# 1988 Minnesota Twins season

The 1988 Minnesota Twins season was the 28th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 7th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 88th overall in the American League.
The Twins finished at 91–71, second in the American League West. 3,030,672 fans attended Twins games, at the time, establishing a new major league record. Pitcher Allan Anderson had his most successful season in 1988, winning the American League ERA title at 2.45 and compiling a record of 16-9 in 30 starts.

## Offseason

* November 7, 1987: Eric Bullock was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
* December 21, 1987: Don Baylor was released by the Twins.
* December 21, 1987: Dan Schatzeder was released by the Twins.
* December 21, 1987: Mike Smithson was released by the Twins.
* January 1988: Vic Rodriguez was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
* January 4, 1988: Brian Harper was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
* March 18, 1988: Sal Butera was released by the Twins.
* March 24, 1988: Billy Beane was traded by the Twins to the Detroit Tigers for Balvino Gálvez.

## Regular season

Five Twins made the All-Star Game, third baseman Gary Gaetti, outfielder Kirby Puckett, catcher Tim Laudner, starting pitcher Frank Viola, and relief pitcher Jeff Reardon.
On September 16, Puckett got his 1000th hit, becoming just the fifth major leaguer to achieve that total before completing his fifth year.
On September 17, reliever Reardon collected his 40th save of the season. With 41 saves as a 1985 Montreal Expo, he became the only major league player to reach 40 saves in each league.
Frank Viola became the first Twins player since Jim Perry in 1970 to win the AL Cy Young Award.

### Offense

Kirby Puckett hit .356 with 24 HR, drove in 121 runs and scored 109. Puckett led the AL with 234 hits, 163 singles, and 358 total bases. Puckett's 234 hits were the most by a right-handed batter since Joe Medwick had 237 hits in 1937.
Kent Hrbek hit .312 with 25 HR and 76 RBI. Gary Gaetti hit .301 with 28 HR and 88 RBI.
Team Leaders :
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
| HR | Gary Gaetti | 28 |
| RBI | Kirby Puckett | 121 |
| BA | Kirby Puckett | .356 |
| Runs | Kirby Puckett | 109 |

### Pitching

The Twins had two solid starting pitchers: Frank Viola (24-7), and Allan Anderson (16-9). Frank Viola led the AL with 24 wins. Allan Anderson led the AL with a 2.45 ERA. Reliever Jeff Reardon had 42 saves. Bert Blyleven (10-17, 5.43 ERA) led the AL with 17 losses, 125 earned runs allowed, and 16 hit batsmen.
Team Leaders :
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
| ERA | Allan Anderson | 2.45* |
| Wins | Frank Viola | 24* |
| Saves | Jeff Reardon | 42 |
| Strikeouts | Frank Viola | 193 |
    *League leader

### Defense

Third baseman Gary Gaetti and center fielder Kirby Puckett each won their third Gold Glove Award.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 104 | 58 | .642 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 13 | 47‍–‍34 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 84 | 77 | .522 | 19½ | 44‍–‍36 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 | 35‍–‍46 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 32½ | 40‍–‍41 | 31‍–‍49 |
| Texas Rangers | 70 | 91 | .435 | 33½ | 38‍–‍43 | 32‍–‍48 |
| Seattle Mariners | 68 | 93 | .422 | 35½ | 37‍–‍44 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1988: John Moses was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
* April 22, 1988: Tom Brunansky was traded by the Twins to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tom Herr.
* May 28, 1988: John Christensen was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
* June 27, 1988: Dan Schatzeder was signed as a free agent by the Twins.

### Notable games

* September 17: Jeff Reardon becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to record 40 saves in both leagues in a 3-1 win versus the White Sox.

## 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 | Tim Laudner | 117 | 375 | 94 | .251 | 13 | 54 |
| 1B | Kent Hrbek | 143 | 510 | 159 | .312 | 25 | 76 |
| 2B | Steve Lombardozzi | 103 | 287 | 60 | .209 | 3 | 27 |
| SS | Greg Gagne | 149 | 461 | 109 | .236 | 14 | 48 |
| 3B | Gary Gaetti | 133 | 468 | 141 | .301 | 28 | 88 |
| LF | Dan Gladden | 141 | 576 | 155 | .269 | 11 | 62 |
| CF | Kirby Puckett | 158 | 657 | 234 | .356 | 24 | 121 |
| RF | Randy Bush | 136 | 394 | 103 | .261 | 14 | 51 |
| DH | Gene Larkin | 149 | 505 | 135 | .267 | 8 | 70 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Herr | 86 | 304 | 80 | .263 | 1 | 21 |
| Al Newman | 105 | 260 | 58 | .223 | 0 | 19 |
| John Moses | 105 | 206 | 65 | .316 | 2 | 12 |
| Brian Harper | 60 | 166 | 49 | .295 | 3 | 20 |
| Mark Davidson | 100 | 106 | 23 | .217 | 1 | 10 |
| Tom Nieto | 24 | 60 | 4 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Dwyer | 20 | 41 | 12 | .293 | 2 | 15 |
| John Christensen | 23 | 38 | 10 | .263 | 0 | 5 |
| Eric Bullock | 16 | 17 | 5 | .294 | 0 | 3 |
| Kelvin Torve | 12 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 1 | 2 |
| Doug Baker | 11 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dwight Lowry | 7 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Frank Viola | 35 | 255.1 | 24 | 7 | 2.64 | 193 |
| Bert Blyleven | 33 | 207.1 | 10 | 17 | 5.43 | 145 |
| Allan Anderson | 30 | 202.1 | 16 | 9 | 2.45 | 83 |
| Charlie Lea | 24 | 130.0 | 7 | 7 | 4.85 | 72 |
| Freddie Toliver | 21 | 114.2 | 7 | 6 | 4.24 | 69 |
| Les Straker | 16 | 82.2 | 2 | 5 | 3.92 | 23 |

#### 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 |
| Roy Smith | 9 | 37.0 | 3 | 0 | 2.68 | 17 |
| Joe Niekro | 5 | 11.2 | 1 | 1 | 10.03 | 7 |
| Steve Carlton | 4 | 9.2 | 0 | 1 | 16.76 | 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 |
| Jeff Reardon | 63 | 2 | 4 | 42 | 2.47 | 56 |
| Juan Berenguer | 57 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3.96 | 99 |
| Keith Atherton | 49 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3.41 | 43 |
| Mark Portugal | 26 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4.53 | 31 |
| Germán González | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 | 19 |
| Karl Best | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 9 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.74 | 7 |
| Jim Winn | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 9 |
| Mike Mason | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.80 | 7 |
| Tippy Martinez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 3 |
| Dan Gladden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Frank Viola, Pitcher, Cy Young Award
* Gary Gaetti, Third Baseman, Gold Glove Award
* Kirby Puckett, Centerfield, Gold Glove Award
* Kirby Puckett – American League Leader At-Bats (657)
* Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Hits (234)
* Kirby Puckett – American League Leader Singles (163)
* Kirby Puckett – Major League Baseball Leader Total Bases (358)
* Frank Viola – Major League Baseball Leader Total Wins (24)
All-Star Game
* Gary Gaetti, third base, reserve
* Tim Laudner, catcher, reserve
* Kirby Puckett, outfield, reserve
* Jeff Reardon, relief pitcher, reserve
* Frank Viola, pitcher, starter

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Jim Mahoney and Jim Shellenback |
| AA | Orlando Twins | Southern League | Duane Gustavson |
| A | Visalia Oaks | California League | Scott Ullger |
| A | Kenosha Twins | Midwest League | Ron Gardenhire |
| Rookie | Elizabethton Twins | Appalachian League | Ray Smith |