Jimmy Archer (1883)
Larry Gardner (1886)
Babe Dye (1898)
Bill McKinley (1910)
Bill Kinnamon (1919)
Dusty Rhodes (1927)
Johnny Roseboro (1933)
Leon Wagner (1934)
Juan Beniquez (1950)
Bobby Valentine (1950)
Lenny Faedo (1960)
Sean McDonough (1962)
Jose Rijo (1965)
Jack Cressend (1975)
Trajan Langdon (1976)
Barry Zito (1978)
John Ryan Murphy (1991)
Larry Gardner (1886)
Babe Dye (1898)
Bill McKinley (1910)
Bill Kinnamon (1919)
Dusty Rhodes (1927)
Johnny Roseboro (1933)
Leon Wagner (1934)
Juan Beniquez (1950)
Bobby Valentine (1950)
Lenny Faedo (1960)
Sean McDonough (1962)
Jose Rijo (1965)
Jack Cressend (1975)
Trajan Langdon (1976)
Barry Zito (1978)
John Ryan Murphy (1991)
Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Dye was
a minor league outfielder from 1919-1926, spending much of his career in the
American Association. In 811 games, he hit .311, slugged .443, and stole
118 bases.
Bill
McKinley was an American League umpire from 1946-65.
Bill
Kinnamon was an American League umpire from 1960-69.
Sean
McDonough has been a baseball broadcaster since 1988.
College
basketball star Trajan Langdon was a third baseman in the low minors for three
seasons.
Catcher
John Junior Roseboro was with the Twins from 1968-1969, near the end of his
career. Born and raised in Ashland, Ohio, Roseboro signed with the
Brooklyn Dodgers as a free agent in 1952. He hit very well for two years
in the low minors, then missed a year due to military service. It took
Roseboro a while to get going upon his return, but he hit .273 with 25 homers
at AAA Montreal in 1956. He started 1957 in Montreal, but was brought up
to Brooklyn in mid-June as a seldom-used backup to Roy
Campanella. That off-season, however, Campanella's career ended
suddenly in an automobile accident, and Roseboro became the regular catcher of
the then Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958. He hit .271 with 14 home runs that
season and made the all-star team for the first time. He was rather
up-and-down at the plate in his Dodger career, hitting as high as .287 in 1964
and as low as .213 in 1960. His best offensive year may have been 1961,
when he hit 18 home runs with a .251 batting average and walked a career-high
56 times. He made his second all-star team that year, won his first Gold
Glove, and finished 19th in MVP voting. Roseboro made three all-star
teams for the Dodgers, won two Gold Gloves, and received MVP consideration
three times, with his highest finish being thirteenth in 1966. He had
decent speed for a catcher, hitting 44 triples in his career. Roseboro
remained the regular catcher for the Dodgers through the 1967 season, at which
time he was traded to Minnesota with Bob Miller and Ron Perranoski for Mudcat
Grant and Zoilo Versalles. He did not hit much in 1968, but he bounced
back in 1969 to make his fourth all-star team as the Twins won the Western
Division title. That was to be Roseboro's last hurrah, however, as the Twins
released him after the season. As a Twin, Johnny Roseboro hit
.239/.316/.316 in 741 at-bats. He signed with Washington, but struggled
to adapt to a reserve role and was released in mid-August, ending his playing
career. Roseboro went on to coach for the Senators and the Angels, and
later served as both a batting instructor and a catching instructor for the
Dodgers. Johnny Roseboro passed away on August 16, 2002 in Los Angeles
from complications resulting from a stroke.
Shortstop
Leonardo Lago Faedo was with the Twins for the first half of the 1980s.
Born and raised in Tampa, Faedo was drafted by Minnesota in the first round of
the 1978 draft. He was not a great batter in the minors; his best year
was 1979, when he hit .271 with AA Orlando. He hit .240 there in 1980,
the year he made his big-league debut as a September call-up. He was
apparently loaned to the Cleveland organization for part of 1981, as he split
that season between AAA Charleston and AAA Toledo before being promoted to the Twins
after the strike ended in August. 1982 was Faedo's only first season in
the majors, as he was the semi-regular at shortstop, sharing the job with Ron
Washington. He won the starting job in 1983 and played well, hitting .305
on May 6 before injuries started to bother him. Faedo played sporadically
for a month, then was shut down in early June, missing half the season before
coming back in September. When he came back, he could not duplicate his
earlier success, hitting only .231 the rest of the way. He started the
1984 season as the Twins shortstop and was not playing that badly, at least not
compared to the alternatives the Twins had, but they soured on him and not only
sent him to the minors in late April but again loaned him to other
organizations, as he finished the season in AAA for Detroit and Texas.
The Twins finally released Faedo just before the 1985 season and he signed with
Kansas City. He played two more seasons in the minors, one in the Royals'
organization and one in the Dodgers' chain, before his playing career ended
after the 1986 campaign. In parts of five seasons in the majors, all with
the Twins, Lenny Faedo hit .251/.284/.316 in 529 at-bats. It is unclear
what Lenny Faedo has done since his playing days, but he appears to have moved back
to Tampa, has coached some youth baseball, and has made some appearances on
behalf of the Cal Ripken Foundation. A younger cousin of his, Alex Faedo,
was drafted by Detroit in the fortieth round in 2014 but elected to go to
college at the University of Florida instead. He is in his second year
there and has pitched quite well for them.
Right-hander
John Baptiste Cressend pitched for the Twins from 2000-2002. He was born
in New Orleans and went to high school in Mandeville, Louisiana. He then
attended Tulane, and signed with Boston as a free agent in 1996. He
pitched well in the low minors, but struggled in the Red Sox' organization when
promoted to AA. Boston waived him in late April of 1999, and Cressend was
selected by Minnesota. He had always been a starter to this point, but
the Twins moved him to the bullpen in 2000 and he had a decent season in AAA,
coming up to the majors at the end of August of that year. He began the
2001 season in AAA, but came up to Minnesota in mid-May and stayed the rest of
the season. He was a pretty valuable reliever that season, going 3-2,
3.67 with a WHIP of 1.17. He started 2002 with the Twins, but could not
duplicate his success of the previous year, became injured, and was
placed on waivers after the season. As a Twin, Jack Cressend
was 3-3, 4.59 in 102 innings spread over 78 games. The
Indians selected him off waivers, and Cressend spent the next two years
bouncing back and forth between Cleveland and the minors. He pitched well
in half a season for them in 2003, but again could not sustain his success the
next season, and was released after the 2004 campaign. He signed with
Boston and pitched in Pawtucket in 2005, but it did not go well and his playing
career came to an end. After that, Jack Cressend became a scout for Tampa
Bay from 2006-2008. He was the pitching coach for Tulane University from
2009-2010, then became the pitching coach for the University of Houston in
2011. He then got back into professional baseball, scouting for the Rays
from 2012-2014 and being hired as a cross-checker for the Dodgers in
2015.
Catcher
John Ryan Murphy joined the Twins in 2016. Born and raised in Bradenton,
Florida, he was drafted by the Yankees in the second round in 2009. He
hit decently in the low minors, had a poor 2012, but rebounded in a 2013 split
between AA and AAA, getting a September call-up that year. He was the
Yankees reserve catcher in 2014 and did okay in that role for two and a half
months, batting .286 (though with few walks and little power), but was sent
back to AAA in mid-June anyway, again receiving a September call-up. He
was the Yankees reserve catcher for all of 2015, so far his only full season in
the majors, and hit .277/.327/.406 in 155 at-bats. After that season he
was traded to the Twins for Aaron Hicks, a trade which so far has helped
neither team. He was the Twins' reserve catcher for the first month of
2016 and played both poorly and seldom, batting .075/.119/.100 in 40 at-bats.
He was then sent to Rochester and has not done much better, but he's only
had 13 at-bats at this writing. He turns twenty-five today and has
already had over four hundred AAA at-bats, so it seems unlikely that he will
get better playing there. We know that Kurt Suzuki is not the answer at
catcher. It's time to find out whether John Ryan Murphy can be.
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