The 1968

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 79–83, seventh in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Offseason

* January 27, 1968:

Eric Soderholm Eric Thane Soderholm (born September 24, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees from 1971 to 1980. Soderholm was selected with the 1st overa ...

was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the secondary phase of the

1968 Major League Baseball draft The 1968 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1968 MLB season. The draft saw the New York Mets take shortstop Tim Foli first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1968 Major Leagu ...

Regular season

Leadoff batter

César Tovar César Leonardo Tovar (July 3, 1940 – July 14, 1994), nicknamed "Pepito" and "Mr. Versatility", was a Venezuelan professional baseball player, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins (–), Philadelphia Phillies (), T ...

sparked the offense, finishing second in the AL with 167 hits and third with 89 runs.

Tony Oliva Tony Pedro Oliva (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and Coach (baseball), coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter ...

was third in the AL with a .289 batting average.

Harmon Killebrew Harmon Clayton Killebrew Jr. (; June 29, 1936May 17, 2011), nicknamed "The Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. He was a prolific power hitter who spent most of hi ...

had 17 HR and 40 RBI at the All-Star break, but was injured in the game and missed the second half of the season. It took until their eighth season for the

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

to get

no-hit In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

and then it happened profoundly, as their first opposing no-hitter was the perfect game thrown by Oakland's Jim "Catfish" Hunter on May 8 in Oakland. Hunter struck out eleven, and drove in three of his team's four runs. A first for the Twins: on July 11,

Rick Renick Warren Richard Renick (born March 16, 1944) is a retired American professional baseball player, manager and coach. Renick had a 14-year (1965–1978) professional playing career, including all or part of five seasons (1968–1972) in Major League ...

played his first-ever major league game, at shortstop. In his first big-league

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

, he homered. The run came off

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

pitcher

Mickey Lolich Michael Stephen Lolich (born September 12, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1963 until 1979, almost entirely for the Detroit Tigers. A three-time All-Star, ...

. Renick is the first Twins player to accomplish the feat, later to be joined in history by Dave McKay (1975),

Gary Gaetti Gary Joseph Gaetti (, ; born August 19, 1958), is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins (1981–1990), California Angels (1991–1993), Kansas City Royals (1993–1995), St. Louis Cardinals (1996–1998) ...

(1981) and

Andre David Andre Anter David (born May 18, 1958), is a retired Assyrian Major League Baseball outfielder who played during parts of the 1984 and 1986 seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He played in 38 games and had 13 hits with 1 home run and a .245 batting ...

(1984). They all were then joined in 2015 by

Eddie Rosario Eddie Manuel Rosario, Jr. (born September 28, 1991) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball left fielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Rosario was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draf ...

, who hit a homer not only in his first at bat, but on the first major-league pitch thrown to him. Three Twins made the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

: first baseman

, second baseman

Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman, second baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins ...

, and outfielder

. On September 22,

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

played all nine positions, an inning each, against the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. Duplicating the feat that

Bert Campaneris Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco (born March 9, 1942), nicknamed "Bert" or "Campy", is a Cuban American former professional baseball shortstop, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for four American League (AL) teams, primarily the Kansas City / ...

had performed three years prior, Tovar topped Campy by starting as pitcher and allowing no hits or runs, for a 0.00

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. In the inning, the first man to face Tovar was Campaneris, who fouled out. Tovar then struck out slugger

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...

. Four Twins won 10 or more games:

Dean Chance Wilmer Dean Chance (June 1, 1941 – October 11, 2015) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher,https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chancde01.shtml Dean Chance Page at Baseball-Reference.com he played in 11 Maj ...

(16–16),

Jim Kaat James Lee Kaat (; born November 7, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (–), ...

(14–12) Jim Merritt (12–16), Dave Boswell (10–13). Pitcher

won his seventh

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

Al Worthington Allan Fulton Worthington (born February 5, 1929), nicknamed "Red", is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of 14 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1953–54, 1956–59), Boston Red ...

led the American League with 18 saves. 1,143,257 fans attended Twins games, the fourth highest total in the

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Orlando, St. Cloud

Notes

References

Player stats from www.baseball-reference.comTeam info from www.baseball-almanac.com
* {{Minnesota Twins Minnesota Twins seasons Minnesota Twins season