1988 Minnesota Twins season explained

The 1988 Minnesota Twins finished at 91–71, second in the American League West. 3,030,672 fans attended Twins games, at the time, establishing a new major league record. Pitcher Allan Anderson had his most successful season in 1988, winning the American League ERA title at 2.45 and compiling a record of 16-9 in 30 starts.

Offseason

• November 7, 1987: Eric Bullock was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[1]
• December 21, 1987: Don Baylor was released by the Twins.^[2]
• December 21, 1987: Dan Schatzeder was released by the Twins.^[3]
• December 21, 1987: Mike Smithson was released by the Twins.^[4]
• January 1988: Vic Rodriguez was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[5]
• January 4, 1988: Brian Harper was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[6]
• March 18, 1988: Sal Butera was released by the Twins.^[7]
• March 24, 1988: Billy Beane was traded by the Twins to the Detroit Tigers for Balvino Gálvez.^[8]

Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game, third baseman Gary Gaetti, outfielder Kirby Puckett, catcher Tim Laudner, starting pitcher Frank Viola, and relief pitcher Jeff Reardon.

On September 16, Puckett got his 1000th hit, becoming just the fifth major leaguer to achieve that total before completing his fifth year.

On September 17, reliever Reardon collected his 40th save of the season. With 41 saves as a 1985 Montreal Expo, he became the only major league player to reach 40 saves in each league.

Frank Viola became the first Twins player since Jim Perry in 1970 to win the AL Cy Young Award.

Offense

Kirby Puckett hit .356 with 24 HR, drove in 121 runs and scored 109.Puckett led the AL with 234 hits, 163 singles, and 358 total bases. Puckett's 234 hits were the most by a right-handed batter since Joe Medwick had 237 hits in 1937.

Kent Hrbek hit .312 with 25 HR and 76 RBI.Gary Gaetti hit .301 with 28 HR and 88 RBI.

Team Leaders! Statistic !! Player !! Quantity

		28
		121
		.356
		109

Pitching

The Twins had two solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (24-7), and Allan Anderson (16-9). Frank Viola led the AL with 24 wins. Allan Anderson led the AL with a 2.45 ERA. Reliever Jeff Reardon had 42 saves. Bert Blyleven (10-17, 5.43 ERA) led the AL with 17 losses, 125 earned runs allowed, and 16 hit batsmen.

Team Leaders! Statistic !! Player !! Quantity

		2.45*
		24*
		42
		193

• League leader

Defense

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

Roster

1988 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches

Notable transactions

• April 5, 1988: John Moses was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[9]
• April 22, 1988: Tom Brunansky was traded by the Twins to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tom Herr.^[10]
• May 28, 1988: John Christensen was signed as a free agent by the Twins.^[11]
• June 27, 1988: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Twins.

Notable games

• September 17: Jeff Reardon becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to record 40 saves in both leagues in a 3-1 win versus the White Sox.^[12]

Player stats

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		117	375	94	.251	13	54
1B		143	510	159	.312	25	76
2B		103	287	60	.209	3	27
SS		149	461	109	.236	14	48
3B		133	468	141	.301	28	88
LF		141	576	155	.269	11	62
CF		158	657	234	.356	24	121
RF		136	394	103	.261	14	51
DH		149	505	135	.267	8	70

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
	86	304	80	.263	1	21
	105	260	58	.223	0	19
	105	206	65	.316	2	12
	60	166	49	.295	3	20
	100	106	23	.217	1	10
	24	60	4	.067	0	0
	20	41	12	.293	2	15
	23	38	10	.263	0	5
	16	17	5	.294	0	3
	12	16	3	.188	1	2
	11	7	0	.000	0	0
	7	7	0	.000	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
	35	255.1	24	7	2.64	193
	33	207.1	10	17	5.43	145
	30	202.1	16	9	2.45	83
	24	130.0	7	7	4.85	72
	21	114.2	7	6	4.24	69
	16	82.2	2	5	3.92	23

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
	9	37.0	3	0	2.68	17
	5	11.2	1	1	10.03	7
	4	9.2	0	1	16.76	5

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
	63	2	4	42	2.47	56
	57	8	4	2	3.96	99
	49	7	5	3	3.41	43
	26	3	3	3	4.53	31
	16	0	0	1	3.38	19
	11	0	0	0	6.00	9
	10	0	1	0	1.74	7
	9	1	0	0	6.00	9
	5	0	1	0	10.80	7
	3	0	0	0	18.00	3
	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• Frank Viola, Pitcher, Cy Young Award
• Gary Gaetti, Third Baseman, Gold Glove Award
• Kirby Puckett, Centerfield, Gold Glove Award
• Kirby Puckett – American League Leader At-Bats (657)
• Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Hits (234)
• Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Singles (163)
• Kirby Puckett – Major League Baseball Leader Total Bases (358)
• Frank Viola – Major League Baseball Leader Total Wins (24)

All-Star Game

• Gary Gaetti, third base, reserve
• Tim Laudner, catcher, reserve
• Kirby Puckett, outfield, reserve
• Jeff Reardon, relief pitcher, reserve
• Frank Viola, pitcher, starter

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

^[13]

References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bulloer01.shtml Eric Bullock
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/baylodo01.shtml Don Baylor
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/schatda01.shtml Dan Schatzeder
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithmi01.shtml Mike Smithson
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodrivi01.shtml Vic Rodriguez
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/harpebr01.shtml Brian Harper
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/butersa01.shtml Sal Butera
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beanebi01.shtml Billy Beane
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mosesjo01.shtml John Moses
10. Web site: Tom Brunansky Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More. Baseball-Reference.com. April 14, 2023.
11. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chrisjo02.shtml John Christensen
12. Web site: Gainesville Sun - Google News Archive Search. news.google.com. April 14, 2023.
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com