2006 Minnesota Twins season

The Minnesota Twins 2006 season ended with Minnesota finishing the regular season as champions of the American League Central Division, but were swept in three games by the Oakland Athletics in the 2006 American League Division Series.

2006 Minnesota Twins
American League Central Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record96–66 (.593)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)Terry Ryan
Manager(s)Ron Gardenhire
Local televisionWFTC
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris)
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Offseason

Regular season

The Twins stumbled out of the gate after the death of Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett in late March, accumulating a dismal 25-33 record by June 7. Around that time, the team dropped underperforming veterans like Tony Batista, Juan Castro, and Kyle Lohse, replacing them with talented rookies from the Rochester Red Wings. The Twins went 9-1 in their next ten games, evening their record at 34-34. Interleague play was particularly generous to the team; the Twins had Major League Baseball's best Interleague record at 16 wins and 2 losses. By July 26 the team had won 34 of 42 games, leaving them tied with the White Sox at 59-41, but still 8.5 games behind the division-leading Tigers.

As the season neared its conclusion, the Twins continued to put distance between them and the White Sox, while gaining on the Tigers. A key series starting on September 7 saw the Twins take three out of four from the Tigers. And after a commanding win in Boston on September 19, the Twins found themselves within a half game of the Central-leading Tigers. On September 25, the Twins beat Kansas City 8-1 to secure an American League playoff berth.

A win in a 10-inning game against the Royals on September 28 moved the Twins into a tie with the Tigers atop the AL Central. With that win, the Twins broke a major league record by moving into first place after the team's 159th game. This was the latest in a season that a team moved into first place for the first time all season. (It was a tie for first at this point.)

The Tigers led the season series, so a tie at the end of the season between the Tigers and Twins would have meant the Twins get the wild card. Instead, the Tigers were swept by 100-game-losers Kansas City to end the season, and the Twins took one of three from the White Sox, giving the Twins their fourth AL Central title in five years. It was the first time in major league history that a team clinched on the last day of the season after never having held sole possession of first place.

  • The representatives of the Twins in the All-Star Game were Johan Santana, Joe Mauer, and Francisco Liriano.
  • The highest paid Twin in 2006 is Torii Hunter at $10,750,000.00.
  • The motto for the 2006 Twins was "Smell 'em." Backup catcher Mike Redmond coined the phrase, saying the hitters have to "smell those RBIs" when they see runners in scoring position in key situations. Hitters will tap their noses when they come through. After a 9-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers on September 8 that followed a two-week-long hitting drought, hitting coach Joe Vavra remarked: "The 'smell 'ems' were out again tonight. That's the good feeling we were missing."[3]
  • In reference to the scrappy, fleet-footed hitters that make up almost half of their lineup, many of the Twins' players have been referred to by Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén as "little piranhas".[4] The moniker has stuck, and the team has printed and markets T-shirts bearing the nickname.
  • Johan Santana won his second Cy Young Award, a unanimous decision. He also won the pitching triple crown, leading the majors in wins, strikeouts, and ERA. The last pitcher to lead both leagues in all 3 categories was Dwight Gooden in 1985.
  • Justin Morneau won his first AL MVP Award, a decision won narrowly over New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter 320 points to 306 points, with 15 of a possible 28 first place votes. He was the first Twins MVP since Rod Carew in 1977.
  • Joe Mauer was the first American League catcher ever to win the Major League Baseball batting crown.

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9666 0.593 — 54–27 42–39
Detroit Tigers 9567 0.586 1 46–35 49–32
Chicago White Sox 9072 0.556 6 49–32 41–40
Cleveland Indians 7884 0.481 18 44–37 34–47
Kansas City Royals 62100 0.383 34 34–47 28–53

Record vs. opponents
2006 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Baltimore —3–152–54–23–35–14–63–67–122–44–613–63–68–119–9
Boston 15–3—4–23–43–34–53–31–58–113–74–610–95–47–1216–2
Chicago 5–22–4—8–1112–711–86–39–102–43–35–43–35–55–414–4
Cleveland 2–44–311–8—6–1310–84–58–113–43–64–56–15–44–28–10
Detroit 3–33–37–1213–6—14–43–511–82–55–46–35–35–53–315–3
Kansas City 1–55–48–118–104–14—3–77–122–74–53–51–53–33–410–8
Los Angeles 6–43–33–65–45–37–3—4–26–411–810–97–211–84–67–11
Minnesota 6–35–110–911–88–1112–72–4—3–36–45–36–14–52–516–2
New York 12–711–84–24–35–27–24–63–3—3–63–313–58–210–810–8
Oakland 4–27–33–36–34–55–48–114–66–3—17–26–39–106–48–10
Seattle 6–46–44–55–43–65–39–103–53–32–17—6–38–114–514–4
Tampa Bay 6–139–103–31–63–55–12–71–65–133–63–6—3–66–1211–7
Texas 6–34–55–54–55–53–38–115–42–810–911–86–3—4–27–11
Toronto 11–812–74–52–43–34–36–45–28–104–65–412–62–4—9–9

Notable transactions
  • June 14, 2006: Tony Batista designated for assignment. He was released on the 19th and cleared waivers on the 21st.
  • June 15, 2006: Juan Castro traded to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Brandon Roberts.
  • July 10, 2006: Rubén Sierra was released by the Twins.[1]
  • July 31, 2006: Kyle Lohse traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Minor League RHP Zach Ward.
  • August 31, 2006: The Twins acquired veteran Phil Nevin from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later (Adam Harben).

Roster
2006 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Game log
2006 Game Log ({{{win}}}–{{{loss}}})
April
May
June
July
August
September/October

Team overview

Offense: Power and the Piranhas

For the first time since 1987, the Twins had legitimate power hitters in Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, and Michael Cuddyer. On August 9, Morneau became the first Twin to hit 30 or more home runs since 1987, when Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti, and Kent Hrbek did it. The Twins led the Major Leagues in batting average with a team average of .287.[5]

During the same span:

  • Every other team in the majors had at least three 30-homer hitters.
  • Nine teams had 20 or more 30-homer hitters.
  • 478 players, including 14 in 2006, hit 30 or more home runs in a season.
  • 138 players hit 40 or more homers. Twenty of those reached 50.[6]

Morneau finished the season with 34 home runs, 130 runs batted in, and a .321 average and was named American League MVP.

Both Morneau and Joe Mauer won their first Silver Slugger Awards.

Hunter enjoyed a late season surge to also reach the 30 home run mark. On September 25, he homered off Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke in the bottom of the 7th inning and became the second Twin to hit 30 home runs in 2006. He finished the season with 31 home runs and 98 runs batted in.

Michael Cuddyer also had a breakout season as the Twins' cleanup hitter. He did not start the season as a regular player, but eventually replaced the ineffective opening day right fielder, Jason Kubel. By June, he was hitting fourth in the lineup, and he finished the season with 24 home runs, 109 runs batted in, scored 102 runs, and hit for a .284 average.

Morneau and catcher Joe Mauer may have finally earned the nickname "The M&M Boys", that had been prematurely applied to them early in the 2005 season. (This was the nickname applied to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the early 1960s.) Not only did Mauer win the American League batting title, but he led the major leagues with a .347 average, finishing ahead of National League champion Freddy Sanchez. Mauer was the first catcher to lead either the American League or the majors in hitting. Two catchers did win the National League batting title. Bubbles Hargrave of the Cincinnati Reds did it in 1926. Ernie Lombardi led the National League twice: once for the Reds in 1938 and once for the Boston Braves in 1942. However, neither catcher won the major league title.

These strong hitters were complemented by the top and bottom of the Twins' order, where the players gave the hitters plenty of opportunities to drive in runs. Midway through the season, the Twins opted for a lineup that included Jason Tyner batting eighth, Jason Bartlett ninth, Luis Castillo first, and Nick Punto second. Manager Ron Gardenhire said that these players were like four leadoff hitters: all were fast and hit for average but not power. All four hit between .290 (Punto) and .312 (Tyner), but hit a combined six home runs.[7]

Players like this caused Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén to dub the team "the piranhas."[8][9] Said Guillen:

"All those little piranhas -- blooper here, blooper here, beat out a ground ball, hit a home run, they're up by four. They get up by four with that bullpen? See you at the national anthem tomorrow. When I sit down and look at the lineup, give me the New York Yankees. Give me those guys because they've got holes. You can pitch around them, you can pitch to them. These little guys? Castillo and all of them? People worry about the catcher, what's his name, Mauer? Fine, yeah, a good hitter, but worry about the little [guys], they're on base all the time."[10]

Despite the fact that the term came from a rival manager, it was quickly embraced by both the players and the fans, as well as media outlets such as ESPN.[11] After running a popular "Twins Territory" commercial in 2007 featuring Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto at the Mall of America's Underwater World as "Piranhas" [12] the Minnesota Twins organization marketed official T-shirts, hats, signs, the team even had a "Little Piranha Night" in which piranha finger puppets were given to fans attending the game that evening.[13]

The four finished their MLB careers hitting a combined .274 and just 79 HRs in 14262 at-bats.[14][15][16][17]

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRJustin Morneau34
RBIJustin Morneau130
BAJoe Mauer.347*
SBLuis Castillo25
RunsMichael Cuddyer102
*Major League Leader

Pitching

For much of the season, the Twins' starting rotation was its most apparent weakness. This is surprising, because the 2005 Minnesota Twins had one of the strongest rotations in baseball. The team started the season with a rotation of Johan Santana, Brad Radke, Carlos Silva, Kyle Lohse, and Scott Baker. By September, only Santana could be counted on for a full, effective start.

Baker was not effective and was quickly demoted to the minors, though he came back a couple times and had a couple competent starts. Lohse was ineffective, surly, and traded to the Cincinnati Reds midway through the season. Radke started slowly but seemed to find his form, providing some consistency to the number two spot before being sidelined with a torn labrum and a stress fracture in his right shoulder. Silva was unable to find his 2005 form, finishing the season with an ERA of 5.94. He did make a few strong starts in September before regressing.

On May 19, talented rookie Francisco Liriano entered the starting rotation. He pitched well enough to earn an All-Star berth, finishing with a 12-3 record and a minuscule ERA of 2.16. Unfortunately, he was sidelined after the All-Star break with elbow problems. He did not pitch at all in 2007, as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Boof Bonser had an up-and-down season, but finished strong with a 7-6 record and 4.22 ERA. This earned him a spot in the postseason rotation. Matt Garza was the team's top pitching prospect, but was inconsistent during his first partial year in the majors.

The Twins had one of baseball's best bullpens. Dennys Reyes, signed to a minor-league deal during the offseason, provided a pleasant surprise with an excellent season as the Twins' sole left-handed reliever. Right-handers Jesse Crain and Juan Rincón set the stage throughout the season for closer Joe Nathan, with homegrown rookie Pat Neshek contributing some solid innings after being recalled from the minor leagues in July. Pitchers like Willie Eyre and Matt Guerrier ate up innings when the starters faltered.

In the May 27 game against Seattle, Jesse Crain – with a lead – loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Juan Rincón replaced Crain, and promptly ended the threat – with just one pitch – by inducing Mariner Kenji Johjima to hit into a triple play. Rincon threw 26 more pitches in the ninth for the save.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
WinsJohan Santana19*
SavesJoe Nathan36
IPJohan Santana233⅔1
ERAJohan Santana2.771
StrikeoutsJohan Santana2451
*Tied for league lead
1Led league

Defense

The Twins finished tied for second place in the American League with a .986 fielding percentage.[18] The team's defense was noticeably stronger when the left side of the infield was revamped in June, when the team traded shortstop Juan Castro to Cincinnati and released third baseman Tony Batista. Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto stepped into those roles, providing an immediate upgrade.

In center field, Torii Hunter won his sixth Gold Glove Award.


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
CJoe Mauer140521181.3471384
1BJustin Morneau157592190.32134130
2BLuis Castillo142584173.296349
SSJason Bartlett99333103.309232
3BNick Punto135459133.290145
LFLew Ford10423453.226418
CFTorii Hunter147557155.2783198
RFMichael Cuddyer150557158.28424109
DHRondell White9933783.246738

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
Jason Kubel7322053.241826
Jason Tyner6221868.312018
Mike Redmond4717961.341023
Tony Batista5017842.236521
Shannon Stewart4417451.293221
Juan Castro5015636.231114
Luis Rodríguez5911527.23526
Josh Rabe244914.28637
Terry Tiffee204511.24426
Phil Nevin16428.19014
Rubén Sierra14285.17904
Alexi Casilla941.25000
Chris Heintz210.00000

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Johan Santana34233.21962.77245
Carlos Silva36180.111155.9470
Brad Radke28162.11294.3283
Francisco Liriano28121.01232.16144
Boof Bonser18100.1764.2284
Scott Baker1683.1586.3762
Matt Garza1050365.7638
Mike Smith130012.001

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Kyle Lohse2263.2257.0746

Relief pitchers
Player G W L SV ERA SO
Juan Rincón753112.9165
Jesse Crain684513.5260
Dennys Reyes665000.8949
Joe Nathan6470361.5895
Willie Eyre421005.3126
Matt Guerrier391013.3637
Pat Neshek324202.1953
Glen Perkins40001.596

Playoffs
Main article: 2006 American League Division Series

After the Twins won the division, the American League playoff matchups were decided as follows: number two seed Minnesota Twins hosting number three seed Oakland Athletics, and number one seed New York Yankees hosting the wild card Detroit Tigers.

The Twins were defeated by Oakland in a three-game sweep, ending their playoff run for 2006. The Twins got great starts from both Johan Santana and Boof Bonser (who made his first post season appearance) at the Metrodome. After losing game 1 by the score of 3-2, the Twins came back to even the score at 2 in game 2. With two outs and a runner on first in the top of the 7th inning, Mark Kotsay hit a line drive to center field that Torii Hunter made a valiant dive for. Unfortunately, the ball sailed past him all the way to the wall, resulting in an inside-the-park home run for Kotsay. This play seemed to take all the momentum away from the Twins. The Twins never led in any game in this series.

Other post-season awards

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Stan Cliburn
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Riccardo Ingram
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Kevin Boles
A Beloit Snappers Midwest League Jeff Smith
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Nelson Prada

[19]

References
  1. Rubén Sierra at Baseball Reference
  2. Rob Bowen at Baseball Reference
  3. MLB – Detroit Tigers/Minnesota Twins Recap Friday September 8, 2006 – Yahoo! Sports
  4. The Official Site of The Minnesota Twins: News: Notes: Ozzie praises Twins 'piranhas'
  5. "2006 MLB Team Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  6. http://www.startribune.com/509/story/605847.html%5B%5D
  7. Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Minnesota Twins – Stats
  8. http://www.startribune.com/souhan/story/624549.html%5B%5D
  9. Helfand, Betsy (September 1, 2019). "As Twins continue home run tear, Guillen upgrades them from piranhas to sharks". Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  10. Thesier, Kelly (August 19, 2006). "Notes: Ozzie praises Twins". Twins Baseball News. MLB Advanced media, L.P. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  11. Thesier, Kelly. "Twins embrace 'little piranhas' moniker". Twins Baseball News. MLB. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  12. "YouTube – This is Twins Territory – Little Piranhas". YouTube. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  13. "Homestand highlights for Friday, May 4 – Sunday, May 13". Twins Baseball Official Info. MLB. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  14. "Nick Punto". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  15. "Luis Castillo". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  16. "Jason Bartlett". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  17. "Jason Tyner". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  18. The Official Site of Major League Baseball: Stats: Sortable Team Stats
  19. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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