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2003 Minnesota Twins season

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2003 Minnesota Twins
American League Central Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place1st
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersTerry Ryan
ManagersRon Gardenhire
TelevisionKSTC-TV
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden)
← 2002 Seasons 2004 →

After winning the American League Central in 2002, the 2003 Minnesota Twins were looking to repeat division titles for the first time since 1969 and 1970. A spark for the team was the July trade of Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart. Stewart provided a veteran presence at the top of the lineup that the team had previously lacked. The team met its goal of reaching the playoffs, but once again fell short in the postseason. The Twins lost in four games to the New York Yankees during the ALDS. 2003 would be the last year several key players played with the team.

Offseason

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Regular season

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Under second year manager Ron Gardenhire, The Twins did not look so good coming out of the gates, going 12-14 in March and April. However, they picked it up by going 19-9 in May, improving their record to 31-23 (.574). After having another tough string of games during the middle of the season, the Twins were looking for a jump start. They got it when on July 16 they traded RF Bobby Kielty to Toronto for LF Shannon Stewart. Going into the final month of the season with a record of 71-65 it looked as though the Twins may not win the division, but they finished with a stellar September going 19-7; including an 11-game winning streak. They ended up with a 90-72 (.556) record which was good enough to win the mediocre AL Central.

On April 21, Rick Reed set a Twins individual pitching record by giving up 11 runs (ten were earned) in a 15-1 loss to the New York Yankees.[7]

On June 7 at Qualcomm Stadium, outfielder Jacque Jones hit his 20th lead-off home run as a Minnesota Twin and the total remains the Twins record. Jones' first two career homers in 1999 were lead-off home runs. Chuck Knoblauch is next in line with 14.

June 17: In a 14-7 loss to the Kansas City Royals, the Twins gave up 12 runs in the sixth inning, a club high. Kenny Rogers blew a 3-1 lead allowing four runs. The final six were allowed by Michael Nakamura.[8]

The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was closer Eddie Guardado; he gave up two hits and a run on eight pitches.

The highest paid Twin in 2003 was Brad Radke at $8,750,000; followed by Rick Reed at $8,000,000.

Bob Allison and Bob Casey were inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame.

Offense

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Catcher A. J. Pierzynski enjoyed his highest career batting average (.312) in his final year with the Twins. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz rebounded from a poor 2002 season by hitting .300—although his power numbers (11 home runs) were low for his position. Luis Rivas cemented his reputation as a mediocre hitter, batting .259 with a .308 on-base percentage. Corey Koskie saw his average go up to .292 after a dip in 2002. For the third time in four years, shortstop Cristian Guzmán led the majors in triples this year with 14. Jacque Jones and Torii Hunter were capable hitters in the outfield, with Jones batting .304 and Hunter driving in a career high 102 runs. Stewart hit .322 in 270 at bats for the team.

Team leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
HR Torii Hunter 26
RBI Torii Hunter 102
BA A. J. Pierzynski .312
Runs Torii Hunter 83

Pitching

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Brad Radke, Kenny Rogers, and Kyle Lohse filled the first three spots in the starting rotation throughout the year. All three had winning records and ERAs in the mid-fours. Joe Mays and Rick Reed each made 21 mediocre starts. The leftover starts were mostly left to Johan Santana, who made 18, establishing a foundation that would enable him to win a Cy Young Award the following year. Eric Milton was injured most of the year, and appeared in only three games.

In the bullpen, Eddie Guardado was once again a reliable closer, with LaTroy Hawkins as his primary set-up man. Juan Rincón was also able to establish himself as a reliable set-up man, but the other bullpen spots were uncertain. J. C. Romero regressed in quality, with a 5.00 ERA. As one might expect, experiments with veterans such as James Baldwin, Carlos Pulido, and the ancient Jesse Orosco did not pan out.

Team leaders
Statistic Player Quantity
ERA Brad Radke 4.49
Wins Brad Radke and Kyle Lohse 14
Saves Eddie Guardado 41
Strikeouts Johan Santana 169

Defense

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The infield of Pierzynski, Mientkiewicz, Rivas, Guzman, and Koskie was reliable. Jacque Jones was solid in left, although Shannon Stewart saw time there when he was acquired for Bobby Kielty. Torii Hunter had a Gold Glove year in center field. Right field was manned by the platoon of Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty (the duo was dubbed "Dusty Kielmohr") until the arrival of Stewart.

Season standings

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AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 90 72 .556 — 48‍–‍33 42‍–‍39
Chicago White Sox 86 76 .531 4 51‍–‍30 35‍–‍46
Kansas City Royals 83 79 .512 7 40‍–‍40 43‍–‍39
Cleveland Indians 68 94 .420 22 38‍–‍43 30‍–‍51
Detroit Tigers 43 119 .265 47 23‍–‍58 20‍–‍61


Record vs. opponents

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2003 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim — 1–8 3–6 3–4 6–3 6–1 6–3 5–4 3–6 8–12 8–11 6–3 9–10 2–7 11–7
Baltimore 8–1 — 9–10 2–4 3–3 3–3 3–4 3–4 6–13–1 2–7 4–5 8–11 7–2 8–11 5–13
Boston 6–3 10–9 — 5–4 4–2 8–1 5–1 2–4 9–10 3–4 5–2 12–7 5–4 10–9 11–7
Chicago 4–3 4–2 4–5 — 11–8 11–8 11–8 9–10 4–2 4–5 2–7 3–3 3–4 6–3 10–8
Cleveland 3–6 3–3 2–4 8–11 — 12–7 6–13 9–10 2–5 3–6 3–6 5–2 4–5 2–4 6–12
Detroit 1–6 3–3 1–8 8–11 7–12 — 5–14 4–15 1–5 3–6 1–8 2–4 1–6 2–7 4–14
Kansas City 3–6 4–3 1–5 8–11 13–6 14–5 — 11–8 2–4 2–7 4–5 4–3 7–2 1–5 9–9
Minnesota 4–5 4–3 4–2 10–9 10–9 15–4 8–11 — 0–7 8–1 3–6 6–0 5–4 3–3 10–8
New York 6–3 13–6–1 10–9 2–4 5–2 5–1 4–2 7–0 — 3–6 5–4 14–5 4–5 10–9 13–5
Oakland 12–8 7–2 4–3 5–4 6–3 6–3 7–2 1–8 6–3 — 7–12 6–3 15–4 5–2 9–9
Seattle 11–8 5–4 2–5 7–2 6–3 8–1 5–4 6–3 4–5 12–7 — 4–5 10–10 3–4 10–8
Tampa Bay 3–6 11–8 7–12 3–3 2–5 4–2 3–4 0–6 5–14 3–6 5–4 — 3–6 11–8 3–15
Texas 10–9 2–7 4–5 4–3 5–4 6–1 2–7 4–5 5–4 4–15 10–10 6–3 — 5–4 4–14
Toronto 7–2 11–8 9–10 3–6 4–2 7–2 5–1 3–3 9–10 2–5 4–3 8–11 4–5 — 10–8


Notable transactions

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Roster

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2003 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Postseason

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In the American League Division Series, the Twins faced a team which fared well against them in the regular season: The New York Yankees. The Yankees won the 5-game series in four games, outscoring the Twins 16-6. Minnesota defeated the Yankees in game 1, earning a 3-1 victory at Yankee Stadium. However, the Yankees would go on to win the series; winning the next three games 4-1, 3-1, and 8-1. The Yankees eventually lost to the Florida Marlins in the World Series.

See also 2003 American League Division Series.

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 A. J. Pierzynski 137 487 152 .312 11 74
1B Doug Mientkiewicz 142 487 146 .300 11 65
2B Luis Rivas 135 475 123 .259 8 43
SS Cristian Guzmán 143 534 143 .268 3 53
3B Corey Koskie 131 469 137 .292 14 69
LF Jacque Jones 136 517 157 .304 16 69
CF Torii Hunter 154 581 145 .250 26 102
RF Dustan Mohr 121 348 87 .250 10 36
DH Matt LeCroy 107 345 99 .287 17 64

Other batters

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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
Shannon Stewart 65 270 87 .322 6 38
Bobby Kielty 75 238 60 .252 9 32
Denny Hocking 83 188 45 .239 3 22
Chris Gomez 58 175 44 .251 1 15
Justin Morneau 40 106 24 .226 4 16
Michael Cuddyer 35 102 25 .245 4 8
Lew Ford 34 73 24 .329 3 15
Todd Sears 24 65 16 .246 2 11
Michael Ryan 27 61 24 .393 5 13
Michael Restovich 24 53 15 .283 0 4
Tom Prince 24 40 8 .200 2 5
Alex Prieto 8 11 1 .091 0 0
Rob Bowen 7 10 1 .100 0 1

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G GS IP W L ERA SO
Brad Radke 33 33 212.1 14 10 4.49 120
Kyle Lohse 33 33 201.0 14 11 4.61 130
Kenny Rogers 33 31 195.0 13 8 4.57 116
Rick Reed 27 21 135.0 6 12 5.07 71
Eric Milton 3 3 17.0 1 0 2.65 7

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Johan Santana 45 158.1 12 3 3.07 169
Joe Mays 31 130.0 8 8 6.30 50
Carlos Pulido 7 15.2 0 1 4.02 6

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Eddie Guardado 66 3 5 41 2.89 60
LaTroy Hawkins 74 9 3 2 1.86 75
J. C. Romero 73 2 0 0 5.00 50
Juan Rincón 58 5 6 0 3.68 63
Tony Fiore 21 1 1 0 5.50 23
Grant Balfour 17 1 0 0 4.15 30
Michael Nakamura 12 0 0 1 7.82 14
James Baldwin 10 0 1 1 5.40 7
Jesse Orosco 8 1 1 0 5.79 3
Mike Fetters 5 0 0 0 0.00 1
Brad Thomas 3 0 1 0 7.71 2
Adam Johnson 2 0 1 0 47.25 0

Other post-season awards

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Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Phil Roof
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: Elizabethton[12][13]

References

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  1. ^ Casey Blake at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ José Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Matt Kinney at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Carlos Pulido at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ David Ortiz at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ Kenny Rogers at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ "Yankees 15, Twins 1". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Royals 14, Twins 7". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  9. ^ a b James Baldwin at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Bobby Kielty at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ Jesse Orosco at Baseball Reference
  12. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  13. ^ Baseball America 2004 Annual Directory
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