1976 Minnesota Twins season

Offseason

• October 24, 1975: Sergio Ferrer was traded by the Twins to the Philadelphia Phillies for Larry Cox.
• December 23, 1975: Danny Walton was traded by the Twins to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bob Randall.
• January 7, 1976: Pete Redfern was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).
• February 11, 1976: Johnny Briggs was released by the Twins.

Regular season

In June and July, Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock became the third and fourth Twins to hit for the cycle. Hisle cycled on June 4 in an 8–6 win over Baltimore, going double, triple, single, home run. He is the only Twin that took an extra inning (homering in the tenth) to accomplish the feat, as he'd grounded out in his first at-bat. Six weeks later Bostock became the second Twin to cycle during a season, a first for the club.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew and catcher Butch Wynegar.

On July 24, Lyman Bostock, batting fourth, went four-for-four (3B-HR-2B-1B) to become the fourth Twin to hit for the cycle. He had four RBI and scored four runs in the 17–2 win over Chicago.

Steve Luebber is the Minnesota pitcher to come closest to a no-hitter without achieving it. On August 7, he was one out away before losing his bid when Texas Ranger Roy Howell singled. Luebber then lost the shutout when Mike Hargrove singled Howell home. The Twins won the game, 3–1.

For the first time in four years, Carew did not win the AL batting title, finishing third with a .331 batting average. Carew did have 200 hits and 90 RBI. Larry Hisle hit 14 home runs and collected 96 RBI. Dan Ford added 20 HR and 86 RBI. The Twins set a season-record low with just 81 homers.

Reliever Bill Campbell led the Twins pitchers with 17 wins, all in relief. He also led the team in saves (20) and appearances (78). His earned run average of 3.01 was second only to reliever Tom Burgmeier's 2.50; Burgmeier added 8 relief wins and a save. The Twins needed the relief help because the starting pitching was terrible, with only Dave Goltz (14–14) managing double digit wins.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• May 30, 1976: Jeff Holly was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
• June 1, 1976: Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson were traded by the Twins to the Texas Rangers for Bill Singer, Roy Smalley, Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, and $250,000. On December 10, Thompson died of complications related to his granulocytic leukemia in Rochester, Minnesota.

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: Reno

Reno affiliation shared with San Diego Padres

Notes

References

References

1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/ferrese01.shtml Sergio Ferrer page at Baseball Reference]
2. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/randabo01.shtml Bob Randall page at Baseball Reference]
3. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/redfepe01.shtml Pete Redfern page at Baseball Reference]
4. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/briggjo02.shtml Johnny Briggs page at Baseball Reference]
5. "Minnesota Twins 17, Chicago White Sox 2". Baseball-Reference.com.
6. "Minnesota Twins 3, Texas Rangers1". Baseball-Reference.com.
7. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hollyje01.shtml Jeff Holly page at Baseball Reference]
8. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blylebe01.shtml Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference]