Bucky Walters (1909)
Hector Maestri (1935)
Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Joe Mauer (1983)
Alberto Callaspo (1983)
Zach Duke (1983)
Hector Maestri (1935)
Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Joe Mauer (1983)
Alberto Callaspo (1983)
Zach Duke (1983)
Right-hander
Hector Maestri was with the Washington franchise in 1960, making one appearance
in the majors. Before the 1961 season started, however, he was selected
in the expansion draft by the new Washington franchise, for whom he made one
more appearance in 1961.
Left-hander
Ed Oliver Hodge made 25 appearances for the Twins in 1984. Born in Bellflower,
California, Hodge was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round of the January
draft in 1979. There is nothing in his minor league record that suggests he
would be a major league pitcher, but the 1984 Twins were desperate for a fifth
starter, so after he had three good starts at AAA Toledo, going 2-0, 2.01 with
a 0.90 WHIP, Ed Hodge found himself in the big league rotation. He did quite a
bit better than could have been expected, going 3-2, 4.12 through mid-June, but
then was injured, missing a month and a half. He came back on August 1, made
five fair-to-middling starts, then spent the rest of the year in the
bullpen. For the season, he was 4-3, 4.77. He pitched in 25 games,
15 of them starts, and pitched exactly 100 innings. Those would also be
his career numbers; he was back in Toledo in 1985, had another not-to-good
season, and was released after the season. He pitched for the Braves’ AAA
team in 1986, and then his playing career came to an end. More recently,
he has done some coaching, serving as the pitching coach for the Sarasota Reds
in 2006 and for Lakewood in the Phillies’ organization in 2007. He was a
batting practice pitcher/coach for Houston from 2011-2012, and was hired to do
a similar job for Detroit in 2013. He still held that job at last report.
Left-hander
Frank John Viola pitched for the Twins for most of the 1980s. He was born
in Hempstead, New York and went to high school in East Meadow, New York.
He then attended St. John’s (where he was involved in an epic pitcher’s duel
with Yale’s Ron Darling that is still talked about occasionally), and was
drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1981. He pitched reasonably
well at AA Orlando in 1981, and after eight starts in AAA Toledo in 1982 he was
in the Minnesota rotation at age 22. He was clearly not ready, posting
ERAs over five and WHIPs over 1.5 in his first two seasons. When things
clicked in, though, they did so in style. In 1984, Viola went 18-12, 3.21
with a WHIP of 1.16 and finished sixth in the Cy Young voting. He slipped
a little in 1985 and 1986, although he was still a solid rotation starter, but
in 1987 and 1988 he had his two best seasons. He went 41-17 in those two
years, with an ERA of 2.77. He won the Cy Young award in 1988, when he
won 24 of those games. Viola also finished tenth in MVP voting that
year. He pitched over 245 innings each season for the Twins from
1984-1988. He was still pitching well at the end of July, 1989 when he
was traded to the Mets for Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, David
West, and a player to be named later (Jack Savage). He continued to pitch
Well for the Mets, winning 20 games in 1990 and finishing third in Cy
Young voting that season. He also continued to pitch well over 200
innings each season. A free agent after the 1991 campaign, Viola signed
with Boston and had two more very good years. After that, however, he struggled
through injuries, had Tommy John surgery, and was never an effective
pitcher again. He pitched briefly with Cincinnati in 1995 and Toronto in
1996 before bringing his playing career to an end. As a Twin, Frank Viola
was 112-93, 3.86 in 260 appearances, 259 of them starts. Since his
retirement, Viola has done some high-school and college coaching and has also
done some broadcasting with the New England Sports Network. In 2011 he
was the pitching coach for the Brooklyn Cyclones in the New York-Penn League
and from 2012-2013 he was the pitching coach of the Savannah Sand Gnats in the
South Atlantic League. He was going to be pitching coach of the AAA Las
Vegas 51s in 2014, but open-heart surgery put that move on hold. The
surgery was successful and he was able to assume pitching coach duties for the
51s in 2015 and continues to hold that job this season. Frank Viola is a
member of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame.
Left-handed
reliever Joseph Ronald Beimel made three appearances for the Twins in 2004.
Born and raised in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania, he attended Duquesne University
and was drafted by Pittsburgh in the eighteenth round in 1998. He started
for much of his minor league career. He had not pitched effectively above
Class A when he suddenly made the Pirates out of spring training in 2001.
He was with Pittsburgh for three full seasons despite not pitching very
well: his ERA was exactly five and his WHIP was 1.58. He made some
starts in his first two years, but was moved exclusively to the bullpen in
2003. The Pirates released Beimel at the end of March, 2004, and the
Twins signed him a couple of weeks later. He had a poor year in
Rochester, despite which he was given a September call-up. Beimel pitched
1.2 innings in three games, giving up eight runs on eight hits and two
walks. He became a free agent for 2005 and signed with Tampa Bay.
He didn’t pitch particularly well in AAA for them, either, but got to the big
leagues for about a month and did well in seven appearances. He signed with
the Dodgers for 2006, pitched well in ten appearances at AAA, and came up to
the majors, where at age 29 he finally found big-league success. He was
with Los Angeles for three years, appeared in 216 games, and had an ERA of
3.04. Beimel was a free agent after the 2008 season and took a long time
to sign, finally signing with Washington in mid-March. He pitched well
there, was traded to Colorado in mid-season, and continued to pitch fairly well
through 2010. He was a free agent after that season and signed with
Pittsburgh. He was injured much of the year but made 35 appearances for
the Pirates, working 25.1 innings. Unfortunately, he did not pitch well
and was released at the end of August. He signed with Texas for 2012 but
was released in late March. He underwent Tommy John surgery on May 1 of
2012. A year ago, we wrote, "As he's 36 today, one assumes his
playing career is over, but he's alive and left-handed, so maybe not."
Maybe not turned out to be accurate. He signed with Atlanta in
mid-May of 2013 and pitched for AAA Gwinnett the rest of the season. A
free agent after the season, he signed with Seattle and made it back to the
majors for the first time since 2011. He actually had a fine year for the
Mariners. He signed with Texas for 2015, was released in spring training,
was re-signed by Seattle, and while he wasn't as good as 2014 he still pitched
adequately. He did not sign with anyone for 2016, so his playing career
may finally be over. On the other hand, there's no real reason to think
he can't pitch, so he may fool us yet. The message here is that if your kid is
interested in baseball, teach him to throw left-handed. He may be able to
play for a long time.
Left-handed
reliever Dennys (Valarde) Reyes pitched for the Twins from 2006-2008.
Born and raised in Higuera de Zaragosa, Mexico, Reyes was signed by the Dodgers
as a free agent in 1993. He was a starter in his minor league career and
was somewhat up-and-down, but pitched well in a month and a half stint with the
Dodgers in 1997. At mid-season of 1998, the Dodgers traded Reyes to
Cincinnati, where he stayed through 2001. He was not terrible in those
years, although not particularly good, either. He split 2002 between
Colorado and Texas, not doing much for either team. Reyes signed with
Pittsburgh for 2003, was let go in May, and finished the season with Arizona,
spending most of his time there in the minors. Reyes moved to Kansas City
in 2004 and San Diego in 2005, doing nothing to attract anyone’s
attention. The Padres released Reyes in July of 2005, and he was out of
baseball until February of 2006, when Minnesota signed him. Reyes then
went out and had one of the best seasons a LOOGY ever had. He appeared in
66 games, but pitched only 50.2 innings. In those innings, he went 5-0,
0.89 with a WHIP of 0.99. His ERA+ was 507. He did not repeat those
numbers, but remained a valuable LOOGY for two more seasons. As a Twin,
Dennys Reyes appeared in 191 games and pitched 126.1 innings. He was
10-1, 2.14 with a WHIP of 1.27. He became a free agent after the 2008
season and signed with St. Louis. He pitched well for the Cardinals in
2009-2010, then became a free agent again and signed with Boston. He made
four appearances for the Red Sox and was made the fall guy for their poor
start, getting sent outright to AAA. He then missed most of the season
and was released in late September. He signed with Baltimore for 2012 but
was released in early March. He did not play in 2012, but he pitched in
Mexico from 2013-2015. He does not appear to be playing in 2016, but he
played in winter ball, and if Joe Beimel's career teaches us anything, it's
that you never know. One assumes his playing career is over, but he's alive and
left-handed, so maybe not.
There’s
very little to be said about catcher/first baseman Joseph Patrick Mauer that
anyone reading this does not already know. He was born and raised in St.
Paul and was taken by Minnesota with the first pick of the 2001 draft.
His lowest average in the minors was .302, with Class A Quad Cities in
2002. He showed very little power in the minors, never hitting more than
five home runs in a season, although he hit 30 doubles in a 2003 split between
Fort Myers and New Britain. He started 2004 with Minnesota but was injured
most of the season, getting only 107 at-bats (in which he hit .308 with six
home runs). His first full season came in 2005, when he hit .294 as a
22-year-old. In 2006, Mauer won his first batting title, the first
American League catcher ever to win one. He has won two more since,
including his highest average to date in 2009, .365. In 2009, when he won
the MVP, Mauer also led the league in on-base percentage and slugging
percentage. In 2010, in what some considered an “off year”, he hit
.326/.402/.469, won the silver slugger and the gold glove, and finished eighth
in MVP voting. He had an injury-plagued 2011 and took a lot of criticism,
but still hit .287 in just under 300 at-bats. He spent substantial time
at first base and DH in 2012, but stayed healthy and came back with a fine
season, batting .319 and leading the league in on-base percentage. His
2013 season was similar, as he hit .324 and had a fine on-base percentage
again. He again was hampered by injuries in 2014, when he moved to first
base full-time. He played in 120 games but had the worst season of his
career, although he still hit .277 with an OBP of .361. In 2015 he went
down a little farther, as concussion issues clearly continued to bother him.
So far, he has made the all-star team six times, has finished in the top
eight in MVP voting four times, has won three gold gloves, and has won five
silver slugger awards. Joe Mauer turns thirty-three today and is off to an
excellent start, raising hopes that perhaps those concussion issues are finally
behind him. It's a shame more people don't appreciate what they have in
him, because at his age they probably won't have it too many years longer.
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