2005 Minnesota Twins season

The 2005 Minnesota Twins Season was the franchise's 45th season playing in the Twin Cities and the 105th season in its history. The team was managed by Ron Gardenhire in his fourth year as the Twins' manager. They played their home games in the Metrodome.

2005 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place3rd
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersTerry Ryan
ManagersRon Gardenhire
TelevisionWFTC
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
← 2004 Seasons 2006 →

The Twins' final record was 83–79. They finished third in the American League Central, behind the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, and they missed the playoffs.[1]

Regular season

edit

The Twins got off to an average start. However, the Chicago White Sox had a fantastic start to the season. The Twins tried to stay close in the standings, but their offense was insufficient. The Twins (83-79) finished in 3rd place behind the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001. The White Sox went on to earn the division title, their first trip to the playoffs since 2000, and their first World Series title since 1917.

Standings

edit
AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 99 63 .611 47‍–‍34 52‍–‍29
Cleveland Indians 93 69 .574 6 43‍–‍38 50‍–‍31
Minnesota Twins 83 79 .512 16 45‍–‍36 38‍–‍43
Detroit Tigers 71 91 .438 28 39‍–‍42 32‍–‍49
Kansas City Royals 56 106 .346 43 34‍–‍47 22‍–‍59


Record vs. opponents

edit

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Baltimore 8–10 2–6 1–6 3–5 4–2 2–4 3–3 7–11 4–6 7–3 12–6 4–6 9–10 8–10
Boston 10–8 4–3 4–2 6–4 4–2 6–4 4–2 9–10 6–4 3–3 13–6 7–2 7–11 12–6
Chicago 6–2 3–4 14–5 14–5 13–5 4–6 11–7 3–3 2–7 6–3 4–2 3–6 4–2 12–6
Cleveland 6–1 2–4 5–14 12–6 13–6 3–5 10–9 3–4 6–3 7–3 4–6 3–3 4–2 15–3
Detroit 5–3 4–6 5–14 6–12 10–9 4–6 8–11 1–5 1–5 5–4 5–2 4–2 4–3 9–9
Kansas City 2–4 2–4 5–13 6–13 9–10 2–7 6–13 3–3 2–4 2–7 3–5 2–8 3–6 9–9
Los Angeles 4–2 4–6 6–4 5–3 6–4 7–2 6–4 6–4 10–9 9–9 4–5 15–4 1–5 12–6
Minnesota 3–3 2–4 7–11 9–10 11–8 13–6 4–6 3–3 4–6 6–4 6–0 3–6 4–2 8–10
New York 11–7 10–9 3–3 4–3 5–1 3–3 4–6 3–3 7–2 7–3 8–11 7–3 12–6 11–7
Oakland 6–4 4–6 7–2 3–6 5–1 4–2 9–10 6–4 2–7 12–6 4–5 11–8 5–5 10–8
Seattle 3–7 3–3 3–6 3–7 4–5 7–2 9–9 4–6 3–7 6–12 4–2 6–13 4–6 10–8
Tampa Bay 6–12 6–13 2–4 6–4 2–5 5–3 5–4 0–6 11–8 5–4 2–4 6–2 8–11 3–15
Texas 6–4 2–7 6–3 3–3 2–4 8–2 4–15 6–3 3–7 8–11 13–6 2–6 7–3 9–9
Toronto 10–9 11–7 2–4 2–4 3–4 6–3 5–1 2–4 6–12 5–5 6–4 11–8 3–7 8–10


Roster

edit
2005 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Offense

edit

Australian Glenn Williams came up for his cup of coffee and played in thirteen games from June 7 to June 28. He hit safely in every game, earning the Twins record for the longest hitting streak to start a career. When he was sent back down, he took with him 17 hits and a .425 batting average. He'd never return to the major leagues, but is working on an active 13-game hitting streak...

Joe Mauer led the team with a .294 batting average, Justin Morneau led the team in runs batted in with 79, but Mauer hit only 9 home runs and 55 RBI, while Morneau hit only .239.

These problems were endemic to the team. No starter batted over .300 or hit over 25 home runs; however, Matthew LeCroy managed to hit 17 home runs in part-time duty.

The team's offensive struggles led to an uncertain lineup, with many defensive positions lacking regular starters. The team experimented by bringing in Seattle Mariners infielder Bret Boone to fill the void at second base, but he lasted for only 53 at-bats, hitting .170. The weak hitting led to hitting coach Scott Ullger being reassigned to third base coach after the season was over.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Jacque Jones 23
RBI Justin Morneau 79
Avg. Joe Mauer .294
Runs Jacque Jones 74

Pitching

edit

Twins pitchers performed well in 2005. The staff was led by All-Star Johan Santana (16-7, 2.87 ERA, 238 strikeouts) and All-Star closer Joe Nathan (43 saves, 2.70 ERA). However, the weak hitting prevented any other starter from winning ten games. (Jesse Crain, in a stellar year out of the bullpen, did go 12-5.) The anemic offense also may have cost Santana a second Cy Young Award,[2] as he finished with only sixteen victories.

The top end of the rotation—Santana, Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, and Carlos Silva—pitched well. Many bullpen pitchers had outstanding years, in particular Crain, Juan Rincón (2.45 ERA), J. C. Romero (3.47), and Matt Guerrier (3.39).

Silva in particular had what seemed to be a breakout year, walking only nine batters during the entire season to set a modern-era record (over 188.1 innings, a 0.43 rate). Silva induced 34 double plays to lead the majors, and won a May 20 game throwing just 74 pitches over nine innings. No pitcher has thrown as few pitches in a nine-inning win since 1957.

In early May, the pitching staff was shaken when Major League Baseball announced that Juan Rincón would be suspended for ten days for violating the sport's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Rincón pitched well both before and after this occurred.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Johan Santana 2.87
Wins Johan Santana 16
Saves Joe Nathan 43
Strikeouts Johan Santana 238

Defense

edit

Like his predecessor Tom Kelly, Gardenhire emphasized baseball fundamentals like defense. Despite Hunter's injury, he still won a Gold Glove in center field. Joe Mauer established a reputation as an outstanding defensive catcher, with a .993 fielding percentage. Morneau, not known for his defense, surprised many with a .994 average at first. Luis Rivas was a solid defensive second baseman, but his offensive shortcomings became too much to bear, leading the team to experiment with Boone and Nick Punto at the position. In contrast to Rivas, Michael Cuddyer saw a majority of the time at third base. Jason Bartlett and Juan Castro split time at shortstop, with Castro being the superior defensive player. Shannon Stewart and Jacque Jones both had .985 fielding percentages in the corner outfield positions. Lew Ford saw time at all three outfield positions.

Player stats

edit

Batting

edit

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
Shannon Stewart 132 551 69 151 27 3 10 56 7 34 .274 .388
Jacque Jones 142 523 74 130 22 4 23 73 13 51 .249 .438
Lew Ford 147 522 70 138 30 4 7 53 13 45 .264 .377
Justin Morneau 141 490 62 117 23 4 22 79 0 44 .239 .437
Joe Mauer 131 489 61 144 26 2 9 55 13 61 .294 .411
Michael Cuddyer 126 422 55 111 25 3 12 42 3 41 .263 .422
Nick Punto 112 394 45 94 18 4 4 26 13 36 .239 .335
Torii Hunter 98 372 63 100 24 1 14 56 23 34 .269 .452
Matt LeCroy 101 304 33 79 5 0 17 50 0 41 .260 .444
Juan Castro 97 272 27 70 18 1 5 33 0 9 .257 .386
Jason Bartlett 74 224 33 54 10 1 3 16 4 21 .241 .335
Luis Rodríguez 79 175 21 47 10 2 2 20 2 18 .269 .383
Terry Tiffee 54 150 9 31 8 1 1 15 1 8 .207 .293
Mike Redmond 45 148 17 46 9 0 1 26 0 6 .311 .392
Luis Rivas 59 136 21 35 3 1 1 12 4 9 .257 .316
Michael Ryan 57 117 7 27 5 0 2 13 1 9 .231 .325
Brent Abernathy 24 67 5 16 1 0 1 6 2 7 .239 .299
Jason Tyner 18 56 8 18 1 1 0 5 2 4 .321 .375
Bret Boone 14 53 3 9 0 0 0 3 0 4 .170 .170
Glenn Williams 13 40 3 17 1 0 0 3 1 2 .425 .450
Chris Heintz 8 25 1 5 3 0 0 2 0 1 .200 .320
Corky Miller 5 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Pitcher Totals 162 22 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091 .091
Team Totals 162 5564 688 1441 269 32 134 644 102 485 .259 .391

Source:[15]

Pitching

edit

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Johan Santana 16 7 2.87 33 33 0 231.1 180 77 74 45 238
Brad Radke 9 12 4.04 31 31 0 200.2 214 98 90 23 117
Carlos Silva 9 8 3.44 27 27 0 188.1 212 83 72 9 71
Kyle Lohse 9 13 4.18 31 30 0 178.2 211 85 83 44 186
Joe Mays 6 10 5.65 31 26 0 156.0 203 109 98 41 59
Jesse Crain 12 5 2.71 75 0 1 79.2 61 28 24 29 125
Juan Rincón 6 6 2.45 75 0 0 77.0 63 26 21 30 84
Matt Guerrier 0 3 3.39 43 0 0 71.2 71 29 27 24 46
Joe Nathan 7 4 2.70 69 0 43 70.0 46 22 21 22 94
Terry Mulholland 0 2 4.27 49 0 0 59.0 61 30 28 17 18
J.C. Romero 4 3 3.47 68 0 0 57.0 50 26 22 39 48
Scott Baker 3 3 3.35 10 9 0 53.2 48 21 20 14 32
Francisco Liriano 1 2 5.70 6 4 0 23.2 19 15 15 7 33
Travis Bowyer 0 1 5.59 8 0 0 9.2 10 6 6 3 12
Dave Gassner 1 0 5.87 2 2 0 7.2 9 7 5 1 2
Team Totals 83 79 3.71 162 162 44 1464.1 1458 662 604 348 965

Source:[16]

Notable transactions

edit

Miscellaneous

edit
 
Twins 40th Anniversary of 1965 World Series.

Other post-season awards

edit

Farm system

edit
Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Phil Roof and Rich Miller
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Riccardo Ingram
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Kevin Boles
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Nelson Prada

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elizabethton[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "2005 Minnesota Twins Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  2. ^ Hayes, Dan. "Johan Santana's Hall of Fame 'what if': 2005 Cy Young Award". The Athletic. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "Bret Boone Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ^ Associated Press (July 10, 2005). "Twins 3, Royals 2, 12 innings". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  5. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
edit