1977 Minnesota Twins season

The 1977 Minnesota Twins season was the 17th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 17th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 77th overall in the American League. The Twins finished 84–77, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

March 18, 1977: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Twins.

Regular season

In a May 25 double-header at Boston's Fenway Park, outfielder Lyman Bostock tied a major league record with twelve putouts in the first game. His total of seventeen putouts over both games set a new American League record.
On June 26, a crowd of 46,463 turned up at Metropolitan Stadium to watch first baseman Rod Carew's pursuit of a.400 batting average. Carew didn't disappoint, going 4 for 5 with six RBI, raising his batting average seven points to.403. Lost in the commotion was right fielder Glenn Adams' own 4-for-5 performance, as he drove in a Twins-record eight runs. The Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 19–12.
Rod Carew, outfielder Larry Hisle and catcher Butch Wynegar were named to the All-Star Game. Carew was the leading AL vote-getter, scoring 405 of 422 possible votes in the national balloting by sports writers and broadcasters.
Carew was named American League Most Valuable Player. In winning his sixth AL batting title, Carew flirted with becoming the first batter since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit.400, finishing at.388. He also had 239 hits, scored a league-leading 128 runs, hit 14 home runs and collected 100 RBI.
Other offensive stars were Larry Hisle, who hit 28 HR and drove in a league-leading 119 runs, and Lyman Bostock, who hit.338 with 104 runs, 14 HR and 90 RBI.
The Twins' ability to score runs was matched by their pitchers' ability to give up runs. Reliever Tom Johnson replaced Bill Campbell, racking up 16 relief wins along with 20 saves. Dave Goltz became a 20-game winner for the first time.
1,162,727 fans attended Twins games, the fourth lowest total in the American League. It was, however, the first time since 1970 that the Twins attracted more than one million fans.

Notable transactions

April 6, 1977: The Twins purchased the contract of Don Carrithers from the Montreal Expos.
May 2, 1977: Dave Johnson was purchased by the Twins from the Seattle Mariners.
June 7, 1977: Darrell Jackson was drafted by the Twins in the 9th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.

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		144	532	139	.261	10	79
1B		156	616	239	.388	14	100
2B		103	306	73	.239	0	22
3B		129	417	110	.264	9	55
SS		150	584	135	.231	6	56
LF		141	546	165	.302	28	119
CF		153	593	199	.336	14	90
RF		144	453	121	.267	11	60
DH		115	268	68	.256	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
	95	269	91	.338	6	49
	108	261	69	.264	3	36
	93	214	48	.224	1	20
	73	171	42	.246	1	13
	54	118	23	.195	3	22
	39	83	19	.229	3	9
	32	65	16	.246	0	11
	17	43	11	.256	2	7
	15	32	5	.156	0	5
	8	25	6	.240	0	6
	10	24	7	.292	0	0
	9	19	2	.105	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
	39	303.0	20	11	3.36	186
	37	218.0	11	15	4.62	100
	34	198.0	12	14	4.68	88
	30	137.1	6	9	5.18	73
	3	18.0	1	0	2.50	6

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
	52	134.2	8	7	4.41	77
	30	72.2	2	5	4.58	33
	18	48.1	2	3	6.89	32
	6	21.0	0	1	6.86	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
	71	16	7	15	3.13	87
	61	6	4	7	5.09	35
	8	0	0	0	4.37	4
	7	0	1	0	6.91	3
	5	0	0	0	7.94	3
	2	0	0	0	2.08	1

Awards and honors

Rod Carew, American League batting champion
Rod Carew, Roberto Clemente Award
Rod Carew, American League MVP