January 2

Pinky Whitney (1905)
Red Kress (1905)
Ted Strong (1914)
Jim Essian (1951)
Bill Madlock (1951)
David Cone (1963)
Edgar Martinez (1963)
Greg Swindell (1965)
Royce Clayton (1970)
Rick Greene (1971)
Jeff Suppan (1975)

Left-hander Forest Gregory Swindell was a Twin for roughly a season and a half in the late 1990s. A native of Ft. Worth, he attended the University of Texas and was chosen by Cleveland with the second pick of the 1986 draft. Swindell made three starts for Class A Waterloo and was immediately promoted to the big leagues and placed in the Indians' starting rotation. He struggled some early on, and was injured for the second half of 1987, but put things together in 1988, winning 18 games with a 3.20 ERA. That was arguably the best season he would ever have as a starter, but he had some other good ones, making the all-star team for the only time of his career in 1989. Swindell remained in the Cleveland rotation through 1991, then was traded to Cincinnati for one year. He had a fine 1992 for the Reds, became a free agent, and signed with Houston. It seemed as if everything was coming together for Swindell: a 28-year-old pitcher coming off a good year going to the best pitcher's park in baseball. Instead, he went backward. He wasn't awful as an Astro, but he was not what they expected him to be, either, posting ERAs in the low-to-mid-fours over three seasons. He got off to a bad start in 1996, was sent to the bullpen, and then was released in early June. He finished the season back with Cleveland, then became a free agent again and signed with Minnesota for 1997. His days as a starter were over, but he was a valuable member of the Twins' bullpen. He made 117 appearances for Minnesota, pitching 182 innings. He went 10-7, 3.61 with three saves, a WHIP of 1.16 and an ERA+ of 129. At the end of July, 1998, with the Twins once again far from the pennant race, Swindell was traded to Boston with Orlando Merced for Joe Thomas, John Barnes, and Matt Kinney. He continued to be a valuable reliever, first for the Red Sox and then, after becoming a free agent after the 1998 season, for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He had three solid seasons for Arizona. Then, in 2002, he battled injuries and decided to retire after the season, having pitched in the majors for 17 seasons. Greg Swindell has been an assistant coach for the University of Texas and an analyst for Arizona Diamondbacks television broadcasts. He has also done some work in sports talk radio in the Phoenix area. He was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1996 and into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Right-hander Richard Douglas Greene did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for part of the 2000 season. He was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, went to high school in Coral Gables, Florida, attended LSU (where he set a school record for saves), played for the 1992 U. S. Olympic team, and was drafted by Detroit in the first round in 1992. A reliever all along, he struggled for several seasons in the minors. Promoted to AAA for the first time in 1997, he had his best year, going 6-8, 2.83, 1.16 WHIP in 70 innings. After the season, he was traded to Milwaukee. He had a decent but not particularly impressive year in AAA for the Brewers in 1998 and a similar year for Cincinnati in 1999. The latter year was when he made his only major league appearance, a 5.2 inning relief stint against Milwaukee. He allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk in a 10-1 loss (he gave up a three-run homer to the first batter he faced, Jose Valentin, then settled down some). He split 2000 in AAA with Cincinnati and Minnesota. As a member of the Salt Lake Buzz, Rick Greene went 2-2, 5.81, 1.86 WHIP in 26.1 innings (22 appearances). He played in independent leagues in 2001 and 2002, then his playing career was over.  Oddly, we were able to find information on Rick Greene’s father, who is living in Stockbridge, Georgia after retiring from the Benjamin Moore company, but no information about Rick Greene himself was readily available.