The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was the 17th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 17th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 77th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 84–77, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason March 18, 1977: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Twins.Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference

Regular season In a May 25 double-header at Boston's Fenway Park, outfielder Lyman Bostock tied a major league record with twelve putouts in the first game. His total of seventeen putouts over both games set a new American League record.

On June 26, a crowd of 46,463 turned up at Metropolitan Stadium to watch first baseman Rod Carew's pursuit of a .400 batting average. Carew didn't disappoint, going 4 for 5 with six RBI, raising his batting average seven points to .403. Lost in the commotion was right fielder Glenn Adams' own 4-for-5 performance, as he drove in a Twins-record eight runs. The Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 19–12.

Rod Carew, outfielder Larry Hisle and catcher Butch Wynegar were named to the All-Star Game. Carew was the leading AL vote-getter, scoring 405 of 422 possible votes in the national balloting by sports writers and broadcasters.

Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player. In winning his sixth AL batting title, Carew flirted with becoming the first batter since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit .400, finishing at .388. He also had 239 hits, scored a league-leading 128 runs, hit 14 home runs and collected 100 RBI.

Other offensive stars were Larry Hisle, who hit 28 HR and drove in a league-leading 119 runs, and Lyman Bostock, who hit .338 with 104 runs, 14 HR and 90 RBI.

The Twins' ability to score runs was matched by their pitchers' ability to give up runs. Reliever Tom Johnson replaced Bill Campbell, racking up 16 relief wins along with 20 saves. Dave Goltz became a 20-game winner for the first time.

1,162,727 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in the American League. It was, however, the first time since 1970 that the Twins attracted more than one million fans.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 6, 1977: The Twins purchased the contract of Don Carrithers from the Montreal Expos.Don Carrithers at Baseball Reference May 2, 1977: Dave Johnson was purchased by the Twins from the Seattle Mariners.Dave Johnson at Baseball-Reference June 7, 1977: Darrell Jackson was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.Darrell Jackson at Baseball Reference

Roster 1977 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 144 532 139 .261 10 79 1B 156 616 239 .388 14 100 2B 103 306 73 .239 0 22 3B 129 417 110 .264 9 55 SS 150 584 135 .231 6 56 LF 141 546 165 .302 28 119 CF 153 593 199 .336 14 90 RF 144 453 121 .267 11 60 DH 115 268 68 .256 12 45

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 95 269 91 .338 6 49 108 261 69 .264 3 36 93 214 48 .224 1 20 73 171 42 .246 1 13 54 118 23 .195 3 22 39 83 19 .229 3 9 32 65 16 .246 0 11 17 43 11 .256 2 7 15 32 5 .156 0 5 8 25 6 .240 0 6 10 24 7 .292 0 0 9 19 2 .105 0 0

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 39 303.0 20 11 3.36 186 37 218.0 11 15 4.62 100 34 198.0 12 14 4.68 88 30 137.1 6 9 5.18 73 3 18.0 1 0 2.50 6

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 52 134.2 8 7 4.41 77 30 72.2 2 5 4.58 33 18 48.1 2 3 6.89 32 6 21.0 0 1 6.86 5

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 71 16 7 15 3.13 87 61 6 4 7 5.09 35 8 0 0 0 4.37 4 7 0 1 0 6.91 3 5 0 0 0 7.94 3 2 0 0 0 2.08 1

Awards and honors Rod Carew, American League batting champion (.388) Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente Award Rod Carew, American League MVP

Farm system

Notes

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