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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--June 11

Also posted at wgom.org   Danny Morris (1946) Bobby Keppel (1982)   ​Right-hander Danny Walker Morris pitched a total of six games for the Twins from 1968-1969. Born in Greenville, Kentucky, Morris signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1964. He had an excellent year in Class A Wisconsin Rapids in 1965, going 16-8, 2.16 with a WHIP of 1.00 in 225 innings. He struggled for a while as he went up the minor league ladder, but had a good year in 1968 at AAA Denver, going 16-15 with a 3.94 ERA an

Twins Birthdays--June 10

Also posted at wgom.org   Ed Palmquist (1933) Scott Ullger (1955) Right-hander Edwin Lee Palmquist appeared in nine games for the Twins in 1961. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he signed as a free agent with Brooklyn in 1951. He was with Class C Santa Barbara through 1952, then served in the military for two years. He returned to organized baseball in 1955, but either still had a military obligation or was battling injuries, because he played very little until 1957. Converted to relief in 19

Twins Birthdays--June 9

Also posted at wgom.org Jake Jacobs (1937) Bruce Look (1943) Tom Edens (1961) Outfielder Lamar Gary “Jake” Jacobs appeared in four games for the Twins in 1961. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, went to college at Ohio University (playing on the same team as another future Twin, Joe Nossek), and signed with Washington as a free agent in 1959. He did not hit for power in the minors, but hit for around .300 for three seasons, the first at Class D Sanford, the second at Class A Charlotte, and the

Twins Birthdays--June 8

Also posted at wgom.org Joe Grzenda (1937) Pete Magrini (1942) Carmelo Castillo (1958) Left-hander Joseph Charles Grzenda made 38 appearances for the Twins in 1969. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Moosic, Pennsylvania, and signed with the Tigers as a free agent in 1955. He was mostly a starter in the minors, and after a poor first season did pretty well for the most part. He started 1961 in the majors but was sent back after only 5.2 innings over four games. Af

Twins Birthdays--June 7

Also posted at wgom.org   George Mitterwald (1945) Tim Laudner (1958) Donaldo Mendez (1978) Virgil Vasquez (1982)     Catcher George Eugene Mitterwald played for the Twins in 1966 and from 1968-1973. He was born in Berkeley, California, went to high school in Hayward, California, and attended Chabot College in Hayward. He signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1965. He had an excellent year at Class A St. Cloud in 1965, then settled in as a rather mediocre minor league hitter. He got a Se

Twins Birthdays--June 6

Also posted at wgom.org   Bobby Randall (1948) David Lamb (1975)   Second baseman Robert Lee Randall played for the Twins in the late 1970s. He was born in Norton, Kansas, went to high school in Gove, Kansas, and attended Kansas State. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of the June Secondary draft in 1969. He never showed power in the minors, and his average was up and down; his best year was 1974, when he hit .338 for AAA Albuquerque. After the 1975 season, Randall was traded

Twins Birthdays--June 4

Also posted at wgom.org J. C. Romero (1976) ​Left-hander Juan Carlos ”J. C.” Romero from 1999-2005. He was born in San Piedras, Puerto Rico, went to high school in San Juan, and then attended the University of Mobile. He was drafted by Minnesota in the 21st round in 1997. He was a reliever throughout his early minor league career, did very well, and made the majors for the first time in September of 1999. He bounced back and forth between the majors and AAA for the next two seasons, mostly u

Twins Birthdays--June 3

Sorry, I was gone yesterday. We'll have today's birthdays later today.   Ron Keller (1943) Jim Dwyer (1950) Nelson Liriano (1964)   Right-hander Ronald Lee Keller made nine total appearances with the Twins in 1966 and 1968. He was born in Indianapolis and attended Indiana University. The Twins drafted him in the eighth round in 1965. After a strong year at Class A St. Cloud in 1965, he started 1966 in at Class A Wilson, was promoted after seven starts to AA Charlotte, was promoted after seve

Twins Birthdays--June 2

Also posted at wgom.org   Frank Verdi (1926) Jack O'Connor (1958) Kurt Abbott (1969) Jared Burton (1981)   Infielder Frank Michael Verdi did not play for the Twins, but he was in their minor league system in 1961. He was born in Brooklyn and signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 1946. His minor league stats vary widely form one year to the next, with averages of over .300 mixed with averages in the .250s and .260s. There were a lot more levels in the minors back then, so Verdi did not re

Twins Birthdays--June 1

Also posted at wgom.org   Ray Moore (1926) Jack Kralick (1935) Dean Chance (1941) Randy Hundley (1942)   Right-hander Raymond Leroy Moore pitched for the Twins from 1961-1963. He was born in Meadows, Maryland, went to high school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a free agent in 1947. He had good ERAs in the minors and did not give up a lot of hits, but walked a lot of batters, slowing his rise to the majors. He was with the Dodgers for two months in 1952 an

Twins Birthdays--May 31

Also posted at wgom.org   Tippy Martinez (1950) Ray Olmedo (1981)   Left-handed reliever Felix Anthony “Tippy” Martinez appeared in three games for the Twins in 1988. Born and raised in La Junta, Colorado, he and Mike Oquist, whose birthday was yesterday, are the only two major league players born in that town. He went to Colorado State and signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 1972. He was primarily a reliever in the minors other than 1975, when he started 14 games for AAA Syracuse. He

Twins Birthdays--May 30

Also posted at wgom.org   Mel Nelson (1936) Mike Sadek (1946) Mike Oquist (1968) John Courtright (1970)   Left-hander Melvin Frederick Nelson pitched for the Twins in 1965 and 1967. He was born in San Diego. He played as an outfielder for independent teams from 1954-1955, then signed as a pitcher with St. Louis as a free agent in 1956. His minor league record was not bad but not terribly impressive, either. He both started and relieved every year in the minors. Nelson was apparently loaned

Twins Birthdays--May 29

Also posted at wgom.org   Mike Stenhouse (1958) Matt Macri (1982)   Outfielder/first baseman Michael Steven Stenhouse played for the Twins in 1985. He was born in Pueblo, Colorado, attended Harvard, and was drafted by Montreal in the first round of the January Secondary draft in 1980. His father, Dave Stenhouse, pitched for the Washington Senators in the 1960s. He hit very well in the minors, but never got much of a chance in the big leagues. In 1982, Stenhouse hit .289 with 25 homers, 101 w

Twins Birthdays--May 28

Sorry, yesterday was a busy day. Mike Maksudian (1966) Lester Oliveros (1988)     Catcher/first baseman Michael Bryant Maksudian played in five games for the Twins in 1993. He was born in Belleville, Illinois, went to high school in Parsippany, New Jersey, and attended the University of South Alabama. He was signed by the White Sox as a free agent in 1987. He was a fairly solid hitter in the minors, but did not hit well enough for a first baseman and did not really play in the field well enou

Twins Birthdays--May 27

Also posted at wgom.org George O'Donnell (1929) Jerry Kindall (1935) Fred Bruckbauer (1938) Jim Holt (1944)     ​Right-hander George Dana O’Donnell did not pitch for the Twins, but he was in their farm system briefly in 1961. He was born in Winchester, Illinois and signed with the St. Louis Browns as a free agent in 1949. His career shows how the minors have changed over the years. He pitched well for two seasons in Class D for the Browns, throwing 241 innings there in Appleton in 1950. He m

Twins Birthdays--May 26

Also posted at wgom.org   Joe Altobelli (1932) Chris Latham (1973) Kevin Mulvey (1985)   Outfielder/first baseman Joseph Salvatore Altobelli played for the Twins for about two months in 1961. Born and raised in Detroit, Altobelli signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1951. He had decent but unspectacular numbers in the minors, but he certainly was there a long time; Joe Altobelli played all or part of thirteen seasons at AAA. The best of those seasons were 1960, when he hit .255 with 31 h

Happy Birthday--May 25

Also posted at wgom.org   Glenn Borgmann (1950) Dave Hollins (1966) Todd Walker (1973) Jason Kubel (1982)   Catcher Glenn Dennis Borgmann played in part or all of eight seasons for the Twins, from 1972-1979. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey and attended the University of South Alabama. Minnesota drafted him in the first round of the June Secondary draft in 1971. He advanced rapidly through the minors, and after hitting .336 with 12 homers at AAA Tacoma in 1972, he got his first taste of th

Twins Birthdays--May 24

Also posted at wgom.org Willy Miranda (1926) Todd Rizzo (1971)   Infielder Guillermo (Perez) “Willy” Miranda did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1961 at the end of his career. He was born in Velasco, Cuba and signed with Washington as a free agent in 1948. He was in the Washington farm system through 1951, spending three of those four seasons at AA Chattanooga. He did not hit much, averaging around .240, but got about six weeks in the majors as a reserve in 195

Twins Birthdays--May 23

Also posted at wgom.org   Ramon Ortiz (1973)   Right-hander Ramon Diogenes Ortiz was a member of the Minnesota Twins for about four and a half months in 2007. A native of Cotui in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz was signed by the Angels as a free agent in 1995. He generally pitched well in the minors, although he appears to have been slowed by an injury in 1998. He reached AAA in 1999 and after only nine starts there was promoted to the majors in August. He was immediately thrown into the rota

Twins Birthdays--May 22

Also posted at wgom.org     Jose Valdivielso (1934) Ron Piche (1935)   ​Infielder Jose Lopez Valdivielso was one of the original Twins, playing for them in 1961. He was born in Matanzas, Cuba. He started in organized baseball in 1953, joining the Washington organization in 1954. He came up to the majors in late June of 1955 and was the regular Washington shortstop the rest of the season. He hit .221 with an OPS of .594, yet somehow got a tenth-place vote for MVP. He was again the regular sh

Twins Birthdays--May 21

Also posted in wgom.org   Kent Hrbek (1960)   First baseman Kent Allen Hrbek played his entire 14-year major league career, 1981-1994, with the Twins. He was born in Minneapolis, raised in Bloomington, and drafted by Minnesota in the 17th round in 1978. He hit only .203 in 59 at-bats in Elizabethton that year, but improved to .267 with 19 homers in Wisconsin Rapids in 1980. In 1981, he hit .379 with 27 homers at Class A Visalia, and that was as much as the Twins need to see. He came to Minne

Twins Birthdays--May 19

Also posted at wgom.org   Dan Ford (1952)   Outfielder Darnell Glenn “Disco Danny” Ford played for the Twins from 1975-1978. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ford was drafted by Oakland in the first round in 1970. He spent his first two seasons at Class A Burlington, hitting .354 with 18 homers the second year. That got him promoted to AAA Tucson, where he also spent two seasons. Ford hit around .280 with double digit home runs in each season, but the Athletics were apparently not impressed a

Twins Birthdays--May 18

Also posted at wgom.org   Carroll Hardy (1933) Andre David (1958) Rich Garces (1971)   Outfielder Carroll William Hardy played in 11 games for the Twins in 1967. Born and raised in Sturgis, South Dakota, Hardy attended the University of Colorado and signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1955. Hardy began his minor league career that season with Class A Reading; he also played running back for the San Francisco 49ers that season. He stuck with baseball after that, and was having a fine seas

Twins Birthdays--May 17

Also posted at wgom.org   Dan Monzon (1946)   Daniel Francisco Monzon was an infielder for the Twins for parts of the 1972 and 1973 seasons. He was born and raised in the Bronx, attended Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, and was drafted by Minnesota in the second round of the June Secondary draft in 1967. He was in Class A for three seasons, hitting very well in his first one and poorly in his next two. He never did hit for power, but his average came up when he went to AA in 1970,

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