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Twins in the 2000s: The 2005 Season


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Aiming for their fourth consecutive division title, the 2005 Twins fell short in a transitional season that saw the lineup endure growing pains (and actual pains). It was a year fraught with frustrations, but one bearing the fruits of a promising future.We're running a 20-part series in which we look back at each Minnesota Twins season of the 2000s. A rotation of different writers will highlight key moments, unearth forgotten details, and share nostalgic tales from the past two decades leading up to the present. This installment covers the 2005 season.

 

Team Record: 83-79

Finish: 3rd Place in AL Central

All-Stars: Johan Santana (SP), Joe Nathan (RP)

Awards: Torii Hunter (Gold Glove, CF)

Playoffs: N/A

 

Season Overview

 

On July 28th of 2005, Torii Hunter chased a ball into the deepest corner of Fenway Park's strange outfield contour, breaking his ankle against the wall and ending his season. Six weeks later, Kyle Lohse would break manager Ron Gardenhire's office door with a baseball bat.

 

But for all intents and purposes, Minnesota's hopes for a fourth straight division title had been shattered long before either of these events, in a season where several Twins hitters endured downswings and a division rival rose far above the field.

 

Let's start with what went right for the 2005 Twins: pitching. The staff ranked fifth among AL teams in ERA, second in ERA+, second in WHIP, first in BB/9 and 10th in K/9 rate as the perfect embodiment of pitching coach Rick Anderson's "pitch to contact" philosophy in successful practice.

 

Fresh off his breakout Cy Young campaign, Johan Santana earned his first All-Star nod, maintaining his status as the American League's best starting pitcher even if the postseason award voters failed to validate it (more on that later, ugh). Brad Radke did his usual thing with 200 innings of above-average work. Carlos Silva had a season for the history books, issuing only nine walks in 188 1/3 innings for a 0.4 BB/9 rate that ranks seventh in baseball history. (Everyone else in the Top 25 on that leaderboard accomplished the feat before 1900.)

 

As good as the rotation was, the bullpen might've been better, led by the enduring dominance of Joe Nathan in the closer role. Making his second straight All-Star team, he notched 43 saves on 48 tries, with a 2.70 ERA and 94-to-22 K/BB ratio over 70 innings. Joining him as a lights-out back-end reliever was 23-year-old Jesse Crain, who enjoyed one of the stranger statistical seasons in memory – he posted a 2.71 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 79 2/3 innings despite issuing more walks (29) than strikeouts (25). He was also credited with 12 wins despite never making a start; a vulture after the heart of Tony Fiore's (an inferior but similarly lucky reliever who "earned" 10 wins in 2002).

 

Juan Rincón, J.C. Romero and Matt Guerrier joined them as oft-used and ultra-reliable weapons in Gardenhire's bullpen.

 

Not only was this staff effective, but also remarkably healthy. Five different starters made 26-plus starts. Minnesota used only 15 total pitchers all year, fewest of any Twins team in the 2000s (or 1990s, for that matter).

 

Unfortunately, this steady and reliable pitching corps was doomed to lose a whole lot of low-scoring games, as fledgling young hitters and fading veterans throughout the lineup took their lumps.

 

A tour through the doldrums:

  • Joe Mauer returned after an injury-ruined rookie year and delivered a solid first full season, albeit one that scratched the surface of his true potential. Learning the MLB ropes at age 22, and still seemingly somewhat hampered by his surgically repaired knee, Mauer slashed .294/.372/.411 with nine homers and 55 RBIs. This qualifies as a major highlight of the offense.
  • Justin Morneau, handed the reins with Doug Mientkiewicz gone, batted .239 with a .741 OPS and 22 homers in 141 games. Viewed as one of the best prospects in the game before his arrival in '04, Morneau's luster started to wear off.
  • After FINALLY giving up on Luis Rivas, who put up a .580 OPS in the first half before the team cut bait, Gardenhire found his new muse: light-hitting Nick Punto, who would start 63 games at second in his first of many seasons as a safety blanket for the skipper. The entire second base unit was brutal enough that Terry Ryan traded for a washed-up Bret Boone in July. Boone went .170/.241/.170 in 58 plate appearances as a Twin, then retired.
  • Miscast as a third baseman, Michael Cuddyer struggled defensively and slashed a mediocre .263/.330/.422 with 12 homers at age 26. Now with 1,000 big-league PAs under his belt and little progress to show for it, doubts swirled around the touted talent's true upside.
  • Matt LeCroy plodded to a .798 OPS with 17 homers as a defensive zero, and after the season, Ryan finally cut bait on his former first-round pick. By now, the gravity of the GM's misstep in hitching his wagon to LeCroy as DH in 2002, when David Ortiz was released, was coming into full focus. In 2005, Ortiz drove in 148 runs for the Red Sox and finished as MVP runner-up.
  • Hunter went down midway through the season and the outfield crumbled around him. Lew Ford fell off a cliff after his otherworldly 2004. Jacque Jones and Shannon Stewart were unexceptional, winding down their tenures with the team.
Plagued by poor offensive performances, which led to hitting coach Scott Ullger being moved out of his role after the season, the Twins finished last in the AL in runs scored with 688. Maybe it's just as well, since even a stellar campaign likely wouldn't have propelled them past the divinely endowed Chicago White Sox, who won 99 games in the regular season and then went 13-1 in the playoffs en route to a bewilderingly snag-free World Series title.

 

The true tragedy of Minnesota's offensive ineptitude in 2005 is the way it screwed over Santana. He was the AL's best pitcher by almost any reasonable measure, but missed out on the Cy Young because oblivious voters fancied the lesser Bartolo Colon's 21 wins to Johan's 16.

 

Does three Cy Young Awards, as opposed to two, change the Hall of Fame argument for Santana, who fell off the ballot after his first year of eligibility? Who knows, but I'll always have a bitter taste in my mouth from this season for that atrocity alone, despite its many charms.

 

Team MVP: Johan Santana (SP)

 

Other Contenders: Joe Mauer ( C ), Joe Nathan (RP), Torii Hunter (CF), Brad Radke (SP)

 

There's really no competition for Santana here. No other Twins player was on his level in 2005. He was the league's best pitcher, Cy Young debacle be damned, leading the AL in ERA+ (155) and WHIP (0.97), while pacing the majors in strikeouts (238) and FIP (2.80). The Twins went 24-9 in his 33 starts.

 

Santana was good in the first half but found another gear after the All-Star break, pitching to a 9-2 record and 1.59 ERA in 15 starts while holding opponents to a .192/.231/.292 slash line.

 

3 Most Pivotal Games

 

May 1st: Lost vs. Los Angeles Angels, 2-1

 

Despite a strong month of April in which they went 15-8, the Twins found themselves trailing the White Sox, who'd jumped out to a 17-7 start. Seeking a series sweep against the Angels at home, Minnesota sent out its ace Santana, who was 4-0. Despite throwing eight innings of two-run ball, Santana took the loss as his offense managed just one run on four hits against Colon and relievers Scot Shields and Francisco Rodríguez.

 

The Twins fell to 3 1/2 games out of first place, which is as close as they'd be for the rest of the year.

 

June 16th: Lost vs. San Francisco Giants, 14-7

 

In mid-June, the Twins were trying to hang in the division race, trailing the White Sox by five games. Seeking a win in the rubber match against San Francisco, the Twins raced to a 4-0 lead in the first thanks to Mauer (two-run HR) and Morneau (two-run single) but Joe Mays frittered it away.

 

Eventually the Twins and Giants entered the ninth in a 7-7 tie, but Nathan uncharacteristically melted down in a top of the ninth where Minnesota gave up seven runs. From an early big lead, to a tight game, to a blowout loss. Five days later the Twins were 10 games out of first.

 

July 5th: Lost @ Los Angeles Angels, 2-1

 

Another 2-1 loss to the Angels with a guy named Santana on the mound. Except this time it was Ervin Santana starting for the Halos and combining with three relievers to shut down the unimpressive Twins offense, which never scored after Mauer's one-out RBI single in the first. This loss pushed Minnesota 10 1/2 games back, and it was only downhill from there.

 

Another noteworthy aspect of this game is that a rookie pitcher named Scott Baker made his first MLB start for the Twins, allowing two runs over five innings.

 

Unforgettable Highlights

 

Silva Oozes Efficiency

 

His complete-game victory against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 20th really epitomized Silva's successful '05 formula: throw strikes, let hitters get themselves out, and call it a night. He needed only 74 pitches to get through nine innings, holding the Brew Crew to one run on five hits.

 

Silva induced only three swinging strikes in the game, but of course issued zero walks. The entire contest took less than two and a half fours, despite the Twins scoring seven runs and Milwaukee using five pitchers.

 

Glenn Williams Makes His Mark

 

Mention his name around any fan who followed the Twins around this era, and you'll instantly see their eyes light up. Glenn Williams, a 27-year-old Australian native and fairly anonymous minor-leaguer, came up for a short stint in June and collected hits in each of his first 13 games, going 17-for-40 (.425) before injuring his shoulder on a slide late in the month. He went on the disabled list and never played again in the majors. To date, he remains the all-time MLB leader in career batting average ... among players with at least 40 plate appearances.

 

Lohse Loses His Cool

 

On September 6th, Gardenhire pulled Lohse after two innings in a start against the Rangers where the hurler had surrendered five earned runs. Apparently displeased, Lohse took a baseball bat to the manager's office door, busting off the doorknob and injuring his finger in the process.

 

Liriano Debuts

 

The month of September was mostly a bummer for the Twins, marred by the aforementioned dramatics and a whole bunch of a losing from a defeated team. But one big highlight was the arrival of an exciting pitching prospect who'd been acquired from San Francisco two years earlier alongside Nathan in the A.J. Pierzynski trade.

 

Francisco Liriano joined the Twins as a September call-up, making six appearances (four starts) at age 21. Though he posted a 5.70 ERA in the limited sample, Liriano's nastiness was evident as he held opponents to a .221 average and struck out 33 in 23 2/3 innings, with an 18% whiff rate. The fun was only beginning.

 

One Detail You Probably Forgot

 

It's easy to forget how tremendous of a baserunner Mauer was, especially in his youth. Despite coming off knee surgery and playing a defensive position that punished his legs, Mauer went 13-for-14 on stolen base attempts in 2005. He'd never reach double digits again.

 

Fun Fact

 

In early May, the Twins were informed that their standout reliever Rincón had tested positive for a banned PED. He was suspended for ... 10 days, and came back to post a 2.45 ERA over 63 appearances thereafter. It was a different time.

 

~~~

Previous Installments:

 

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Ditto, this has been a great series so far. I am in the camp that Johan losing out on this Cy Young derailed any chance of a serious HOF candidacy. I still can't recall Mauer stealing bases, although I know he was a great all around athlete as I watched him play high school football.

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A bit crazy and frustrating to look back at this season. How many years did the Twins have the offense but no or not enough pitching? And then they had plenty in 2005 but so little offense for various reasons.

 

I lament but never really dwell on letting Ortiz go. Mistakes happen and the Twins have benefited from other team's mistakes. And it happened so long ago that to dwell seems counter productive. But I never understood the issues with Lohse. He did not have a great career, but he had a solid one with a few really nice seasons here and there. Something just never seemed to "fit" between he and the Twins.

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