Ben Shibe (1838)
Red Donahue (1873)
Bobby Burke (1907)
Randy Gumpert (1918)
Chico Carrasquel (1926)
Frank Sullivan (1930)
Joe Amalfitano (1934)
Don Nottebart (1936)
Paul Ratliff (1944)
Kurt Bevacqua (1947)
Charlie Spikes (1951)
Alan Embree (1970)
Mark Wohlers (1970)
Erubiel Durazo (1974)
Brandon Duckworth (1976)
Juan Rincon (1979)
Red Donahue (1873)
Bobby Burke (1907)
Randy Gumpert (1918)
Chico Carrasquel (1926)
Frank Sullivan (1930)
Joe Amalfitano (1934)
Don Nottebart (1936)
Paul Ratliff (1944)
Kurt Bevacqua (1947)
Charlie Spikes (1951)
Alan Embree (1970)
Mark Wohlers (1970)
Erubiel Durazo (1974)
Brandon Duckworth (1976)
Juan Rincon (1979)
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Catcher Paul Hawthorne Ratliff played in parts of three seasons for Minnesota, playing for them in 1963 and again from 1970-1971. He was born in San Diego, went to high school in Pasadena, and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1962. Ratliff never hit much in the minors, but made his debut for the Twins in 1963 at age 19, presumably due to injuries to other catchers. He was with Minnesota for a little over a month, predictably did not hit, and was sent back to the minors. It would be seven years before he came back to the big leagues. In 1969, he had a pretty good year as a 25-year-old in AA Charlotte, hitting .302 with 11 homers. That got him a spot as a reserve catcher for the Twins in 1970, backing up George Mitterwald. In 149 at-bats, he had easily the best year of his major league career, hitting .268 with five homers. He started 1971 as the Twins' backup catcher again, but was seldom used, hitting .159 in only 44 at-bats when he was traded to Milwaukee in early July for Phil Roof. He finished the season with the Brewers and started 1972 there, but continued not hitting and was traded to California in July. Ratliff finished the season with the Angels' AAA team, and then ended his playing career. There are more people in this world named "Paul Ratliff" than one might think; no further information about our Paul Ratliff was readily available.
First baseman/designated hitter Erubiel (Cardenas) Durazo did not play for Minnesota, but he was in their organization for about three weeks in 2006. Born in Hermosillo, Mexico, he attended high school in Monterey. He spent some time in the Mexican League, and then became a member of the Arizona organization in 1999. He tore up the minors, hitting over .400 in 344 at-bats split between AA and AAA. Durazo came up to the Diamondbacks in late July and became their regular first baseman almost immediately, hitting .329 the rest of the season. He never hit that well again for Arizona, but consistently hit in the .260s as a platoon first baseman from 2000-2002, sharing time first with Greg Colbrunn and then with Mark Grace. After the 2002 season, Durazo was traded to Oakland as part of a four-team deal. The Athletics made him a regular, and while he was fairly good in 2003, he had his best year in 2004. He hit .321 with 22 homers and an OPS of .919, getting minor consideration for Most Valuable Player. Unfortunately, it was the last good year he would have. Durazo got off to a poor start in 2005, was injured in late May, missed the rest of the season, and has not played in the majors since. He became a free agent after the season and started bouncing around, signing with Texas in February of 2006, getting released near the end of spring training, re-signing with Texas just after the season started, getting released again in mid-May, signing with the Yankees, and getting released again in early July. He signed with Minnesota on July 14 and was sent to Rochester. He played in 17 games for the Red Wings, batting .264 with a homer and 12 walks in 65 plate appearances. What the Twins were expecting is unclear, but they apparently weren't impressed, because they released him on August 5. He signed with Oakland in the offseason, but was released at the end of spring training of 2007. He signed with the Yankees in July, but was released after the season. He spent a few season playing in Mexico and then his playing career ended. No further information about Erubiel Durazo was readily available.
Right-handed reliever Juan Manuel Rincon pitched for the Twins for most of the past decade. He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, attended high school there, and signed as a free agent with Minnesota in 1996. Rincon was a starter for almost all of his minor league career. He did well in the minors, but advanced slowly, perhaps due to his young age. Rincon did not reach AA until 2000. He had a good year in New Britain in 2001 and was brought up to Minnesota briefly, pitching in four games in June. He was having a poor year in 2002 in AAA Edmonton when he was brought up to the Twins in late June. Used sparingly, Rincon did not pitch very well in Minnesota that year either. In 2003, however, Rincon made the team out of spring training and pitched substantially better. It was the first of four consecutive years in which he was a valuable member of the Twins' bullpen. Over that period, he was 25-19, 2.93 with a WHIP of 1.22. It should be noted that he was suspended for ten days in 2005 for using performance enhancing drugs. He stumbled badly in 2007, and was pitching no better in 2008 when Minnesota released him in June. He signed with Cleveland for the rest of the season, but continued to struggle. He signed with Detroit for 2009, was released in May, and finished the season with Colorado, spending time in the minors in both 2008 and 2009. He was in the minors for most of 2010 and pitched poorly, although he still made two appearances in the majors. He signed with the Dodgers in 2011, was released, and spent the summer pitching for Bridgeport in the Atlantic League. He signed with the Angels for 2012 and did fairly well in 26 innings in AAA, but was released on June 1 and went back to Bridgeport for the rest of the season. As a Twin, Juan Rincon was 30-26, 3.29 with an ERA+ of 121 in 386 games and 441 innings. He's only thirty-three. It's unlikely that he'll make it back to the majors, but it's not impossible.
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