List of Minnesota Twins managers

In its 108-year history, the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise of Major League Baseball's American League has employed 31 managers.[1] The duties of the manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field.[2] Eight of these team managers have been "player-managers", all during the Washington Senators era;[1] specifically, they managed the team while still playing for it.[3]

The Minnesota franchise began its life as the Washington Senators in Washington, D. C., where they played from their inception in 1901 to 1960.[4] In the early twentieth century, the Senators were managed consecutively by three future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, bookended by Bucky Harris, who managed the team from 1924 to 1928 and again from 1935 to 1942. Walter Johnson managed the team for four seasons from 1929 to 1932, and he was followed by Joe Cronin, who led for the next two seasons (1933–1934). In 1960, the American League awarded an expansion franchise to Minneapolis, Minnesota; however, owner Calvin Griffith moved his team to Minnesota,[5][6] and Washington was awarded the expansion team instead. Thus, the Minnesota Twins began play at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota the following year, during the tenure of manager Cookie Lavagetto,[7] and played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis from 1982 to 2009. Under manager Ron Gardenhire, the team moved to Target Field beginning in the 2010 season.

Seven managers have taken the franchise to the postseason, with Gardenhire leading them to five playoff appearances, the most in their franchise history.[8] Two managers have won World Series championships with the franchise: Bucky Harris, in the 1924 World Series against the New York Giants;[9] and Tom Kelly, in the 1987 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals[10] and 1991 against the Atlanta Braves.[11] Harris is also the longest-tenured manager in their franchise history, with 2,776 games of service in parts of 18 seasons between 1924 and 1954;[12] he is followed by Kelly, who managed 2,386 games over 16 seasons from 1986 to 2001.[13] The manager with the highest winning percentage in team history is Billy Martin, who managed the team in 1969 and achieved a record of 97–65 (.599). Conversely, the manager with the lowest winning percentage is Malachi Kittridge, whose winning percentage of .059 was achieved with a record of 1–16 in the first half of 1904. Kittridge's tenure is also the shortest in team history.[1]

Table key

WPct
Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed
PA
Playoff appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the playoffs
PW
Playoff wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the playoffs
PL
Playoff losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the playoffs
WS
World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager
or
Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (‡ denotes induction as manager)[14]
§
Member of the Twins Hall of Fame[15]

Managers

#[a]ManagerYearsWinsLossesWPctPAPWPLWSRef
1Jim Manning19016173.455[16]
2Tom Loftus19021903104169.381[17]
3Malachi Kittridge1904116.059[18]
4Patsy Donovan19043797.296[19]
5Jake Stahl19051906119182.395[20]
6Joe Cantillon19071909158297.347[21]
7Jimmy McAleer19101911130175.426[22]
8Clark Griffith19121920693646.518[23]
9George McBride19218073.523[24]
10Clyde Milan19226985.448[25]
11Donie Bush19237578.490[26]
12Bucky Harris19241928429334.5622771[4][12]
13Walter Johnson19291932350264.570[27]
14Joe Cronin19331934165139.5431140[4][28]
Bucky Harris19351942558663.457[12]
15Ossie Bluege19431947375394.488[29]
16Joe Kuhel19481949106201.345[30]
Bucky Harris19501954349419.454[12]
17Chuck Dressen19551957116212.354[31]
18Cookie Lavagetto19571961271384.414[32]
19Sam Mele19611967522431.5461340[4][33]
20Cal Ermer19671968145129.529[34]
21Billy Martin19699765.5991030[4][35]
22Bill Rigney19701972208184.5311030[4][36]
23Frank Quilici19721975280287.494[37]
24Gene Mauch19761980378394.490[38]
25Johnny Goryl198019813438.472[39]
26Billy Gardner19811985268353.278[40]
27Ray Miller19851986109130.456[41]
28Tom Kelly§[b]1986200111401244.47821682[4][13]
29Ron Gardenhire[c]2002201410681039.50766210[4][42]
30Paul Molitor20152018305343.4711010
31Rocco Baldelli2019–present375333.5303380[4][43]

Footnotes

  • a #: running total of the number of Twins managers. Thus, any manager who has two or more separate terms is only counted once.
  • b Tom Kelly won the Manager of the Year Award in 1991.[44]
  • c Ron Gardenhire won the Manager of the Year Award in 2010.[44]
  • d Paul Molitor won the Manager of the Year Award in 2017.[44]

References

General references
  • "Minnesota Twins Team History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  • "Minnesota Twins Managerial Records". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  • "Twins All-Time Managers". Minnesota Twins. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
In-text citations