffith Kent Hrbek Jim Kaat Tom Kelly Harmon Killebrew Tony Oliva Carl Pohlad Kirby Puckett Brad Radke Jim Rantz Zoilo Versalles Frank Viola

Key personnel

Owner Jim Pohlad
President Dave St. Peter
Vice president/Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey
General manager Thad Levine
Manager Rocco Baldelli

World Series
championships (3)

Pennants (6)

American League: 1924
1925
1933
1965
1987
1991

Division titles (13)

West: 1969; 1970; 1987; 1991
Central: 2002; 2003; 2004; 2006; 2009; 2010; 2019; 2020; 2023

Wild Card titles (1)

2017

Minor league affiliates

Triple-A: St. Paul Saints
Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge
High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels
Single-A: Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
Rookie: FCL Twins; DSL Twins

Seasons (124)
1900s	1900 . 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024