2002 Minnesota Twins

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[edit] Summary

The 2002 Minnesota Twins finished with a record of 94-67. They scored 768 runs and belted 167 home runs to go along with a .272 batting average. The offense was powered by Torii Hunter, who led the team with 29 home runs and 94 RBI. Jacque Jones led the team with 173 hits for a .300 average.

The team allowed 712 runs and had a team ERA of 4.12. Rick Reed led the team with 15 wins. Johan Santana struck out 137 batters to lead the team. Eddie Guardado led the team with 45 saves.

After facing contraction talks at the previous winter meeting, and coming of a second place finish in the AL Central with a pitching staff with only 2 players with a ERA under four, the Twins won the division and made it to the ALCS with the youngest team in the league, and with a brand new Manager, Ron Gardenhire.

[edit] Offense

No player hit 30 home runs or drove in 100 RBIs, but many players enjoyed soild seasons. Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones hit 29 and 27 home runs, respectively, while DH David Ortiz battled injuries and hit 20. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski had a good year for a catcher, hitting .300. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz saw his average drop significantly from the prior year, from .306 to .261. Third baseman Corey Koskie had a subpar year offensively, shortstop Cristian Guzman was average, and second baseman Luis Rivas was not strong. The Twins enjoyed solid production out of the right field spot, whether the position was manned by opening day starter Brian Buchanan, Dustan Mohr, Bobby Kielty, or Michael Cuddyer.

[edit] Pitching

The starting rotation was a rotating door. Brad Radke, Eric Milton, and Joe Mays suffered serious injuries, requiring Rick Reed to carry the starting rotation. He was able to fulfill this role, going 9-2 in the second half. For reasons still unkown, Ron Gardenhire resisted putting Johan Santana into the starter role until he was forced to by injuries. Santana started only 14 games, but quickly established himself as a dominant starting pitcher, posting an 8-6 record, 2.99 ERA, and a team-leading 137 strikeouts. Kyle Lohse enjoyed his only solid year as a starter, going 13-8 with a 4.23 ERA. Matt Kinney also made 12 starts. Eddie Guardado excelled in his first full year as the team's closer, earning 45 saves, while J.C. Romero, LaTroy Hawkins, and Mike Jackson had strong years as set-up men.

[edit] Defense

A.J. Pierzynski was the team's all-star starting catcher, backed up by Tom Prince. Doug Mientkiewicz followed up his Gold Glove year with another amazing year defensively. Unfortunately, his weak hitting in 2002 may have prevented him from winning a second consecutive Gold Glove award, as it went to John Olerud. The rest of the infield was defensively solid, with Luis Rivas at second, Cristian Guzman at short, and Corey Koskie at third. In the outfield, two-thirds of the "Soul Patrol" remained, with Jacque Jones in left and Torii Hunter in center. Hunter won his second consecutive gold glove during the 2002 season. Right field was not consistent, with Brian Buchanan not lasting long after being the opening day right fielder. The void was filled for most of the season by the platoon of Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty, known collectively by fans as Dusty Kielmohr. However, Dusty Kielmohr gave way to Michael Cuddyer for the post-season run.

[edit] Regular season

The team allowed 712 runs and had a team ERA of 4.12. Rick Reed led the team with 15 wins. Johan Santana struck out 137 batters to lead the team. Eddie Guardado led the team with 45 saves.

[edit] Post Season

The Twins made it to the ALCS, beating the Oakland Athletics in the Divisional series. They then lost to the eventual World Series Champions, the Anaheim Angels. The 2002 Twins also were the youngest team in the league, and had a brand new Manager, Ron Gardenhire.

[edit] Divisional Series

The Twins won game one at Oakland before loosing two straight including one at home. The Twins rebounded, and won the final two games to win the series and move on to face Anaheim in the world series.

[edit] Game One

October 1, at Oakland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	7	13	3
Oakland	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	12	0
W: Brad Radke (1-0) L: Ted Lilly (0-1) SV: Eddie Guardado (1)
HRs: MIN – Corey Koskie (1), Doug Mientkiewicz (1)

[edit] Game Two

October 2, at Oakland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	7	0
Oakland	3	0	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	9	14	0
W: Mark Mulder (1-0) L: Joe Mays (0-1)
HRs: OAK – Eric Chavez (1),MIN &dash; Cristian Guzman (1)

[edit] Game Three

October 4, at Minnesota

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	2	0	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	6	9	1
Minnesota	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
W: Barry Zito (1-0) L: Rick Reed (0-1)
HRs: OAK – Ray Durham (1),Scott Hattenburg (1),Terrance Long (1),Jermaine Dye, (1)

[edit] Game Four

October 5, at Minnesota

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	7	0
Minnesota	3	0	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	9	14	0
W: Eric Milton (1-0) L: Tim Hudson (0-1)
HRs: OAK – Miguel Tejada (1),MIN – Doug Mientkiewicz (2)

[edit] Game Five

October 6, at Oakland

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	12	0
Oakland	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	11	0
W: Brad Radke (2-0) L: Mark Mulder (1-1)
HRs: OAK – Ray Durham (2), [[Mark Ellis [baseball]\|Mark Ellis]] (1) MIN – Doug Mientkiewicz (3)

[edit] ALCS

The Twins won the first game at home vs. the Angels, before loosing the next four in a row, allowing the Angels to move on to the world series, winning the series in seven games against the San Fransisco Giants.

[edit] Game One

October 8, at Minnesota

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Anaheim	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
Minnesota	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	2	5	1
W: Joe Mays (1-0) L: Kevin Appier (0-1) SV: Eddie Guardado (1)
HRs: None

[edit] Game Two

October 9, at Minnesota

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Anaheim	1	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	6	10	0
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	11	1
W: Ramon Ortiz (1-0) L: Rick Reed (0-1) SV: Troy Percival (1)
HRs: ANA – Darin Erstad (1), Brad Fullmer (1)

[edit] Game Three

October 11, at Anaheim

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6	0
Anaheim	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	2	7	2
W: Francisco Rodriguez (1-0) L: J.C. Romero (0-1) SV: Troy Percival (2)
HRs: ANA – Garret Anderson (1), Troy Glaus (1)

[edit] Game Four

October 12, at Anaheim

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	6	2
Anaheim	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	X	7	10	0
W: John Lackey (1-0) L: Brad Radke (0-1)
HRs: None

[edit] Game Five

October 13, at Anaheim

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	5	9	0
Anaheim	0	0	1	0	2	0	10	0	X	13	18	0
W: Francisco Rodriguez (2-0) L: Johan Santana (0-1)
HRs: ANA – Adam Kennedy (3), Scott Spiezio (1)

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[edit] Roster and Statistics

Player Name	Pos	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG	OPS	AVG
Infielders
Casey Blake	3B	9	20	2	4	0	1	0	.273	.250	.523	.200
Jay Canizaro	2B	38	112	14	24	0	11	0	.280	.304	.584	.214
Cristian Guzman	SS	148	623	80	170	9	59	12	.292	.385	.677	.273
Denny Hocking	2B	102	260	28	65	2	25	0	.310	.323	.633	.250
Corey Koskie	3B	140	490	71	131	15	69	10	.368	.447	.815	.267
David Lamb	SS	7	10	0	1	0	0	0	.100	.100	.200	.100
Doug Mientkiewicz	1B	143	467	60	122	10	64	1	.365	.392	.757	.261
Warren Morris	2B	4	7	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Luis Rivas	2B	93	316	46	81	4	35	9	.305	.392	.697	.256
Todd Sears	1B	7	12	2	4	0	0	0	.333	.500	.833	.333
Outfielders
Brian Buchanan	OF	44	135	19	34	5	15	2	.294	.415	.709	.252
Michael Cuddyer	OF	41	112	12	29	4	13	2	.311	.429	.740	.259
Torii Hunter	OF	148	561	89	162	29	94	23	.334	.524	.858	.289
Jacque Jones	OF	149	577	96	173	27	85	6	.341	.511	.852	.300
Bobby Kielty	OF	112	289	49	84	12	46	4	.405	.484	.889	.291
Dustan Mohr	OF	120	383	55	103	12	45	6	.325	.433	.758	.269
Mike Restovich	OF	8	13	3	4	1	1	1	.357	.538	.895	.308
Mike Ryan	OF	7	11	3	1	0	0	0	.091	.091	.182	.091
Catchers
A.J. Pierzynski	C	130	440	54	132	6	49	1	.334	.439	.773	.300
Tom Prince	C	51	125	14	28	4	16	1	.317	.392	.709	.224
Javier Valentin	C	4	4	0	2	0	0	0	.500	.500	1.000	.500
Other
Matt LeCroy	DH	63	181	19	47	7	27	0	.306	.448	.754	.260
David Ortiz	DH	125	412	52	112	20	75	1	.339	.500	.839	.272
Team Totals	-	-	5582	768	1518	167	731	79	.330	.437	.767	.272

Player Name	G	GS	IP	W	L	Win %	SV	SO	BB	ERA	WHIP
Pitchers
Jack Cressend	23	0	32	0	1	.000	0	22	19	5.91	1.844
Tony Fiore	48	2	91	10	3	.769	0	55	43	3.16	1.286
Kevin Frederick	8	0	11.7	0	0	.000	0	5	10	1.03	1.966
Eddie Guardado	68	0	67.7	1	3	.250	45	70	18	2.93	1.049
LaTroy Hawkins	65	0	80.3	6	0	1.000	0	63	15	2.13	0.971
Michael Jackson	58	0	55	2	3	.400	0	29	13	3.27	1.309
Matt Kinney	14	12	66	2	7	.222	0	45	33	4.64	1.682
Kyle Lohse	32	31	180.7	13	8	.619	0	124	70	4.23	1.389
Joe Mays	17	17	95.3	4	8	.333	0	38	25	5.38	1.448
Travis Miller	5	0	4	0	0	.000	0	3	2	4.50	1.750
Eric Milton	30	30	171	13	9	.591	0	121	30	4.84	1.187
Brad Radke	21	21	118.3	9	5	.643	0	62	20	4.72	1.217
Rick Reed	33	32	188	15	7	.682	0	121	26	3.78	1.160
Juan Rincon	10	3	28.7	0	2	.000	0	21	9	6.28	1.847
Jose Rodriguez	4	0	3.7	0	1	.000	0	1	4	14.73	3.243
J.C. Romero	81	0	81	9	2	.818	1	76	36	1.89	1.210
Johan Santana	27	13	108.3	8	6	.571	1	137	49	2.99	1.228
Mike Trombley	5	0	4	0	1	.000	0	3	1	15.75	2.750
Bob Wells	48	0	58	2	1	.667	0	30	16	5.90	1.621
Team Totals	597	161	1444.7	94	67	.584	47	1026	439	4.12	1.310

[edit] Batting Leaders

Category
Games	Jacque Jones	149
At Bats	Cristian Guzman	623
Plate Appearances (approx.)	Cristian Guzman	656
Batting Average	Jacque Jones	.300
On-Base %	Corey Koskie	.368
Slugging %	Torii Hunter	.524
OPS	Torii Hunter	.858
Runs	Jacque Jones	96
Hits	Jacque Jones	173
Total Bases	Jacque Jones	295
Doubles	Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, and Corey Koskie	37
Triples	Cristian Guzman and A.J. Pierzynski	6
Home Runs	Torii Hunter	29
RBI	Torii Hunter	94
Walks	Doug Mientkiewicz	74
Strikeouts	Jacque Jones	129
Stolen Bases	Torii Hunter	23
Caught Stealing	Cristian Guzman	13
Sacrifice Hits	Cristian Guzman and Luis Rivas	8
Sacrifice Flies	David Ortiz	8
Grounded into Double Plays	Torii Hunter	17

[edit] Pitching Leaders

Category
Wins	Rick Reed	15
Losses	Eric Milton	9
Saves	Eddie Guardado	45
Won-Loss %	Tony Fiore	.769
ERA	Rick Reed	3.78
WHIP	Rick Reed	1.160
Innings Pitched	Rick Reed	188
Games	J.C. Romero	81
Games Started	Rick Reed	32
Strikeouts	Johan Santana	137
Complete Games	Eric Milton, Brad Radke, and Rick Reed	2
Shutouts	Kyle Lohse, Joe Mays, Eric Milton, Brad Radke, and Rick Reed	1
Batters Faced	Kyle Lohse	783
Earned Runs Allowed	Eric Milton	92
Hits Allowed	Rick Reed	192
Walks Allowed	Kyle Lohse	70
Home Runs Allowed	Rick Reed	32
Doubles Allowed	Kyle Lohse	38
Triples Allowed	Rick Reed	8
Wild Pitches	Johan Santana	15
Hit Batsmen	Kyle Lohse	9
Double Plays Induced	Kyle Lohse	13