The 1976 Minnesota Twins season was the 16th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 16th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 76th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 85–77, third in the American League West. Only 715,394 fans attended Twins games, the lowest total in the American League. It was the third year in a row that the Twins attracted the fewest fans in the AL.

Offseason October 24, 1975: Sergio Ferrer was traded by the Twins to the Philadelphia Phillies for Larry Cox.Sergio Ferrer page at Baseball Reference December 23, 1975: Danny Walton was traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bob Randall.Bob Randall page at Baseball Reference January 7, 1976: Pete Redfern was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).Pete Redfern page at Baseball Reference February 11, 1976: Johnny Briggs was released by the Twins.Johnny Briggs page at Baseball Reference

Regular season In June and July, Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock became the third and fourth Twins to hit for the cycle. Hisle cycled on June 4 in an 8–6 win over Baltimore, going double, triple, single, home run. He is the only Twin that took an extra inning (homering in the tenth) to accomplish the feat, as he'd grounded out in his first at-bat. Six weeks later Bostock became the second Twin to cycle during a season, a first for the club.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew and catcher Butch Wynegar.

On July 24, Lyman Bostock, batting fourth, went four-for-four (3B-HR-2B-1B) to become the fourth Twin to hit for the cycle. He had four RBI and scored four runs in the 17–2 win over Chicago.

Steve Luebber is the Minnesota pitcher to come closest to a no-hitter without achieving it. On August 7, he was one out away before losing his bid when Texas Ranger Roy Howell singled. Luebber then lost the shutout when Mike Hargrove singled Howell home. The Twins won the game, 3–1.

For the first time in four years, Carew did not win the AL batting title, finishing third with a .331 batting average. Carew did have 200 hits and 90 RBI. Larry Hisle hit 14 home runs and collected 96 RBI. Dan Ford added 20 HR and 86 RBI. The Twins set a season-record low with just 81 homers.

Reliever Bill Campbell led the Twins pitchers with 17 wins, all in relief. He also led the team in saves (20) and appearances (78). His earned run average of 3.01 was second only to reliever Tom Burgmeier's 2.50; Burgmeier added 8 relief wins and a save. The Twins needed the relief help because the starting pitching was terrible, with only Dave Goltz (14–14) managing double digit wins.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 30, 1976: Jeff Holly was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Jeff Holly page at Baseball Reference June 1, 1976: Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson were traded by the Twins to the Texas Rangers for Bill Singer, Roy Smalley, Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, and $250,000.Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference On December 10, Thompson died of complications related to his granulocytic leukemia in Rochester, Minnesota.

Roster 1976 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 149 534 139 .260 10 69 1B 156 605 200 .331 9 90 2B 153 475 127 .267 1 34 3B 104 342 89 .260 3 49 SS 103 384 104 .271 2 36 LF 155 581 158 .272 14 96 CF 128 474 153 .323 4 60 RF 145 514 137 .267 20 86 DH 109 266 69 .259 11 36

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 122 417 120 .288 3 61 87 258 68 .264 2 23 89 171 42 .246 0 8 45 138 28 .203 0 8 34 124 29 .234 0 6 67 123 26 .211 1 16 24 65 16 .246 1 6 38 57 11 .193 0 3 18 46 10 .217 0 4

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 36 249.1 14 14 3.36 133 37 177.0 9 14 4.98 87 26 172.0 9 9 3.77 63 23 118.0 8 8 3.51 74 12 95.1 4 5 3.12 75 17 79.1 4 7 5.11 24 13 58.0 2 7 5.28 35

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 38 119.1 4 5 4.00 45

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 78 17 5 20 3.01 115 57 8 1 1 2.50 45 23 3 1 0 3.58 23 18 3 1 0 2.61 37 5 0 0 0 7.00 6

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Notes

References

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