# 1975 Minnesota Twins season

The 1975 Minnesota 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).
* January 16, 1975: Harmon Killebrew was released by the Twins.

## 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

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | 51‍–‍30 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Texas Rangers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 19 | 39‍–‍41 | 40‍–‍42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 76 | 83 | .478 | 20½ | 39‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍40 |
| Chicago White Sox | 75 | 86 | .466 | 22½ | 42‍–‍39 | 33‍–‍47 |
| California Angels | 72 | 89 | .447 | 25½ | 35‍–‍46 | 37‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–4 | 10–8 | 12–4 | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 11–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 9–9 | 3–9 | 6–5 | 4–14 | 7–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 4–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 5–13 |
| Cleveland | 8–10 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 3–6 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 5–7 |
| Detroit | 4–12 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 1–11 |
| Kansas City | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 14–4 |
| Milwaukee | 4–14 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | — | 2–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 10–2 | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 8–10 |
| New York | 10–8 | 5–11 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 |
| Texas | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 14, 1975: Bobby Darwin was traded by the Twins to the Milwaukee Brewers for Johnny Briggs.

### Roster
## 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 | Glenn Borgmann | 125 | 352 | 73 | .207 | 2 | 33 |
| 1B | Johnny Briggs | 87 | 264 | 61 | .231 | 7 | 39 |
| 2B | Rod Carew | 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 | Dan Ford | 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 |
| Bobby Darwin | 48 | 169 | 37 | .219 | 5 | 18 |
| Craig Kusick | 57 | 156 | 37 | .237 | 6 | 27 |
| Tom Kelly | 49 | 127 | 23 | .181 | 1 | 11 |
| Phil Roof | 63 | 126 | 38 | .302 | 7 | 21 |
| Dave McKay | 33 | 125 | 32 | .256 | 2 | 16 |
| Sergio Ferrer | 32 | 81 | 20 | .247 | 0 | 2 |
| Luis Gómez | 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 |
| Bert Blyleven | 35 | 275.2 | 15 | 10 | 3.00 | 233 |
| Jim Hughes | 37 | 249.2 | 16 | 14 | 3.82 | 130 |
| Dave Goltz | 32 | 243.0 | 14 | 14 | 3.67 | 128 |
| Eddie Bane | 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 |
| Vic Albury | 32 | 135.0 | 6 | 7 | 4.53 | 72 |
| Ray Corbin | 18 | 89.2 | 5 | 7 | 5.12 | 49 |
| Bill Butler | 23 | 81.2 | 5 | 4 | 5.95 | 55 |
| Mark Wiley | 15 | 38.2 | 1 | 3 | 6.05 | 15 |
| Joe Decker | 10 | 26.1 | 1 | 3 | 8.54 | 8 |
| Mike Pazik | 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 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 46 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 3.09 | 41 |
| Bill Campbell | 47 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3.79 | 76 |
| Tom Johnson | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.19 | 17 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tacoma Twins | Pacific Coast League | Cal Ermer |
| AA | Orlando Twins | Southern League | Dick Phillips |
| A | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Harry Warner |
| A | Wisconsin Rapids Twins | Midwest League | Johnny Goryl |
| Rookie | Elizabethton Twins | Appalachian League | Fred Waters |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Reno
Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres