2005 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
Record83–79 (.512)
Divisional place3rd
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersTerry Ryan
ManagersRon Gardenhire
TelevisionWFTC
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
Seasons

The 2005 Minnesota Twins Season was the franchise's 45th season playing in the Twin Cities and the 105th season in its history. The team was managed by Ron Gardenhire in his fourth year as the Twins' manager. They played their home games in the Metrodome.

The Twins' final record was 83–79. They finished third in the American League Central, behind the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, and they missed the playoffs.[1]

Regular season

The Twins got off to an average start. However, the Chicago White Sox had a fantastic start to the season. The Twins tried to stay close in the standings, but their offense was insufficient. The Twins (83-79) finished in 3rd place behind the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001. The White Sox went on to earn the division title, their first trip to the playoffs since 2000, and their first World Series title since 1917.

Standings

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 9963 0.611 — 47–34 52–29
Cleveland Indians 9369 0.574 6 43–38 50–31
Minnesota Twins 8379 0.512 16 45–36 38–43
Detroit Tigers 7191 0.438 28 39–42 32–49
Kansas City Royals 56106 0.346 43 34–47 22–59

Record vs. opponents

2005 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Baltimore —8–102–61–63–54–22–43–37–114–67–312–64–69–108–10
Boston 10–8—4–34–26–44–26–44–29–106–43–313–67–27–1112–6
Chicago 6–23–4—14–514–513–54–611–73–32–76–34–23–64–212–6
Cleveland 6–12–45–14—12–613–63–510–93–46–37–34–63–34–215–3
Detroit 5–34–65–146–12—10–94–68–111–51–55–45–24–24–39–9
Kansas City 2–42–45–136–139–10—2–76–133–32–42–73–52–83–69–9
Los Angeles 4–24–66–45–36–47–2—6–46–410–99–94–515–41–512–6
Minnesota 3–32–47–119–1011–813–64–6—3–34–66–46–03–64–28–10
New York 11–710–93–34–35–13–34–63–3—7–27–38–117–312–611–7
Oakland 6–44–67–23–65–14–29–106–42–7—12–64–511–85–510–8
Seattle 3–73–33–63–74–57–29–94–63–76–12—4–26–134–610–8
Tampa Bay 6–126–132–46–42–55–35–40–611–85–42–4—6–28–113–15
Texas 6–42–76–33–32–48–24–156–33–78–1113–62–6—7–39–9
Toronto 10–911–72–42–43–46–35–12–46–125–56–411–83–7—8–10

Roster

2005 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Offense

Australian Glenn Williams came up for his cup of coffee and played in thirteen games from June 7 to June 28. He hit safely in every game, earning the Twins record for the longest hitting streak to start a career. When he was sent back down, he took with him 17 hits and a .425 batting average. He'd never return to the major leagues, but is working on an active 13-game hitting streak...

Joe Mauer led the team with a .294 batting average, Justin Morneau led the team in runs batted in with 79, but Mauer hit only 9 home runs and 55 RBI, while Morneau hit only .239.

These problems were endemic to the team. No starter batted over .300 or hit over 25 home runs; however, Matthew LeCroy managed to hit 17 home runs in part-time duty.

The team's offensive struggles led to an uncertain lineup, with many defensive positions lacking regular starters. The team experimented by bringing in Seattle Mariners infielder Bret Boone to fill the void at second base, but he lasted for only 53 at-bats, hitting .170. The weak hitting led to hitting coach Scott Ullger being reassigned to third base coach after the season was over.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRJacque Jones23
RBIJustin Morneau79
Avg.Joe Mauer.294
RunsJacque Jones74

Pitching

Twins pitchers performed well in 2005. The staff was led by All-Star Johan Santana (16-7, 2.87 ERA, 238 strikeouts) and All-Star closer Joe Nathan (43 saves, 2.70 ERA). However, the weak hitting prevented any other starter from winning ten games. (Jesse Crain, in a stellar year out of the bullpen, did go 12-5.) The anemic offense also may have cost Santana a second Cy Young Award,[2] as he finished with only sixteen victories.

The top end of the rotation—Santana, Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, and Carlos Silva—pitched well. Many bullpen pitchers had outstanding years, in particular Crain, Juan Rincón (2.45 ERA), J. C. Romero (3.47), and Matt Guerrier (3.39).

Silva in particular had what seemed to be a breakout year, walking only nine batters during the entire season to set a modern-era record (over 188.1 innings, a 0.43 rate). Silva induced 34 double plays to lead the majors, and won a May 20 game throwing just 74 pitches over nine innings. No pitcher has thrown as few pitches in a nine-inning win since 1957.

In early May, the pitching staff was shaken when Major League Baseball announced that Juan Rincón would be suspended for ten days for violating the sport's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Rincón pitched well both before and after this occurred.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAJohan Santana2.87
WinsJohan Santana16
SavesJoe Nathan43
StrikeoutsJohan Santana238

Defense

Like his predecessor Tom Kelly, Gardenhire emphasized baseball fundamentals like defense. Despite Hunter's injury, he still won a Gold Glove in center field. Joe Mauer established a reputation as an outstanding defensive catcher, with a .993 fielding percentage. Morneau, not known for his defense, surprised many with a .994 average at first. Luis Rivas was a solid defensive second baseman, but his offensive shortcomings became too much to bear, leading the team to experiment with Boone and Nick Punto at the position. In contrast to Rivas, Michael Cuddyer saw a majority of the time at third base. Jason Bartlett and Juan Castro split time at shortstop, with Castro being the superior defensive player. Shannon Stewart and Jacque Jones both had .985 fielding percentages in the corner outfield positions. Lew Ford saw time at all three outfield positions.

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
Shannon Stewart132551691512731056734.274.388
Jacque Jones1425237413022423731351.249.438
Lew Ford147522701383047531345.264.377
Justin Morneau141490621172342279044.239.437
Joe Mauer131489611442629551361.294.411
Michael Cuddyer126422551112531242341.263.422
Nick Punto11239445941844261336.239.335
Torii Hunter983726310024114562334.269.452
Matt LeCroy1013043379501750041.260.444
Juan Castro97272277018153309.257.386
Jason Bartlett742243354101316421.241.335
Luis Rodríguez791752147102220218.269.383
Terry Tiffee541509318111518.207.293
Mike Redmond4514817469012606.311.392
Luis Rivas5913621353111249.257.316
Michael Ryan571177275021319.231.325
Brent Abernathy2467516101627.239.299
Jason Tyner1856818110524.321.375
Bret Boone145339000304.170.170
Glenn Williams1340317100312.425.450
Chris Heintz82515300201.200.320
Corky Miller51200000000.000.000
Pitcher Totals1622212000000.091.091
Team Totals1625564688144126932134644102485.259.391

Source:

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Johan Santana1672.8733330231.1180777445238
Brad Radke9124.0431310200.2214989023117
Carlos Silva983.4427270188.12128372971
Kyle Lohse9134.1831300178.2211858344186
Joe Mays6105.6531260156.0203109984159
Jesse Crain1252.71750179.261282429125
Juan Rincón662.45750077.06326213084
Matt Guerrier033.39430071.27129272446
Joe Nathan742.706904370.04622212294
Terry Mulholland024.27490059.06130281718
J.C. Romero433.47680057.05026223948
Scott Baker333.35109053.24821201432
Francisco Liriano125.7064023.2191515733
Travis Bowyer015.598009.21066312
Dave Gassner105.872207.297512
Team Totals83793.71162162441464.11458662604348965

Source:

Notable transactions

Miscellaneous

Twins 40th Anniversary of 1965 World Series.

Other post-season awards

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Phil Roof and Rich Miller
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Riccardo Ingram
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Kevin Boles
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Nelson Prada

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elizabethton[5]

References

  1. ↑ "2005 Minnesota Twins Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ Hayes, Dan. "Johan Santana's Hall of Fame 'what if': 2005 Cy Young Award". The Athletic. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Bret Boone Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ↑ Associated Press (July 10, 2005). "Twins 3, Royals 2, 12 innings". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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