Saturday, October 15, 2016

October 15

Charley O'Leary (1882)
Dolly Gray (1897)
Mule Haas (1903)
Mel Harder (1909)
Bill Henry (1927)
Lou Klimchock (1939)
Dick Such (1944)
Jim Palmer (1945)
Mitchell Page (1951)
Carlos Garcia (1967)
Juan Cruz (1978)
Josh Rabe (1978)
Right-hander Richard Stanley Such did not play for the Twins, but he was their pitching coach for seventeen years, mostly under Tom Kelly. Such was born in Sanford, North Carolina, and attended Elon University, the same school attended by ex-Twin Greg Booker. He was drafted by the Washington Senators in the eighth round of the draft's secondary phase in 1966. He pitched well in the low minors, but pretty much topped out at AA. In 1967, at AA York, Such had a 2.81 ERA, but went 0-16 in 20 starts. He had a good year at AA Savannah in 1969, and made the Senators out of spring training in 1970. Such appeared in 21 games for Washington that year, starting five of them, but did not do well and was sent to the minors in mid-July. It would be his only major league experience as a player. He remained an active player through 1973, all with the Washington/Texas organization. He became a coach after his playing career ended. Such was a minor-league pitching coach in the Texas organization through 1982, and served as the Rangers' pitching coach in 1983-84. He came to the Twins in 1985, and was their pitching coach from 1985-2001. He has remained in baseball since leaving the Twins, and has been with the Red Sox since 2009.  From 2009-2010, Dick Such was been the pitching coach of the Salem Red Sox in the Carolina League, went to the Greenville Drive (still in the Boston organization) of the South Atlantic League from 2011-2012, and has been the pitching coach of the GCL Red Sox since 2013.
Outfielder Joshua Wayne Rabe played for the Twins in 2006 and 2007. He was born in Quincy, Illinois, attended high school in Mendon, Illinois, and then attended Quincy University of Quincy, Illinois, one of two major league players that school has produced (Josh Kinney). He was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round in 2000. He needed a couple of years to get things going at each level, reaching AAA in late 2003. He hit .299 in Rochester in 2006, which earned him a spot with the Twins for the second half of the season as a reserve player. Rabe was again a reserve at the start of 2007, but was sent back to the minors in May, never to return. He injured his shoulder in Rochester in mid-June, and was done for the season. The Twins allowed him to become a free agent after the season, and no one picked him up. He spent part of 2008 playing for Camden in the Atlantic League, but his injuries became too much for him, and he retired in June. As a Twin, he played in 30 games and had 80 at-bats. He batted .250/.268/.375, with 3 homers and 9 RBIs. Josh Rabe took law school classes during his off-seasons, and is now a member of the bar. He was an assistant baseball coach at St. Joseph’s college, and since 2010 he has been the head baseball coach of his alma mater, Quincy University, in his home town of Quincy, Illinois.


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