The 1975 Minnesota Twins season was the 15th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 15th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 75th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 76–83, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason October 23, 1974: Pat Bourque was traded by the Twins to the Oakland Athletics for Dan Ford and Dennis Myers (minors).Dan Ford page at Baseball Reference January 16, 1975: Harmon Killebrew was released by the Twins.Harmon Killebrew page at Baseball Reference

Regular season Having released Harmon Killebrew during the off-season, owner Calvin Griffith devised "Harmon Killebrew Day" as a promotion for the slugger's return with his new club, the Kansas City Royals. On Sunday, May 4, DH Killebrew greeted the crowd of just 14,805 with a first-inning home run. In the fifth inning, Minnesota pitcher Jim Hughes hit Harmon with a pitch.

Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game, second baseman Rod Carew. Only 737,156 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League.

On August 22, Dave McKay debuted in the majors as the starting third baseman for the Twins. In his first at bat leading off the third inning, he homered off Detroit's Vern Ruhle. Only one other Twin had homered in his first at bat – Rick Renick in 1968. The duo will be joined in history by Gary Gaetti (1981), Andre David (1984) and Eddie Rosario (2015), who homers on the first major-league pitch thrown to him.

Carew won his fifth AL batting title with a .359 average. Three pitchers had double digit wins: Jim Hughes (16–14), Bert Blyleven (15–10), and Dave Goltz (14–14).

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 14, 1975: Bobby Darwin was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for Johnny Briggs.Johnny Briggs page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1975 Minnesota Twins Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league 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 125 352 73 .207 2 33 1B 87 264 61 .231 7 39 2B 143 535 192 .359 14 80 SS Danny Thompson 112 355 96 .270 5 37 3B Eric Soderholm 117 419 120 .286 11 58 LF Steve Braun 136 453 137 .302 11 45 CF 130 440 123 .280 15 59 RF Lyman Bostock 98 369 104 .282 0 29 DH Tony Oliva 131 455 123 .270 13 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 Jerry Terrell 108 385 110 .286 1 36 Larry Hisle 80 255 80 .314 11 51 Steve Brye 86 246 62 .252 9 34 48 169 37 .219 5 18 Craig Kusick 57 156 37 .237 6 27 49 127 23 .181 1 11 Phil Roof 63 126 38 .302 7 21 Dave McKay 33 125 32 .256 2 16 32 81 20 .247 0 2 89 72 10 .139 0 5 Danny Walton 42 63 11 .175 1 8 Mike Poepping 14 37 5 .135 0 1 Tom Lundstedt 18 28 3 .107 0 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 35 275.2 15 10 3.00 233 37 249.2 16 14 3.82 130 32 243.0 14 14 3.67 128 4 28.1 3 1 2.86 14

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 32 135.0 6 7 4.53 72 18 89.2 5 7 5.12 49 23 81.2 5 4 5.95 55 Mark Wiley 15 38.2 1 3 6.05 15 10 26.1 1 3 8.54 8 5 19.2 0 4 8.24 8

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 46 5 8 11 3.09 41 47 4 6 5 3.79 76 Tom Johnson 18 1 2 3 4.19 17

Awards and honors

All-Star Game Rod Carew, Second Base, Starter

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Notes

References

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