2015 Minnesota Twins

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Minnesota Twins 2013 logo.jpg

2015 Minnesota Twins / Franchise: Minnesota Twins / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 83-79, finished 2nd in AL Central Division (2015 AL)

Managed by Paul Molitor

Coaches: Neil Allen, Tom Brunansky, Butch Davis, Gene Glynn, Eddie Guardado and Rudy Hernandez

Ballpark: Target Field

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2015 Minnesota Twins were the first edition of the team to be managed by someone other than Tom Kelly or Ron Gardenhire since 1986, as the two men had combined for 29 seasons at the helm before Gardenhire was fired one day after the 2014 season ended. The new skipper was Minneapolis, MN native and Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, in his first assignment as a manager. He had a rough welcome to the major leagues, as the Twins failed to score a run in their first 22 innings, before finally managing an unearned run against the Detroit Tigers in the 7th inning of their third game. They lost all three contests.

Things were looking pretty bleak after that tough start, which soon turned into a 1-6 record, but then the Twins unexpectedly got hot. They went 17-7 after that that, including starting the month of May with 8 wins in their first 9 games, to suddenly insert themselves into contention. A 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on May 27th brought them into a tie for first place in the AL Central with the Kansas City Royals. The Twins played well until the All-Star break, when they were 49-40 and had a solid hold on a potential Wild Card slot, but they stumbled out of the gate in the second half. They lost 14 of their first 19 games, topped by a four-game sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays on August 3-6, to fall back to .500, 9 1/2 games behind the first-place Royals.

No longer in contention for the division title, the Twins fell below .500 on August 9th, but never more than by two games, and then started to play better again with a six-game winning streak from August 20-26. Rookie DH Miguel Sano was a big contributor in that reversal, being named the AL's Rookie of the Month for August and they ended the month at 67-63, still in the race for the postseason. Things were starting to look good again after a 7-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on September 14th which put them 7 games above .500, but they then lost the next five games at home, including being swept in a doubleheader by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, one of their rivals for the wild card, on September 19th.

Awards and Honors[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Pat Borzi: "Twins' Latin American efforts may result in playoff payoff", USA Today Sports, September 14, 2015. [1]
  • Richard Justice: "Twins' milestones have significance", mlb.com, May 27, 2015. [2]
  • Jake Lourim: "How do you explain the Twins' recent success?", USA Today Sports, May 30, 2015. [3]
  • Dan Myers: "Molitor believes Twins can earn Wild Card spot", mlb.com, September 19, 2015. [4]
  • Bob Nightengale: "For Twins, promise of youth and veteran's fire may be potent mix", USA Today Sports, June 18, 2015. [5]