Elizabethton Twins

The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their major league affiliate. The team played its home games at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark, which opened in 1974.

Over 46 years of competition, the Twins played in 3,113 regular season games and compiled a 1,779–1,333–1 win–loss–tie record. They qualified for the postseason on 19 occasions, winning 16 division titles and 12 Appalachian League championships. Elizabethton won more league championships than any other team in Appalachian League history. They had a postseason record of 33–24. Combining all 3,170 regular season and postseason games, the Twins had an all-time record of 1,812–1,357–1.

History

Professional baseball was first played in Elizabethton, Tennessee, by the Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox in the Appalachian League in 1937. They remained in the league through 1942. Elizabethton played its inaugural game on June 21, 1974, against the Kingsport Braves on the road at the ballpark on the campus of Dobyns-Bennett High School, losing 8–3. The Twins got their first win the next night, defeating Kingsport, also 8–3. Their Riverside Park home opener, scheduled for June 23 against the Bristol Tigers, was rained out. They played their first home game the next evening, losing to Bristol, 15–2. Elizabethton finished its inaugural season in second place with a 41–27–1 record. The lone Johnson City run was scored in the first inning when Gotay Mills drew a walk, stole second, advanced to third on an outfield fly ball, and came home on a sacrifice fly. He held the Bluefield Orioles hitless for nine innings in the 6–0 win. Manager Fred Waters, who had been leading the team since 1975, was selected for the Appalachian League Manager of the Year Award. Waters led Elizabethton to its second championship in 1984. They won the Southern Division title with a 40–29 record, then defeated the Pulaski Braves in a one-game playoff for the Appalachian League title. Waters won Manager of the Year honors, as he also had in 1981. Smith would go on to become the winningest manager in Appalachian League history with 1,048 wins from 1987 to 1994 and 2002 to 2019. He would win a record seven Manager of the Year Awards and lead Elizabethton to nine league championships. They missed the playoffs that season but returned in 1992 and 1993 by virtue of winning the Southern Division title, only to lose in the championship finals. Smith was selected for four consecutive Manager of the Year Awards from 1989 to 1992.

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league, and the Twins were replaced by the Elizabethton River Riders, a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores.

Season-by-season results

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="font-size:85%"

|+Table key

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|League

|The team's final position in the league standings

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Division

|The team's final position in the divisional standings

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|GB

|Games behind the team that finished in first place in the division that season

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"|

|League champions

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"|

|Division champions

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#D0E7FF"|*

|Postseason berth

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"

|+Season-by-season results

!rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Season

!colspan="5" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; color:#043666"|Regular season

!colspan="3" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; color:#043666"|Postseason

!rowspan="2" class="unsortable" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Record

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Win %

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|League

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Division

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Record

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Win %

!class="unsortable" rowspan="2" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Result

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1974

| 41–27–1

| .603

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1976

| 27–43

| .386

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1977

| 29–40

| .420

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 1978

| 41–28

| .594

| —

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won AL championship

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1980

| 32–36

| .471

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1981

| 42–28

| .600

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1982

| 32–36

| .471

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1983

| 28–43

| .394

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 1984

| 40–29

| .580

| 1–0

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Southern Division title Won AL championship vs. Pulaski Braves, 1–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1985

| 31–40

| .437

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1986

| 37–31

| .544

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1987

| 29–40

| .420

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1988

| 33–37

| .471

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 1989

| 47–21

| .691

| 2–0

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Southern Division title Won AL championship vs. Pulaski Braves, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 1990

| 51–16

| .761

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won AL championship

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1991

| 39–29

| .574

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"| 1992

| 49–17

| .742

| 1–2

| style="background-color:#DDFFDD"| Won Southern Division title Lost AL championship vs. Bluefield Orioles, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"| 1993

| 37–30

| .552

| style="background-color:#DDFFDD"| Won Southern Division title Lost AL championship vs. Burlington Indians, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1994

| 36–30

| .545

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1995

| 33–31

| .516

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1996

| 40–27

| .597

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1997

| 38–30

| .559

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1998

| 38–29

| .567

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 1999

| 40–30

| .571

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2000

| 46–18

| .719

| 2–0

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Southern Division title Won AL championship vs. Danville Braves, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"| 2001

| 41–22

| .651

| 1–2

| style="background-color:#DDFFDD"| Won Southern Division title Lost AL championship vs. Bluefield Orioles, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 2002

| 37–30

| .552

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2003

| 42–24

| .636

| 2–1

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won AL championship vs. Martinsville Astros, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2005

| 48–19

| .716

| 2–1

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won AL championship vs. Danville Braves, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"| 2006

| 42–26

| .618

| 1–2

| style="background-color:#DDFFDD"| Won Western Division title Lost AL championship vs. Danville Braves, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2007

| 50–18

| .735

| 2–0

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won AL championship vs. Danville Braves, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2008

| 41–25

| .621

| 2–0

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won AL championship vs. Pulaski Mariners, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"| 2009

| 45–23

| .662

| style="background-color:#DDFFDD"| Won Western Division title Lost AL championship vs. Danville Braves, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#D0E7FF"| 2010 *

| 41–25

| .621

| 2–2

| style="background-color:#D0E7FF"| Won semifinals vs. Pulaski Mariners, 2–0 Lost AL championship vs. Johnson City Cardinals, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#D0E7FF"| 2011 *

| 42–26

| .618

| 1–2

| style="background-color:#D0E7FF"| Lost semifinals vs. Bluefield Blue Jays, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2012

| 43–22

| .662

| 4–2

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won semifinals vs. Danville Braves, 2–1 Won AL championship vs. Burlington Royals, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 2013

| 37–31

| .544

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#DDFFDD"| 2014

| 38–30

| .559

| 1–2

| style="background-color:#DDFFDD"| Won Western Division title Lost semifinals vs. Johnson City Cardinals, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 2015

| 34–34

| .500

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#D0E7FF"| 2016 *

| 36–31

| .537

| 1–2

| style="background-color:#D0E7FF"| Lost semifinals vs. Johnson City Cardinals, 2–1

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2017

| 41–27

| .603

| 4–1

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won semifinals vs. Greeneville Astros, 2–1 Won AL championship vs. Pulaski Yankees, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#FFE6BD"| 2018

| 39–27

| .591

| 4–1

| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| Won Western Division title Won semifinals vs. Kingsport Mets, 2–1 Won AL championship vs. Princeton Rays, 2–0

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 2019

| 33–34

| .493

| —

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"| 2020

| colspan="8"|Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)

|- class="sortbottom"

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Totals

! 1,779–1,333–1

! —

! 33–24

! —

Achievements

Awards

thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=A baseball player wearing a navy blue hoodie|[[Oswaldo Arcia, 2010 Player of the Year Award winner]]

thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=A man wearing a gray baseball uniform with "Minnesota" on the chest|[[Eddie Rosario, 2011 Player of the Year Award winner]]

thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=A man wearing a navy blue baseball jersey and white pants|[[Alex Kirilloff, 2016 Player of the Year Award winner]]

Eighteen players won Appalachian League awards in recognition for their performance with the Twins. Eleven won Player of the Year Awards, while seven won the Pitcher of the Year Award. Four managers won the Manager of the Year Award, including Fred Waters, who was selected for the honor three times, and Ray Smith, who won the award a league-leading seven times. He registered a .382 batting average with 105 hits and 35 RBI in addition to stealing 43 bases.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"

|+Appalachian League Hall of Famers

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Inductee

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Year

!scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|Position

!rowspan="2" class="unsortable" scope="col" style="background-color:#ffffff; border-top:#CD1041 5px solid; border-bottom:#043666 5px solid; color:#043666"|

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|

| 2019

| Team operator