2003 Minnesota Twins season
| 2003 Minnesota Twins | |
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| AL Central Champions | |
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| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Carl Pohlad |
| General manager(s) | Terry Ryan |
| Manager(s) | Ron Gardenhire |
| Local television |
KSTC-TV FSN North (Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer) |
| Local radio |
830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
After winning the American League Central Division in 2002, the 2003 Minnesota Twins were looking to repeat division titles for the first time since 1969 and 1970. A spark for the team was the July trade of Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart. Stewart provided a veteran presence at the top of the lineup that the team had previously lacked. The team met its goal of reaching the playoffs, but once again fell short in the postseason. The Twins lost in four games to the New York Yankees during the AL Division Series. 2003 would be the last year several key players played with the team.
Under second year manager Ron Gardenhire, The Twins did not look so good coming out of the gates going 12-14 in March and April. However, they picked it up by going 19-9 in May, improving their record to 31-23 (.574). After having another tough string of games during the middle of the season, the Twins were looking for a jump start. They got it when on July 16 they traded RF Bobby Kielty to Toronto for LF Shannon Stewart. Going into the final month of the season with a record of 71-65 it looked as though the Twins may not win the division, but they finished with a stellar September going 19-7; including an 11-game winning streak. They ended up with a 90-72 (.556) record which was good enough to win the mediocre AL Central.
On April 21, Rick Reed set a Twins individual pitching record by giving up eleven runs (ten were earned) in a 15-1 loss to the New York Yankees.
On June 7 at Qualcomm Stadium, outfielder Jacque Jones hit his 20th lead-off home run as a Minnesota Twin and the total remains the Twins record. Jones' first two career homers in 1999 were lead-off home runs. Chuck Knoblauch is next in line with 14.
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