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  • Kevin Tapani

    Birth Date: 02/18/1964

    Kevin Tapani Autograph

    Kevin Tapani's Autograph

    Kevin Tapani Bio

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    Kevin Tapani was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Interestingly, only while typing this bio did I (Brock Beauchamp) discover that Tapani grew up in the town where I was born (Escanaba, Michigan). Fun trivia, for me at least.

    Tapani's high school (Escanaba) was too small to have a baseball team so he didn't play the sport until he attended Central Michigan University. He was originally drafted by the Cubs in the 1985 MLB Draft (9th round) but returned to Central Michigan for one more season, after which he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the 1986 draft.

    In 1987, Tapani was traded to the New York Mets where he stayed until the trade deadline of 1989, when he was traded to the Twins as part of the Frank Viola trade. He had made his MLB debut earlier that season in New York but with the Twins he made his first MLB starts (five that season). Entering the 1990 season, Baseball America ranked Tapani as the 88th-best prospect in baseball.

    Tapani spent most of the 1990 season in the Twins rotation but it was 1991 that cemented Tapani in the minds of Twins fans. He posted a 6.8 Baseball-Reference WAR that season with a 2.99 ERA in 244.0 innings pitched. In stark contrast to how we evaluate pitchers in modern baseball, Tapani finished all the way back in seventh place in American League Cy Young voting that season.

    While Tapani was one of the most critical pieces of the 1991 Twins during the regular season, he did not pitch well in the postseason. He posted a 7.84 ERA in two starts of the ALCS and a 4.50 ERA in two starts in the World Series.

    Tapani stayed with the Twins through the 1994 season and came back from the MLB strike in 1995 still a member of the team. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 1995 trade deadline for Ron Coomer, Greg Hansell, and Jose Parra.

    Thus ended Kevin Tapani's tenure with the Twins. Over parts of seven seasons, he finished with a 4.06 ERA (108 ERA+) and 19.1 Baseball-Reference WAR. That 19.1 rWAR number puts him just outside the top ten of all-time Twins pitching WAR leaders at #12.

    Tapani signed with the Chicago White Sox for the 1996 season, then moved to the Chicago Cubs in 1997, where he pitched for five seasons. He retired after the 2001 season at 37 years old.

    Notable Events & Trivia

    • Tapani played almost his entire career (excepting the two months he spent with the Dodgers) within 400 miles of his hometown of Escanaba, a remarkable feat for a player who spent 13 years in the majors and played for four different teams

    Kevin Tapani Statistics

    Standard Pitching
    Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Awards
    1989 25 TOT MLB 2 2 .500 3.83 8 5 1 0 0 0 40.0 39 18 17 3 12 1 23 0 1 0 169 107 3.49 1.275 8.8 0.7 2.7 5.2 1.92  
    1989 25 NYM NL 0 0   3.68 3 0 1 0 0 0 7.1 5 3 3 1 4 0 2 0 1 0 31 94 5.63 1.227 6.1 1.2 4.9 2.5 0.50  
    1989 25 MIN AL 2 2 .500 3.86 5 5 0 0 0 0 32.2 34 15 14 2 8 1 21 0 0 0 138 109 3.01 1.286 9.4 0.6 2.2 5.8 2.63  
    1990 26 MIN AL 12 8 .600 4.07 28 28 0 1 1 0 159.1 164 75 72 12 29 2 101 2 0 1 659 102 3.10 1.211 9.3 0.7 1.6 5.7 3.48 RoY-5
    1991 27 MIN AL 16 9 .640 2.99 34 34 0 4 1 0 244.0 225 84 81 23 40 0 135 2 3 3 974 143 3.49 1.086 8.3 0.8 1.5 5.0 3.38 CYA-7
    1992 28 MIN AL 16 11 .593 3.97 34 34 0 4 1 0 220.0 226 103 97 17 48 2 138 5 0 4 911 102 3.26 1.245 9.2 0.7 2.0 5.6 2.88  
    1993 29 MIN AL 12 15 .444 4.43 36 35 0 3 1 0 225.2 243 123 111 21 57 1 150 6 0 4 964 98 3.71 1.329 9.7 0.8 2.3 6.0 2.63  
    1994 30 MIN AL 11 7 .611 4.62 24 24 0 4 1 0 156.0 181 86 80 13 39 0 91 4 0 1 672 105 3.87 1.410 10.4 0.8 2.3 5.3 2.33  
    1995 31 TOT MLB 10 13 .435 4.96 33 31 0 3 1 0 190.2 227 116 105 29 48 4 131 5 0 4 834 91 4.54 1.442 10.7 1.4 2.3 6.2 2.73  
    1995 31 MIN AL 6 11 .353 4.92 20 20 0 3 1 0 133.2 155 79 73 21 34 2 88 4 0 3 579 98 4.68 1.414 10.4 1.4 2.3 5.9 2.59  
    1995 31 LAD NL 4 2 .667 5.05 13 11 0 0 0 0 57.0 72 37 32 8 14 2 43 1 0 1 255 75 4.21 1.509 11.4 1.3 2.2 6.8 3.07  
    1996 32 CHW AL 13 10 .565 4.59 34 34 0 1 0 0 225.1 236 123 115 34 76 5 150 3 0 13 971 104 4.85 1.385 9.4 1.4 3.0 6.0 1.97  
    1997 33 CHC NL 9 3 .750 3.39 13 13 0 1 1 0 85.0 77 33 32 7 23 2 55 2 2 0 352 127 3.77 1.176 8.2 0.7 2.4 5.8 2.39  
    1998 34 CHC NL 19 9 .679 4.85 35 34 0 2 2 0 219.0 244 120 118 30 62 4 136 5 0 7 945 90 4.60 1.397 10.0 1.2 2.5 5.6 2.19  
    1999 35 CHC NL 6 12 .333 4.83 23 23 0 1 0 0 136.0 151 81 73 12 33 2 73 4 0 3 591 93 4.02 1.353 10.0 0.8 2.2 4.8 2.21  
    2000 36 CHC NL 8 12 .400 5.01 30 30 0 2 0 0 195.2 208 113 109 35 47 1 150 8 0 1 829 91 4.77 1.303 9.6 1.6 2.2 6.9 3.19  
    2001 37 CHC NL 9 14 .391 4.49 29 29 0 0 0 0 168.1 186 93 84 24 40 6 149 7 0 3 729 92 3.97 1.343 9.9 1.3 2.1 8.0 3.73  
    13 Yrs 143 125 .534 4.35 361 354 1 26 9 0 2265.0 2407 1168 1094 260 554 30 1482 53 6 44 9600 101 4.01 1.307 9.6 1.0 2.2 5.9 2.68  
    162 Game Avg. 14 12 .534 4.35 34 34 0 2 1 0 215 229 111 104 25 53 3 141 5 1 4 913 101 4.01 1.307 9.6 1.0 2.2 5.9 2.68  
      W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Awards
    MIN (7 yrs) 75 63 .543 4.06 181 180 0 19 6 0 1171.1 1228 565 528 109 255 8 724 23 3 16 4897 108 3.61 1.266 9.4 0.8 2.0 5.6 2.84  
    CHC (5 yrs) 51 50 .505 4.66 130 129 0 6 3 0 804.0 866 440 416 108 205 15 563 26 2 14 3446 94 4.32 1.332 9.7 1.2 2.3 6.3 2.75  
    NYM (1 yr) 0 0   3.68 3 0 1 0 0 0 7.1 5 3 3 1 4 0 2 0 1 0 31 94 5.63 1.227 6.1 1.2 4.9 2.5 0.50  
    LAD (1 yr) 4 2 .667 5.05 13 11 0 0 0 0 57.0 72 37 32 8 14 2 43 1 0 1 255 75 4.21 1.509 11.4 1.3 2.2 6.8 3.07  
    CHW (1 yr) 13 10 .565 4.59 34 34 0 1 0 0 225.1 236 123 115 34 76 5 150 3 0 13 971 104 4.85 1.385 9.4 1.4 3.0 6.0 1.97  
                                                                   
    AL (8 yrs) 88 73 .547 4.14 215 214 0 20 6 0 1396.2 1464 688 643 143 331 13 874 26 3 29 5868 107 3.81 1.285 9.4 0.9 2.1 5.6 2.64  
    NL (7 yrs) 55 52 .514 4.67 146 140 1 6 3 0 868.1 943 480 451 117 223 17 608 27 3 15 3732 93 4.33 1.343 9.8 1.2 2.3 6.3 2.73  
    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
    Generated 4/13/2024.

    See all » Kevin Tapani Articles

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    Kevin Tapani, Under-Appreciated Starter For The 1991 Twins

    The Twins had three remarkably good starting pitchers on their 1991 World Series-winning team, each with exceptional seasons. The veteran leader, Jack Morris, came home and had one spectacular season capped by a tremendous 4-0 postseason and the infamous Game Seven 10-inning shutout. The rising youngster, Scott Erickson, debuted with little fanfare in 1990 for the last-place club but followed that by winning 20 games in 1991. I feel the third guy who led that team in ERA was perhaps a little overshadowed. Let’s take a closer look at Kevin Tapani.

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    Today's Almanac features the Twins clinching the 1987 AL West division championship, an epic collapse in '84, a pitchers' duel in 1993, Dave Winfield's pursuit of a batting title, Kirby Puckett's final regular season plate appearance, heroics from a Blaine High School grad, and Calvin Griffith's notorious appearance at the Waseca Lions Club. 

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    Page Creator:

    Brock Beauchamp

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