# 1985 Minnesota Twins season

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.
* 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.
* January 9, 1985: Jack O'Connor was traded by the Twins to the Montreal Expos for Mike Stenhouse.
* March 27, 1985: Brad Havens was traded by the Twins to the Baltimore Orioles for Mark Brown.

## 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 | Quantity |
| HR | Tom Brunansky | 27 |
| RBI | Kent Hrbek | 93 |
| BA | Kirby Puckett | .288 |
| Runs | 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 | Quantity |
| ERA | Frank Viola | 4.09 |
| Wins | Frank Viola | 18 |
| Saves | Ron Davis | 25 |
| Strikeouts | Frank Viola | 135 |

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 41‍–‍39 |
| California Angels | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1 | 49‍–‍30 | 41‍–‍42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 45‍–‍36 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Minnesota Twins | 77 | 85 | .475 | 14 | 49‍–‍35 | 28‍–‍50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 77 | 85 | .475 | 14 | 43‍–‍36 | 34‍–‍49 |
| Seattle Mariners | 74 | 88 | .457 | 17 | 42‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍47 |
| Texas Rangers | 62 | 99 | .385 | 28½ | 37‍–‍43 | 25‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1985 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 4–8 |
| Boston | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–8–1 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 5–8 | — | 10–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 3–9 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 8–3 | 4–9 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 3–9 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 12–1 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–6 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 4, 1985: Lenny Faedo was released by the Twins.
* 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.
* The Twins drafted pitcher Jeff Bumgarner with the thirteenth overall pick in the 1985 Draft.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Mark Salas | 120 | 360 | 108 | .300 | 9 | 41 |
| 1B | Kent Hrbek | 158 | 593 | 165 | .278 | 21 | 93 |
| 2B | Tim Teufel | 138 | 434 | 113 | .260 | 10 | 50 |
| SS | Greg Gagne | 114 | 293 | 66 | .225 | 2 | 23 |
| 3B | Gary Gaetti | 160 | 560 | 138 | .246 | 20 | 63 |
| LF | Mickey Hatcher | 116 | 444 | 125 | .282 | 3 | 49 |
| CF | Kirby Puckett | 161 | 691 | 199 | .288 | 4 | 74 |
| RF | Tom Brunansky | 157 | 567 | 137 | .242 | 27 | 90 |
| DH | Roy Smalley | 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 |
| Mike Stenhouse | 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 |
| Frank Viola | 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 |
| Bert Blyleven | 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 |
| Tom Klawitter | 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 |
| Rick Lysander | 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 |
| Mark Brown | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.89 | 5 |
| Len Whitehouse | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11.05 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Cal Ermer |
| AA | Orlando Twins | Southern League | Charlie Manuel |
| A | Visalia Oaks | California League | Danny Schmitz |
| A | Kenosha Twins | Midwest League | Duffy Dyer |
| Rookie | Elizabethton Twins | Appalachian League | Fred Waters |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Kenosha