The 1971

1971 in baseball

-Major League Baseball:National League: Pittsburgh PiratesAmerican League: Baltimore Orioles1971 World Series: Pittsburgh def. Baltimore , 4 games to 3.Inter-league playoff: Pittsburgh declined challenge by Tokyo Yomiuri Giants....

 Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

finished 74-86, fifth in the American League West

American League West

The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams currently only reside along the west coast and in Texas, historically the...

. 940,858 fans attended Twins games, the fifth highest total in the American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

, the first time the Twins failed to attract over one million fans since moving to Minnesota.

Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game

Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...

: first baseman Harmon Killebrew

Harmon Killebrew

Harmon Clayton Killebrew , nicknamed "Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. During his 22-year career in Major League Baseball , he played for the Washington Senators, a team which later became the Minnesota Twins, and...

, second baseman Rod Carew

Rod Carew

Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach. He played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and was elected to the All-Star game every season except his last. In 1991, Carew was inducted into the National...

, shortstop Leo Cárdenas

Leo Cárdenas

Leonardo Lazaro Cárdenas Alfonso was a prominent shortstop in American Major League Baseball for 16 years...

, outfielder Tony Oliva

Tony Oliva

Tony Pedro Oliva is a former Major League Baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played his entire 15-year baseball career for the Minnesota Twins . He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...

, and pitcher Jim Perry

Jim Perry (baseball)

James Evan Perry, Jr. is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched for 1959-1975 for four different teams. During a 17-year baseball career, Perry compiled 215 wins, 1,576 strikeouts, and a 3.45 earned run average....

.

Lead off batter César Tovar

César Tovar

César Leonardo Tovar , nicknamed "Pepito" and "Mr. Versatility", was a Venezuelan professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins , Philadelphia Phillies , Texas Rangers , Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees...

 led the AL

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 with 204 hits and was second with 94 runs. Tony Oliva won his third batting title with a .337 average and led the AL

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 with a .546 slugging percentage. Harmon Killebrew hit 28 HR and 119 RBI. Rod Carew hit .307.

Jim Perry

Jim Perry (baseball)

James Evan Perry, Jr. is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched for 1959-1975 for four different teams. During a 17-year baseball career, Perry compiled 215 wins, 1,576 strikeouts, and a 3.45 earned run average....

 (17-17), Bert Blyleven

Bert Blyleven

Bert Blyleven is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to , and was best known for his curveball. Blyleven was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011...

 (16-15), and Jim Kaat

Jim Kaat

James Lee "Jim" Kaat , nicknamed "Kitty", is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins , Chicago White Sox , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Yankees , and St...

 (13-14) were the Twins best pitchers. Kaat won his tenth Gold Glove Award

Gold Glove Award

The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the...

.

Notable transactions

• April 9, 1971: Dave Boswell
  Dave Boswell
  David Wilson Boswell was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the American League for the Minnesota Twins from 1964-1971....
  
   was released by the Twins.
• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
  1971 Major League Baseball Draft
  -First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :The June 1971 draft was a productive one, even though none of its top ten choices yielded players who would have memorable major league careers...
  
  
  • Dave Edwards
    Dave Edwards (baseball)
    David Leonard Edwards is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played all or part of five seasons in the major leagues, from until .Edwards has two brothers who also played in the major leagues, twin brothers Mike and Marshall Edwards....
    
     was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round.
  • Future NFL quarterback Joe Theismann
    Joe Theismann
    Joseph Robert "Joe" Theismann is a former quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League . He achieved his most enduring fame in his 12 seasons playing for the Washington Redskins, where he was a two-time Pro Bowler and quarterback of the winning team in Super Bowl XVII...
    
     was drafted by the Twins in the 39th round.
  • Glenn Borgmann
    Glenn Borgmann
    Glenn Dennis Borgmann is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1972 until 1980, primarily as a catcher....
    
     was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the secondary phase.
• July 8, 1971: Paul Ratliff
  Paul Ratliff
  Paul Hawthorne Ratliff was a Major League Baseball player, who played catcher for the Minnesota Twins during the 1963, 1970, and 1971 seasons and for the Milwaukee Brewers 1971-1972....
  
   was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers
  Milwaukee Brewers
  The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
  
   for Phil Roof
  Phil Roof
  Phillip Anthony Roof is an American former professional baseball player, coach and minor league manager. He played for 15 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball in and from to , most notably for the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics and the Minnesota Twins...
  
  .

Roster

1971 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders		Manager Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
1B		147	500	127	.254	28	119
SS		153	554	146	.264	18	75
LF		157	657	204	.311	1	45
RF		126	487	164	.337	22	81

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
	48	57	15	.263	0	7
	21	44	7	.159	2	6

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
	38	278.1	16	15	2.81	224
	40	270	17	17	4.23	126
	39	260.1	13	14	3.32	137

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
	52	140.1	8	11	4.10	83
	48	129.2	4	7	3.33	137
	18	68	2	5	5.03	35
	4	11.2	1	0	6.17	4

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
	17	1	2	0	3.00	13
	6	0	0	0	4.15	2

Farm system

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