# 1990 Minnesota Twins season

The 1990 Minnesota Twins season was the 30th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 9th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 90th overall in the American League. Three years after their World Series title in 1987, the team fell to the bottom of the American League West once again. However, the season had some bright spots that included pitchers Rick Aguilera and Scott Erickson. Aguilera was converted from a starter to a closer and recorded 32 saves, while Erickson was promoted to the Twins in June from the team's AA affiliate and went 8-4 with a 3.27 ERA.

## Offseason

* December 4, 1989: Drafted Shane Mack from the San Diego Padres in the 1989 Rule 5 draft.
* December 6, 1989: Signed Kent Hrbek as a free agent.
* January 8, 1990: Carmelo Castillo was signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins.

## Regular season

* The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was center fielder Kirby Puckett.
* The highest paid Twin in 1990 was Puckett at $2,816,667; followed by Kent Hrbek at $2,100,000.

### Offense

Team Leaders :
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
| HR | Kent Hrbek | 22 |
| RBI | Gary Gaetti | 85 |
| BA | Kirby Puckett | .298 |
| Runs | Kirby Puckett | 82 |

### Pitching

Team Leaders :
| Statistic | Player | Quantity |
| ERA | Allan Anderson | 4.53 |
| Wins | Kevin Tapani | 12 |
| Saves | Rick Aguilera | 32 |
| Strikeouts | Mark Guthrie, Kevin Tapani | 101 |

### Defense

The highlight of the season came on July 17, in Boston, when the Twins turned two triple plays. In the 4th inning, with the bases loaded and Scott Erickson pitching, former Twin Tom Brunansky hit a sharp grounder to Gary Gaetti at third base, who stepped on the bag for the force out, fired to Al Newman at second, whose relay to Kent Hrbek was in time to get Brunansky at first. In the 8th inning, with John Candelaria pitching and runners on first and second, Jody Reed hit a one-hopper at Gaetti who again started a 5-4-3 triple play. This was the first time in MLB history that two triple plays were recorded in a game, a feat that has not been duplicated since.
The following night, still in Boston, both teams combined for an MLB-record-tying ten double plays. Boston tied an American League record by grounding into six DPs in the game, only escaping the twin killings in the sixth and seventh innings.
Both games were won by Boston.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 52‍–‍29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 68 | .580 | 9 | 49‍–‍31 | 45‍–‍37 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 47‍–‍35 | 36‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 80 | 82 | .494 | 23 | 42‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Seattle Mariners | 77 | 85 | .475 | 26 | 38‍–‍43 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 27½ | 45‍–‍36 | 30‍–‍50 |
| Minnesota Twins | 74 | 88 | .457 | 29 | 41‍–‍40 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1990 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–3 |
| California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 3–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–9 | 10–3 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
| New York | 7–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 0–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 5–8 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 12–0 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 9–3 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–9 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable Transactions

* April 4: Traded Mike Pomeranz (minors) to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Received Junior Ortiz and Orlando Lind (minors).
* June 4, 1990: Midre Cummings was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (29th pick) of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1990.
* June 4, 1990: Jayhawk Owens was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1990.
* June 4: Drafted Eddie Guardado in the 21st round of the 1990 amateur draft. Player signed May 23, 1991.
* July 27: Traded John Candelaria to the Toronto Blue Jays. Received Nelson Liriano and Pedro Muñoz.
* December 18: Randy Bush was signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins.

## Player stats
### 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 | Brian Harper | 134 | 479 | 141 | .294 | 6 | 54 |
| 1B | Kent Hrbek | 143 | 492 | 141 | .287 | 22 | 79 |
| 2B | Al Newman | 144 | 388 | 94 | .242 | 0 | 30 |
| 3B | Gary Gaetti | 154 | 577 | 132 | .229 | 16 | 85 |
| SS | Greg Gagne | 138 | 388 | 91 | .235 | 7 | 38 |
| LF | Dan Gladden | 136 | 534 | 147 | .275 | 5 | 40 |
| CF | Kirby Puckett | 146 | 551 | 164 | .298 | 12 | 80 |
| RF | Shane Mack | 125 | 313 | 102 | .326 | 8 | 44 |
| DH | Gene Larkin | 119 | 401 | 108 | .269 | 5 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Fred Manrique | 69 | 228 | 54 | .237 | 5 | 29 |
| Nelson Liriano | 53 | 185 | 47 | .254 | 0 | 13 |
| Randy Bush | 73 | 181 | 44 | .243 | 6 | 18 |
| John Moses | 115 | 172 | 38 | .221 | 1 | 14 |
| Junior Ortiz | 71 | 170 | 57 | .335 | 0 | 18 |
| Carmelo Castillo | 64 | 137 | 30 | .219 | 0 | 12 |
| Paul Sorrento | 41 | 121 | 25 | .207 | 5 | 13 |
| Pedro Muñoz | 22 | 85 | 23 | .271 | 0 | 5 |
| Jim Dwyer | 37 | 63 | 12 | .190 | 1 | 5 |
| Scott Leius | 14 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 1 | 4 |
| Lenny Webster | 2 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Chip Hale | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 2 |
| Doug Baker | 3 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Allan Anderson | 31 | 188.2 | 7 | 18 | 4.53 | 82 |
| Kevin Tapani | 28 | 159.1 | 12 | 8 | 4.07 | 101 |
| David West | 29 | 146.1 | 7 | 9 | 5.10 | 92 |
| Mark Guthrie | 24 | 144.2 | 7 | 9 | 3.79 | 101 |
| Scott Erickson | 19 | 113.0 | 8 | 4 | 2.87 | 53 |
| Paul Abbott | 7 | 34.2 | 0 | 5 | 5.97 | 25 |

#### 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 | 32 | 153.1 | 5 | 10 | 4.81 | 87 |
| Tim Drummond | 35 | 91.0 | 3 | 5 | 4.35 | 49 |
| Larry Casian | 5 | 22.1 | 2 | 1 | 3.22 | 11 |

##### 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 |
| Rick Aguilera | 56 | 5 | 3 | 32 | 2.76 | 61 |
| Terry Leach | 55 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3.20 | 46 |
| Juan Berenguer | 51 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3.41 | 77 |
| Gary Wayne | 38 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.19 | 28 |
| John Candelaria | 34 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3.39 | 44 |
| Jack Savage | 17 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8.31 | 12 |
| Rich Garcés | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.59 | 1 |
| Rich Yett | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 2 |
| John Moses | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Phil Roof |
| AA | Orlando Sun Rays | Southern League | Ron Gardenhire |
| A | Visalia Oaks | California League | Scott Ullger |
| A | Kenosha Twins | Midwest League | Steve Liddle |
| Rookie | Elizabethton Twins | Appalachian League | Ray Smith |
| Rookie | GCL Twins | Gulf Coast League | Joel Lepel |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elizabethton

## Notes and explanations

* ↑ "Kent Hrbek Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
* ↑ "Carmelo Castillo Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
* ↑ "Box Score of Game played on Tuesday, July 17, 1990 at Fenway Park". baseball-almanac.com.
* ↑ "Midre Cummings Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
* ↑ "Jayhawk Owens Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
* ↑ "Randy Bush Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
* ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007