Minnesota Twins at Target Field
Catch all the fun and excitement when the Minnesota Twins take the field. The Twins play at Target Field in Minneapolis, which first opened in 2010 and has a current capacity of 38,544. They are managed by Rocco Baldelli, who won the 2019 American League Manager of the Year award after leading the Twins to a 101-59 record in his first season.
Minnesota Twins History
The Minnesota Twins were founded in 1901 as the Washington franchise of the American League, known interchangeably as both the Nationals and the Senators, until the latter name eventually won out. The Senators were successful in the 1920s and ‘30s with such Hall of Famers as Walter Johnson and Joe Cronin, winning AL pennants in 1924, 1925 and 1933, as well as the 1924 World Series. By the 1950s, however, the team was better known for its futility, and owner Calvin Griffith was able to let an expansion franchise move into Washington while the original Senators moved to the Twin Cities in 1961.
A competitive team led by Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva started to gel, and won the American League pennant in 1965 led by AL MVP Zoilo Versalles. This team continued to succeed into the '70s, behind such rising stars as Rod Carew and Bert Blyleven. The Twins moved to the Metrodome in Minneapolis in 1982 and, behind the rise of Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett and the pitching of Frank Viola, defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1987 World Series. The 1991 Twins beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, with Puckett hitting a game-winning home run in the 11th inning of Game 6, to force a Game 7 in which Jack Morris pitched 10 shutout innings. In the late '90s and early '00s, the Twins were regularly the subject of relocation and contraction rumors, but the team continued to succeed on the field, winning five AL Central titles from 2002 to 2010 under manager Jim Gardenhire. The Twins' fate stabilized with the opening of Target Field in 2010, and Minnesota continues to do well on and off the field, with a Wild Card appearance under manager Paul Molitor in 2017, and the Twins' 8th AL Central pennant (and 12th division title overall) in 2020.