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2002 Minnesota Twins
AL Central champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Carl Pohlad
General manager(s) Terry Ryan
Manager(s) Ron Gardenhire
Local television KSTC-TV
Fox Sports Minnesota
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Local radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
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After facing contraction talks at the previous winter meeting, and coming out of a second-place finish in the AL Central with a pitching staff with only two players with an ERA under 4.0, the 2002 Minnesota Twins won their division and made it to the 2002 American League Championship Series (ALCS) with the youngest team in the league, and with a new manager, Ron Gardenhire. The Twins had a solid first half of the season (45–36), but had a better second half (49–31), which led them to being the division champions.

New Alternate Logos[edit]

For the 2002 season, the Twins adopted a secondary logo based on those used from 1970 to 1986, with twins (one representing Minneapolis and the other St. Paul) shaking hands while standing by the river which separates the two cities. The logo also features the team's primary logo, replacing the "Win Twins!" baseball used in the 1976–1986 version.

The season also marked the revival of the "TC" cap logo, which had last been used as such in 1986.

Offseason[edit]

  • November 7: David Lamb was signed by the Twins as a free agent.[1]
  • January 23, 2002: Mike Jackson was signed by the Twins as a free agent.[2]

Regular season[edit]

  • The representatives of the Twins in the All-Star Game were Closer Eddie Guardado, Center Fielder Torii Hunter, and Catcher A. J. Pierzynski.
  • The highest paid Twin in 2002 was Brad Radke at $8,750,000; followed by Rick Reed at $7,000,000.
  • Bert Blyleven and Tom Kelly were inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame.
  • May 6, 2002: The 2002 NCAA National women's hockey champion Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs were recognized by the Minnesota Twins baseball team at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.[3]

Offense[edit]

No player hit 30 home runs or drove in 100 RBIs, but many players enjoyed solid seasons. Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones hit 29 and 27 home runs, respectively, while designated hitter David Ortiz battled injuries and hit 20. Catcher A. J. Pierzynski had a good year for a catcher, hitting .300. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz saw his average drop significantly from the prior year, from .306 to .261. Third baseman Corey Koskie had a subpar year offensively, shortstop Cristian Guzmán was average, and second baseman Luis Rivas was not strong. The Twins enjoyed solid production out of the right field spot, whether the position was manned by opening day starter Brian Buchanan, Dustan Mohr, Bobby Kielty, or Michael Cuddyer.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Torii Hunter 29
RBI Torii Hunter 94
BA Jacque Jones .300
Runs Jacque Jones 96

Pitching[edit]

The starting rotation resembled a tubercular ward. Brad Radke, Eric Milton, and Joe Mays suffered serious injuries, requiring Rick Reed to carry the starting rotation. He was able to fulfill this role, going 9-2 in the second half. For inexplicable reasons, manager Ron Gardenhire resisted putting Johan Santana into the starter role until he was forced to by injuries. Santana started only 14 games, but quickly established himself as a dominant starting pitcher, posting an 8-6 record, 2.99 ERA, and a team-leading 137 strikeouts. Kyle Lohse enjoyed his only solid year as a starter, going 13-8 with a 4.23 ERA. Matt Kinney also made 12 starts. Eddie Guardado excelled in his first full year as the team's closer, earning 45 saves, while J. C. Romero, LaTroy Hawkins, and Mike Jackson had strong years as set-up men. Tony Fiore had a bafflingly strong year out of the bullpen, going 10-3 with an ERA of 3.16.

Team Leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Rick Reed 3.78
Wins Rick Reed 15
Saves Eddie Guardado 45
Strikeouts Johan Santana 137

Defense[edit]

A. J. Pierzynski was the team's all-star starting catcher, backed up by Tom Prince. Doug Mientkiewicz followed up his Gold Glove year with another superb year defensively. Unfortunately, his relatively weak hitting in 2002 may have prevented him from winning a second consecutive Gold Glove award, as it went to John Olerud. The rest of the infield was defensively solid, with Luis Rivas at second, Cristian Guzmán at short, and Corey Koskie at third. In the outfield, two-thirds of the "Soul Patrol" remained, with Jacque Jones in left and Torii Hunter in center. (This would be Hunter's second consecutive Gold Glove year.) Right field was a question mark, with Brian Buchanan not lasting long after being the opening day right fielder. The void was filled for most of the season by the platoon of Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty, known collectively by fans as "Dusty Kielmohr". However, Dusty Kielmohr gave way to Michael Cuddyer for the post-season run.

Season standings[edit]

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 94 67 0.584 — 54–27 40–40
Chicago White Sox 81 81 0.500 13½ 47–34 34–47
Cleveland Indians 74 88 0.457 20½ 39–42 35–46
Kansas City Royals 62 100 0.383 32½ 37–44 25–56
Detroit Tigers 55 106 0.342 39 33–47 22–59


Notable transactions[edit]

Roster[edit]

2002 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats[edit]

Batting[edit]

Starters by position[edit]

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
CF Torii Hunter 148 561 162 .289 29 94

Other batters[edit]

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
Brian Buchanan 44 135 34 .252 5 15
Michael Cuddyer 41 112 29 .259 4 13
David Lamb 7 10 1 .100 0 0

Pitching[edit]

Starting pitchers[edit]

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Rick Reed 33 188 15 7 3.78 121

Other pitchers[edit]

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Juan Rincón 10 28.2 0 2 6.28 21

Relief pitchers[edit]

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Eddie Guardado 68 1 3 45 2.93 70
Mike Jackson 58 2 3 0 3.27 29
Jack Cressend 23 0 1 0 5.91 22
Kevin Frederick 8 0 0 0 10.03 5
Mike Trombley 5 0 1 0 15.75 3
José Rodríguez 4 0 1 0 14.73 1

Post Season[edit]

The Twins made it to the ALCS, beating the Oakland Athletics in the Divisional series. They then lost to the eventual World Series Champions, the Anaheim Angels.

Divisional Series[edit]

The Twins won game one at Oakland before losing two straight including one at home. The Twins rebounded, and won the final two games to win the series and move on to face Anaheim in the ALCS.

Game One[edit]

October 1, at Oakland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 1 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 7 13 3
Oakland 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 0
W: Brad Radke (1-0)  L: Ted Lilly (0-1)  SV: Eddie Guardado (1)  
HRs: MIN – Corey Koskie (1), Doug Mientkiewicz (1)

Game Two[edit]

October 2, at Oakland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 7 0
Oakland 3 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 9 14 0
W: Mark Mulder (1-0)  L: Joe Mays (0-1)  
HRs: OAK – Eric Chavez (1),MIN – Cristian Guzmán (1)

Game Three[edit]

October 4, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 6 9 1
Minnesota 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 8 0
W: Barry Zito (1-0)  L: Rick Reed (0-1)  
HRs: OAK – Ray Durham (1), Scott Hatteberg (1), Terrence Long (1), Jermaine Dye, (1)

Game Four[edit]

October 5, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Oakland 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 2
Minnesota 0 0 2 7 0 0 2 0 X 11 12 0
W: Eric Milton (1-0)  L: Tim Hudson (0-1)  
HRs: OAK – Miguel Tejada (1),MIN – Doug Mientkiewicz (2)

Game Five[edit]

October 6, at Oakland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 12 0
Oakland 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 11 0
W: Brad Radke (2-0)  L: Mark Mulder (1-1)  
HRs: OAK – Ray Durham (2), Mark Ellis (1) MIN – AJ Pierzynski (1)

ALCS[edit]

The Twins won the first game at home vs. the Angels, before losing the next four in a row, allowing the Angels to move on to the World Series, who won the Series in seven games against the San Francisco Giants.

Game One[edit]

October 8, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0
Minnesota 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 2 5 1
W: Joe Mays (1-0)  L: Kevin Appier (0-1)  SV: Eddie Guardado (1)
HRs: None

Game Two[edit]

October 9, at Minnesota

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Anaheim 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 10 0
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 11 1
W: Ramón Ortiz (1-0)  L: Rick Reed (0-1)  SV: Troy Percival (1)
HRs: ANA – Darin Erstad (1), Brad Fullmer (1)

Game Three[edit]

October 11, at Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0
Anaheim 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 2 7 2
W: Francisco Rodríguez (1-0)  L: J. C. Romero (0-1)  SV: Troy Percival (2)
HRs: ANA – Garret Anderson (1), Troy Glaus (1)

Game Four[edit]

October 12, at Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 2
Anaheim 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 X 7 10 0
W: John Lackey (1-0)  L: Brad Radke (0-1)  
HRs: None

Game Five[edit]

October 13, at Anaheim

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 9 0
Anaheim 0 0 1 0 2 0 10 0 X 13 18 0
W: Francisco Rodríguez (2-0)  L: Johan Santana (0-1)  
HRs: ANA – Adam Kennedy (3), Scott Spiezio (1)

Farm system[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Edmonton Trappers Pacific Coast League John Russell
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Jeff Carter
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Rudy Hernández

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Edmonton[9][10]

Sources[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ David Lamb page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Mike Jackson page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ http://www.umdbulldogs.com/viewmoment.php?height=500&width=700&modal=true&id=55
  4. ^ a b Mike Trombley page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Jesse Crain page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ José Rodríguez page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Brian Buchanan page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ David Ortiz Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  9. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007
  10. ^ Baseball America 2003 Annual Directory

External links[edit]
source: https://web.archive.org/web/20151112113945/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Minnesota_Twins_season

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