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Blog Jeff A

A blog by Jeff A in Twins Daily

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Entries in this blog

Twins Birthdays--August 12

Also posted at wgom.org     Lew Ford (1976)     Outfielder Jon Lewis “Lew” Ford played for the Twins from 2003-2007. He was born in Beaumont, Texas, went to high school in Port Neches, Texas, attended Dallas Baptist University, and was drafted by the Red Sox in the twelfth round in 1999. He hit well in their minor league system (although as a 22-year-old in the NY-P league and a 23-year-old in the Sally League). The Twins acquired him in September of 2000 for Hector Carrasco. Ford got to AA in

Twins Birthdays--August 11

Also posted at wgom.org     Sal Campisi (1942) Jim Hughes (1951)     Right-handed reliever Salvatore John Campisi appeared in six games for the Twins in 1971. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he attended Long Island University, where he had led the nation in ERA at 0.27, and was signed as a free agent by the St. Louis in 1964. He pitched well in the minors, regularly posting ERAs under three, but made a rather slow rise. He spent a year in rookie ball and two years in A ball before finally getting

Twins Birthdays--August 10

Also posted at wgom.org     Jerald Clark (1963) Wilson Ramos (1987)     Outfielder Jerald Dwayne Clark played for the Twins in 1995. He was born in Crockett, Texas, attended Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and was drafted by San Diego in the 12th round in 1985. He hit over .300 every season in the minors, the last three of them in AAA. His best season was 1989, when he hit .313 with 22 homers and an OPS of .926 for AAA Las Vegas. Clark made brief appearances with the Padres in 1988-90 be

Twins Birthdays--August 9

Also posted at wgom.org     Bill Campbell (1948) John Moses (1957) Pat Mahomes (1970) Ryan Radmanovich (1971) Mike Lamb (1975) Brian Fuentes (1975) Drew Butera (1983)   Right-handed reliever William Richard Campbell pitched for the Twins from 1973-1976. He was born in Highland Park, Michigan, went to high school in Pomona, California, and was signed by the Twins as an amateur free agent in 1970. A starting pitcher in the minors, he pitched very well there, posting career minor league marks of

Twins Birthdays--August 8

Also posted at wgom.org     Ray Fontenot (1957) Dave Meier (1959) Craig Breslow (1980)     Left-hander Silton Ray Fontenot appeared in 15 games for the Twins in 1986. He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, went to high school in LaGrange, Louisiana, and was drafted by Texas in the 34th round in 1979. He was traded to the Yankees in October of that year in a multi-player deal that included, among others Mickey Rivers, Oscar Gamble, and Gene Nelson. He pitched quite well in the minors, especia

Twins Birthdays--August 7

Also posted at wgom.org     Ron Henry (1936) Gary Dotter (1942) Mike Poepping (1950) Danny Graves (1973)     Catcher Ronald Baxter Henry played for the Twins in 1961 and again in 1964. He was born in Chester, Pennsylvania and began his professional career in 1954 with independent Class C Boise. He went to the Milwaukee Braves’ system in 1955 and stayed there six years. He looked like a pretty good player, really; he hit over .300 twice, and had double-digit home runs three times. Still, the

Twins Birthdays--August 6

Also posted at wgom.org   Ron Davis (1955) Chris Heintz (1974)   Right-handed reliever Ronald Gene Davis pitched for the Twins from 1982-1986. Born and raised in Houston, he was drafted by the Cubs in the third round in the January draft in 1976. He was a starter in the minors, and a rather mediocre one, but did substantially better when moved to the bullpen in 1978. What prompted the move was Davis’ trade to the Yankees in June of 1978 for Ken Holtzman. He appeared briefly with the Yankees

Twins Birthdays--August 4

Also posted at wgom.org   Frank Kostro (1937) Matt Merullo (1965) Eric Milton (1975)     Infielder/outfielder Frank Jerry Kostro played for the Twins from 1964-65 and 1967-1969. He was born in Windber, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Pittsburgh, and signed with Detroit as a free agent in 1956. He was generally a high-average hitter without a lot of power in the minors. He hit .332 at Class D Jamestown in 1956, then settled in as a guy who would hit about .270-.290 at pretty much every le

Twins Birthdays--August 3

Also published at wgom.org     Travis Bowyer (1981)   Right-hander Travis Charlton Bowyer made eight relief appearances for the Twins in 2005. He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, went to high school in Bedford, Virginia, and was drafted by Minnesota in the twentieth round in 1999. He struggled as a starter, but turned things around when he was moved to the bullpen in 2002. He had some outstanding seasons as a reliever in the Twins’ system; the best was the last one, 2005, when he went 4-2, 2.

Twins Birthdays--July 31

Also posted at wgom.org     Rene Rivera (1983)     Catcher Rene (Rivera) Rivera appeared in forty-five games for the Twins in 2011. Born and raised in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, he was drafted by Seattle in the second round in 2001. He spent the next seven years in the Mariners organization not doing much on offense, but still got three stints in the majors. One assumes he was considered an excellent defensive catcher. His best year in the minors appears to have been 2003, when he hit .275 with n

Twins Birthdays--July 30

Also posted at wgom.org   Pat Kelly (1944) Scott Diamond (1986)     The brother of Hall of Fame football player LeRoy Kelly and the brother-in-law of Andre Thornton, Pat Kelly had a solid professional career of his own. Outfielder Harold Patrick “Pat” Kelly appeared in 20 games for the Twins in 1967-1968. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1962. He had a huge year in 1964, hitting .357 with 16 homers in Class A Wisconsin Rapids. He did not duplicate

Twins Birthdays--July 29

Also posted at wgom.org   Bill Whitby (1943) Seth Greisinger (1975)     Right-hander William Edward Whitby appeared in four games for the Twins in 1964. He was born in Crewe, Virginia, went to high school in Victoria, Virginia, and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1961. A starter for most of his minor league career, he did not do a lot in his first few years, but had a solid year at AA Charlotte in 1964. He was promoted to Minnesota for about two weeks in June that year, at the age of

Twins Birthdays--July 24

Also posted at wgom.org     Cotton Nash (1942) Mike Adams (1948)     First baseman Charles Francis ”Cotton” Nash had 13 at-bats for the Twins from 1969-1970. A tall man (6’6″), he was born in Jersey City, went to high school in Port Charles, Louisiana, and attended the University of Kentucky, where he starred in basketball as well as baseball. He was nicknamed “Cotton” as a child because of his bright blond hair. He was signed by the Angels as a free agent in 1964. He spent 1964 at Class A Sa

Twins Birthdays--July 22

Also posted at wgom.org   Bill Zepp (1946)     Right-hander Bill Zepp pitched for the Twins from 1969-1970. Born and raised in Detroit, he attended the University of Michigan, played in the Basin League for the Valentine Hearts, and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1968. A starter in the minors, he pitched very well there, posting an ERA of three in Class A Wisconsin Rapids in 1968 and going 15-3, 2.34 with a 1.08 WHIP in 1969 in AA Charlotte. He was with the Twins for about three w

Twins Birthdays--July 21

Also posted at wgom.org   Jim Manning (1943) Mike Cubbage (1950) Kimera Bartee (1972) Brian Buchanan (1973) Willie Eyre (1978)   Right-hander James Benjamin Manning made five appearances with the Twins in 1962. He was born in L’Anse, Michigan, went to high school in Ewan, Michigan, and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1961. He had a fairly mediocre year in Class D Wytheville in 1961, but started 1962 in the majors. He lasted almost a month, making four relief appearances and one start

Twins Birthdays--July 20

Also posted at wgom.org     Tony Oliva (1938) Jason Miller (1982) Alexi Casilla (1984)     Outfielder Tony Pedro Oliva played his entire career for the Twins, playing briefly in 1962-1963, making the team for good in 1964 and staying through 1976. He was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and signed as a free agent with Minnesota in 1961, one of the last Cubans allowed to leave the country to play major league baseball. The Twins released him, but he continued to train with a friend who was playing

Twins Birthdays--July 19

Also posted at wgom.org   Billy Gardner (1927) Dan Graham (1954) Gus Gandarillas (1971)     Infielder William Frederick “Slick” Gardner played for the Twins for a couple of months in 1961, then managed them from 1981-1985. He was born in Waterford, Connecticut and signed with the New York Giants as a free agent in 1945. He was up and down a lot in a lengthy minor league career, reaching AA in 1945, dropping back to Class A through 1948 (with one year missed for military service), played in AAA

Twins Birthdays--July 18

Also posted at wgom.org   Rudy May (1944) Torii Hunter (1975) Glenn Williams (1977)   Left-hander Rudolph May was in the Twins’ organization for his first year of professional baseball. He was born in Coffeyville, Kansas, went to high school in Oakland, California, and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1962. He played for Bismarck-Mandan in the Northern League, going 11-11, 4.29. The White Sox chose him in the first-year player draft but traded him to Philadelphia after a year. He nev

Twins Birthdays--July 15

Also posted at wgom.org   Brett Merriman (1966) James Baldwin (1971)     Right-hander Brett Alan Merriman pitched for the Twins in 1993 and 1994. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, went to high school in Nevada, Missouri, attended Grand Canyon University, and was drafted by Cleveland in the ninth round in 1988. He did not pitch that badly in two years in the minors, although he had problems with his control, but was released by the Indians late in 1990 spring training. California signed hi

Twins Birthdays--July 14

Also posted at wgom.org   Danny Walton (1947) Vic Rodriguez (1961)     This is also the birthday (1924) of Ralph Rowe, who was a Twins coach from 1972-1975.     Outfielder Daniel James Walton played for the Twins in 1973 and 1975. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in La Puente, California, and was drafted by Houston in the tenth round in 1965. He hit very well in the minors, hitting over .300 with 45 homers combined in 1966-1967. He started 1968 with Houston, but got only two at

Twins Birthdays--July 13

Also posted at wgom.org     Ruben Gomez (1927) Buzz Stephen (1944) Jerry Terrell (1946) Mark Brown (1959)   ​ Right-hander Ruben (Colon) Gomez appeared in six games for the Twins in 1962. He was born in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, and played in independent ball (much more prevalent at the time) for nearly three years. He played briefly for Havana in the Washington organization in 1951, then was in AAA briefly for the Yankees in 1952. He then went to the New York Giants, starting 1953 in the majors a

Twins Birthdays--July 12

Also posted at wgom.org   Tom Tischinski (1944) Adam Johnson (1979) Phil Dumatrait (1981)   ​Catcher Thomas Arthur Tischinski was a reserve catcher for the Twins for three seasons, 1969-1971. Born and raised in Kansas City, he signed with the Kansas City Athletics as a free agent in 1962. He was always a weak batter, even in the minors. His highest average in the minors was .256, in 1958 at AAA Denver, and he had two seasons in which he hit below .200 and another in which he hit .208. He was

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