Also posted at wgom.org Scotti Madison (1959) Keith Hughes (1963) Luis Castillo (1975) Sean Burroughs (1980) Carmen Pignatiello (1982) Catcher Charles Scott “Scotti” Madison did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them. Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, he was drafted by the Twins in the third round of the 1980 draft out of Vanderbilt. Madison was started at AA Orlando and did not do well, batting only .230. Dropped down to Class A Visalia in 1981, he hit much better, and was t
Also posted at wgom.org Len Whitehouse (1957) Riccardo Ingram (1966) Anthony Swarzak (1985) Left-hander Leonard Joseph Whitehouse played for the Twins from 1983-1985. He was born in Burlington, Vermont and was signed by the Texas Rangers as a free agent in 1976. He did not pitch very well in the minors, having only one season (1981 in AA Wichita) in which his ERA was under 4.00. He was left-handed, however, and so he got a September call-up with the Rangers in 1981, and after spending 1982
Also posted at wgom.org Jay Ward (1938) Alex Romero (1983) Utility player John Francis Ward played briefly for the Twins in 1963 and 1964. He was born in Brookfield, Missouri and was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1956. He hit very well in the low minors, hitting exactly .300 in three years in Class D and C. He spent most of 1958 in the Washington organization, then was selected off waivers by the Kansas City Athletics. Ward was pretty average in AA and AAA, and was traded to the D
Also posted at wgom.org Greg Olson (1960) Roy Smith (1961) Pat Meares (1968) Micheal Nakamura (1976) Catcher Gregory William Olson appeared in three games for the Twins in 1989. He was born in Marshall, Minnesota, went to high school in Edina, Minnesota, attended the University of Minnesota, and was drafted by the Mets in the 7th round in 1982. He should not be confused with pitcher Greggory William Olson, who also played for the Twins. The Olson we’re dealing with here had not caught in
Also posted at wgom.org Randy Choate (1975) Jason Hart (1977) This is also the birthday of Karl Kuehl (1937), who was a coach for the Twins from 1977-1982. Left-handed reliever Randol Doyle Choate never actually played in a regular season game with the Twins, but he was in spring training with them in 2007. Born and raised in San Antonio, he attended Florida State and was drafted by the Yankees in the fifth round in 1977. He spent three years at Class A, but jumped to AAA in 2000 and rod
Also posted at wgom.org Paul Jata (1949) Aaron Fultz (1973) Pat Neshek (1980) Outfielder/first baseman Paul Jata did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1976. He was born in Astoria, New York, went to high school on Long Island, and was drafted by Detroit in the fifth round in 1967. His minor league numbers don’t stick out, but he was always very young for his league, reaching AA at age 20 and AAA at age 21. He made the Tigers out of spring training in 1972 at age 22
Also posted at wgom.org Ced Landrum (1963) Matt Capps (1983) Outfielder Cedric Bernard Landrum did not play for the Twins, but was briefly in their minor league system. He was born in Butler, Alabama, went to high school in Sweet Water, Alabama, attended the University of North Alabama, and signed with the Cubs as a free agent in 1985. Standing a 5’9″ and weighing 165 pounds, he hit for a solid average in the minors, although with little to no power. He was hitting .336 at AAA Iowa in 199
Also posted at wgom.org Don Williams (1935) Jerry Crider (1941) Danny Goodwin (1953) Terry Jorgensen (1966) Right-hander Donald Reid Williams made three appearances for the Twins in 1963. He was born in Los Angeles and was signed as a free agent by the Kansas City Athletics in 1956. He pitched fairly well in Class D, but did not do particularly well after that. He missed all of the 1959 season and was traded to the White Sox in 1960. The White Sox sent him on to the Twins minor-lea
Also posted at wgom.org Rob Wilfong (1953) David West (1964) Second baseman Robert Daniel Wilfong played for the Twins from 1977-1982. He was born in Pasadena, California, went to high school in Covina, California, and was drafted in the thirteenth round by the Twins in 1971. He had somewhat mixed results in the minors, but after hitting .305 with AAA Tacoma in 1976, he made his big-league debut with the Twins at the start of the 1977 season. He spent most of that season with the Twins,
Also posted at wgom.org Mike Hartley (1961) Pat Howell (1968) Tim Raines (1979) Armando Gabino (1983) Pitcher Michael Edward Hartley played for the Twins in 1993. He was born in Hawthorne, California, went to high school in El Cajon, California, attended East Carolina University, and was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals in 1981. He had a good year in rookie ball in 1982, but then spent the next four years at Class A before being drafted by the Dodgers in the minor league draft. The
Also posted at wgom.org Roger Erickson (1986) Luis Rivas (1979) Right-hander Roger Farrell Erickson played for Minnesota from 1978-1982. He was born in Springfield, Illinois, and was drafted by the Twins out of the University of New Orleans in the third round in 1977. He had an excellent year in AA Orlando, going 8-4 with a 1.98 ERA, and found himself in Minnesota at the start of the 1978 season. He went 14-13 that year with a 3.96 ERA in 256 innings, but could not replicate his success t
Also posted at wgom.org Bill Latham (1960) Henry Blanco (1971) Steve Lomasney (1977) Left-hander William Carol Latham played for the Twins in 1986. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, he was signed out of Auburn University as a free agent by the Mets in 1981. He did well in the minors, winning 13 games in both 1984 and 1985 with an ERA under 3.00 both years, mostly at AAA Tidewater. Latham started 1985 with the Mets and did not do badly, posting an ERA of 3.97 and a WHIP of 1.24 in
Also posted at wgom.org Brendan Harris (1980) Eric Fryer (1985) Darin Mastroianni (1987) Infielder Brendan Michael Harris was with the Twins from 2008-2010. Born and raised in Queensbury, New York, he was drafted out of the College of William and Mary by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2001 draft. He hit well throughout the minors, usually averaging over .300 with double-digit home runs, and played mostly second base and third base. He made his major-league debut with the Cubs in 2004, p
Also posted at wgom.org Kevin Correia (1980) Right-hander Kevin John Correia came to the Twins prior to the 2013 season. He was born in San Diego, went to high school in La Mesa, California, attended Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and was drafted by San Francisco in the fourth round in 2002. He had an indifferent time in low class A that season, but started 2003 in AA, was promoted to AAA, and reached the majors by mid-August. He did well there, too, going 3-1, 3.66 in 39.1 innings. He sp
Also posted at wgom.org Marty Martinez (1941) Jerry White (1952) Randy St. Claire (1960) Casey Blake (1972) This is also the birthday of the late Carl Pohlad (1915). Infielder Orlando (Oliva) “Marty” Martinez played in 37 games for the Twins in 1962. He was born in Havana, Cuba and was signed by Washington as a free agent in 1960. An infielder, he made his major league debut in 1962 with the Twins as a bench player, appearing in 37 games but getting only 24 plate appearances, batting
Also posted at wgom.org Paul Molitor (1956) Darrin Jackson (1962) Gary Scott (1968) Hall of Famer Paul Leo Molitor played for the Twins from 1996-1998. Born and raised in St. Paul, he attended the University of Minnesota and was chosen by Milwaukee with the third pick of the 1977 draft. He spent only one year in the minors, hitting .346 with Class A Burlington, before jumping to the big leagues. He was a fixture in the Brewers lineup for the next fifteen years, playing regularly at second
Also posted at wgom.org Frank Pastore (1957) Mike Misuraca (1968) Jason Marquis (1978) Right-hander Frank Enrico Pastore pitched for the Twins in 1986. He was born in Alhambra, California, went to high school in La Verne, California, and was drafted in the second round by Cincinnati in 1975, Pastore pitched well at every stop along the way in the minors, and made the Reds at the beginning of 1979. He pitched mostly out of the bullpen that year, but became a solid member of the rotation
Also posted at wgom.org Graig Nettles (1944) Bobby Cuellar (1952) Tom Brunansky (1960) Third baseman Graig Nettles played for the Twins in parts of seasons from 1967-1969. Born and raised in San Diego, he was drafted by the Twins out of San Diego State in the fourth round in 1965. He showed instant power, hitting 69 home runs in three minor league seasons. He made his debut with Minnesota as a September callup in 1967 and reached the big leagues for good in 1969, his first full season, wh
Also posted at wgom.org Fred Lasher (1941) Luis Gomez (1951) Gary Gaetti (1958) J. J. Hardy (1982) Right-handed reliever Frederick Walter Lasher appeared in eleven games for the Twins in 1963. He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and was signed by Washington as a free agent in 1960. A submariner, he had problems with wildness in his first couple of years in the minors, but gradually improved, although he never had what you would call pinpoint control. Lasher made the Twins out of sprin
Also posted at wgom.org Billy Consolo (1934) Bucky Guth (1947) Infielder William Angelo Consolo was one of the original Minnesota Twins, playing in eleven games for them in 1961. He was born in Cleveland, went to high school in Los Angeles, and was drafted by Boston as a bonus baby in 1953, meaning he was required by rule to be on the big league club for all of 1953 and 1954. The amount of cash he received was actually under the limit, but part of the deal was that the Red Sox purchased t
Also posted at wgom.org Rick Reed (1964) Quinton McCracken (1970) Right-hander Richard Allen Reed pitched for the Twins from 2001-2003. He was born in Huntington, West Virginia, attended Marshall University, and was drafted in the 26th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986. He made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 1988. He spent the next eight years bouncing back and forth between AAA and the majors, first with the Pirates, then with Kansas City, Texas, and Cincinnati. He
Also posted at wgom.org Jim Snyder (1932) Joe Lis (1946) Tom Kelly (1950) Randy Johnson (1958) Second baseman James Robert Snyder played briefly for the Twins in 1961-1962 and 1964. He was born in Dearborn, Michigan, went to Eastern Michigan University, and was signed as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Browns in 1952. He spent the next ten years in the minors, playing in the organizations of St. Louis/Baltimore (1952-56, 1957), the White Sox (1956, 1958-60), the Cubs (1957), Phil
Also posted at wgom.org Bert Cueto (1937) Mike Cook (1963) Right-hander Dagoberto (Concepcion) Cueto pitched for the Twins in their inaugural season of 1961. He was born in San Luis Pinar, Cuba, and was signed by Washington as an amateur free agent in 1956. He worked his way up from Class D, pitching well at nearly every stop. There apparently was some indecision about whether Cueto should be a starter or a reliever, as he did some of both every year except 1959, when he was used exclusivel
Also posted at wgom.org Mudcat Grant (1935) Tom Prince (1964) Right-hander James Timothy “Mudcat” Grant pitched for the Twins from 1964-1967. He was born in Lacoochee, Florida, went to high school in Dade City, Florida, and was signed as a free agent by Cleveland in 1954. He pitched quite well in the minors, going 70-28 with an ERA under 3.20 and averaging over 200 innings per season. He made the Indians out of spring training in 1958. Grant was a solid member of the Cleveland rotatio
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?
At this point in the pre-season, I’m just so happy to be seeing games again, I don’t care about the Twins record in 2023. I think they’ll win it all, unrealistically speaking 🙂
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?· 0 replies
