The 1995 Minnesota Twins season was the 35th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 14th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 95th overall in the American League.

Due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, the season got off to a late start. However, it did not end soon enough, as the team finished with a 56–88 record and in last place in its division. The team found it impossible to compete against the runaway Cleveland Indians who won 100 games despite the shortened season and finished 44 games ahead of the Twins. By July, the team was trading away its veterans in a fire sale. Manager Tom Kelly might have preferred that the strike had continued.

Offseason November 4, 1995: Rich Robertson was selected off waivers by the Twins from the Pittsburgh Pirates.Rich Robertson at Baseball Reference December 16, 1995: Matt Merullo was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Matt Merullo at Baseball Reference December 22, 1995: Kevin Maas was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Kevin Maas at Baseball Reference

Regular season

On May 7, the Twins played their longest game ever—in terms of time—losing in 17 innings to Cleveland after 6 hours and 36 minutes. May 17 – Kirby Puckett scores his 1000th run, at the Metrodome. May 26 – Kirby Puckett gets his 1000th RBI, at the Metrodome. The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was outfielder Kirby Puckett. On September 13, three Seattle pitchers struck out eighteen Twins, which set a team record for batting futility. The highest paid Twin in 1995 was Kirby Puckett at $6,300,000, followed by Rick Aguilera at $4,3500,000.

Offense

The performance of three players were praised: second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, and outfielders Kirby Puckett and Marty Cordova. In the last year of his career, Puckett would be the team's lone all-star representative. Knoblauch won his first Silver Slugger Award, while Cordova won the Rookie of the Year award.

+ Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityHR Marty Cordova 24RBI Kirby Puckett 99BA Chuck Knoblauch .333Runs Chuck Knoblauch 107

Pitching

The starting rotation was uncertain. Surprisingly, the only certainty was that rookie Brad Radke would get the ball every fifth game. He made 28 starts, but the other pitchers were either injury-prone, inconsistent, or traded by the end of the year, with Kevin Tapani making 20 starts, Mike Trombley 18, Frank Rodriguez 16, Scott Erickson 15, and Jose Parra 12. Closer Rick Aguilera would also be traded midway through the season. He earned 12 saves while Dave Stevens earned 10. Aguilera, Rich Robertson, and Mark Guthrie were the only regular pitchers with ERAs under 5.

+ Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityERA Kevin Tapani 4.92Wins Brad Radke 11Saves Rick Aguilera 12Strikeouts Kevin Tapani 88

Defense

Like most of Tom Kelly's teams, the defense was capable. Matt Walbeck was the starting catcher, backed up by Matt Merullo. Scott Stahoviak played in 69 games at first base. Although he was not a good hitter, he had a .998 fielding percentage that year. Knoblauch capably manned second base. Scott Leius played reasonably well at third in his last year with the Twins. Pat Meares continued his decent play at shortstop in his third year with the Twins. The regular outfielders were Puckett, Cordova, and Rich Becker.

Notable Transactions

April 6, 1995: Carl Willis was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Carl Willis at Baseball Reference May 4, 1995: Carl Willis was released by the Twins. May 16, 1995: Kevin Campbell was released by the Twins.Kevin Campbell at Baseball Reference June 1, 1995: 1995 Major League Baseball draft Mark Redman was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (13th pick).Mark Redman at Baseball Reference Doug Mientkiewicz was drafted by the Twins in the 5th round.Doug Mientkiewicz at Baseball Reference July 6, 1995: Rick Aguilera was traded by the Twins to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Frank Rodriguez and a player to be named later. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending J. J. Johnson (minors) to the Twins on October 11.Rick Aguilera at Baseball Reference July 7, 1995: Scott Erickson was traded by the Twins to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Scott Klingenbeck and a player to be named later. The Orioles completed the trade by sending Kimera Bartee to the Twins on September 19.Scott Erickson at Baseball Reference July 31, 1995: Kevin Tapani and Mark Guthrie were traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ron Coomer, Greg Hansell, José Parra, and a player to be named later. The Dodgers completed the deal by sending Chris Latham to the Twins on October 30.Chris Latham at Baseball Reference October 9, 1995: Luis Rivas was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster 1995 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position Note: 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 Matt Walbeck 115 393 101 .257 1 44 1B Scott Stahoviak 94 263 70 .266 3 23 2B Chuck Knoblauch 136 538 179 .333 11 63 SS Pat Meares 116 390 105 .269 12 49 3B Scott Leius 117 372 92 .247 4 45 LF Marty Cordova 137 512 142 .277 24 84 CF Rich Becker 106 392 93 .237 2 33 RF Kirby Puckett 137 538 169 .314 23 99 DH Pedro Muñoz 104 376 113 .301 18 58

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 Jeff Reboulet 87 216 63 .292 4 23 Dan Masteller 71 198 47 .237 3 21 Matt Merullo 76 195 55 .282 1 27 Jerald Clark 36 109 37 .339 3 15 Chip Hale 69 103 27 .262 2 18 Ron Coomer 37 101 26 .257 5 19 Alex Cole 28 79 27 .342 1 14 Matt Lawton 21 60 19 .317 1 12 Kevin Maas 22 57 11 .193 1 5 Dave McCarty 25 55 12 .218 0 4 Denny Hocking 9 25 5 .200 0 3 Brian Raabe 6 14 3 .214 0 1 Riccardo Ingram 4 8 1 .125 0 1 Steve Dunn 5 6 0 .000 0 0 Bernardo Brito 5 5 1 .200 1 1

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 Brad Radke 29 181.0 11 14 5.32 75 Kevin Tapani 20 133.2 6 11 4.92 88 Mike Trombley 20 97.2 4 8 5.62 68 Frank Rodriguez 16 90.1 5 6 5.38 45 Scott Erickson 15 87.2 4 6 5.95 45 José Parra 12 61.2 1 5 7.59 29 Greg W. Harris 7 32.2 0 5 8.82 21 LaTroy Hawkins 6 27.0 2 3 8.67 9

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 Pat Mahomes 47 94.2 4 10 6.37 67 Rich Robertson 25 51.2 2 0 3.83 38 Scott Klingenbeck 18 48.1 0 2 8.57 27 Oscar Múñoz 10 35.1 2 1 5.60 25

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 Dave Stevens 56 5 4 10 5.07 47 Eddie Guardado 51 4 9 2 5.12 71 Erik Schullstrom 37 0 0 0 6.89 21 Mark Guthrie 36 5 3 0 4.46 48 Scott Watkins 27 0 0 0 5.40 11 Rick Aguilera 22 1 1 12 2.52 29 Mo Sanford 11 0 0 0 5.30 17 Kevin Campbell 6 0 0 0 4.66 5 Vince Horsman 6 0 0 0 7.00 4 Carl Willis 3 0 0 0 94.50 0

Other post-season awards Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Chuck Knoblauch Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Brad Radke Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Marty Cordova Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Pedro Muñoz The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Kirby Puckett Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Player) – Javier Valentín

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com Twins history through the 1990s, from www.mlb.com 1995 Standings