The 1985 Minnesota Twins season was the 25th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 4th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 85th overall in the American League. The Twins finished with a record of 77–85, tied for fourth in the American League West, and 14 games behind the division winner and eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

Offseason October 17, 1984: Albert Williams was released by the Twins.Albert Williams page at Baseball Reference January 3, 1985: Mike Benjamin was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Mike Benjamin page at Baseball Reference January 9, 1985: Jack O'Connor was traded by the Twins to the Montreal Expos for Mike Stenhouse.Jack O'Connor page at Baseball Reference March 27, 1985: Brad Havens was traded by the Twins to the Baltimore Orioles for Mark Brown.Mark Brown page at Baseball Reference

Regular season On June 20, after a disappointing start, manager Billy Gardner was replaced by Ray Miller.

Minnesota, the Twins and the Metrodome hosted the All-Star Game. Only one Twins player made the American League team, outfielder Tom Brunansky. Bruno finished second in the first-ever Home Run Derby, behind Dave Parker. Three Minnesota natives, not yet Twins, played as a team on the same major league field for the first and only time -- Dave Winfield, Jack Morris and Paul Molitor.

In Anaheim on August 4, pitcher Frank Viola gave up a double to longtime-Twin now-an Angel Rod Carew. The two-bagger was Carew's 3000th career hit.

The pitcher on the mound on September 25, as the Twins won their 2000th game, is the same pitcher that won Minnesota's 1000th game on July 12, 1972 -- Bert Blyleven.

1,651,814 fans attended Twins games, a Twins attendance record, but still the sixth lowest total in the American League.

Offense Leadoff batter Kirby Puckett hit .288 and scored 80 runs. Kent Hrbek hit .311 with 21 HR and 93 RBI. Tom Brunansky hit 27 HR and 90 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit 20 HR and 63 RBI.

+ Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityHR Tom Brunansky 27RBI Kent Hrbek 93BA Kirby Puckett .288Runs Kirby Puckett 80

Pitching For the first time in years, the Twins had three solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (18–14), Mike Smithson (15–14), and John Butcher (11–14). Reliever Ron Davis had 25 saves.

+ Team Leaders Statistic Player QuantityERA Frank Viola 4.09Wins Frank Viola 18Saves Ron Davis 25Strikeouts Frank Viola 135

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 4, 1985: Lenny Faedo was released by the Twins.Lenny Faedo page at Baseball Reference August 1, 1985: Curt Wardle, Jay Bell, Jim Weaver, and a player to be named later were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Bert Blyleven. The Twins completed the deal by sending Rich Yett to the Indians on September 17.Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference The Twins drafted pitcher Jeff Bumgarner with the thirteenth overall pick in the 1985 Draft.Sports Illustrated, August 2, 2010, Where are they Now?, p.84, Published by Time Inc.

Roster 1985 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 120 360 108 .300 9 41 1B 158 593 165 .278 21 93 2B 138 434 113 .260 10 50 SS 114 293 66 .225 2 23 3B 160 560 138 .246 20 63 LF 116 444 125 .282 3 49 CF 161 691 199 .288 4 74 RF 157 567 137 .242 27 90 DH 129 388 100 .258 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 Randy Bush 97 234 56 .239 10 35 81 179 40 .223 5 21 Dave Engle 70 172 44 .256 7 25 Tim Laudner 72 164 39 .238 7 19 Ron Washington 70 135 37 .274 1 14 Dave Meier 71 104 27 .260 1 8 Mark Funderburk 23 70 22 .314 2 13 Álvaro Espinoza 32 57 15 .263 0 9 Steve Lombardozzi 28 54 20 .370 0 6 Jeff Reed 7 10 2 .200 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 Mike Smithson 37 257.0 15 14 4.34 127 36 250.2 18 14 4.09 135 John Butcher 34 207.2 11 14 4.98 92 Ken Schrom 29 160.2 9 12 4.99 74 14 114.0 8 5 3.00 77

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 Pete Filson 40 95.2 4 5 3.67 42 Dennis Burtt 5 28.1 2 2 3.81 9 Mark Portugal 6 24.1 1 3 5.55 12 7 9.1 0 0 6.75 5 Rich Yett 1 0.1 0 0 27.00 0

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 Ron Davis 57 2 6 25 3.48 72 Frank Eufemia 39 4 2 2 3.79 30 35 0 2 3 6.05 26 Curt Wardle 35 1 3 1 5.51 47 Steve Howe 13 2 3 0 6.16 10 6 0 0 0 6.89 5 Len Whitehouse 5 0 0 1 11.05 4

Awards and honors

All-Star Game Tom Brunansky, OF, Roster

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kenosha

Notes

References

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