January 4

Tommy Corcoran (1869)
Ernest Lanigan (1873)
Al Bridwell (1884)
Ossie Vitt (1890)
George Selkirk (1908)
Gabe Paul (1910)
Herman Franks (1914)Don McMahon (1930)
Tito Fuentes (1944)Charlie Manuel (1944)
Ken Reynolds (1947)
Paul Gibson (1960)
Daryl Boston (1963)
Trey Hillman (1963)
Ted Lilly (1976)Willie Martinez (1978)

Ernest Lanigan was the nephew of the Spink brothers who founded The Sporting News and worked for the publication from the time he was 15.  Among other things, he compiled baseball's first encyclopedia, published in 1922, and served as curator, historian, and director of the Hall of Fame from 1946 until his death in 1962.

Right-hander Donald John McMahon did not play for the Twins, but he was their pitching coach from 1976-1978. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he signed with the Boston Braves as a free agent in 1950. His career got off to a good start, but then he missed to full years in military service, from May of 1951 to May of 1953. While he did some starting in the minors, he was primarily a relief pitcher. He struggled in his first couple of shots at AAA, but had a fine year with Wichita in 1957, going 6-2, 2.92 in 71 innings. He made his major league debut that year with the Milwaukee Braves and was one of the first true relief specialists. His best year as a Brave was 1959, when he led the league in games finished (49) and saves (15), going 5-3 with a 2.57 ERA. He had an off year in 1960, but bounced back in 1961. He began 1962 with the Braves, but was sold to Houston in early May. After two seasons there he was sold again, this time to Cleveland. He had over two solid seasons there (1964-1966), then was traded to Boston in early June of 1966. He pitched well for the Red Sox, but after exactly one year he was traded again, this time to the White Sox. He did even better there, going 7-1, 1.77 with a 0.96 WHIP in 137.2 innings (77 appearances), but after a little more than a year he was on the move again, this time going to Detroit. He continued pitching well, but in August of 1969 he was traded once more, this time to the Giants. He found a home in San Francisco, staying there the rest of his playing career. His best year as a Giant was 1970, when he went 9-5, 2.96, 1.22 WHIP with 19 saves in 94.1 innings (61 appearances). He retired after the 1972 season to become the Giants pitching coach, but returned as an active player in mid-season in both 1973 and 1974. In 1973, at age 43, he went 4-0, 1.48, 0.92 WHIP with six saves in 30.1 innings (22 appearances). He remained as a coach for the Giants through 1975, then was the pitching coach for the Twins from 1976-1978. He went back to the Giants from 1980-82, then was the pitching coach for Cleveland from 1983-1985. He then went to work for the Dodgers as a special assignments scout. He was throwing batting practice for the Dodgers in July of 1987 when he suffered heart attack. Don McMahon passed away on July 22, 1987 in Los Angeles, California.

Most of outfielder Charles Fuqua Manuel's major league career came as a member of the Minnesota Twins, for whom he played from 1969-1972. Born in Northfork, West Virginia, he attended high school in Buena Viasta, West Virginia. Minnesota signed him as a free agent in 1963. He hit .358 in rookie ball in 1963, then spent the next four years at Class A. He struggled much of that time, but finally hit .313 with 15 homers at Wisconsin Rapids in 1967, earning a promotion to AA. He had a solid year at AA and found himself in the majors for all of 1969. The 1969 Twins had some pretty good bats, and that, along with an injured ankle, left Manuel with a tough time finding playing time. Mostly playing left field, he got only 164 at-bats and hit .207. With Minnesota for all but a month in 1970, he played even less, getting only 64 at-bats and hitting .188. He was with the Twins for 2 1/2 months in 1971 and all of 1972, getting about the same amount of playing time with about the same results. As a Twin, he hit .199/.276/.265 in 366 at-bats spread over four seasons. The Twins kept Manuel at AAA in 1973 and then traded him to the Dodgers after the season along with Glenn Ezell for Mike Floyd and Jim Fairey. The Dodgers also kept Manuel at AAA for almost all of 1974-1975, giving him only 18 at-bats in the big leagues. He then went to Japan, where he found success. He remained in Japan through 1981. After his playing career, Manuel was hired by the Twins, working as a scout, a hitting instructor, and a minor league manager. In 1988, he moved on to the Cleveland Indians, and served as their manager from 2000-2002, reaching the playoffs in 2001. He then went to the Philadelphia organization and became their manager in 2005, a position he still holds. The Phillies have reached the playoffs in each of the last five seasons, reaching the World Series in 2008-2009. Charlie Manuel managed the Phillies to a World Series victory in 2008.

Left-hander Kenneth Lee Reynolds did not play for the Twins, but he went to spring training with them in 1973. He was born in Trevose, Pennsylvania, then attended New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, the only major league player to attend that institution. He was drafted by Philadelphia in the fourth round in 1966. He began his professional career in Huron, South Dakota, where he had a fine year in the Northern League. He never looked like a star, but he put up solid numbers wherever he was, reaching AA in 1969 and AAA in 1970. He got a September call-up in 1970, then spent the next two full seasons in the majors, the only two full seasons he had as a big leaguer. He was mostly a starting pitcher, although he made a number of relief appearances both seasons. His ERA as a Phillie was 4.34 and his WHIP was 1.45. Those numbers are not particularly good, but his won-lost record made him look even worse: he was 7-24, going 2-15 in 1972 despite an ERA of 4.26 and a WHIP of 1.35, numbers which aren’t great but would seem to have deserved a better fate than he got. After the 1972 season he was traded to Minnesota with Ken Sanders and Joe Lis for Cesar Tovar, much to the consternation of Twins manager Frank Quilici, who had envisioned Tovar as his starting center fielder. Reynolds was traded to Milwaukee in late March of 1973 for Mike Ferraro. He had a solid year in AAA, but made only two appearances in the majors and then was traded again, this time to St. Louis. He stayed in the Cardinals’ organization for two seasons, returning to the majors in 1975 for a little more than a month. He did well there in 17 innings, going 0-1, 1.59, 1.35 WHIP. He was traded to San Diego after the season and split 1976 between the majors and the minors. He pitched poorly in the majors, though, and his major league career ended. He hung around for a few more years, pitching in AAA for Cleveland in 1977 and for Toronto in 1978-1979, then his playing career was over. At last report, Ken Reynolds was a popular physical education teacher at Marlborough High School in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Left-hander Paul Marshall Gibson did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 1982-1983. He was born in Southampton, New York, went to high school in Moriches, New York, and was drafted by Cincinnati in the third round of the January draft in 1978. He was in Class A with the Reds for three season, pitching well for the first two but having a poor year in 1980. The Reds released him at the end of spring training of 1981 and he was signed by Detroit in late May. The Tigers converted him from a starter to a reliever. He had a good year in Class A in 1981 and another one in AA in 1982, but the Tigers left him unprotected and he was chosen by Minnesota in the Rule 5 draft. The Twins worked something out to keep him in the minors, sending him to AA Orlando for two years. He was pretty awful in 1983, better but not great in 1984, and then he became a free agent. He signed back with the Tigers, who showed quite a bit of patience with him. He finally reached AAA in 1986 and was converted back to full-time starting in 1987. He had a fine season at AAA, going 14-7, 3.47, 1.29 WHIP. He began 1988 with the Tigers and stayed there through 1991. He was primarily a reliever and alternated good years with bad, pitching well in 1988 and 1990 and not well in 1989 and 1991. After the 1991 season he was traded to the Mets. He was there for the next year and a half, also spending time in the minors. He didn’t do much for the Mets, who released him in mid-June of 1993. The Yankees signed him and kept him until the end of August, 1994, when he was sent to Milwaukee. A free agent after the season, he was in the minors for all of 1955, first with Toronto and then with Pittsburgh. The Yankees signed him for 1996 and he made four more big league appearances, but was released at the end of May, bringing his playing career to an end. Paul Gibson is currently the owner of Paul Gibson’s All Pro Sports Academy, “Where Winners Come to Grow”, in Bellport, New York. Other former major leaguers on the staff include ex-Twin Neal Heaton, John Habyan, Bill Pulsipher, and Joe Valentine.

Right-hander William Jose Martinez did not play for the Twins, but he was at AAA for them in 2001. Born and raised in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, he signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1995. He struggled in rookie ball, had a couple of good years in Class A, but never had a full season in which he recorded an ERA under four after that. He was a starting pitcher throughout his minor league career, reaching AA in 1998 and AAA at the end of 1999. In 2000, he went 8-5, 4.46, 1.47 WHIP at AAA Buffalo. He made his only major league appearance that season, a three-inning relief appearance on June 14 against the White Sox. Martinez entered the game at the start of the third inning with the Indians already trailing 10-4 and held Chicago in check pretty well, allowing just one run on a hit and a walk in his three innings of work. Unfortunately, the Cleveland offense could do nothing further, and the Indians lost 11-4. Cleveland waived him after the season and he signed with Minnesota, who sent him to AAA Edmonton for 2001. While there, he went 7-8, 5.61, 1.66 WHIP in 112.1 innings. He moved on to the Cincinnati organization for 2002, made four appearances for AA Chattanooga, and then his playing career was over. No information about Willie Martinez after that time was readily available.