| 1992 Minnesota Twins | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | |||
| City | Minneapolis | |||
| Record | 90–72 (.556) | |||
| Divisional place | 2nd | |||
| Owners | Carl Pohlad | |||
| General managers | Andy MacPhail | |||
| Managers | Tom Kelly | |||
| Television | WCCO-TV Midwest Sports Channel (Jim Kaat, Ted Robinson, Dick Bremer, Tom Mee) | |||
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon) | |||
| ||||
Coming off a World Series victory, the 1992 Minnesota Twins continued the team's winning spree. The team finished in second place to the Oakland Athletics and did not make it to the postseason. This would be the team's last winning season until 2001.
Outfielder Kirby Puckett got 200 hits for the fifth time in his career, as well as 100 runs and 100 RBI. He also hit over .300 for the seventh time in nine seasons. Finally, he hit the first three grand slams of his career. He was twice named American League Player of the Month. Puckett would go on to win his fifth Silver Slugger Award.
Chuck Knoblauch and Shane Mack also notched 100 runs, making Puckett, Knoblauch, and Mack the first trio of Twins in team history to score 100 times in a season.
First baseman Kent Hrbek began his fight against the injury bug, getting only 394 at-bats, a number that would decline over the next two years. Catcher Brian Harper had the second of three seasons batting over .300. Scott Leius saw a majority of the time at third base, but hit only .249 with 2 home runs. In his last year with the Twins, shortstop Greg Gagne hit .246 — right around his career average. Pedro Muñoz saw a majority of the time in right field, while Chili Davis served as the designated hitter in his second and last year with the Twins.
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| HR | Kirby Puckett | 19 |
| RBI | Kirby Puckett | 110 |
| BA | Kirby Puckett | .329 |
| Runs | Kirby Puckett and Chuck Knoblauch | 104 |
The first four pitchers in the starting rotation had winning records and solid ERAs, including John Smiley (16-9, 3.21), Kevin Tapani (16-11, 3.97), Scott Erickson (13-12, 3.40), and Bill Krueger (10-6, 4.30). The fifth spot in the rotation was a question mark, with Pat Mahomes making 13 mediocre starts, Willie Banks 12 poor starts, and Mike Trombley 7 reasonably capable ones.
The bullpen was outstanding, anchored by closer Rick Aguilera. Aguilera earned 41 saves, and became the Twins' all-time leader in saves on September 1 when he earned his 109th with the team. The four regular arms in the bullpen all had ERAs under three: Carl Willis, Mark Guthrie, Tom Edens, and Gary Wayne.
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | John Smiley | 3.21 |
| Wins | John Smiley and Kevin Tapani | 16 |
| Saves | Rick Aguilera | 41 |
| Strikeouts | John Smiley | 163 |
As expected for a Tom Kelly team, the defense was strong. Puckett would win the last of his six Gold Glove Awards. Hrbek was always strong at first base (although Don Mattingly prevented him from winning a Gold Glove), as was Knoblauch at second (at least at this point in his career). Gagne was a capable shortstop, but Leius was a question mark at third with a .955 fielding percentage. Mack and Muñoz had good years defensively alongside Puckett.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 51–30 | 45–36 |
| Minnesota Twins | 90 | 72 | .556 | 6 | 48–33 | 42–39 |
| Chicago White Sox | 86 | 76 | .531 | 10 | 50–32 | 36–44 |
| Texas Rangers | 77 | 85 | .475 | 19 | 36–45 | 41–40 |
| California Angels | 72 | 90 | .444 | 24 | 41–40 | 31–50 |
| Kansas City Royals | 72 | 90 | .444 | 24 | 44–37 | 28–53 |
| Seattle Mariners | 64 | 98 | .395 | 32 | 38–43 | 26–55 |
|
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 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 |
| California | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 9–3 | 11–2 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| New York | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 2–11 |
| Oakland | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 12–1 | 9–4 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 1–12 | — | 4–9 | 4–8 |
| Texas | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 9–4 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | — |
| 1992 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | 140 | 502 | 154 | .307 | 9 | 73 |
| 1B | Kent Hrbek | 112 | 394 | 96 | .244 | 15 | 58 |
| 2B | Chuck Knoblauch | 155 | 600 | 178 | .297 | 2 | 56 |
| 3B | Scott Leius | 129 | 409 | 102 | .249 | 2 | 35 |
| SS | Greg Gagne | 146 | 439 | 108 | .246 | 7 | 39 |
| LF | Shane Mack | 156 | 600 | 189 | .315 | 16 | 75 |
| CF | Kirby Puckett | 160 | 639 | 210 | .329 | 19 | 110 |
| RF | Pedro Muñoz | 127 | 418 | 113 | .270 | 12 | 71 |
| DH | Chili Davis | 138 | 444 | 128 | .288 | 12 | 66 |
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 Larkin | 115 | 337 | 83 | .246 | 6 | 42 |
| Randy Bush | 100 | 182 | 39 | .214 | 2 | 22 |
| Jeff Reboulet | 73 | 137 | 26 | .190 | 1 | 16 |
| Lenny Webster | 53 | 118 | 33 | .280 | 1 | 13 |
| Mike Pagliarulo | 42 | 105 | 21 | .200 | 0 | 9 |
| J.T. Bruett | 56 | 76 | 19 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Terry Jorgensen | 22 | 58 | 18 | .310 | 0 | 5 |
| Donnie Hill | 25 | 51 | 15 | .294 | 0 | 2 |
| Darren Reed | 14 | 33 | 6 | .182 | 0 | 4 |
| Jarvis Brown | 35 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Bernardo Brito | 8 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 2 |
| Derek Parks | 7 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Quiñones | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Smiley | 34 | 241.0 | 16 | 9 | 3.21 | 163 |
| Kevin Tapani | 34 | 220.0 | 16 | 11 | 3.97 | 138 |
| Scott Erickson | 32 | 212.0 | 13 | 12 | 3.40 | 101 |
| Bill Krueger | 27 | 161.1 | 10 | 6 | 4.30 | 86 |
| Willie Banks | 16 | 71.0 | 4 | 4 | 5.70 | 37 |
| Pat Mahomes | 14 | 69.2 | 3 | 4 | 5.04 | 44 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Trombley | 10 | 46.1 | 3 | 2 | 3.30 | 38 |
| David West | 9 | 28.1 | 1 | 3 | 6.99 | 19 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Aguilera | 64 | 2 | 6 | 41 | 2.84 | 52 |
| Carl Willis | 59 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2.72 | 45 |
| Mark Guthrie | 54 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2.88 | 76 |
| Tom Edens | 52 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2.83 | 57 |
| Gary Wayne | 41 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.63 | 29 |
| Bob Kipper | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.42 | 22 |
| Paul Abbott | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.27 | 13 |
| Larry Casian | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 2 |
| Mauro Gozzo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |
|
1992 MLB season by team
| |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
