Minnesota Twins: Ranking the 5 Worst Managers in Franchise History
The Minnesota Twins and Washington Senators have struggled with some poor managers over the years. We rank the five worst.
Over 120 combined years of the Minnesota Twins and Washington Senators, thirty-one men have managed the team. Some, like Tom Kelly and Bucky Harris have been stellar managers, leading the franchise to over 1000 wins and a World Series title. Others did not, costing the franchise lots of wins. We’re here to talk about those guys.
In order to make this list, these managers need to have managed 162 games (a full season) for the franchise and had to truly struggle leading the franchise. In addition, we also are going to cut out managers from before 1922, as the team didn’t have the talent to contend, so their manager statistics are a little off.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the managers to struggle the most, starting with the (dis)honorable mentions.
Minnesota Twins Manager Dishonorable Mentions:
Gene Mauch (1976-1980)
W-L: 378-394 (.490)
Average Finish: 3.6
As far as managers go, Gene Mauch wasn’t that bad. Having a new manager an average of every four years is a better rate than both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, meaning that the Twins don’t have that many truly bad managers.
However, for the purposes of this list we include Mauch. Mauch led the team to an above .500 finish three times, but could never get the team higher than third in their division. In addition, he had 1977 MVP Rod Carew and couldn’t win more than 85 games, so here he is as the honorable mention.
Ossie Bluege (1943-1947)
W-L: 375-394 (.488)
Average Finish: 4.6
Ossie Bluege was an excellent player for the Senators, coming in at No. 34 on our 50 best players list. Bluege came in as the team’s manager just four years after his retirement in 1939. Similar to Mauch, Bluege also was over .500 twice and finished one and a half game out of first in 1945.
However, Bluege also lost 90 games twice, and his time with the Senators ended with one of the worst win-loss percentages by a manager since the first World War. Despite having a strong roster, Bluege struggled, leaving him here.
No. 5: Minnesota Twins’ Ray Miller (1985-1986)
W-L: 109-130 (.456)
Average Finish: 5.2
Ray Miller had the unfortunate task of managing the Minnesota Twins right before Tom Kelly took over, meaning Twins fans remember him as worse than he actually was. He isn’t the worst manager the team has ever had, but he wasn’t close to the best one either.
Miller took over as the Twins manager in 1985 in the middle of an unsuccessful season. Miller was an excellent pitching coach, but when he took over for the the team as manager, it went poorly. He finished with a 50-50 record, and there was optimism for the 1986.
Unfortunately, Miller’s Twins went 59-80 to start the season, leading to his firing and Kelly taking over for the rest of the season, and we know how 1987 went. Miller was not a good manager, but he wasn’t the worst the Twins have had.
No. 4: Minnesota Twins’ Billy Gardner (1981-1985)
W-L: 268-353 (.432)
Average Finish: 5.1
The manager that preceded Miller, Billy Gardner struggled to 30-43 record in his first season with the team. In his second season with the team, it didn’t get any better. Gardner’s Twins lost 102 games, the most in Twins history to that point.
Gardner’s team won 70 games in 1982, before winning 81 in 1984. It looked like Gardner finally was turning the team around. With a roster featuring Gary Gaetti, Kirby Puckett, and Kent Hrbek, who finished the 1984 season second in MVP voting, there were high expectations.
The Twins started the season 27-35 and ownership had enough, firing Gardner and replacing him with Miller. Gardner got one other managing job with the Kansas City Royals in 1987, but that was it.
No. 3: Minnesota Twins’ Cookie Lavagetto (1957-1961)
W-L: 271-384 (.414)
Average Finish: 7.2
The first manager of the Minnesota Twins lasted less than a year in Minnesota before being shown the door. Cookie Lavagetto managed the Senators/Twins for four years, and not once did he lead the team to more than 70 wins.
Lavagetto also sits eighth in team history in losses (384), seventh-worst in team history (.414), and is second-worst in games under/over 500 (-113 games). Lavagetto’s Twins posted some pretty bad numbers with the team, but those were some of the worst.
Lastly, Lavagetto’s teams finished (on average) in seventh out of eight teams in the American League. Camilo Pascual, Earl Battey, Bob Allison, and Harmon Killebrew all played for Lavagetto during this time, but he still couldn’t put the team together. That puts him third on the list.
No. 2: Washington Senators’ Chuck Dressen (1955-1957)
W-L: 116-212 (.354)
Average Finish: 7.5
The manager right before Lavagetto, Chuck Dressen came over from the Brooklyn Dodgers after two National League Pennants in 1952 and 1953 with high expectations. The team had two solid seasons those years, so the thought was: Dressen would take the Senators over the top.
Long story short: he didn’t. Dressen’s Senators lost 101 games in 1955, then 95 games in 1956. He struggled to lead the team, and was fired just 20 games into 1957. Eddie Yost and Mickey Vernon were on that team, so it by no means was a bad team.
Despite that, Dressen is fourth-worst in games under/over 500 (-96 games), fourth-worst in team history (.354), and tied for the fourth worst in average finish with two last place finishes and one seventh place finish. He belongs in the second spot here.
No. 1: Washington Senators’ Joe Kuhel (1948-1949)
W-L: 106-201 (.345)
Average Finish: 7.5
Joe Kuhel (pronounced Joe Cool) was a stud first baseman for the Washington Senators from 1930-1937 and 1944-1946, and was No. 54 (honorable mention) on our list. He was an very good player, but one of the worst managers in team history.
Kuhel led the team to two seasons with at least 97 losses, with 97 losses in 1948 and 104 losses in 1949. He wasn’t brought back for a third season after that. His winning percentage of .345 is the worst of any manager who lasted a second season with the team.
Kuhel’s team wasn’t excellent either year, but still, to manage two seasons and to lose over 200 games is downright inexcusable. Kuhel may have been a good player, but he was without a doubt, the worst manager in team history.
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