Still fairly mediocre—but at least ‘76 was a little more fun!
If you turned the ballgame on TV in 1976 Twins Territory, you’d get the dulcet tones of Joe Boyle & recently-retired Harmon Killebrew. If you flipped on the radio: Herb Carneal—as always—and Frank Quilici at the mics. Though no playoff berth was achieved—and you certainly wouldn’t guess it from the 715,394 home fans (an AL-low 8,832 per game) drawn to the Old Met— 1976 turned out to be the best Twins campaign in a half-decade.
Offense (108 OPS+)
A prime Rod Carew led MN batsmen in America’s bicentennial: 12 3B, 90 RBI, 49 SB, .331 BA, 148 OPS+. Lyman Bostock—pictured in header—wasn’t far behind: .323 BA, 130 OPS+. Even “Disco” Dan Ford (20 HR, 86 RBI, 17 SB, 125 OPS+) was a force to be reckoned with.
Pitching (97 ERA+)
The starters of ‘76 were nothing to write home about, what with a good-but-by-no-means great Dave Goltz campaign (14-14, 249.1 IP, 3.36 ERA) qualifying as “staff ace”.
Fortunately, the bullpen picked up a lot of the slack towards respectability. Somehow, Bill Campbell went 17-5 without making a single start (appearing in a league-leading 78 games helped), while Tom Burgmeier (144 ERA+) and Tom Johnson (139+) were true firemen.
Mr. Curveball (Bert Blyleven) was also part of the mix—until traded alongside Danny Thompson to the Texas Rangers for a haul of Bill Singer, Roy Smalley, Mike Cubbage, and Jim Gideon.
What did this all add up to for Gene Mauch’s bunch? An 85-77 record, good for third place in the AL West. Despite being 16.5 GB at the end of August, a furious September surge saw the Twins sweep the crown-grabbing Kansas City Royals to close out the campaign 5 GB.
A few ‘76 highlights…
- Carew & C Butch Wynegar represented the club for the All-Star Game at Veteran’s Stadium in Philadelphia
- Bostock & Larry Hisle both hit for a cycle
- Steve Luebber came one measly out away from twirling a no hitter on August 7 versus the Rangers. A
Joe MauerRoy Howell single broke up the bid.
Though no great shakes as 162-game seasons go, 1976 was—at very least—a nice break from the thoroughly mediocre (or worse) early-70s brand of Twins baseball.
Category: General Sports
