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Jeff A

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Blog Entries posted by Jeff A

  1. Jeff A
    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 2001 and AAA in 2002. The latter was his best minor league season, as he hit .318 with 20 homers in a year split between New Britain and Rochester. Ford came up to the Twins in May of 2003, did well in limited playing time that year and became a regular the following season. 2004 was by far his best year: he hit .299 with 15 homers and 72 RBIs, and actually received a ninth-place vote for MVP that year. Ford declined after that, losing his starting spot in 2006 when he hit only .226. He split time in 2007 between AAA and Minnesota and was released after the season. As a Twin, he batted .272/.349/.402 with 32 homers and 172 RBIs. After leaving the Twins, Ford went to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers. He signed a minor-league contract with Colorado in March of 2009, but failed to make the Rockies. He spent most of 2009 playing for the Long Island Ducks, although he did play briefly for AAA Louisville in the Cincinnati organization. Ford began 2010 playing in Mexico, but was released in mid-May despite the fact that he was hitting .314 with 13 doubles and 5 homers in 140 at-bats. He went back to the Ducks for 2011 and played very well. He was doing even better for them in 2012 when he signed with the Baltimore organization in mid-May. He was sent to AAA Norfolk, continued to hit well, and in late July, after an absence of about four and a half years, Lew Ford was back in the big leagues. He was a free agent after the season, re-signed with Baltimore, and has missed much of the season with injury. Who knows what will happen from here, but whatever happens, Lew Ford has definitely beaten the odds.
  2. Jeff A
    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 to AA in 1967 and AAA in 1968. Campisi was a starter in rookie ball but was primarily a reliever after that. He made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in 1969 and spent almost all of 1970 with them. Control trouble, which was never a problem in the minors, plagued him in the majors, as he walked over six per nine innings with St. Louis. In the off-season, the Cardinals traded Campisi to the Twins with Jim Kennedy for Charlie Wissler and Herman Hill. He made the team out of spring training, but he pitched only 4.1 innings in six games with Minnesota, with no win-loss record and a 4.15 ERA, before being sent down to AAA. He was let go after that season, and his playing career came to an end. He walked only 2.5 batters per nine innings in 718 minor league innings, but averaged 6.7 in 63.1 major league innings. Sal Campisi was inducted into the Long Island University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. At last report, it appeared that Sal Campisi was living in Lakeland, Florida.
     
     
    Right-handed palm ball specialist James Michael Hughes pitched for the Twins from 1974-1977. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Playa del Rey, California, and was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-third round in 1969. He had poor control early in his minor league career, a problem which got better as he went up the minor league ladder. Unfortunately, he became easier to hit at higher levels as well, so that he regularly posted WHIPs around 1.5 with the exception of 1972, when he had his best year as a minor leaguer, going 13-9, 2.58, 1.17 WHIP for Class A Lynchburg. In 1974, he went 10-12, 4.83, 1.43 WHIP, which was deemed good enough for a September call-up. He spent the next two years in the Twins’ rotation. By far the better year was 1975, when he went 16-14, 3.82 in 249.1 innings with 12 complete games, although also with a WHIP of 1.47. His WHIP was about the same in 1976, but he went 9-14, 4.98. He began 1977 in the Twins’ bullpen, but was sent to AAA after only two appearances, never to return. He had a poor year in Tacoma and was released after the season. Hughes signed with the White Sox for 1978 but was released in late March. He signed with Texas a few days later, but made only eight AAA appearances with them. He was in AAA for the Dodgers in 1979, posting an ERA of 3.00 but a WHIP of 1.61 in 36 innings. His playing career came to an end after that. There are lots and lots of people named “Jim Hughes”; wikipedia has entries for 23 of them. No information about what happened to “our” Jim Hughes left baseball was readily available.
  3. Jeff A
    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 before sticking with the club in 1991. He spent two full years in San Diego, playing fairly regularly in left field, but did not hit very well. He was left unprotected and was taken by Colorado in the expansion draft. He was a mostly-regular for the Rockies in 1993 and had his best major league season, batting .283 with 13 homers. It was not enough for the Rockies, however, and Clark opted to go to Japan in 1994. The Twins signed him as a free agent, and he spent 1995 with Minnesota, appearing in 36 games. He had a good year as a reserve outfielder, batting .339/.354/.550 in 109 at-bats. The Twins apparently attributed it to small sample size, however, as he was let go after the season. He played for Calgary in the Pittsburgh organization in 1996, but did not make it back to the big leagues, and called it a career after playing nine games for Duluth-Superior in the Northern League in 1997. After his baseball career ended, Jerald Clark got a bachelor’s degree in computer science and is now selling real estate in San Diego. His brother, Phil Clark, played in the majors from 1992-96.
     
     
    Catcher Wilson Abraham (Campos) Ramos played in seven games for the Twins in 2010. He was born in Valencia, Venezuela, and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 2004. He hit well every year in the minors other than 2010, hitting .317 at AA New Britain in 2009. After a good year of winter ball, he got off to a horrible start at AAA Rochester. Still, due to an injury to Joe Mauer, he was brought up to the Twins for a little over a week in May of 2010. He came in with a bang, getting seven hits in his first nine at-bats bofore going 1-for-18 in his other five games. As a Twin, Wilson Ramos hit .296/.321/.407 in 27 at-bats. Sent back to Rochester, he struggled for a while, but got things going in July, raising his average to .241. On July 29, 2010, he was traded to Washington with Joe Testa for Matt Capps. He was sent to AAA Syracuse, hit well, and got a September call-up. He was the mostly-regular catcher for the Nationals in 2011 and had a fine year, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting. Things have not gone well for him since, although it really hasn’t been his fault. He was kidnapped in Venezuela over the off-season, and fortunately he was released unharmed. He played in only 25 games in 2012 before tearing his ACL, an injury which ended his season. He missed a couple more months in 2013. He turns 26 today and has played well when he’s been healthy. If he can stay healthy, he should have a substantial major league career.
  4. Jeff A
    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 28-18, 2.62, 1.16 WHIP in 415 innings. He made the Twins out of spring training in 1973 as a reliever and flourished there. He was the Twins’ closer in 1974 and 1976; despite the fact that he’d had a good year as closer in 1974, the Twins used Tom Burgmeier as their primary closer in 1975, even placing Campbell in the rotation for a few weeks. Even when he was the closer, he was not used as a modern closer would be–he often pitched more than one inning, and was often used in games where the Twins were tied or behind. This usage enabled him to get 17 relief wins in 1976, one off the major league record, along with 20 saves. He also led the league in appearances that year, working in 78 games and pitching 167.2 innings. He also finished seventh in Cy Young balloting and eighth in MPV voting. He became a free agent at the end of that year, one of the first of many to leave the Twins in that era. As a Twin, Bill Campbell appeared in 216 games, pitched 460.2 innings, and went 32-21 with 51 saves and a 3.13 ERA. He signed with Boston and had a fine year as closer in 1977, saving 31 games and making the all-star team, but then his high workload may have started taking its toll, as he began suffering from injuries and ineffectiveness. Still, he remained with the Red Sox for five seasons before becoming a free agent again and signing with the Cubs. He had two decent years in their bullpen, leading the league with 82 appearances in 1983. He played for Philadelphia in 1984, St. Louis in 1985, and Detroit in 1986, pitching well for each team. He pitched briefly for Montreal in 1987, but did not pitch well and was released in May, ending his playing career. He was a pitching coach in the minors for a few years. At last report, Bill Campbell was working for the Fox Valley Sports Academy of Elgin, Illinois.
     
     
    Outfielder John William Moses played for the Twins from 1988-1990. He was born in Los Angeles, attended the University of Arizona, and was a 16th round draft choice for the Seattle Mariners in 1980. He hit for a decent average in the minors and drew a pretty good number of walks, although he had no power. Moses reached the majors in 1982 and spent parts of the next six seasons with Seattle, with 1987 his only full season there. Moses hit .322 in 621 at-bats over two seasons at AAA Calgary from 1985-1986. He was a semi-regular center fielder for the Mariners from 1986-1987, but only hit around .250. Released after the 1987 season, he was signed by the Twins just before the 1988 campaign. He spent the next three years as a part-time player, often being used as a defensive replacement or a pinch-runner when not in the starting lineup. His best year as a Twin was 1988, when he hit .316. He was considered a base stealer, and had double digit stolen bases five times in his career, but his success rate was only sixty-four percent in his career. He had a total of 620 at-bats in 349 games with the Twins, batting .276/.335/.358. with four home runs and 57 RBIs. He left the Twins after the 1990 season and bounced around quite a bit, being a part of the Boston, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Seattle organizations over the next two years, spending time in the big leagues with the latter two. He last played in 1992 with Seattle. He has stayed in baseball since then, coaching in both the majors and the minors. He was the batting coach for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League in 2011, and was named the league’s coach of the year. No word on what he did in 2012, but he is currently the batting coach of the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Class A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
     
     
    Right-hander Patrick Lavon Mahomes pitched for the Twins from 1992-1996. He was born in Bryan, Texas, went to high school in Lindale, Texas, and was drafted by Minneota in the sixth round in 1988. He pitched very well in the minors, but not so well in the majors. In 43 AAA starts for Minnesota, he went 23-14, 3.26, 1.31 WHIP. He made the Twins out of spring training in 1992. He spent parts of 1992-93 in the minors before sticking in 1994, his best year, when he went 9-5 with a 4.72 ERA. In every other season as a Twin, his ERA was over six. A move to the bullpen in 1995 did not improve matters. As a Twin, he was 18-28, 5.82, 1.62 WHIP in 114 games, 51 of them starts. He was traded to Boston in August of 1996 for Brian Looney. He stayed with Boston through the end of the 1997 season, was out of baseball in 1998, and was with the Mets in 1999-2000. He actually had a fine year in the Mets’ bullpen in 1999, coming up in mid-May and going 8-0, 3.68, 1.27 WHIP in 63.2 innings. He could not sustain it, however, as his ERA was over five the next year. He became a free agent after that season, went to Texas in 2001, the Cubs in 2002, and Pittsburgh in 2003. He had a career ERA of 5.47, and only was under 5.00 three times, but managed to pitch in the big leagues in parts of 11 seasons. After leaving the big leagues, he pitched for the Montreal, Florida, L. A. Dodgers, Kansas City, and Toronto organizations, He also appeared in independent ball, most recently pitching for the Sioux Falls Canaries in 2009. At last report, he was a pitching instructor at the Thomas Hitting Academy, a youth baseball instructional school in Longview, Texas. His son, also named Pat Mahomes, is doing very well in high school baseball in Texas.
     
     
    Outfielder Ryan Ashley Radmanovich did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them. Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he attended Pepperdine University and was a 14th-round draft choice of the Twins in 1993. He spent five years in the Twins minor-league system, the first three in Class A (although he was apparently injured much of 1995). He hit with power, hitting over 20 home runs three times in the Twins’ organization. His OPS was over .800 in every minor league season with the Twins. Still, the Twins apparently did not have any faith in him, and put him on waivers in late March of 1998. Seattle selected him, and he saw his only major-league action that season, making the team out of spring training. He went back to the minors in mid-May, but came back as a September call-up. He hit .217/.260/.362 for Seattle with 2 homers and 10 RBIs in 69 at-bats. Let go by the Mariners after 1999, he saw action in the San Diego organization from 2000-2001 and the Pittsburgh organization in 2001-2002. He played in independent leagues from 2003-2009, spending most of that time with Somerset in the Atlantic League. He also played for Canada in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008. A power hitter, he had 269 minor league home runs. His career line in AAA was .274/.360/.469. He seems like he could have helped somebody if he’d been given a chance to play. Ryan Radmanovich is currently an instructor with Swanson’s Professional Baseball Instruction of Berlin, Connecticut.
     
     
    Third baseman Michael Robert Lamb played for the Twins in part of the 2008 season. He was born in West Covina, California, went to high school in La Puente, California, attended Cal State–Fullerton, and was drafted by Texas in the seventh round in 1997. He had some good years in the minors, most notably 1999, when he hit .324 with 21 home runs for AA Tulsa. He came up to the Rangers in 2000 and was the regular third baseman that year, hitting .278 but with only six home runs. He spent the next few years as a part-time player, spending substantial time in the minors in 2001 and 2003. Just before spring training of 2004, he was traded to the Yankees for Jose Garcia, but he never played for the Yankees, getting traded just before the 2004 season to Houston for Juan DeLeon. He was a semi-regular for the Astros for four years, generally getting 300-400 at-bats. He did pretty well with the playing time he got, hitting over .280 with an OPS over .800 three times for Houston. Lamb became a free agent after the 2007 season and signed with Minnesota. He was with the Twins for most of 2008 before being released in early September. He had 236 at-bats as a Twin, batting .233/.276/.322 with 1 homer and 32 RBIs. He finished 2008 with Milwaukee, but was released by the Brewers just before the 2009 season. He spent 2009 with Buffalo in the Mets organization, then became a free agent and signed with Florida for 2010. He made the Marlins out of spring training and was with them through mid-July, used mostly as a pinch-hitter. He hit only .184, however, and was sent to AAA New Orleans, where he hit very well. He was a free agent again after the 2010 season and went unsigned. It appeared his playing career was over, but in late June of 2011 he signed with the Yankees, who sent him to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He did well there, but did not get called up. He became a free agent and does not appear to have signed with anyone, so his career is likely over. He currently operates Mike Lamb Baseball, offering private hitting instruction in Riverview, Florida.
     
     
    Left-hander Brian Christopher Fuentes appeared in nine games for the Twins in 2010. Born and raised in Merced, California, he was drafted by Seattle in the twenty-fifth round in 1995. He was a starting pitcher for most of his time in the minors and did not have much success above low Class A. He was moved to the bullpen when he was promoted to AAA in 2001 and the move paid off. He did very well there and was promoted to the big leagues for about six weeks. After the 2001 season, Seattle sent him to Colorado as part of a deal for Jeff Cirillo. He began 2002 back in AAA, but was with the Rockies by late May and never went back to the minors again, other than a few rehab assignments. He was with the Rockies through 2008 and always did well for them with the exception of 2004, when he was battling injuries. He generally appeared in 60-80 games and pitched 60-80 innings. He became the Rockies’ closer in 2005 and saved around 30 games a season. A free agent after the 2008 season, he signed with the Angels for 2009. He actually had a down year in many statistical categories, but led the league in saves for the only time of his career with 48. He was doing better in 2010 when he was traded to Minnesota in late August for a player to be named later (Loek Van Mil). In his nine games for the Twins, he worked 9.2 innings, gave up three hits and two walks, and struck out eight. He was 0-0, 0.00 with 1 save and a WHIP of 0.52. He again became a free agent after the season and signed with Oakland. He had a decent season with the Athletics and returned there for 2012, but pitched poorly and was released July 11. He signed with St. Louis July 14 but made only six appearances before asking to be placed on the restricted list for personal reasons. There was never an official announcement, but one gathers that he simply had gotten tired of being away from his family. He retired after the season. There is no word on what he is doing now, but one suspects he is enjoying time with his family and may not be anxious to do a whole lot else just yet.
     
     
    Catcher Andrew Edward Butera played for the Twins from 2010-2013. The son of ex-Twin Sal Butera, he was born in Evansville, Illinois and drafted by the Mets in the fifth round in 2005. He has never hit–his career minor league line is .216/.293/.319–but he is known as an outstanding defensive player. He seems to have been a part-time or semi-regular catcher even in the minors, topping 300 at-bats only twice in seven minor league seasons. He was traded by the Mets to Minnesota on July 30, 2007 with Dustin Martin for Luis Castillo. He finished 2007 with New Britain, then played for Rochester from 2008-2009. He was expected to be in Rochester again in 2010, but got his chance in the majors when Jose Morales was hurt during spring training. It’s hard to say that he made the most of it, as he batted only .197, but he stayed with the team all season. He was with the Twins most of 2011 and hit even worse, batting .167. He had his best offensive season in 2012, hitting .198/.270/.279. He spent most of 2013 in Rochester, appearing in two games for the Twins when Joe Mauer was on paternity leave. On July 31, 2013 he was traded to the Dodgers for a player to be named later and was sent to AAA Albuquerque. His career major league line is .182/.230/.263 in 490 at-bats. He turns 30 today. He will never hit, but there are lots of non-hitting catchers who have had long careers as backups. It’s entirely possible that Drew Butera will be around as a AAA/major league reserve for quite some time yet.
  5. Jeff A
    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, especially when he was moved to the bullpen in 1983. He made it to the majors that year and spent two years with the Yankees, pitching pretty well in relief, before being traded to the Cubs in the 1984-85 off-season in another multi-player deal which included, among others, Ron Hassey and Henry Cotto. After a year and a half in Chicago, he was traded to Minnesota along with Julius McDougal and George Frazier for Dewayne Coleman and Ron Davis. He appeared in fifteen games for the Twins that year, getting no wins, losses, or saves in 16.1 innings with a 9.92 ERA. The Twins released him after the season. He signed with the Giants before the 1987 season, but did not make it out of spring training. Houston picked him up, but released him after he pitched poorly in AAA, and he did not appear in organized baseball again. At last report, Ray Fontenot had moved back to Louisiana and was a territory manager for Tyco International.
     
     
    Outfielder David Keith Meier played for the Twins in 1984-1985. He was born in Helena, Montana, went to high school in Fresno, California, attended Stanford, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1981. He hit well at all of his minor league stops, posting an average of well over .300 every year but one. He hit .336 in AAA Toledo in 1983 and made the Twins out of spring training in 1984. He was with the Twins for two full seasons, but struggled to get playing time in an outfield that featured Kirby Puckett, Tom Brunansky, and Mickey Hatcher. He batted .247/.317/.323 with the Twins in 251 at-bats. Meier was released by the Twins after the 1985 season, and was out of baseball in 1986 before attempting a comeback with the Rangers in 1987. He hit .320 with 18 homers at AAA Oklahoma City, but got only a September call-up and was allowed to become a free agent after the season. He was traded to the Cubs for the 1988 season and again had a tremendous year in AAA, hitting .305 with 20 homers in AAA Iowa, but again got only a September call-up. After that he apparently decided to call it quits, as his playing career came to an end. At last report, Dave Meier was living in Fresno and working as an agent.
     
     
    Left-hander Craig Andrew Breslow was with the Twins for part of the 2008-2009 seasons. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, went to high school in Trumbull, Connecticut, and was drafted by Milwaukee in the twenty-sixth round in 2002. A reliever throughout his career, he did very well in rookie ball in 2002 but struggled when promoted to Class A in 2003. The Brewers released him in July of 2004 and he finished the year playing for independent New Jersey. San Diego signed him in March of 2005, and after pitching very well in AA and decently in a brief stint at AAA, he reached the majors in July 0f 2005. Breslow became a free agent after that season and signed with Boston. He spent most of his two years with the Red Sox in AAA, although he got into thirteen games with the big club in 2006. He was waived in March of 2008 and selected by Cleveland. He appeared in only seven games for the Indians before being waived again, and was chosen by Minnesota. He pitched very well for the Twins in 2008 and not so well in 2009: as a Twin, he was 1-4, 2.89, 1.13 WHIP in 53 innings over 59 games. The Twins put him on waivers in May of 2009 and he was chosen by Oakland, where he pitched quite well. He stayed there through the end of 2011, then was traded to Arizona. He did a good job for the Diamondbacks, but was again traded at the end of July, this time to Boston, for whom he continues to play. For someone who has bounced around this much, he has some good overall major-league numbers: 2.95 ERA, only 321 hits allowed in 381.1 innings. He has also walked 150 in those innings, which is not great, but his walk rate seems to have come down in recent years. As a 33-year-old lefthander, he may be around for quite some time yet, although he may have to pack his suitcase a few more times along the way.
  6. Jeff A
    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 Braves apparently did not believe in him, as he played only 60 games above AA in his six years with them. The Twins selected Henry in the Rule 5 draft after the 1960 season. He spent all of 1961 with the Twins as the third catcher behind Earl Battey and Hal Naragon, but played in only 20 games (only six of them in the field) and got just 28 at-bats. Still only 25, he went back to the minors, spending all of 1962 in AAA Vancouver and splitting 1963 between AA and AAA. He had a strong year with AA Charlotte in 1964, hitting .307 with 17 homers, resulting in his getting 41 more at-bats with the Twins in 1964. He was in AAA Denver in 1965-1966, but by then his time had passed. In 1967, the Twins sent him to Houston; as a Twin, Ron Henry hit .130/.176/.261 in 69 at-bats. He was in the Houston system through 1968, but did not play in the majors again. His playing career came to an end after that. There are lots of people in the world named Ron Henry, and many of them appear to live in Pennsylvania. No information that could be linked to “our” Ron Henry was readily available.
     
     
    Left-hander Gary Richard Dotter pitched briefly for the Twins in 1961, 1963, and 1964. He was born in St. Louis and signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in 1960. He did not do that much that year, but was drafted by the Twins in the first-year player draft after the 1960 season. He went 14-8, 3.08 for Class B Wilson, getting a September call-up and appearing in two games with the Twins at age 19. He went to Class A Charlotte in 1962 and AAA Dallas-Ft. Worth in 1963, and pitched well in both spots, getting another two-game cup of coffee with the Twins in ’63. Dotter appears to have been injured in 1964–he did not play in the minors at all, and only appeared in three games in September with the big club. After 1964, he went to the Houston organization, pitching for them through 1967. He did pretty well, but he never got another chance at the major leagues. His playing career ended after the 1967 season. Altogether, he spent three seasons in AAA, pitching 333 innings with a 3.43 ERA, but only pitched 12.1 major league innings, all with the Twins, and was out of baseball at age 25. As a Twin, Gary Dotter appeared in seven games and pitched 12.1 innings. He gave up eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and seven walks with ten strikeouts, for an ERA of 5.11. He had control problems throughout his career, but he seems like he might have been able to help somebody if he’d been given more of a chance. There was an indication that Gary Dotter may currently be living in Trophy Club, Texas, but this could not be confirmed.
     
     
    Outfielder Michael Harold Poepping played in fourteen games for the Twins in 1975. A big man (6’6″, 230 lbs.), he was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, went to high school in Pierz, Minnesota, and attended Brainerd Junior College and St. Cloud State. He signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1969. He was in rookie ball for two years and Class A for four years, never hitting as high as .240 but developing some power. He had his best year in the minors in 1974 at AA Orlando, hitting .262 with 23 home runs. He dropped to .249 with 19 homers in AAA Tacoma in 1975, but that was good enough to get him a September call-up. He started eleven games for the Twins in right field that September, hitting .135/.238/.162 in 37 at-bats. He was back in Tacoma in 1976 but dropped to .225 with 15 homers. That was all the Twins needed to see; his playing career came to an end after that season. Still, he was an undrafted free agent who made the big leagues, and that’s something not a lot of people can say. Sadly, life after baseball did not go entirely well for him; he went back to Pierz, but was jailed in 2002 for watching and videotaping his stepdaughter through a two-way mirror in the bathroom over a period of six years. It appears that he is still living in Pierz; it is to be hoped that he has somehow managed to get his life straightened out.
     
     
    Right-handed reliever Daniel Peter Graves did not play for the Twins, but was in AAA Rochester in 2008. He was born in Saigon to an American serviceman and a Vietnamese mother, the only Vietnam-born player to appear in the major leagues. He went to high school in Brandon, Florida, attended the University of Miami, and was drafted by Cleveland in the fourth round in 1994. A reliever throughout his minor league career, he did very well in the Indians’ farm system and was with the Indians for about seven weeks in 1996. He appeared briefly with the Indians in 1997, then was traded to Cincinnati in a trade that involved ex-Twin John Smiley. He pitched well in a set-up role in 1998 and became the team’s closer in 1999. He remained in that role through 2004 with the exception of 2003, when an experiment to convert Graves to a starter proved unsuccessful. He did a good job as the Reds closer, saving 182 games and being named to two all-star teams. His best year as a Red was probably 2000, when he went 10-5, 2.56 with 30 saves. 2004 was his last good year, however; he was released in late May of 2005 after posting an ERA over seven in 20 games. He signed with the Mets in June, was released again in August, and was out of baseball the rest of the season. He started 2006 with Cleveland, but was sent to the minors in early May and would not make it back to the majors. He signed with Colorado for 2007, was released in March, and spent the 2007 season pitching for the independent Long Island Ducks before signing with the Twins organization in the spring of 2008. He pitched well in New Britain, but did not pitch well in Rochester, and was released after the season. He signed with Houston for 2009, but was released at the end of spring training and his career came to a close. Danny Graves is a member of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. At last report, Danny Graves was the owner of Grip It & Rip It Baseball in San Antonio. He was also a baseball analyst on the Longhorn Network.
  7. Jeff A
    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 that year, and then spent the next three seasons in New York, pitching very well as a set-up man for Goose Gossage. He won 27 games out of the bullpen with 22 saves in three seasons, regularly posting ERAs below three. He made the all-star team in 1981, a rarity for a set-up man. In April of 1982, he was traded to Minnesota along with Paul Boris and Greg Gagne for Roy Smalley. He was immediately installed as the closer, and mixed some brilliant performances with some memorable meltdowns over roughly four and a half years with the Twins. He appeared in 286 games as a Twin, averaging nearly a strikeout per inning, but going 19-40 with 108 saves, an ERA of 4.51, and a WHIP of 1.49. He fell apart in 1986, posting an ERA over nine and losing the closer role before being traded to the Cubs in August along with Dewayne Coleman for Julius McDougal, Ray Fontenot, and George Frazier. He bounced around after that. The Cubs released him in August of 1987; he finished the season with the Dodgers but was released again in March of 1988. The Giants signed him and he pitched in Phoenix for two seasons, not doing badly but only getting back to the big leagues at the end of the 1988 season. The Yankees gave him one last chance in 1990, sending him to AAA Columbs, but he could never get his old form back, and his playing career ended after that season. At last report, Ron Davis was the owner of Major League School of Baseball in Scottsdale, Arizona, which “has been educating young baseball players for over 20 years.” His son, Ike Davis, plays first base for the New York Mets.
     
     
    Catcher Christopher John Heintz played briefly for the Twins from 2005-2007. He was born in Syosset, New York, went to high school in Clearwater, Florida, and was drafted in the 19th round by the White Sox in 1996. He was in the White Sox’ system for six years, hitting well at Class A but not as well at higher levels. He went to the Cardinals and had a good year for them, hitting .314 at AA New Haven. St. Louis allowed him to become a free agent after the season, though, and he signed with the Pirates organization. Heintz did not have a particularly good year at AA Altoona, and was now 29, so he was allowed to become a free agent again and signed with Minnesota in November of 2003. He had only had ten at-bats above AA at that point, but the Twins sent him to AAA Rochester. He was a decent but unspectacular batter there, posting better batting averages than one might expect, but without many walks or much power. Still, he was a catcher, and the Twins are always looking for a third or fourth catcher, so he got brief appearances with the big club. He was a September call-up in 2005 and 2006 and had three stints with them in 2007, totalling nearly half the season. He had 82 at-bats in those appearances, batting .232/.267/.268. Let go by the Twins after 2007, he signed with the Baltimore organization and spent 2008 at AAA Norfolk, after which his playing career ended. He was the hitting coach for the Beloit Snappers in 2009 and was scheduled to manage the GCL Twins in 2010, but chose instead to take a job as hitting coach with the University of South Florida, a school Heintz had attended. He remains in that position, and in September will be inducted into the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.
  8. Jeff A
    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 level. He broke out of that in 1962, when he hit .321 with 13 homers and 97 RBIs for AAA Denver. He got a September call-up that year, and started 1963 in the majors with Detroit. He saw most of his time as a reserve third baseman, but also played some at first and both corner outfield positions. He was traded to the Angels at mid-season, where the same pattern continued. He began 1964 in AAA, where he was hitting .344 when he was traded to Minnesota as part of a three-team trade (including Cleveland) in which the Twins acquired Kostro and Jerry Kindall in exchange for Lenny Green and Vic Power. The Twins often used him as a pinch-hitter; when he did play, he was all over the diamond, playing third, second, first, left, and right. He did well with his limited opportunities in 1964, hitting .272 in 103 at-bats, but in 1965 he hit just .161 in 31 at-bats and was sent back to the minors in mid-June. He stayed there through the 1966 season, continuing to hit well at AAA. He started 1967 at AAA as well, but was brought up in mid-June after hitting .369 there. He still did not get to play, however, batting only 31 times the rest of the season. 1968 was Kostro’s only full season in the majors, but he still got only 108 at-bats. He was back in AAA the next season, hit .311, but only got two major league at-bats in a September call-up. His American playing career ended after that season, although he played in Japan in 1970. As a Twin, he hit .251/.292/.331 in 275 at-bats spread over five seasons. He hit .311 in ten AAA seasons; one has to think he could have helped a major league team if he’d been given a chance to play. Frank Kostro is the owner of Kostro Insurance of Denver, is active in baseball alumni events, and is also an accomplished handball player.
     
     
    Catcher Matthew Bates Merullo played for the Twins in 1995. He came from a baseball family: his grandfather, Lennie Merullo, was a shortstop for the Cubs in the 1940s and his father, Boots Merullo, played in the Pittsburgh organization. Matt was born in Winchester, Massachusettes, attended the University of North Carolina, and was drafted by the White Sox in the seventh round in 1986. He hit for good averages in the minors, although without much power. He was promoted from AA in 1988 to the majors in1989, backing up Carlton Fisk, but was sent back to the minors after two months. He continued to hit well in AA and made it back to the majors at the start of the 1991 season, again backing up Fisk but also acting as a reserve first baseman. He played a similar role in 1992, but was sent back to the minors in mid-June when he was hitting only .180. He mostly stayed in AAA through 1994, getting only brief call-ups to the majors. He hit very well there, batting .332 in 1993 and .300 in 1994, with twelve home runs each season. The latter of those seasons was in the Cleveland organization, to whom he was traded on March 30, 1994. He became a free agent after that season and signed with Minnesota. He stayed with the Twins for all of the 1995 season, backing up Matt Walbeck and making a few appearances at DH. He had his best major league season for the Twins, hitting .285/.333/.379 in 195 at-bats. The Twins did not retain him, however, and he was back in AAA in 1996, playing in the Cubs and Angels organizations. His playing career came to an end after that season. Matt Merullo operates Pro Advantage Baseball in Connecticut. He was an area scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but this year is the manager of the Aberdeen IronBirds in the Orioles organization.
     
     
    Left-hander Eric Robert Milton played for the Twins from 1998-2003. He was born in State College, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, then attended the University of Maryland. He was drafted by the Yankees in the first round in 1996. He had a good season in the minors in 1997, split between A and AA, then was traded to Minnesota with Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Danny Mota, and cash for Chuck Knoblauch. The Twins immediately put him into their starting rotation, where he stayed for five seasons. After a rough rookie year he settled in as a decent, unspectacular starting pitcher, generally pitching around 200 innings and posting ERAs in the mid-fours. He threw a no-hitter in 1999. He had very good WHIPs and did not walk very many, but was susceptible to the home run. He won fifteen games in 2001 and made the all-star team, but was not all that much better that season than in any other. Milton missed most of 2003 due to injury, making only three starts in September. After that season, he was traded to Philadelphia for Nick Punto, Carlos Silva, and a player to be named later (Bobby Korecky). As a Twin, Eric Milton was 57-51, 4.76, 1.29 WHIP. He appeared in 166 games, all but one a start, and worked 987.1 innings. He was in Philadelphia for one season and pitched about the same as he had for the Twins, although due to the ballpark he gave up even more home runs. A free agent after the season, he signed with Cincinnati, where he played for three seasons. Things did not go well for Milton as a Red; again, the small ballpark apparently hurt him. He suffered an elbow injury in 2007, missed all of 2008, and came back with the Dodgers in 2009, making five starts before missing the rest of the year with a herniated disk. He went unsigned for 2010 and his playing career came to an end. He became an assistant baseball coach at the University of Maryland in September of 2011 and was named the interim head coach in late June of 2012 when the team’s head coach took another job. He did not hold the position long, however, as a new head coach was named in mid-July. At last report, Eric Milton was the baseball coach of Severna Park High School in Severna Park, Maryland.
  9. Jeff A
    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, 2.78 with 23 saves and a WHIP of 1.22 for AAA Rochester. He got a September call-up with the Twins, pitching 9.2 innings. He was 0-1, 5.59, but with a WHIP of 1.35. He did very well until his last outing, in which he gave up five runs in one inning. If you eliminate that, his numbers are 0-0, 1.04, 0.92 WHIP in 8.2 innings. After the 2005 season, Bowyer was traded to Florida with Scott Tyler for Luis Castillo. He was thought of as a potential closer, but sadly, he suffered a torn rotator cuff that spring. He spent a couple of years trying to come back, but was not able to do so. It looked as if his career had come to an end, but apparently the desire to play ball never left him. He played amateur baseball for a few years, then attempted a comeback with Somerset of the Atlantic League in 2012. He pitched in relief fifteen times and did well before landing on the disabled list in mid-June. No information was available regarding whether this injury was related to his previous injury, but he did not return and there is no report of him pitching anywhere in 2013. One assumes that his baseball career is over now, but he’s only 32, and we’ve assumed that before.
  10. Jeff A
    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 nine home runs for Class A Wisconsin. He had a decent partial season at AA San Antonio in 2005 as well. He actually hit .396 for Seattle that season, but it was only in 48 at-bats. The next year, given 99 at-bats in the majors, he hit .152. He became a minor league free agent after the 2007 season and started bouncing around. He was in the Dodgers’ organization in 2008, in the Yankees’ system in 2009, and in the Mets’ chain in 2010. The Twins signed him for 2011. Rivera split the season between Rochester and Minnesota. His half-season in Rochester was actually one of his better ones, as he hit .268 with an OPS of .775. It did not translate to the majors, however, as he hit .144/.211/.202 for the Twins in 104 at-bats. He stayed in the Twins’ organization through 2012, serving as a part-time catcher for Rochester, then signed with the Padres for 2013. He actually was having a pretty good year in AAA Tucson when he was called up to the Padres as a reserve catcher in early July. His major league numbers, at this writing, are .196/.238/.278 in 270 at-bats. Unless you believe he suddenly figured something out in Tucson, there’s no reason to think he belongs in a major league uniform; on the other hand, there never really has been, yet there he is, so you never know. He may be one of these guys who hangs around as a backup catcher forever.
  11. Jeff A
    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 that, but he did hit .321 in AA Charlotte in 1966. He reached AAA in 1967 and made his major league debut that season as a September call-up. He appeared in eight games that year, seven as a pinch-runner and one as a pinch-hitter (he struck out). He came back to hit .306 in Denver in 1968, getting another September call-up. He played a little more, but did not play particularly better, going 4-for-35. Two of his hits were doubles and one was a home run, so his line as a Twin was .111/.200/.450. Kelly was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by Kansas City. He was a mostly-regular for two seasons, used primarily in right field but also playing some center. His offensive numbers were rather pedestrian, and he was traded to the White Sox after the 1970 season. He started 1971 in the minors, but after hitting .355 in AAA Tucson he was brought up to Chicago on July 1 and stayed there for five and a half years. Again playing mostly right field, he had some decent years for the Sox, generally hitting around .280 with OBPs in the .350s and around 20-25 stolen bases, although with little power. In 1973 he got off to a hot start and made the all-star team; he was hitting .327 on June 24, although he would finish at .280. In 1976, he was used as a reserve outfielder and part-time DH, but hit only .254. Kelly was traded to Baltimore after that season and had some productive years for the Orioles as a part-time player, seeing most of his playing time in left field. He became a free agent after the 1980 campaign and signed with Cleveland. He was a seldom-used outfielder/DH for the Indians in 1981, hit only .213, and his playing career came to an end. After that, he moved to Towson, Maryland and went into the ministry, working for Lifeline Ministries. Pat Kelly passed away from a heart attack on October 2, 2005 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
     
     
    Left-hander Scott Michael Diamond has pitched for the Twins since 2011. He was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and signed with Atlanta as a free agent in 2007. He pitched very well in the Braves’ system, never posting an ERA above 3.50 at any level. While a Brave, he actually pitched better in AAA than he had in AA, although it was only ten starts. After the 2010 season the Twins claimed him in the Rule 5 draft. Wanting to keep him around, but not wanting to keep him in the majors, the Twins traded minor league pitcher Billy Bullock to Atlanta for him. He spent most of 2011 at Rochester and did not do particularly well, to put it mildly: 4-14, 5.56 with a 1.58 WHIP. He made one start with the Twins in mid-July, filling in for an injured Scott Baker, and came back to the Twins’ rotation in late August. There was nothing about the results that was particularly impressive: seven starts, 39 innings 1-5, 5.08, 1.74 WHIP. He started 2012 back in Rochester, and did amazingly well, going 4-1, 2.60, 1.21 WHIP. He was called back to Minnesota in early May and has did well there, too: 12-9, 3.54, 1.24 WHIP. Over the winter, he had surgery to have bone chips removed from his elbow. That may or may not be related, but he has not been the same pitcher in 2013 at all. Clearly, something is going to have to change is Scott Diamond is going to have a long major league career.
  12. Jeff A
    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 20. He made four relief appearances, pitching a total of 6.1 innings. He gave up six runs on eight hits with a walk, giving him a line of 0-0, 8.53, 1.42 WHIP. He had another good year at Charlotte in 1965 and pitched well at AAA Denver in 1966, but that was as good as it got for him. He threw 247 innings in Denver that year, at age 22. It is unclear how that affected him, but he never had another good year and he never got back to the majors. Whitby stayed with the Twins’ organization until 1969, having a couple fair-to-middling seasons, then he moved on to St. Louis. He was with the Washington chain in 1970, and then his playing career came to an end. There’s a William E. Whitby of the correct age who lives in Huntersville, North Carolina, but it could not be determined if it is the same one.
     
     
    Right-hander Seth Adam Greisinger appeared in twelve games for the Twins in 2004. He was born in Kansas City, Kansas, went to high school in McLean, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia. He was drafted by Detroit with the sixth pick in the 1996 draft. He did not play in the minors, that season, opting to play for the United States Olympic team instead. He didn’t do much at AA in 1997, but his won-lost record looked good, and when he got off to a good start at AAA in 1998 he came up to Detroit in early June and went into the starting rotation. He stayed there the rest of the season, going 6-9, 5.12. He then suffered a serious injury and had Tommy John surgery, pitching only briefly in 1999 and not at all in 2000 or 2001. He came back in 2002, starting eight games in the majors and seven in the minors, but did not pitch very well. He spent all of 2003 in AAA Toledo and pitched fairly well, but by then the Tigers no longer considered him a prospect. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 2004. He was the Twins’ fifth starter until mid-June, making nine starts and three relief appearances. He went 2-5, 6.18, 1.63 WHIP in 51 innings. Greisinger went to AAA Rochester the rest of the season, did not pitch well, and became a free agent again. He had a fine half-season for AAA Richmond in the Atlanta organization in 2005, making one appearance in the majors. The Braves had no plans for him, however, and gave him his release so he could pitch in Korea. He stayed there through 2006, then signed with the Yakult Swallows in the Japan Central League. He moved on to the Yomiuri Giants in 2008, and was with them through 2011. He did well in 2008 and 2009, but was again hit by injuries, making only fifteen starts in 2011 and 2012 combined. Greisinger moved on to Chiba Lotte for 2012, stayed healthy and had an excellent year. He is back with Chibe Lotte in 2013. He had some bad luck in the United States, but has found success in Japan, so it appears that the Seth Greisinger story has at least had some semblance of a happy ending.
  13. Jeff A
    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 San Jose, hitting .292 with 11 homers. He also played in the NBA, playing a total of 357 minutes for the Lakers and the San Francisco Warriors in the 1964-65 season. He had a solid year in AA in 1965, hitting .294 with 20 homers, but flopped when promoted to AAA in 1966. The Angels gave up on him, trading him in early May of 1967 for a fading Moose Skowron. He bounced back that season, hitting .274 with 28 homers in AAA, and got a September call-up, going 0-for-3. He also gave pro basketball another shot that off-season, playing 786 minutes for the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels (he later regretted trying to juggle the two sports, wishing he had stuck to baseball). He had a bad year in 1968, and in April of 1969 was traded to Pittsburgh for pitcher Ed Hobaugh. The trade was voided on July 8 because Hobaugh quit, and the players involved were returned to their original clubs. The White Sox really didn’t want Nash, though, and traded him to Minnesota on July 15 for a player to be named later (Jerry Crider, who wasn’t sent to the White Sox until May of 1970). He got September call-ups in 1969 and 1970, but his timing was bad: the Twins had Harmon Killebrew and Rich Reese, so they had no use for another first baseman. Nash had his best year in AAA in 1971, hitting .290 with 37 homers for Portland, but Bill Rigney had taken a dislike to him and refused to call him to the majors. Nash moved on to the Texas organization for 1972, but after a down year in AAA his playing career was over. As a Twin, he went 3-for-13 with two walks and two RBIs. He appeared in three minor league games as a pitcher, giving up one hit and three walks, but no runs. Billy Martin had toyed with the idea of making Nash a pitcher in 1969, but the idea ended when Martin was fired. Nash was a minor league batting instructor for the Angels in 1967 and managed in their organization in 1978, but then left baseball for good. He returned to Kentucky, settling in Lexington, and became a real estate salesman. Eventually, he owned his own real estate and investment company. Cotton Nash is currently living in retirement in Lexington, Kentucky. The University of Kentucky retired his number, and he is a member of both the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. His son, J. Richey Nash, played minor league baseball for three years and is currently an actor and writer.
     
     
    Outfielder Robert Michael ”Mike” Adams had 72 at-bats for the Twins from 1972-1973. The son of big league infielder Bobby Adams and the nephew of big league first baseman Dick Adams, he was born in Cincinnati, went to high school in Anaheim, and was drafted by Detroit with the second pick of the January Secondary draft in 1967. He had a couple of undistinguished years in the Tigers’ organization and missed the 1969 season due to military service. He did well on his return, however, hitting .278 with 18 home runs for Class A Rocky Mount in 1970. After that season, however, he was traded to Minnesota with a player to be named later (Art Clifford) for Bill Zepp. He hit over .300 in consecutive AAA seasons for the Twins, and when he also hit 21 homers in 1972 he got a September call-up. Adams was with the Twins for the entire 1973 season but was generally used as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner. He appeared in 55 games but had only 66 at-bats. Not surprisingly, he did not hit well, although he did draw 17 walks. He had another solid year in AAA in 1974, but the Twins preferred to stick with such superstars as Jim Holt, Bobby Darwin, and Steve Brye, and refused to give Adams a chance. After the season, Adams was traded to the Cubs for Tom Lundstedt. As a Twin, he hit .222/.378/.375 in 72 at-bats. He continued to hit well in the minors, but continued to not get a chance in the majors: despite hitting over .300 with power every year at AAA, he got only 31 at-bats with the Cubs in 1976-1977. He was sold to Oakland just prior to the 1978 campaign but got only 15 at-bats in about a month with the big club. Adams retired after that season. In seven AAA seasons, Mike Adams hit .309/.433/.507. It’s hard to understand why no one would put him in a major league lineup to see what he could do, but no one did. No information about Mike Adams’ life since his playing career ended was readily available.
  15. Jeff A
    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 weeks in August of 1969, working 5.1 relief innings. The next year, 1970, was his only full season in the majors. He started the season in the bullpen, pitched extremely well there, and went into the rotation in early July, where he continued to pitch well. For the season, he made 20 starts and relieved 23 times. In 151 innings, he went 9-4, 3.22 with a 1.36 WHIP, which is pretty good for an undrafted 23-year-old. It didn’t impress the Twins much, though, because he was taken out of the rotation at the end of the year and traded to Detroit in spring training of 1971 for Mike Adams and a player to be named later (Art Clifford). He was probably excited to be going home, but it didn’t work out well. He started the season with Detroit, posted a 5.12 ERA, and was sent back to AAA in late June. He pitched six times in AAA Toledo, not doing particularly well. It appears that he needed Tommy John surgery. The procedure was still new then, and Zepp decided to retire rather than risk the surgery. At last report, Bill Zepp was retired and living in Plymouth, Michigan. He frequently attends Detroit Tigers and University of Michigan alumni events.
  16. Jeff A
    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. He did not give up any earned runs in the relief appearances, but allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits in 2.1 innings in the start, so his stats show an ERA of 5.14 in seven innings. Those are also his lifetime numbers, as he never made it back to the big leagues again. He spent the rest of 1962 in Class A Charlotte, had solid years in AA in 1963-1965, but never got any higher and was let go by the Twins after the 1965 season. He was at AA York in the Washington organization in 1966, then his playing career was over at age 23. It seems odd that the Twins would jump him from Class D to the majors at age 18, but not give him another chance when he was a little older and had some success at AA. As you might guess, there are lots of people in the world named “Jim Manning”. No information about what this Jim Manning has done since his playing career ended was readily available.
     
     
     
    Infielder Michael Lee Cubbage played for the Twins from 1976-1980. Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, he attended the University of Virginia and was drafted by Washington in the second round of the June Secondary draft in 1971. He played more second base than third in the minors, although he saw time at both positions. He hit for high averages throughout the minors, topping .300 every year but 1972, when he hit .281 for Class A Burlington. Cubbage was in the majors with Texas briefly at the start of 1974 and came up to stay in mid-June of 1975, playing as a reserve second baseman. On June 1 of 1976, he was traded to Minnesota with Jim Gideon, Bill Singer, Roy Smalley, and $250,000 for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. He was the mostly regular third baseman for the next few years, sharing the position with Dave McKay, Jerry Terrell, and Larry Wolfe but getting the majority of the playing time. He hit for a decent average with a fair number of walks, but had little power. In 1979 he began losing playing time to John Castino, and in 1980 he actually saw more playing time at first base than at third, starting 59 games there. He really didn’t hit enough for a third baseman, so his offense was completely inadequate at first. As a Twin, he hit .266/.336/.378 in 1,681 at-bats. Cubbage became a free agent after the 1980 season and signed with the Mets. He was mostly a pinch-hitter for the Mets, missing two months with an injury. He played in AAA for them in 1982, then his playing career came to an end. He remained in the Mets’ organization, however, managing for them in the minors from 1983-1989 and coaching for them in the majors from 1990-1996. He then coached for Houston in 1997-2001 and for Boston from 2002-2003. At last report, Mike Cubbage was a scout for the Tampa Bay Rays. He is a cousin of former major league players Chris Haney and Larry Haney.
     
     
     
    Outfielder Kimera Anotchi Bartee did not play for the Twins in either the majors or the minors, but did belong to their team for a short time. Born and raised in Omaha, he went to Creighton, then was drafted by Baltimore in the fourteenth round in 1993. A speedy singles hitter, Bartee hit fairly well in the minors through 1995. At that point, he came to the Twins with Scott Klingenbeck as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Scott Erickson to Baltimore. This happened in mid-September; that December, the Twins left Bartee unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and Baltimore took him back. They waived him in spring training, and he was chosen by Detroit. He stayed with the Tigers all of the 1996 season and wasn’t awful as a reserve outfielder, hitting .253 in 217 at-bats and stealing 20 bases. He went back and forth from AAA Toledo to Detroit from 1997-1999, but never hit above .200 again in a major league season. Bartee went to the Reds’ organization for 2000, signed with Anaheim for 2001, was traded to Colorado in mid-July for Chone Figgins (a trade that worked out well for the Angels), went to the Cubs for 2002, and played for Long Island in the independent Atlantic League from 2003-2004 before ending his playing career. His major league numbers are .216/.282/.298 in 416 at-bats. Bartee has remained in baseball since his playing career ended. He was a coach in the Baltimore minor league organization from 2005-2007, and is currently the minor league outfield/baserunning coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
     
     
     
    Outfielder Brian James Buchanan played for the Twins from 2000-2002. He was born in Miami, went to high school in Fairfax, Virginia, attended the University of Virginia, and was drafted by the Yankees in the first round in 1994. He hit well in the minors for them, but without as much power as one might suspect; his best home run season in the Yankees’ system was 14 in 1997. In February of 1998, Buchanan was traded to Minnesota with Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, Danny Mota, and cash for Chuck Knoblauch. Sent to AAA Salt Lake, he hit well for them. His best year was 2000, when he hit .297 with 27 homers and 103 RBIs despite being in the majors for a month of that season and again in September. 2001 was Buchanan’s first full year in the majors, and he didn’t do badly as a reserve outfielder, hitting .274 with 10 homers in 174 at-bats. He remained with the Twins through mid-July of 2002, when he was traded to San Diego for Jason Bartlett. As a Twin, he hit ,258/.319/.428 in 414 at-bats. He did a decent job as a reserve outfielder for the Padres in 2003 but slumped in 2004, went to AAA, and was released in late August. The Mets signed him the next day and he finished the season for them. Buchanan signed with Tampa Bay for 2005, was released at the end of spring training, signed with Colorado, was released in late July, signed with Minnesota, and was in Rochester through the end of the season. He signed with Cincinnati for 2006, was released in mid-May, finished the season with the St. Paul Saints, and played in Japan in 2007. He then signed with Kansas City and played in AAA Omaha from 2008-2009, retiring after the 2009 campaign. Brian Buchanan then became a manager in the Kansas City minor league system, and is currently the manager of the Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League.
     
     
     
    Right-hander William Mays Eyre pitched for the Twins in 2006. He was born in Fountain Valley, California, attended the College of Eastern Utah (the only major league player that school has produced), and was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-third round in 1999. He started slowly, but began pitching well when shifted to the bullpen in 2001. He reached AAA in 2003 and had a fine year for Rochester in 2005, going 10-3, 2.72 with seven saves and a WHIP of 1.29. Eyre then spent all of 2006 in Minnesota, his only full year in the majors to date. He did not do particularly well, going 1-0, 5.31 with a WHIP of 1.64 in 59.1 innings spread over 42 games. He was allowed to become a free agent after the 2006 season and signed with Texas. He began 2007 in AAA, but was quickly called up to the majors, where he remained most of the season. His numbers were not any better than they had been with Minnesota, and in late August he was injured. He missed all of 2008 with Tommy John surgery but came back in 2009, reaching the majors for about two months in four different stints. Eyre remained in the Texas organization in 2010, pitching well for AAA Oklahoma City. He moved on to the Oakland system for 2011, was allowed to become a free agent at the end of July, and signed with Baltimore a few days later, not only making it back to the big leagues but pitching quite well in nineteen appearances. He signed with Baltimore again for 2012, was sent to AAA, was released in mid-June, and signed back with Texas, for whom he did not pitch well in AAA. He does not appear to have signed with anyone for 2013. He turns 35 today, so one assumes his playing career is over. As a Twin, he was 1-0, 5.31 in 42 games (59.1 innings) He is the brother of former major league pitcher Scott Eyre.


  17. Jeff A
    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 for the Twins’ Class A team in Charlotte. Charlotte manager Paul Howser encouraged the Twins to re-sign Oliva, which they did. His minor league numbers are impressive: in three seasons, he hit .342 with 50 home runs. He got September call-ups in 1962 and 1963, then became the Twins’ starting right fielder in 1964. He was the Rookie of the Year, leading the league in batting (.323), runs (109), hits (217), doubles (43), and total bases (374). He finished fourth in MVP voting. He again led the league in batting in 1965 and finished second in MVP voting to teammate Zoilo Versalles. Oliva made the all-star team his first eight seasons in the majors, 1964-1971. He finished in the top twenty in MVP voting each of those years, finishing in the top ten five times, in the top five three times, and finishing second twice (1965 and 1970). He also won the Gold Glove in 1966. He suffered a devastating knee injury in 1972, missing almost the entire season, and when he returned he was not the same player. He was strictly a DH after that, he never topped .300 again (after having done so in six of his first eight seasons), and never hit 20 homers again. He fell to part-time status in 1976 and his playing career ended after that. Tony Oliva hit .304/.353/.476 with 220 home runs in 6,301 at-bats. For eight seasons, he was as good a player as there was in the major leagues. After his playing career ended, Oliva remained with the Twins as a coach in both the major and minor league teams at various times. He is currently living in Bloomington, Minnesota, and continues to make public appearances for the Twins.
     
     
    Left-hander Jason Douglas Miller made four appearances for the Twins in 2007. Born and raised in Sarasota, Florida, he was drafted by Minnesota in the fourth round in 2000. He both started and relieved in the minors, as the Twins’ organization never seemed to really settle on a role for him. He pitched pretty well on his way up, only once posting an ERA over four (4.05 at Elizabethton in 2001) and never posting a WHIP as high as 1.4 until 2007. He was with the Twins for about ten days in 2007, appearing in four games. His numbers show an ERA of 18, allowing eight runs and seven hits in four innings, but that’s somewhat misleading. He was unscored upon in his first three appearances, giving up no hits and one walk in 3.2 innings, then gave up eight runs, seven hits, and two walks in a third of an inning his last time out. The Twins were trailing 8-3 to the Angels in the eighth, and Gardy obviously did not want to burn up another reliever, so he let Miller get beat on for a while. Miller went back to AAA the rest of the season, did not do particularly well, had a bad year in AA in 2008, and then the Twins let him go. He signed with Detroit for 2009 but was released in April, and his playing career came to an end. At last report, Jason Miller had returned to his home town of Sarasota. where he works as a pitching instructor for Extra Innings, which offers both baseball and softball instruction.
     
     
    Infielder Alexi (Lora) Casilla played for the Twins from 2006-2012. He was born and raised in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, and signed with Anaheim as a free agent in 2003. He had a big year in 2005, hitting .325 at Class A Cedar Rapids. That off-season, Casilla was traded to Minnesota for J. C. Romero. He was a September call-up for the Twins in 2006 and has gone back and forth between AAA and the majors ever since. Casilla was the Twins’ starting second baseman the last two months of 2007, but did not hit. He began 2008 in the minors, came up to the Twins in mid-May, took over the starting second base job about a week later, and had his best season, hitting .281 with 50 RBIs. The Twins thought they had their second base position filled for several years, but it did not work out that way. He did not hit in 2009, lost the starting job in early May, spent some time in the minors, got the starting job back a couple of times but couldn’t hold it, and ended up hitting just .202 for the season. He was a reserve for the Twins in 2010 and did fairly well in that role. He began 2011 starting at shortstop, bud did not hit. He was moved to second base in early May and continued to not hit for a few weeks, then started doing better, although he wasn’t exactly getting all-star consideration. He began 2012 as the starting second baseman again, but lost the job in early June and was a reserve the rest of the year. As a Twin, Alexi Casilla hit .250/.305/.334 in 1580 major league at bats. He was placed on waivers after the 2012 season and chosen by Baltimore, for whom he has been a a backup second baseman. He turns 29 today, and while he has had stretches in which he has played well, he has never been able to sustain a major league level of play over the course of a season. At this point, one has to assume that he is what he is, and will never be more than a temporary fill-in or utility infielder in the major leagues, which is still better than the vast majority of us will ever do.
  18. Jeff A
    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 in 1949, went back to Class A in 1950, was back in AAA from 1951-1952, and then went to AA for 1953. He hit well at lower levels, but did not do much in AAA. Gardner was with the Giants as a reserve infielder for all of 1954 and part of 1955 (spending the rest of the season in AAA Minneapolis), then was sold to Baltimore at the start of the 1956 season. He was the Orioles’ regular second baseman for four years; the best of those four was easily 1957, when he hit .262, led the league with 36 doubles, and finished twelfth in MVP voting. He hit around .220 his other years in Baltimore. Gardner was traded to Washington just prior to the 1960 season for Clint Courtney and Ron Samford. He was their regular second baseman that year and came to Minnesota with the team in that role in 1961, but was traded to the Yankees on June 14 for Danny McDevitt. As a Twin, Billy Gardner hit .234/.280/.312 in 154 at-bats. He was with the Yankees for about a year, then moved on to Boston, where he hit well as a reserve for the rest of the 1962 campaign. He remained with the Red Sox through 1963, was in the minors for them in 1964, and then his playing career was basically over, although he made brief appearances at AA in the Red Sox’ organization, where he was managing, through 1971. He was a coach and manager for various teams until 1981, when he was first a coach and then manager for the Twins, replacing Johnny Goryl. He remained the Twins’ manager through 1985. He also managed Kansas City for part of 1987, replacing a terminally ill Dick Howser. His son, Billy Gardner, Jr., has also gone into baseball, managing in the minor leagues for Tampa Bay. At last report, Billy Gardner had returned to Waterford, where he was living in retirement. He also now prefers to go by “Bill” rather than “Billy”, a change he made when he turned 70.
     
     
    Catcher Daniel Jay Graham appeared in two games for the Twins in 1979. He was born in Ray, Arizona, attended the University of La Verne, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1975. He was a power hitter early in his career, hitting .320 with 29 home runs at Class A Reno in 1976 and .277 with 23 home runs at AAA Toledo in 1978. He came up to the Twins briefly in early June of 1979, catching in two games and going 0-for-4. He had a bad season in AAA that year, hitting just .213 with nine homers. The Twins traded him to Baltimore after the season for Tom Chism. He started the 1980 season at AAA Rochester, but when he hit .346 with 4 homers in a month, the Orioles brought him to the majors, where he shared the catching job with Rick Dempsey. He actually had a very good year in Baltimore, hitting .278 with 15 homers and 54 RBIs in 266 at-bats. He couldn’t sustain it, though, batting just .176 in 142 at-bats in his only full season in the majors in 1981. He went back to Rochester for 1982 and was okay, hitting .272 with 11 homers, but he never got another chance at the majors. His playing career ended after the 1982 season. At last report, Dan Graham was living in Winkelman, Arizona.
     
     
    Right-hander Gustavo Gandarillas did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them. He was born in Coral Gables, Florida, went to high school in Hialeah, Florida, and then attended the University of Miami. He was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1992. Almost exclusively a reliever, he pitched very well at Class A, but stumbled at higher levels. He reached AAA Salt Lake in 1997 and stayed there (other than 18 games at AA in 1999) through 2000. He did not get much accomplished there. Gandarillas became a free agent after the 1998 season and signed with Pittsburgh, but when the Pirates released him in spring training the Twins took him back. He became a free agent again after 2000 and signed with Boston for 2001, but was released in late May. Milwaukee picked him up and he had his first good season in AAA. The Brewers called him up for a week in July and brought him back in late August, this time keeping him the rest of the season. He went 0-0, 5.49, 1.78 WHIP in 19.2 innings over 16 games. He made three appearances in the minors for Milwaukee in 2002, then was released. Gandarillas pitched in the Mexican League in 2003, then his playing career was over. Gus Gandarillas is currently living in Miami, where he is part owner of Hit Zone Batting Cages.
  19. Jeff A
    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 never played at all for the Phillies, moving on to California in a trade for Bo Belinsky. He was with the Angels all of 1965, starting some and relieving some, but not doing all that well for that time. He may have suffered from injuries, as he did not pitch much in 1966-1967. He had a decent, unpsectacular year at AA El Paso in 1968 and made it back to the majors at the start of 1969, this time to stay. He both started and relieved for a while, but went into the Angels’ rotation for good in August of 1969. He was never a star, but was a solid contributor, working 180-200 innings every year. He got off to a bad start in 1974, was removed from the rotation, and then was sold to the Yankees. He pitched even better for them for two years, then was traded again, this time to Baltimore in a ten-player deal that also included ex-Twin Rick Dempsey. He was a solid member of their rotation, too, but was traded after the 1977 season to Montreal. He continued to pitch well, and did even better when shifted to the bullpen in 1979. He became a free agent after that season and signed with the Yankees. He had the best year of his career in 1980. May made 17 starts and 24 relief appearances, went 15-5, and led the league in ERA (2.46), ERA+ (160), and WHIP (1.04). He did not match that, but had two more solid years for the Yankees. He had a bad year in 1983, and his playing career came to an end. In that career, he had 152 wins, an ERA of 3.46, a WHIP of 1.25 in 2,622 innings, and an appearances in the World Series. That’s not bad for a guy who moved around a lot and seemed to be kind of taken for granted throughout his career. It appears that he is living in the Fresno area and is available to give pitching instruction or to make personal appearances.
     
     
    Outfielder Torii Kedar Hunter was with the Twins from 1997-2007. Born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 1993. He was really not all that special in the minors, although he had some solid years. He progressed at more or less the rate of a level a year until reaching AA, where he stayed until late in the 1998 season. He appeared in one game for the Twins in 1997 as a pinch-runner, was in Minnesota for about a week and a half in 1998, and played his first full season in 1999. He did not have much power early in his career, and frequently batted leadoff. He had a decent year in 1999, but got off to a bad start in 2000 and was sent back to AAA Salt Lake for a couple of months. He hit .368 there and came back to Minnesota, playing much better the rest of the way. He was restored as the Twins’ starting center fielder, a position he held through the 2007 season. His best season was probably 2002, when he hit .289 with 29 homers and an OPS of .859. In those years, he received MVP votes four times, finishing as high as sixth in 2002. He made the all-star team twice, in 2002 and 2007, and won the Gold Glove seven times. As a Twin, he hit .271/.324/.469 in 4,492 at-bats. Hunter became a free agent after the 2007 season and signed with the Angels. He continued to play at about the same rate he did in Minnesota through 2010, making two more all-star teams, winning two more Gold Gloves, and winning his first Silver Slugger. He significantly declined in 2011, batting only .262 with an OPS of .765, but bounced back in 2012 to hit .313, although he failed to hit 20 homers for the first time since 2005. A free agent again after the 2012 season, he signed with Detroit and is continuing to hit well. He turns 38 today, so the end could come at any time, but he’s showing no signs of being there yet.
     
     
    Third baseman Glenn Williams had forty at-bats with the Twins in 2005. Born and raised in New South Wales, Australia, his father, Gary, was heavily involved in the development of baseball in that country. He was signed by Atlanta as a free agent in 1993. His first year was in rookie ball; he then spent four years in Class A. He moved up to AA in 1999 (when he was still just 21), but when he flopped there the Braves released him. Williams signed with Toronto and went back to Class A. He then started to make a normal progression, going up to AA in 2001 and to AAA in 2002. He had a good year in 2002 in Syracuse, hitting .274 with 15 homers, and appeared to be ready to move forward. He went back to Syracuse in 2003, however, and had a bad year. He bounced back at Syracuse in 2004, hitting .264 with 23 homers, but was allowed to become a free agent after the season. Minnesota signed him for 2005. He hit .303 in 48 games in Rochester and came up to the Twins in early June. He played for about three weeks, hitting .425/.452/.450 in 40 at-bats over 13 games. He then dislocated his shoulder and missed the rest of the season. The above line is his career major league line, as he never made it back. He stayed in Rochester two more years, but his numbers declined each year, and his playing career came to an end. Since then, he has returned to Australia, playing for their Olympic qualifying team in 2008 and coaching for Australia in the 2009 World Youth Championship. Glenn Williams has the post-1900 record for most at-bats with a lifetime average over .400. He was inducted into the Australian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012. At last report, he was the director of the Fun+Fitness Company, which works with junior baseball players in Australia, and was also a coach for the Sydney Blue Sox.
  22. Jeff A
    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 him a few days later, converted him from a starting pitcher to a reliever, and he pitched well in their system for three season, rising as high as AAA. He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by Colorado in November of 1992. During spring training of 1993, Merriman was traded to Minnesota for Rob Wassenaar and Gary Wayne. He started the season with the Twins, but was sent down after a month with an ERA of 19.00. He went to AAA Portland, had a good season there, and came back for the last month of the season, pitching substantially better. He got off to a bad start in 1994 in Salt Lake but was called up to the Twins anyway, staying for nearly two months and not pitching very well. A free agent after the season, he signed with San Diego for 1995, pitched poorly in AAA for them, and then his playing career was over. In his major league career, all with the Twins, Brett Merriman was 1-2, 8.39 in 44 innings spread over 34 appearances. No information about Brett Merriman’s life after baseball was readily available.
     
     
    Right-hander James Baldwin, Jr. made ten appearances for the Twins in 2003. He was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, went to high school in Southern Pines, North Carolina, and was drafted by the White Sox in the fourth round in 1990. He started slowly in the minors, but came on strong in 1992 and reached AAA in mid-season of 1993. He got a full year there in 1994 and was in the majors for about a month of 1995. He had a bad year in 1995, but after two strong AAA starts in 1996 he was in the majors for good. He went into the White Sox’ rotation and stayed there until he was traded in mid-2001. He did so despite the fact that he really was not very good: his ERA was over five for three consecutive years, 1997-1999, and the lowest ERA he ever posted for the White Sox was 4.42 in 1996. He had some good won-lost records, though, going 11-6 in 1996 (when he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting), 13-6 in 1998, and 14-7 in 2000. He made the all-star team in 2001, despite not pitching any better then than he had any other time, and was traded to the Dodgers in late-July of that season. He was a free agent after the season, went to Seattle for 2002, pitched about the same as he had before, and became a free agent again. He signed with Kansas City for 2003, went to AAA, was released June 1, and signed with Minnesota ten days later. He made five starts in Rochester, then came up to the Twins. He was in the bullpen for about five weeks, going 0-1, 5.40 in 15 innings. Minnesota released him in mid-August. He signed with the Mets for 2004, made two major league starts for them, and was released in mid-May. He was in AAA for Detroit the rest of the season. In 2005, he signed with Baltimore, was chosen off waivers by Texas in late July, and was chosen off waivers by Baltimore again in late August. He went to Toronto for 2006 and was released in late April, finally ending his career. He pitched for a long time and got a couple of honors, which isn’t bad for a guy who never really had a good year. At last report, James Baldwin had moved back to North Carolina and was a baseball coach at Pinecrest High School. His son, James Baldwin III, was drafted as an outfielder by the Dodgers and is currently playing for Class A Great Lakes in the Midwest League.
  23. Jeff A
    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-bats as a pinch-hitter before being returned to the minors. He did not really get going all season, but came back in 1969 to hit .332 with 34 homers for AAA Oklahoma City. In late August, Walton was traded to the Seattle Pilots in a deal that also involved ex-Twin Sandy Valdespino. He was the Pilots’ regular left fielder the rest of the year and held that position in 1970 for the new Milwaukee Brewers. That was the only year of his career that he got regular play, and was also his best year, as he hit .257 with 17 homers and an OPS of .790. Walton injured his knee late in the season, however, and was never the same player again. He began 1971 with Milwaukee, but was traded to the Yankees in early June and was in the minors most of the rest of the year. He had a solid year in AAA Syracuse in 1972, but was traded to Minnesota after the season for Rick Dempsey. Walton was in the big leagues most of the season but did not play much and did not hit when he did play, batting .177 with four homers. He went back to AAA in 1974 and had a strong year, hitting .263 with 35 homers and 109 RBIs. He was back with the Twins in 1975, but again did not hit, and was sent back down in mid-July. After the season, the Twins traded Walton to the Dodgers for Bobby Randall. As a Twin, he hit .176/.272/.302 in 159 at-bats. He was with the Dodgers organization for two seasons and had a huge year at AAA Albuquerque in 1977, hitting .289 with 42 homers and 122 RBIs. All it got him was a trade to Houston in early September. He stuck with the Astros the rest of the season, but was released late in spring training in 1978. He went to Japan that year, then came back to AAA with Seattle in 1979 and with Texas in 1980. He was in the big leagues for one more month in 1980, but that was the end of the line for him. After his playing career ended, he became a welder and pipe fitter in Utah. At last report, Danny Walton was retired and raising horses near Ogden, Utah.
     
     
    Infielder Victor Manuel (Rivera) Rodriguez had eleven at-bats for the Twins in 1989. He was born in New York and signed with Baltimore in 1977 at age 16. He did not show a lot of power, but his other numbers are not bad, especially when one considers how young he was. He reached AAA in 1982 and hit .274 there in 1984, earning a September call-up in which he hit .412 with 3 doubles in 17 at-bats. The Orioles apparently weren’t overly impressed, as they traded him to San Diego the following February. He spent one season in the Padres’ organization, hitting .312 with 11 homers in AAA Las Vegas, and they weren’t impressed either, allowing him to become a free agent after the season. Rodriguez then signed with St. Louis, playing two seasons for AAA Louisville, and became a free agent again. He signed with Minnesota in January 0r 1988. He played in AAA Portland for four seasons, averaging close t0 .300. He was with the Twins for about a week and a half in late July of 1989, going 5-for-11 with two doubles as a third baseman. His line was .455/.455/.636. The Twins let him go after he hit .304 in Portland in 1991. He then went to Philadelphia, playing in AAA for two seasons and hitting .305 with 12 homers in 1993. He was in AAA for Florida in 1994 and Boston in 1995, then his playing career came to an end. In thirteen AAA seasons, Vic Rodriguez hit .290/.310/.408; in 28 major league at-bats he hit .429/.429/.607. He obviously was a free-swinger, and he would not have been a star, but it seems like he hit well enough that he could have helped somebody if he’d been given a chance. After his playing career he got into coaching, and is currently the assistant batting coach for the Boston Red Sox.
  24. Jeff A
    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 and not looking back. He was in the Giants’ rotation for six seasons, making the move to San Francisco with them. He struggled with his control, leading the league in walks in 1954. He averaged over 200 innings a season, though, and 1954 was actually his best year: he went 17-9, 2.88. He became the first Puerto Rican to pitch in a World Series that year. He was traded to Philadelphia after the 1958 campaign, and his career hit hard times after that. He had a poor year in 1959 and moved to the bullpen, but continued to struggle. He was back in the minors for part of 1960 and all of 1961. He was traded to Cleveland before the 1962 season and did well in AAA, earning his way back to the majors. He did not pitch particularly well when he got there, however, and was traded to Minnesota in late August for Jackie Collum, a player to be named later (Georges Miranda) and cash. He finished the year there, starting two games and relieving in four. He allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits and 11 walks in 19 innings. The Twins released him the following January. He went back to the Indians in 1963 and pitched well in AAA, but did not make it back to the majors. He then went to the Mexican League for three years. The Phillies then picked him up, and he started 1967 in the Philadelphia bullpen. He did not do badly, but was let go in early May and went back to the Mexican League. He continued to pitch in winter ball through 1977. Ruben Gomez passed away from cancer in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 26, 2004.
     
     
    Louis Robert “Buzz” Stephen made two starts for the Twins in 1968. He was born in Porterville, California and attended Cal State–Fresno. He was drafted by Minnesota with the second pick of the June Secondary draft in 1966. He did very well at Class A St. Cloud that season, but less well after that. He won 11 games at AA Charlotte in 1968, though, which was good enough to get him a September call-up. He made two starts for the Twins, giving up seven runs (six earned) on eleven hits and seven walks in 11.1 innings. He was 1-1, 4.76. He was then chosen by Seattle in the expansion draft. He was in the minors for the Seattle/Milwaukee organization through June 15, 1970, then was traded to the Baltimore chain. He did not do particularly well in either place, and his playing career was over after the 1970 season at age 26. At last report, Buzz Stephen was living in his home town of Porterville, California.
     
     
    Infielder Jerry Wayne Terrell played for the Twins from 1973-1977. He was born in Waseca, Minnesota, grew up in Elysian, Minnesota (where an uncle of this author once lived), attended high school in Waterville, Minnestoa, and was drafted by Minnesota in the eighteenth round in 1968. He was up and down in the minors. Terrell hit .296 for Class A Auburn in 1968, missed all of 1969 due to military service, fell to .279 in Class A Lynchburg in 1970 and .231 in AA Charlotte in 1971, but came back to hit .290 in AAA Tacoma in 1972. He never had any power and drew only a fair number of walks. He was with the Twins at the start of the 1973 season and stayed there five years, with the exception of a couple of months in 1975. He got the most playing time of his career his rookie year, when he started in over half the team’s games. He never had a regular position for very long, but generally played quite a bit. He made the bulk of his starts at shortstop in his career, but he also played second and third, made a handful of starts at first, and even played a few games in the outfield. His best year offensively was 1975, which oddly was the year he was sent back to the minors to start the season. He came back in early June to hit .286 with 16 doubles for an OPS of .669, all career highs. Terrell became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with Kansas City. He was with the Royals for three years, but played sparingly in 1979 and was back in AAA for much of 1980. His playing career then ended. Terrell remained in baseball for quite some time after that as a minor league manager and as a scout; however, no information about what Jerry Terrell is currently doing was readily available.
     
     
    Right-hander Mark Anthony Brown made six appearances for the Twins in 1985. He was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, went to high school in Windsor, Connecticut, and attended the University of Massachusetts–Amherst. While growing up, he was a bat-boy for an American Legion team that included Carlton Fisk. He was drafted by Baltimore in the sixth round in 1980. He moved up through the Orioles chain, doing pretty well and reaching AAA in 1982. He was mostly a relief pitcher in the minors, although he made some starts as well. As a result of relieving and battling injuries much of his career, he never pitched more than one hundred innings in a minor league season. He was called up to the Orioles in early August of 1984 and stayed the rest of the season. He appeared in nine games pitching 23 innings. Late in 1985 spring training, Brown was traded to Minnesota for Brad Havens. He was in AAA Toledo most of the season, pitching well, and was called up for about six weeks in the middle of the year. He pitched 15.2 innings in six games. He allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 21 hits in 7 walks for an ERA of 6.89, then lost his roster spot to Steve Howe. Early in 1986, the Twins released Brown, and he signed with Baltimore again. He played at AAA for them that season, then his playing career came to an end. At last report, Mark Brown was living in Rochester, New York, and was instructing youth on the art of pitching. He also speaks to various youth groups on the importance of getting a good education.
  25. Jeff A
    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 taken by Cincinnati in 1962 in the first-year player draft and came to the Twins after the 1967 campaign in the minor league draft. He came up to the big leagues at the start of the 1969 season and stayed three years. He was the third catcher each season, backing up Johnny Roseboro and George Mitterwald in 1969, Mitterwald and Paul Ratliff in 1970, and Mitterwald and Phil Roof in 1971. As a consequence, he didn’t get a lot of playing time. In his three years in the majors, he got only 116 at-bats. He hit .181/.294/.224, never batting higher than .196 in any season. He was back in the minors in 1972. He moved to the Dodgers’ organization late that season, staying through 1974. Oddly, his best season as a pro was his last one, when he hit .286 with an OPS of .835 as a part time player for AAA Albuquerque. It appears that Tom Tischinski has returned to the Kansas City area.
     
    Right-hander Adam Bryant Johnson played briefly for the Twins in 2001 and 2003. He was born in San Jose, went to high school in Encinitas, California, and was drafted by Minnesota with the second pick of the 2000 draft. He had a very good year in 2000 with Ft. Myers, and did not do badly when promoted higher in the minors the next year. The Twins, desperate for a fifth starter as the tried to stay in the 2001 pennant race, called Johnson to the majors and put him in the starting rotation. It did not work. He made four starts, then three relief appearances, and pitched poorly in all of them. He never had a good year again. He struggled for three years in AAA for the Twins, getting a September call-up in 2003, and was released in January of 2005. He signed with Arizona, was released in spring training, played in the independent Golden Baseball League, and signed with Oakland in mid-August. The Athletics released him in early June of 2006. He played in the Atlantic League in 2008, and then his playing career was over. His major league record is 1-3, 10.25 with a 2.05 WHIP in 26.1 innings. He made nine appearances, four of them starts. No informaton about Adam Johnson since that time was readily available, but it would be nice to think that his current career is being kinder to him than major league batters were.
     
    Left-hander Philip Anthony Dumatrait played for the Twins for most of 2011. Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, he was drafted by Boston in the first round of the 2000 draft. His numbers in the low minors look quite good, but there was apparently something about him the Red Sox did not like, because he had still not risen higher than Class A when he was traded to Cincinnati at the 2003 deadline with a player to be named later for Scott Williamson. He missed all of 2004 due to injury, finally got to AA in 2005, and reached AAA in 2006. He had a fine year in Louisville in 2007 and reached the majors in early August. He made six poor starts for the Reds, and since he was now 26 Cincinnati put him on waivers. He was chosen by Pittsburgh and spent his only full year in the majors with the Pirates in 2008. It did not go well: both starting and relieving, he went 3-4, 5.26. He battled injuries again in 2009, making it back to Pittsburgh at the end of the season but again not pitching well. A free agent after the season, he signed with Detroit for 2010, was sent to AAA, and was released in May, finishing the season in Korea. He signed with Minnesota for 2011, started the season in Rochester, but came up to the Twins in mid-May and stayed the rest of the season. Making forty-five appearances out of the bullpen, he went 1-3, 3.92, which doesn’t sound too bad until you note that he had a WHIP of 1.69. As with every other time he made the majors, control was a problem, as he walked 25 batters in 41.1 innings. He was again injured at the start of 2012 and apparently decided it wasn’t worth it any more, as he retired at the end of May. No information about what Phil Dumatrait has been doing since then was readily available.
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