1997 Minnesota Twins season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Minnesota Twins
season = 1997
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Central Division
y2 = 1994
Uniform
ballpark = Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
y4 = 1982
city = Minneapolis
y5 = 1982
owners = Carl Pohlad
managers = Tom Kelly
television = WCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Ryan Lefebvre)
radio = 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal,John Gordon)|The 1997 Minnesota Twins will not be remembered as the strongest team the Twins ever fielded. Manager Tom Kelly's team consisted of a few solid players, but mainly past-their-prime veterans and never-to-be-established prospects. One of the few bright spots was pitcher Brad Radke’s breakout season. The team finished with a 68-94 record, good enough for fourth place in the league’s weakest division.

Offseason

*November 4: Signed Juan Rincon as an amateur free agent.
*December 5: Signed catcher and Minnesota native Terry Steinbach as a free agent.
*December 12: Signed pitcher Bob Tewksbury as a free agent.
*December 18: Signed pitcher Greg Swindell as a free agent. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/swindgr01.shtml Greg Swindell Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]

Offense

In 1996, catcher Terry Steinbach had a 35-home run, 100-RBI season with the Oakland Athletics in a contract year. Unfortunately for the Twins, he followed it up with a 12-home run, 54-RBI season with his hometown team. Scott Stahoviak played in half the games at first base but batted only .229. Second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, the team’s lone all-star, had a great year with the Twins, batting .291 and stealing a career-high 62 bases. The contrast between his season and his team’s season led him to demand a trade, a demand the team obliged by sending him to the New York Yankees the following February. Ron Coomer had a competent year at third, hitting .298 with 13 home runs. Pat Meares hit .276, an above-average season for him. The primary outfielders – Marty Cordova, Rich Becker, and Matt Lawton – had mediocre seasons. This was disappointing, because Cordova and Becker were coming off of the best years in their careers. Designated hitter Paul Molitor had a good year, batting .305 with 89 RBI, but it did not match his stellar 1996 numbers. Veterans like Roberto Kelly and Greg Colbrunn performed reasonably well off the bench.

: "Number indicates playoff seeding"

Roster

Pitching

tarting pitchers

Miscellaneous

*The highest paid Twin in 1997 was Knoblauch at $6,150,000, followed by Molitor at $3,500,000.

Awards and Honors

* Paul Molitor, Lou Gehrig AwardAll-Star Game
*The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was second baseman Chuck Knoblauch.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1997.shtml Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1997&t=MIN Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline4.jsp Twins history through the 1990s, from www.mlb.com]
* [http://shrpsports.com/mlb/stand/1997finaldiv.htm 1997 Standings]