Name your favorite lesser-known Twins players

[David Youngs]

Terry Tiffe all freaking day.

[Rigby]

Ray Moore.

[jjswol]

9 hours ago, Pius Jefferson said:

Really thought it was neat when Allan Anderson won the ERA title in 1988.

But then again he sat out his last start not to endanger his ERA lead.

 

[Rigby]

Not a lesser known, but Earl Battey. Played against my dad who thought very highly of him.

[Rigby]

Jimmie Hall

[Rigby]

20 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Shane Mack. Not really "unknown" I guess, at least to long time fans, but he was really good and underappreciated.

 

Brant Alyea: I remember the start he had to the 1970 season...I was convinced he'd hit like that forever.

Spoiler alert: he didn't. But always  will have a place in a 12 year old's heart.

Good call on Alyea. I too remember that torrid start to 1970 and he remained one of my favorites. Traded Joe Grzenda and yes - Charlie Walters for him. Another hot bat was Glenn Adams in 1977. 

[mnfireman]

How about Jim Eisenreich, local (St. Cloud) kid who overcame a lot to play pro ball.

Found this on Wikipedia: 

Eisenreich has Tourette syndrome (TS),^[4] which caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while undergoing treatment. Eisenreich was replaced on the Twins roster by Kirby Puckett. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award, which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who has overcome a significant obstacle in life.^[5]

Eisenreich was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2009.^[6]

Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area and runs the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette's Syndrome whose goal is to help children with TS to achieve personal success.^[4]

[Greglw3]

Jim Holt was a favorite of mine when he played in the early to mid 70s. A really fine hitter. I also liked Steve Braun, Doug Corbett, Dave Engle.

Bill Soupy Campbell was a fave. Glenn Adams who recorded 8 RBIs on June 26, 1977 and hit .338 that year!

And Lyman Bostock was a treasure. Was probably headed for a HOF career. I, too, was mad at Calvin Griffith for letting him walk.

I would also add Big Mark Funderburk who was a super masher. Check out his stats, especially HR. He had over 200 HR for his career including minor leagues!

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
2 Yr	2 Yr	2 Yr	2 Yr	31	85	9	25	8	1	2	15	0	1	7	13	.294	.337	.482
162	162	162	162	162	444	47	131	42	5	10	78	0	5	37	68	.294	.337	.482
1976	19	MIN-min	Rk	61	225	25	53	7	4	7	33	1	0	21	63	.236	.304	.396
1977	20	MIN-min	Rk,A	85	301	37	82	9	4	10	48	3	4	19	58	.272	.318	.429
1978	21	MIN-min	A	132	497	76	128	19	1	25	78	14	6	46	129	.258	.324	.451
1979	22	MIN-min	A	128	484	106	150	20	1	31	109	11	3	56	101	.310	.384	.548
1980	23	MIN-min	AA	139	525	70	131	21	2	26	87	8	5	46	150	.250	.317	.446
1981	24	MIN-min	AAA	119	394	47	88	14	1	18	52	2	1	27	71	.223	.278	.401
1981	24	MIN	AL	8	15	2	3	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	.200	.278	.267
1982	25	MIN-min	AA	121	402	80	106	23	1	23	85	9	3	54	71	.264	.355	.498
1983	26	KCR-min	AAA	17	59	4	10	0	0	2	4	0	1	1	7	.169	.210	.271
1985	28	MIN-min	AA	140	523	70	148	20	1	34	116	0	3	40	63	.283	.343	.520
1985	28	MIN	AL	23	70	7	22	7	1	2	13	0	1	5	12	.314	.351	.529
1986	29	MIN-min	AAA,AA	87	297	31	56	10	0	10	38	1	1	29	56	.189	.263	.323
1987	30	MIN-min	AA	118	412	56	103	12	3	28	68	2	1	28	82	.250	.306	.498

[mnfireman]

Funderburk = Classic AAAA player

[In My La Z boy]

Al Newman. He was our "original" Willians Austidillo. Always smiling and having fun. Cesar Tovar was a favorite of mine as a kid. Watched him play all 9 positions. Another smiling fun player. 

[TouchEmAllGuy]

Jesse Crain!

[Seth Stohs]

7 hours ago, roger said:

I'll go with Luke Hughes, Seth.   Gotta love those Aussies that Howie used to sign for the Twins.

Correct me if my memory is in error, but didn't he get a home run in his first AB with the Twins?  Remember he was with maybe Oakland for a bit after the Twins, but his MLB career was short, wasn't it?

He homered off of Max Scherzer in his first at bat. 

It wasn't a long career. He's still playing in Australia. He follows me on Twitter and often likes tweets on Australians or former teammates of his.

[RickOShea]

Rich Reese...........My high school coach was a friend of his.  We met in the runway from the clubhouse.  I was supposed to get into the locker room, but never got it cleared by Gene Mauch.

[howeda7]

IMO anyone who started on a World Series winning team is DQ'd as "lesser known."

[Longdistancetwins]

On 6/24/2021 at 3:43 PM, USAFChief said:

 

Brant Alyea: I remember the start he had to the 1970 season...I was convinced he'd hit like that forever.

Spoiler alert: he didn't. But always  will have a place in a 12 year old's heart.

I remember, too.  But it means I’m even older than Chief.

[Longdistancetwins]

Bobby Randall.  They raved about the way he turned the double play. 

[DocBauer]

This is almost unfair as I could look back on 50yrs of following the team and guys I liked and guys I had high hopes for. Marshall, Morales, Wilfong, Castino, Corbett, Redfern, Engle, etc.

But one of my favorites that won't go down in the annals of Twins history is Randy Bush. He played 1B and both OF corners and was a regular DH and one of the league's best PH during his career. And I will never forget how he literally helped steal a game against the Tigers back in '87.

[jkcarew]

Geoff Zahn. Couldn’t break a pane of glass. 700 K’s in 1850 career innings. Wouldn’t make his HS team in today’s game. All he did was eat innings and get guys out.

[jkcarew]

4 hours ago, howeda7 said:

IMO anyone who started on a World Series winning team is DQ'd as "lesser known."

Yeah. But...Scott Leius? Never was a regular but hit at least one game-winning HR in ‘91 post season. Retired and raised his family in MN and coached youth baseball in Wayzata.

[jkcarew]

9 hours ago, mnfireman said:

How about Jim Eisenreich, local (St. Cloud) kid who overcame a lot to play pro ball.

Found this on Wikipedia: 

Eisenreich has Tourette syndrome (TS),^[4] which caused him to go on to the voluntary retirement list between 1984 and 1987 while undergoing treatment. Eisenreich was replaced on the Twins roster by Kirby Puckett. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award, which is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who has overcome a significant obstacle in life.^[5]

Eisenreich was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2009.^[6]

Eisenreich resides in the Kansas City area and runs the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette's Syndrome whose goal is to help children with TS to achieve personal success.^[4]

A very good player. If not for his struggles with Tourette’s with the Twins (heartbreaking to watch), Kirby Puckett may not have happened...at least not for the Twins.

[Longdistancetwins]

1 hour ago, jkcarew said:

A very good player. If not for his struggles with Tourette’s with the Twins (heartbreaking to watch), Kirby Puckett may not have happened...at least not for the Twins.

Hadn’t thought of it that way…

[jorgenswest]

Tom Hall

He looked so promising ages 20-23. I was so disappointed when they traded him for Wayne Granger. The Twins trade Granger to a year later for What looked to be nothing,

They received back a 26 year old outfielder who a year earlier wasn’t good enough to crack the historically bad (with the exception of Carlton) Phillies roster. The Phillies traded him to the Dodgers for Tom Hutton who then traded him to the Cardinals for Greg Millikan. 

Larry Hisle made up for the loss of Tom Hall but they could have had both.

… and two for Seth that never got the chance. Chuck Weatherspoon  and Ollie Brantley were cited by Rod Carew in his book as being a great help getting through the minors. Both started out in the negro leagues in the 50s. Both were in the Twins system from years playing and mentoring several future Twins including Rod Carew, Jim Kaat, Zoilo Versailles, Tony Oliva, Cesar Tovar, Bert Blyleven and Tom Hall.

 

[Rick Blaine]

On 6/24/2021 at 4:42 PM, East Coast Twin said:

Jim Holt.

 

Jim Holt would be my pick also.  Rich Reese close second. 

It was highly suspected Holt didn't make the 25 man roster in 1972 as that would make an odd number of African-American players on the roster and Calvin Griffith wouldn't allow black and white players room together on the road.  He came up in September and hit over .400!

[strumdatjag]

On 6/24/2021 at 1:44 PM, stringer bell said:

Gary Wayne.

Gary Wayne was very nice to my one year old daughter at a Spring Training Game.  My favorite lesser known Twin.   

Bombo Rivera deserves to be remembered as a much better player.  

[TopGunn#22]

I'm late to this so many of of first thoughts are already taken.  (JorgensWest nailed it with Tommy (The Blade) Hall and Larry Hisle.

Reese---The greatest Twins game I ever saw was in 1969. A friend invited me to a Twins game for his birthday and we had seats right behind the Twins dugout.  Reese hit a pinch hit Grand Slam off Dave McNally to beat the Orioles and end McNally's 16-game personal win streak.  I was 11 years old.  I'll never forget it.  (and yes, Billy Martin sent Reese a LH hitter up to hit againt a LH pitcher in McNally).

Gagne, Tovar,  loved them BOTH.

Here's one who never got to play for the Twins but in 1969/1970 he was really hyped by Herb Carneal and the broadcast team.

Herman Hill.  His nickname was "Beep Beep" because of his speed.  Tragically, he was killed in a boating accident.

[Rigby]

Longtime Charlotte Hornet - Minnie Mendoza.

[Eris]

Danny Thompson (called up to replace an injured Rod Carew). This was the year I started listening to the Twins. 
 

John Castino for his defensive hustle. 

[Craig Arko]

Have not seen Bob Darwin mentioned, so I’ll recall those long HR’s.

[scottyc35]

I got to meet Jim Eisenreich at a golf tournament when i was about 11 years old. I think that was before he left the team for good. My dad was in radio so we had fairway access and we met him briefly. I couldn't stop staring, he was super weird. Eyes darting, looking over his shoulders, shuffling from foot to foot like he had to pee, constantly exhaling, puffing out his cheeks, almost hyperventilating. He didn't say a word to either of us, but he was nice enough to sign my card w/ a ballpoint pen. We got to see him tee off later in his round: 400 yards off the tee, easy... I was happy to see him make it back to the MLB and have a decent career. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

11 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

Bombo Rivera deserves to be remembered as a much better player.

You rang?

Add Dave Goltz.

And just for fun, tack on Bartolo "Big Sexy" Colon,  who may still be taking calls if the injury situation becomes even more severe.