Minnesota Twins

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The franchise was founded in Kansas City in 1894 as the minor league Kansas City Blues. The team relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1901 to become the major league Washington Senators. The franchise moved to Minnesota and was renamed the Minnesota Twins for the start of the 1961 season. The Twins played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome from 1982 to 2009. The team has played at Target Field since 2010. The franchise won the World Series in 1924 as the Senators, and in 1987 and 1991 as the Twins. From 1901 to 2025, the Senators/Twins franchise's overall regular-season win–loss–tie record is 9,329–10,047–109 (.482); as the Twins (through 2025), it is 5,106–5,183–8 (.496).

In Their Own Story

The drama of this rivalry peaked during the 2008 AL Central tie-breaker. After both teams lost two of three in their final series, they were forced into a single game to decide the champion. Chicago won the coin toss for home field advantage, and White Sox starter John Danks pitched eight shutout innings on just three days' rest. In the 7th inning, Jim Thome hit the only run of the game, sending White Sox closer Bobby Jenks to the mound for a save in the 9th. Decades later, on May 17, 2021, tension flared again when Twins position player Willians Astudillo pitched in a blowout. On a 3–0 count with Chicago leading 15–4, Yermín Mercedes hit a home run off him, drawing criticism from his own manager Tony La Russa for violating unwritten rules. The next day, Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey threw behind Mercedes and was ejected for an intentional pitch.

Reader's Guide

The team was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1901 as one of the eight original teams of the American League. It was named the Washington Senators from 1901 to 1904, the Washington Nationals from 1905 to 1955, and the Senators again from 1956 to 1960. The Washington Senators spent the first decade of their existence finishing near the bottom of the American League standings. Their fortunes began to improve with the arrival of 19-year-old pitcher Walter Johnson in 1907. In 1912, the Senators improved dramatically, as their pitching staff led the league in team earned run average and in strikeouts. Johnson won 33 games while teammate Bob Groom added another 24 wins to help the Senators finish the season in second place. Griffith joined the team in 1912 and became the team's owner in 1920. The Senators continued to perform respectably in 1913 with Johnson posting a career-high 35 victories, as the team once again finished in second place. The team had a period of prolonged success in the 1920s and 1930s, led by Walter Johnson, as well as fellow Hall-of-Famers Bucky Harris, Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Heinie Manush, and Joe Cronin. In 1924, the Senators won the American League pennant for the first time in its history and then won the 1924 World Series. The following season they repeated as American League champions but ultimately lost the 1925 World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1933, the Senators posted a 99–53 record and cruised to the pennant seven games ahead of the New York Yankees, but in the 1933 World Series the Giants exacted their revenge, winning in five games. After Griffith's death in 1955, his nephew and adopted son Calvin took over the team presidency. Calvin sold Griffith Stadium to the city of Washington and leased it back. By 1957, after an early flirtation with San Francisco, Griffith began courting Minneapolis–St. Paul, a prolonged process that resulted in his rejecting the Twin Cities' first offer before agreeing to move. The American League opposed the move at first, but in 1960 a deal was reached. Major League Baseball agreed to let Griffith move his team to the Minneapolis-St. Paul region and allowed a new Senators team to be formed in Washington for the 1961 season. Renamed the Minnesota Twins, the team set up shop in Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis. Success came quickly to the team in Minnesota. Sluggers

Did You Know?

• The franchise was founded in Kansas City in 1894 as the minor league Kansas City Blues.
• The team was named the Washington Senators from 1901 to 1904, the Washington Nationals from 1905 to 1955, and the Senators again from 1956 to 1960.
• The franchise won the World Series in 1924 as the Senators, and in 1987 and 1991 as the Twins.
• The Twins have played at Target Field since 2010.