Frank Foreman (1863)
George McQuillan (1885)
Victor Starfin (1916)
Johnny Berardino (1917)
Al Zarilla (1919)
Von Joshua (1948)
Rudy Meoli (1951)
Roy Lee Jackson (1954)
Charlie O’Brien (1960)
Jose Lind (1964)
Armando Reynoso (1966)
George McQuillan (1885)
Victor Starfin (1916)
Johnny Berardino (1917)
Al Zarilla (1919)
Von Joshua (1948)
Rudy Meoli (1951)
Roy Lee Jackson (1954)
Charlie O’Brien (1960)
Jose Lind (1964)
Armando Reynoso (1966)
Born in Russia, Victor Starfin
was Japanese baseball’s first 300-game winner.
Infielder
Johnny Berardino played in the major leagues for eleven years and appeared in
912 games, but is best known as Dr. Steve Hardy on General Hospital, a role he
played from 1963-1996.
Infielder Rudolph Bartholomew
Meoli did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for a couple
of months in 1979. He was born in Troy, New York, went to high school in
Covina, California, and was drafted by California in the fourth round in
1969. He hit .351 in rookie ball, but after that his averages, while
solid enough, are not that impressive, especially when combined with the fact
that he had little power. He did, however, draw quite a few walks, giving
him very good OBPs. He moved steadily up the ladder, reaching AA in 1971
(a year when he got a September call-up) and AAA in 1972. He was in the
majors for all of 1973, a year in which he was they Angels’ “most regular”
shortstop, starting 87 games. He did not hit, batting only .223, and
spent much of 1974 in the minors, coming back to California at the end of
July. He got another full year in the majors in 1975 as a utility player,
batting .214 in 126 at-bats. The Angels gave up on him at that point, and
he started moving around. California traded him to San Diego after the
1975 season, but he was traded again, this time to Cincinnati, before the 1976
season started. He was in AAA Indianapolis for two seasons, then was sold
to the Cubs before the 1978 campaign. He started the season as a utility
infielder for the Cubs, but hit even worse than previously and was sent back to
AAA in early July. The Cubs released him after the season and he signed
with Philadelphia for 1979. He got back to the big leagues for about six
weeks, but again did nothing offensively and was sold to Minnesota in late
June. He was in AAA the rest of the season, batting .265/.360/.365 in 189
at-bats. He was released by the Twins prior to the 1980 season, signed
with San Francisco, but was released at the end of spring training and his
playing career ended. There was obviously something teams liked about
him, because he kept getting chances, but he hit .212/.289/.267 in 626 major
league at-bats spread over six seasons. He seems to be fondly remembered
in his original home town of Troy. At last report, Rudy Meoli was the
owner of Global Marketing Technologies of Placentia, California, and was also a
director for World Outdoor Products, Inc. of Fullerton, California.
Right-hander
Roy Lee Jackson made 28 appearances for the Twins in 1986. Born and
raised in Opelika, Alabama, he attended Tuskegee University and signed with the
Mets as a free agent in 1975. He was a starter early in his minor league
career and pitched well, reaching AAA in 1977. He pitched well in AAA for
four consecutive years, consistently posting ERAs in the mid-threes, but got
only brief chances in the majors until 1980, when he began shifting to the
bullpen. He was with the Mets for the second half of the season that year
and was pretty average. After the season, Jackson was traded to
Toronto. He was a pretty valuable man in the Blue Jays’ bullpen for four
seasons. His best year was probably 1982, when he was 8-8, 3.06 with a
1.11 WHIP in 97 innings. Jackson was still pitching well for Toronto in
1984, but was released late in spring training in 1985. He did not sign
for a month and then went to AAA with Baltimore. The Orioles traded him
to San Diego in late June. He pitched well for the Padres, but was
released again late in spring training of 1986. The Twins signed him the
same day. He made 28 appearances as a Twin and actually pitched fairly
well, posting a 3.86 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 58.1 innings. Still, the
Twins let him become a free agent, and he signed with Milwaukee for 1987.
Jackson made four appearances at AAA for the Brewers, did poorly, and his
playing career came to a sudden end. He believes that the sudden end to
his career was because he was vocal about his Christian religious beliefs.
The charge is hard to prove, of course, but he sure seemed to get
released a lot for a pitcher who wasn’t that bad. The Museum of East
Alabama, located in “historic downtown Opelika”, has “a large selection of
memorabilia from Roy Lee’s Career”, so if you’re ever in historic downtown
Opelika, be sure to stop by. Roy Lee Jackson is currently
living in his home town of Opelika, where he is the pastor of the New Creation
Service Center, a non-denominational church.
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