| 1999 Minnesota Twins | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | Central | |||
| Ballpark | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | |||
| City | Minneapolis | |||
| Record | 63–97 (.394) | |||
| Divisional place | 5th | |||
| Owners | Carl Pohlad | |||
| General managers | Terry Ryan | |||
| Managers | Tom Kelly | |||
| Television | KMSP-TV Midwest Sports Channel (Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Paul Molitor) | |||
| Radio | 830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon) | |||
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The 1999 Minnesota Twins season was the 39th season for the franchise in the Twin CitiesofMinnesota, their eighteen season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 99th overall in the American League. They began their season on a positive note, with Brad Radke getting the win in a 6–1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. However, they finished the season in last place, with a 63–97 record.
Seventeen rookies saw playing time for manager Tom Kelly in the 1999 season. Some of these rookies, such as Corey Koskie, Torii Hunter, and Joe Mays, would go on to future success. The season was not without its bright spots, including Doug Mientkiewicz's .997 fielding percentage and Koskie's team-leading .310 batting average. Another bright spot occurred on September 11, when pitcher Eric Milton threw the only no-hitter of his career against an Anaheim Angels team that consisted mainly of September call-ups. However, the euphemism "rebuilding year" must be applied to the Twins' 1999 campaign.
On May 4, rookie Mike Lincoln pitched the Twins to their 3,000th victory. It was Lincoln's first win in the major leagues, as he beat the Yankees 8-5 at the Metrodome. Bert Blyleven was on the mound for both the Twins' 1,000th and 2,000th victories.
It was only May 21 when the team's brain trust realized that this would not be a world champion team. On that day, the Twins traded Rick Aguilera, then their highest paid player, to the Chicago Cubs. The team also traded Scott Downs and received Jason Ryan and future starter Kyle Lohse in return. The team finished the season with a 63-97 record, ranked fifth in the American League Central Division.
The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was Ron Coomer. He replaced Jim Thome at first base and went 0 for 1.
The highest paid Twin in 1999 was Rick Aguilera at $4,300,000; followed by Marty Cordova at $3,000,000.
The offense was not impressive. Minnesota was last in the league in slugging and had only one more walk than the league-worst White Sox. The team leaders were: Coomer with 16 home runs; Cordova with 70 RBI; Walker with a .279 average; Walker with 148 hits and 37 doubles; and Lawton with 26 stolen bases.
Several players failed to meet expectations offensively. In June, Lawton was hit in the face by a pitch. He missed a month and had trouble finding his swing after returning. Mientkiewicz had a great season batting-wise at the double-A level in 1998, but was not able to follow it up the following year at the major league level.
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| HR | Ron Coomer | 16 |
| RBI | Marty Cordova | 70 |
| BA | Todd Walker | .279 |
| Runs | Chad Allen | 69 |
Radke, Milton, and LaTroy Hawkins filled the first three spots in the starting rotation throughout the season. The fourth and fifth spots were less predictable. Mays did emerge as a capable starter midway through the season, making 20 starts. Also making an appreciable number of starts in 1999 were Mike Lincoln (15), Dan Perkins (12), and Jason Ryan (8).
Aguilera started the season as the Twins' closer and recorded eight saves, but Mike Trombley took over the closer duties in May and finished the season with 24 saves. Trombley, Bob Wells, Travis Miller, Eddie Guardado, and Héctor Carrasco had respectable seasons out of the bullpen.
Overall, the pitching staff allowed the second fewest walks in the American League and had an average ERA.
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| ERA | Brad Radke | 3.75 |
| Wins | Brad Radke | 12 |
| Saves | Mike Trombley | 24 |
| Strikeouts | Eric Milton | 163 |
Like most of manager Tom Kelly's teams, this one was fundamentally sound. For example, the team committed the third fewest errors in the major leagues in spite of its inexperience.
Chad Allen, Hunter, and Matt Lawton saw consistent playing time in the outfield. However, Jacque Jones saw enough at bats to supplant Allen the following season, leading to the "Soul Patrol" of Jones, Hunter, and Lawton. Terry Steinbach was the starting catcher, with Javier Valentín as his backup. Three of the infield positions were fairly stable, with Mientkiewicz getting the bulk of the time at first base, Todd Walker at second, and Cristian Guzmán at short. Although Coomer was the opening day third baseman, Koskie ended up playing the most games at that position. (Coomer saw time at first when it became apparent that Mientkiewicz was not yet ready to face major-league pitchers.) Brent Gates also saw substantial playing time at third, as well as second. Marty Cordova played in 88 games as the designated hitter.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 47–34 | 50–31 |
| Chicago White Sox | 75 | 86 | .466 | 21½ | 38–42 | 37–44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 69 | 92 | .429 | 27½ | 38–43 | 31–49 |
| Kansas City Royals | 64 | 97 | .398 | 32½ | 33–47 | 31–50 |
| Minnesota Twins | 63 | 97 | .394 | 33 | 31–50 | 32–47 |
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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 3–9 | 1–9 | 5–5 | 1–9 | 5–5 | 7–5 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 6–12 |
| Baltimore | 9–3 | — | 5–7 | 7–3 | 1–9 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 8–1 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 1–11 | 11–7 |
| Boston | 9–1 | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–2 | 6–4 | 8–4 | 4–6 | 7–3 | 4–9 | 4–5 | 9–3 | 6–12 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | 3–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–3–1 | 5–7 | 3–7 | 4–8 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 9–9 |
| Cleveland | 9–1 | 9–1 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 10–2 | 7–3 | 5–4 | 3–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| Detroit | 5–5 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–6 | 3–7 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 2–10 | 8–10 |
| Kansas City | 5–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–7 | — | 5–8 | 5–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 2–8 | 4–6 | 3–7 | 6–12 |
| Minnesota | 4–6 | 1–8 | 4–6 | 3–8–1 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–5 | 0–12 | 4–6 | 10–7 |
| New York | 4–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 9–1 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 9–9 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 2–10 | 6–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–6 | — | 6–6 | 9–1 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 12–6 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 5–5 | 3–7 | 8–4 | 3–7 | 7–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 1–9 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–2 | 7–11 |
| Tampa Bay | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 4–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–2 | 5–5 | 4–8 | 1–9 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–14 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 12–0 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–4 | — | 6–4 | 10–8 |
| Toronto | 9–3 | 11–1 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–3 | 6–4 | 2–10 | 2–8 | 2–7 | 8–5 | 4–6 | — | 9–9 |
| 1999 Minnesota Twins | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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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 | Terry Steinbach | 101 | 338 | 96 | .284 | 4 | 42 |
| 1B | Doug Mientkiewicz | 118 | 327 | 75 | .229 | 2 | 32 |
| 2B | Todd Walker | 143 | 531 | 148 | .279 | 6 | 46 |
| SS | Cristian Guzmán | 131 | 420 | 95 | .226 | 1 | 26 |
| 3B | Corey Koskie | 117 | 342 | 106 | .310 | 11 | 58 |
| LF | Chad Allen | 137 | 481 | 133 | .277 | 10 | 46 |
| CF | Torii Hunter | 135 | 384 | 98 | .255 | 9 | 35 |
| RF | Matt Lawton | 118 | 406 | 105 | .259 | 7 | 54 |
| DH | Marty Cordova | 124 | 425 | 121 | .285 | 14 | 70 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Coomer | 127 | 467 | 123 | .263 | 16 | 65 |
| Denny Hocking | 136 | 386 | 103 | .267 | 7 | 41 |
| Jacque Jones | 95 | 322 | 93 | .289 | 9 | 44 |
| Brent Gates | 110 | 306 | 78 | .255 | 3 | 38 |
| Javier Valentín | 78 | 218 | 54 | .248 | 5 | 28 |
| Midre Cummings | 16 | 38 | 10 | .263 | 1 | 9 |
| Chris Latham | 14 | 22 | 2 | .091 | 0 | 3 |
| Cleatus Davidson | 12 | 22 | 3 | .136 | 0 | 3 |
| A. J. Pierzynski | 9 | 22 | 6 | .273 | 0 | 3 |
| David Ortiz | 10 | 20 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Radke | 33 | 218.2 | 12 | 14 | 3.75 | 121 |
| Eric Milton | 34 | 206.1 | 7 | 11 | 4.49 | 163 |
| LaTroy Hawkins | 33 | 174.1 | 10 | 14 | 6.66 | 103 |
| Mike Lincoln | 18 | 76.1 | 3 | 10 | 6.84 | 27 |
| Jason Ryan | 8 | 40.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.87 | 15 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Mays | 49 | 171.0 | 6 | 11 | 4.37 | 115 |
| Dan Perkins | 29 | 86.2 | 1 | 7 | 6.54 | 44 |
| Benj Sampson | 30 | 71.0 | 3 | 2 | 8.11 | 56 |
| Mark Redman | 5 | 12.2 | 1 | 0 | 8.53 | 11 |
| Gary Rath | 5 | 4.2 | 0 | 1 | 11.57 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Trombley | 75 | 2 | 8 | 24 | 4.33 | 82 |
| Bob Wells | 76 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3.81 | 44 |
| Eddie Guardado | 63 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4.50 | 50 |
| Travis Miller | 52 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.72 | 40 |
| Héctor Carrasco | 39 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4.96 | 35 |
| Rick Aguilera | 17 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1.27 | 13 |
| Rob Radlosky | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12.46 | 3 |
| J.C. Romero | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.72 | 4 |
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1999 MLB season by team
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