The 1970 Minnesota Twins season was the 10th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 10th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 70th overall in the American League.

Led by new manager Bill Rigney, the Twins won the American League West with a 98–64 record, nine games ahead of the Oakland Athletics. The Twins were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS. Of note, the Twins were the only team in the American League to have a winning record in the regular season versus the Orioles.100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.51 The 1970 ALCS would be the last MLB postseason games played at Metropolitan Stadium, as the Twins would not return to the postseason stage until 1987 when they won the World Series.

Offseason October 13, 1969: John Roseboro was released by the Twins.John Roseboro at Baseball Reference December 1, 1969: 1969 rule 5 draft Mike Sadek was drafted from the Twins by the San Francisco Giants.Mike Sadek at Baseball Reference Hal Haydel was drafted by the Twins from the San Francisco Giants.Hal Haydel at Baseball-Reference December 10, 1969: Graig Nettles, Dean Chance, Bob Miller, and Ted Uhlaender were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.Graig Nettles at Baseball Reference March 21, 1970: Joe Grzenda and Charley Walters were traded by the Twins to the Washington Senators for Brant Alyea.Brant Alyea at Baseball Reference

Regular season On April 7, newly acquired Twin Brant Alyea homered twice in going 4 for 4 and driving in 7 RBIs. The RBI total set a record for major league baseball's Opening Day.

On May 20, in a 10–5 win over the Kansas City Royals, Rod Carew became the first Twin to hit for the cycle—going single, homer, double, triple. Over time, his feat will be matched by nine other Twins (César Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976; Lyman Bostock, 1976; Mike Cubbage, 1978; Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986; Carlos Gómez, 2008; Jason Kubel, 2009; and Michael Cuddyer, 2009).

On June 5, pitcher Bert Blyleven debuted, allowing a home run off the first batter he faced.

Four Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Harmon Killebrew, second baseman Rod Carew, outfielder Tony Oliva, and pitcher Jim Perry.

On September 16, Blyleven struck out the first six batters he faced to tie a major league record. However, the Twins lost the game to the California Angels, 5–1.

The Twins are no-hit for the second time in their history, losing 6–0 to Oakland's Vida Blue.

The Twins won the American League West, led by leadoff batter César Tovar (120 runs), Oliva (.325, 23 HR, 107 RBI) and Killebrew (41 HR, 113 RBI). Carew was batting .366 (after 51 games) when his knee was injured turning a double play. Perry won 24 games and became the first Twins pitcher to win the AL Cy Young Award. Jim Kaat added 14 wins and rookie Bert Blyleven won 10. Kaat also won his 9th Gold Glove Award. Reliever Ron Perranoski led the AL with 34 saves.

1,261,887 fans attended Twins games, the third highest total in the American League.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 27, 1970: Craig Kusick was signed as an amateur free agent by the Twins.Craig Kusick at Baseball Reference

Roster 1970 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats = Indicates team leader

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 117 369 82 .222 15 46 1B 153 501 131 .261 10 56 2B 96 302 66 .219 0 22 3B 157 527 143 .271 41 113 SS 160 588 145 .247 11 65 LF 94 258 75 .291 16 61 CF 161 650 195 .300 10 54 RF 157 628 204 .325 23 107

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 142 319 85 .266 3 40 51 191 70 .366 4 28 81 179 41 .229 7 25 69 149 40 .268 5 22 111 141 32 .227 2 12 47 72 15 .208 1 7 59 64 12 .188 1 7 24 46 9 .196 1 2 27 22 2 .091 0 0 13 20 5 .250 0 0 16 16 3 .188 0 2 9 11 2 .182 0 2 5 7 0 .000 0 0 4 4 1 .250 0 2

Pitching = Indicates league leader 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 40 278.2 24* 12 3.04 168 45 230.0 14 10 3.56 120 27 164.0 10 9 3.18 135 18 92.2 7 3 3.40 50 18 68.2 3 7 6.42 45 Tied with Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally (both with Baltimore) for league lead

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 52 155.1 11 6 2.55 184 43 151.0 9 4 3.22 64

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 67 7 8 34 2.43 55 68 10 1 15 1.99 76 21 1 2 1 3.82 22 18 0 0 2 4.61 14 10 0 2 0 5.51 3 4 2 0 0 3.00 4

Postseason

ALCS

Awards and honors Jim Perry, American League Cy Young Award

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Auburn

Notes

References

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