# 1962 Minnesota Twins season

The 1962 Minnesota Twins season was the 2nd season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 2nd season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 62nd overall in the American League.
The Twins improved to 91–71, finishing second in the American League, five games short of the World Champion New York Yankees. 1,433,116 fans attended Twins games, the second highest total in the American League.

## Offseason

* November 27, 1961: Georges Maranda was drafted by the Twins from the San Francisco Giants in the 1961 rule 5 draft.
* Prior to the 1962 Season: Joe Foy was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent.

## Regular season

Statistically, many members of the Twins had seasons in which they led the American League. Harmon Killebrew hit 48 home runs and drove in 126, leading the AL in both categories. Bob Allison hit 29 home runs, drove in 102 runs, and led the Twins in runs scored with 102. Camilo Pascual became the Twins' first 20-game winner and led the AL with 206 strikeouts.
On July 18, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, two Twins made major league history by hitting grand slam home runs in the same inning. In the first inning -- off Cleveland Indians pitcher Barry Latman -- Bob Allison homered to clear the loaded bases. Indians pitcher Jim Perry subsequently replaced Latman, and Harmon Killebrew greeted him by driving in Bill Tuttle, Vic Power and Rich Rollins. Minnesota scored eleven runs in their half of the first inning.
Four Twins made the All-Star Game. The selections were third baseman Rich Rollins, catcher Earl Battey and pitchers Jim Kaat and Camilo Pascual.
On August 26, Jack Kralick threw the first no-hitter in Minnesota Twins history. The Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics by a score of 1–0.
First baseman Vic Power won his fifth Gold Glove, catcher Earl Battey won his third, and Jim Kaat won his first.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 50‍–‍30 | 46‍–‍36 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 5 | 45‍–‍36 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 86 | 76 | .531 | 10 | 40‍–‍41 | 46‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 76 | .528 | 10½ | 49‍–‍33 | 36‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 77 | .525 | 11 | 43‍–‍38 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Cleveland Indians | 80 | 82 | .494 | 16 | 43‍–‍38 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 77 | 85 | .475 | 19 | 44‍–‍38 | 33‍–‍47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 76 | 84 | .475 | 19 | 39‍–‍40 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 72 | 90 | .444 | 24 | 39‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Washington Senators | 60 | 101 | .373 | 35½ | 27‍–‍53 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1962 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CHW | CLE | DET | KCA | LAA | MIN | NYY | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 2–16 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 12–6 |
| Boston | 10–8 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 11–6 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 8–9 |
| Chicago | 9–9 | 10–8 | — | 12–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–12 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 9–9 |
| Detroit | 16–2 | 6–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 7–11 | 11–7 |
| Kansas City | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–12 | — | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 15–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | — | 9–9 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| Minnesota | 12–6 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 10–8–1 |
| New York | 7–11 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | — | 15–3 |
| Washington | 6–12 | 9–8 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 3–15 | 7–11 | 8–10–1 | 3–15 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 2, 1962: Pedro Ramos was traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Vic Power and Dick Stigman.
* April 3, 1962: Billy Martin was released by the Twins.
* August 20, 1962: Jackie Collum, a player to be named later and cash were traded by the Twins to the Cleveland Indians for Rubén Gómez. The Twins completed the deal by sending Georges Maranda to the Indians on October 9.

### 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 | Earl Battey | 148 | 522 | 146 | .280 | 11 | 57 |
| 1B | Vic Power | 144 | 611 | 177 | .290 | 16 | 63 |
| 2B | Bernie Allen | 159 | 573 | 154 | .269 | 12 | 64 |
| 3B | Rich Rollins | 159 | 624 | 186 | .298 | 16 | 96 |
| SS | Zoilo Versalles | 160 | 568 | 137 | .241 | 17 | 67 |
| LF | Harmon Killebrew | 155 | 552 | 134 | .243 | 48 | 126 |
| CF | Lenny Green | 158 | 619 | 168 | .271 | 14 | 63 |
| RF | Bob Allison | 149 | 519 | 138 | .266 | 29 | 102 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Tuttle | 110 | 123 | 26 | .211 | 1 | 13 |
| Don Mincher | 86 | 121 | 29 | .240 | 9 | 29 |
| George Banks | 63 | 103 | 26 | .252 | 4 | 15 |
| Jerry Zimmerman | 34 | 62 | 17 | .274 | 0 | 7 |
| Hal Naragon | 24 | 35 | 8 | .229 | 0 | 3 |
| Johnny Goryl | 37 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 2 | 2 |
| Marty Martínez | 37 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Lemon | 12 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 1 | 5 |
| Jim Snyder | 12 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 1 |
| Tony Oliva | 9 | 9 | 4 | .444 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Jim Kaat | 39 | 269.0 | 18 | 14 | 3.14 | 173 |
| Camilo Pascual | 34 | 257.2 | 20 | 11 | 3.32 | 206 |
| Jack Kralick | 39 | 242.2 | 12 | 11 | 3.86 | 139 |
| Don Lee | 9 | 52.0 | 3 | 3 | 4.50 | 28 |

#### 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 |
| Dick Stigman | 40 | 142.2 | 12 | 5 | 3.66 | 116 |
| Joe Bonikowski | 30 | 99.2 | 5 | 7 | 3.88 | 45 |
| Rubén Gómez | 6 | 19.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.66 | 8 |
| Jackie Collum | 8 | 15.1 | 0 | 2 | 11.15 | 5 |
| Jim Donohue | 6 | 10.1 | 0 | 1 | 6.97 | 3 |
| Jim Manning | 5 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Ray Moore | 49 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 4.73 | 58 |
| Lee Stange | 44 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.45 | 70 |
| Georges Maranda | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.46 | 36 |
| Bill Pleis | 21 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4.40 | 31 |
| Frank Sullivan | 21 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3.24 | 10 |
| Ted Sadowski | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.03 | 15 |
| Jim Roland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Gerry Arrigo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Vancouver Mounties | Pacific Coast League | Jack McKeon |
| A | Charlotte Hornets | Sally League | Spencer "Red" Robbins |
| B | Wilson Tobs | Carolina League | Harry Warner |
| C | Bismarck-Mandan Pards | Northern League | Vern Morgan |
| D | Fort Walton Beach Jets | Alabama–Florida League | Ralph Rowe |
| D | Wytheville Twins | Appalachian League | Red Norwood |
| D | Erie Sailors | New York–Penn League | Frank Franchi |