Minnesota Twins: Ranking the Twins’ 10 Most Hated Rival Teams

The Minnesota Twins have a long 120 year history (including the Senators years), playing all 29 teams at least sixteen times (The Marlins are the team with just 16 games). With that, there are teams that the Twins have played a lot more than the rest.

We took a look at the ten teams the Twins have the longest and worst history against, ranking them on playoff competition, player memories, and all-time struggles against. We also took into account recency and closeness of the rivalries.

Some guidelines to start off. Division matters, but not as important as playoff history and games between the two. For example, the Royals, while on this list, aren’t as high up as the Yankees, despite divisional and geographical differences.

We also won’t really factor in the Senators’ rivalries. While those games will factor in slightly for the early rivalries the Twins had, it changes significantly, the teams they played and playoff games they fought in won’t be included here. Let’s get started with No. 10.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 10: Boston Red Sox (314-316)

As two of the oldest franchises in baseball, the Twins and Senators have played the Red Sox 1,923 times over the last 120 years. For those counting at home, that’s around 16 games per year. That’s the sixth most games the Twins have played against anyone.

While a lot of those games took place with the Senators when the teams fought for the American League Pennant, the two teams have a pretty lengthy history since then. The teams have played over 600 games in the last sixty years.

Despite not having any playoff history between the two, players like Frank Viola and David Ortiz playing for both teams have allowed the Twins and their fans to build up a little bit of dislike for the Red Sox over the years. That helps them sneak onto the list at No. 10.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 9: Baltimore Orioles (301-338)

Similar to the Red Sox, the Baltimore Orioles have played the Twins/Senators over 1,900 (1,943) times in the 120 years the team has existed. While the Twins have been a little less successful against the Orioles than the Red Sox, that’s definitely changing around now.

The real reason the Orioles are on this list is because of the 1969 and 1970 American League Champion Series. Older Twins fans will remember those series rather unhappily, as the Orioles trounced the Twins 3-0 in both years.

The Twins lost two extra-inning games in ’69 and outscored them 27-10 in three games the year after that. The long history between the two and those two series allow the Orioles to slide past the Red Sox into ninth place here.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 8: Los Angeles Angels (351-379)

Our first divisional rival on this list, the Los Angeles Angels were created the same year the Twins moved to Minnesota. Both teams were placed in the old American League West, and a rivalry was born.

The Twins and the Angels shared a division for 25 years, but there wasn’t as serious of a rivalry as some of the other teams since the teams never really competed at the same times. The Angels won 3 division titles and the Twins won four during their span competing, but the last big moment for the rivalry came in the early 2000’s.

The Twins and Angels met in the American League Championship Series in 2002, and the Angels beat them in 5 games, a heart-breaking result for a team that hadn’t made the ALCS since 1991. That helps them land eighth here.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 7: Oakland Athletics (377-371)

The Oakland Athletics have played the Twins/Senators over 2,000 times in the last 120 years and 748 times over the past 60 years. Another A.L. West foe, the A’s have competed with the Twins on several levels throughout the years.

Within the division, the Twins and the A’s finished 1-2 four separate times while winning a combined six World Series titles. These teams battled each other a lot in the seventies and eighties, making them won of the more disliked teams for the Twins of that era.

When the Twins moved to the A.L. Central, the rivalry has mostly fizzled out, but the Twins’ win over the infamous Moneyball A’s in 2002 and the sweep of one of the best Twins teams in franchise history in 2006 made sure there’s a little bit of bitterness from both teams.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 3: New York Yankees (269-384)

How are you rivals with a team that constantly trounces you? Simple. You always want to defeat that team and make up for it. The Twins have lost to the Yankees 384 times as the Twins and 1,163 times in total. They’ve been eliminated by them in the playoffs six times and the team has been looking up at the Yankees in the pennant race far too often.

While the team has never shared a division with the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers have always been considered one of the arch-rivals for the fans. When you lose to a team a lot, you begin to hate them. That lands the Yankees here.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 2: Detroit Tigers (473-419)

It may surprise some younger fans to see the Detroit Tigers this high, but Detroit and Minnesota have a long-standing relationship of not liking each other. Minnesota has played more games against Detroit than any other team but one, and they haven’t been fun for Detroit.

The Twins beat the Tigers in Game 163 in 2009 and chopped up the Tigers 4-1 in the 1987 ALCS. In 1982, the two teams got together for what was easily the biggest brawl in Minnesota Twins history:

Talk about a fight. The Tigers may be rebuilding right now, but when they are back, the Twins will still be relevant and will offer quite the challenge for the young team. The Tigers are always going to be a rival.

Minnesota Twins Rival No. 1: Chicago White Sox (503-443)

This is a fairly obvious one. No team has been a bigger rival for the the Minnesota Twins over the last sixty years, as no team has played nearly as many games, shared the same players, and competed for more divisional crowns.

The White Sox and Twins have finished 1/2 in the division seven times, including when the team had to play in Game 163 in 2008 (where future Twin Jim Thome hit the game-winning homer). That brings up another point: the players.

Thome, Jim Kaat, Justin Morneau, Earl Battey, Jerry Koosman, Jim Lemon, Roy Smalley, Kevin Tapani, Francisco Liriano, Jon Rauch, Joe Crede, Jesse Crain, Ervin Santana, all played for both teams, but the most infamous is of course: A.J. Pierzynski.

Pierzynski, a former Twin, consistently was a heel to his former franchise. He clipped Justin Morneau on the heel when running to first base, and Twins fan will not let it go. The teams haven’t traded with each other since 2012, and there seems to be no indication things will get better.

The two teams plan to compete for Division Crowns over the next couple years. and with the Tigers, Royals, and Cleveland not ready to compete this year, this rivalry will only get stronger. Good. I can continue to talk smack to the Southside Showdown people.