The Wisconsin Rapids Twins were a Class A Minor League Baseball team that existed from 1963 to 1983, playing in the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. Affiliated with the Washington Senators (1963) and the

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 ...

(1964-1983), they were located in

Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin. The population was 18,877 at the 2020 census. The city also forms one of the core areas of the United States Census Bureau's Marshfield-Wisconsin Rapids Micropolit ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States. They played their home games at

Witter Field Witter Field is a baseball ballpark located at 521 Lincoln Street in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, United States. It was built in 1928. It served as the home park for multiple minor league teams: the Wisconsin Rapids White Sox, Wisconsin Rapids Se ...

. The franchise evolved from the Wisconsin Rapids White Sox of the Wisconsin State League (1940–42, 1946–53). For the 1984 season, the franchise became the

Kenosha Twins The Kenosha Twins were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Kenosha, Wisconsin, from 1984 to 1992. They began play in the Midwest League in 1984 when the Wisconsin Rapids Twins relocated. The team played their home games at Simmons Fie ...

, moving to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Despite the fact that they existed for 21 seasons, the Twins were Midwest League Champions only once, defeating the

Danville Warriors Danville or Dansville may refer to: ;Canada *Danville, Quebec ;United States *Danville, Alabama *Danville, Arkansas *Danville, California *Danville, Georgia *Danville, Illinois *Danville, Indiana *Danville, Iowa *Danville, Kansas *Danville, Kentuc ...

2 games to 1 and winning the 1973 Championship, after having lost to the Appleton Foxes in the 1967 Championship Series.

Ballpark

They played their home games at

, located at 521 Lincoln Street in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Built in 1928, it served as the home park for multiple

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

teams: the Wisconsin Rapids White Sox (1941–42; 1946–53) of the Class-D Wisconsin State League. The League folded after the 1953 season, leaving Witter without professional baseball until a new team in the Class-A

started play. The Wisconsin Rapids Senators (1963) and Wisconsin Rapids Twins (1964–1983) would play for the next two decades. Following the 1983 season, the franchise moved to Simmons Field in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Today, the park is home to the

Wisconsin Rapids Rafters The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a baseball team based in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin that plays in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Rafters play home games at historic Witter Field. History The Rafters name was a ...

of the summer collegiate Northwoods League, who began play in 2010 .

Notable alumni

The player to win the first Triple Crown in Midwest League history played for the Twins – Elmore "Moe" Hill. In 1974, he led the league with a .339 average, 32 home runs and 113 RBI. * Allan Anderson (1983) 1988 AL ERA Leader *

Steve Barber Stephen David Barber (February 22, 1938 – February 4, 2007) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles and six other teams between 1960–74. Barber compiled 121 wins, 1,309 str ...

(1969) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Randy Bass Randy William Bass (born March 13, 1954) is an American politician and former baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and served in the Oklahoma Senate. Bass made his MLB debut in 1977, a ...

(1973) * Steve Braun (1967) *

Bud Bulling Terry Charles "Bud" Bulling (December 15, 1952 – March 8, 2014) was a Major League Baseball catcher for the Minnesota Twins () and Seattle Mariners (–). In 1974, while playing for the Wisconsin Rapids Twins, Bulling was accidentally shot in t ...

(1975–76) * Bill Campbell (1971) MLB All-Star; 1977 AL Saves Leader *

John Castino John Anthony Castino (born October 23, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball player. Castino played as an infielder, primarily at third base and second base, with the Minnesota Twins from 1979 through 1984. Professional career Castino graduat ...

(1976) 1979 AL Rookie of the Year * Rick Dempsey (1968–69) 1983 World Series MVP *

Jim Eisenreich James Michael Eisenreich (; born April 18, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball player with a 15-year career from 1982 to 1984 and 1987–1998. He played for the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals of the American League, and the ...

(1980–81) First Recipient of Tony Conigliaro Award *

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) ...

(1980) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Jerry Garvin Theodore Jared Garvin (born October 21, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched a total of six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977 to 1982. He was named by Topps as their left- ...

(1974) *

Johnny Goryl John Albert Goryl (born October 21, 1933) is an American former infielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. A right-handed batter and thrower who stood tall and weighed , Goryl apprenticed in the farm systems of the Boston / Milwauke ...

(1970, 1973–75, MGR) * Tom Hall (1967) * Kent Hrbek (1980) MLB AS * Pat Kelly (1964) MLB All-Star * Dave McKay (1971) *

Charlie Manuel Charles Fuqua Manuel Jr. (born January 4, 1944), is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. During his playing career, he appeared over parts of six Major League Baseball seasons for the Minnesota Twins and Los Angel ...

(1967, MGR 1983) Manager: 2008 World Series Champion - Philadelphia Phillies *

George Mitterwald George Eugene Mitterwald (born June 7, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in 887 Major League Baseball games for the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs, primarily as a catcher, over 11 seasons (19 ...

(1965, 1968) * Graig Nettles (1966) 6 x MLB All-Star 1976 AL Home Run Leader *

Mark Portugal Mark Steven Portugal (born October 30, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues from 1985 to 1999. Career Portugal attended Norwalk High School in Norwalk, California. He was signed by the Minnesota Twins ...

(1982) *

Rick Stelmaszek Richard Francis Stelmaszek (October 8, 1948 – November 6, 2017) was an American Major League Baseball catcher, and bullpen coach for the Minnesota Twins. Stelmaszek spent 32 consecutive seasons (–) on the Twins' coaching staff and was the lon ...

(1978-80 MGR) * Gary Ward (1974) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Alvis Woods Alvis "Al" Woods (born August 8, 1953) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between 1977 and 1986, primarily as a left fielder. He batted and threw left-handed. Career Woods was ...

(1974)

Year-by-year record

References

{{Midwest League Baseball teams established in 1963 Baseball teams disestablished in 1983 Defunct Midwest League teams Professional baseball teams in Wisconsin Minnesota Twins minor league affiliates Washington Senators (1961–1971) minor league affiliates Sports in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Defunct baseball teams in Wisconsin