Babe Dahlgren (1912)
Bernice Gera (1931)
Mario Cuomo (1932)
Billy Williams (1938)
Ty Cline (1939)
Bruce Dal Canton (1941)
Ken Henderson (1946)
Champ Summers (1946)
Dusty Baker (1949)
Lance Parrish (1956)
Brett Butler (1957)
Wade Boggs (1958)
Tony Clark (1972)
Ramiro Mendoza (1972)
Andy Pettitte (1972)
Zach Day (1978)
Jeremy Reed (1981)
Tim Lincecum (1984)
Trevor Plouffe (1986)
Eduardo Nunez (1987)
Jake Locker (1988)
Bernice Gera (1931)
Mario Cuomo (1932)
Billy Williams (1938)
Ty Cline (1939)
Bruce Dal Canton (1941)
Ken Henderson (1946)
Champ Summers (1946)
Dusty Baker (1949)
Lance Parrish (1956)
Brett Butler (1957)
Wade Boggs (1958)
Tony Clark (1972)
Ramiro Mendoza (1972)
Andy Pettitte (1972)
Zach Day (1978)
Jeremy Reed (1981)
Tim Lincecum (1984)
Trevor Plouffe (1986)
Eduardo Nunez (1987)
Jake Locker (1988)
Bernice
Gera was the first female umpire in Organized Baseball, umpiring one game in
the New York-Penn League in 1972.
Former
New York Governor Mario Cuomo was an outfielder for the Brunswick Pirates of
the Georgia-Florida League in 1952.
Quarterback
Jake Locker was drafted by the Angels as an outfielder in the tenth round in
2009. He signed a contract with them, but never played a game of
professional baseball.
Right-hander Stephen Zachary
Day did not pitch for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for about a
month in 2008. Born and raised in Cincinnati, he was drafted by the
Yankees in the fifth round in 1996. He advanced slowly, not getting out
of A ball until 2000. When he did, he was no longer in the Yankees’
system; he was traded to Cleveland in late June of 2000. He reached AAA
for the Indians in 2001, but after one game there he was traded to Montreal at
the July deadline. He made his major league debut with the Expos in 2002,
spending about two and a half months with the team that year. He was
mostly used as a relief pitcher in 2002, but was in the starting rotation in
2003-2004. He was decent in those years, not great but not
terrible. He moved to Washington with the team in 2005, but was traded to
Colorado in July. He spent time in the minors that year as well, and also
split 2006 between AAA and the majors. He was waived in late April of
2006 and went back to Washington. He made five mediocre starts with the
Nationals, then had rotator cuff surgery and never made it back to the
majors. He kept trying for a while, though. He signed with Kansas
City for 2007, was in AAA that season, then signed with Minnesota for
2008. The Twins sent him to Ft. Myers due to his continuing shoulder problems.
The hope was that the shoulder would improve, but it was not to be.
He made six relief appearances for Ft. Myers and went 1-0, 5.62, 1.88 WHIP in
eight innings. The Twins released him in early May. His continuing
health problems led him to not try to play for another team, and his playing
career came to an end. At last report, Zach Day had moved back to his
home town of Cincinnati. He currently is the founder and owner of Zigoo
Pets, a company which makes pet toys. He is also the manager of business
development for TrackMan A/S, which consults with software development experts
to translate principles of peak athletic performance into teaching
applications.
Outfielder
Jeremy Thomas Reed did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system
in 2011. He was born in San Dimas, California, went to high school in
LaVerne, California, then attended Cal State—Long Beach. He was drafted
by the White Sox in the second round in 2002. He hit very well in his
first couple of years in the minors, reaching AAA in 2004. In late June
of that season he was traded to Seattle and made his major league debut for the
Mariners that September. He was their starting center fielder in 2005,
but hit only .254 with no power. It was his only year as a major league
regular. He was a reserve for Seattle in 2006, then spent most of 2007 in
AAA, coming back to the majors only as a September call-up. He started
2008 in the minors again but came back to Seattle in late May and stayed the
rest of the season. He was traded to the Mets for the 2009 season.
He was in the majors all year, playing in 126 games but getting only 161
at-bats. Fifty-three of those games were as a pinch-hitter. Given
his use, he didn’t do badly, batting .242, but it was his last full season in
the majors. A free agent after the season, he signed with Toronto for
2010, played seldom, and was released in early July. The White Sox picked
him up and sent him to AAA for the rest of the season. He signed with
Milwaukee for 2011, went 0-for-7 as a pinch hitter, was sent to the minors,
then was traded to Minnesota in early June for future considerations. He
played in four games for Rochester, went 0-for-15, and then got hurt and did
not return. He was a free agent after the season, but did not play in
2012. He signed with Arizona for 2013 but retired during spring training.
The Diamondbacks apparently held out hope that he might change his mind,
as they did not release him until after the season. He elected to stay
retired, however, and is currently the minor league batting coordinator for the
Milwaukee Brewers.
Third
baseman Trevor Patrick Plouffe has played for the Twins in 2010 and 2011.
He was born in West Hills, California and was selected by Minnesota in the
first round of the 2004 amateur draft. He progressed at a pace of
roughly a level per season. His minor league numbers are not bad but not
terribly impressive, either. His highest batting average is .274 and his
highest OPS is .736 (both at New Britain, 2007); his lowest batting
average is .223 and his lowest OPS is .645 (both at Beloit,
2006). He had four brief stints with Minnesota in 2010, getting a few
days in May, a week in June, about a week in August, and coming back for a
September call-up. He was with the Twins for about a month in 2011,
spending most of the season in Rochester. He started to develop some
power in 2009, hitting 13 homers in Rochester that season and 15 there in 2010.
He split 2011 between Rochester and Minnesota, hitting 15 more homers in
Rochester in just 220 at-bats and eight more in Minnesota in 286 at-bats.
He became the regular third baseman for Minnesota in 2012 and has
remained there ever since. He had been remarkably consistent
year-to-year, but this year has so far declined significantly, not in batting
average but in walks and power. At this writing, Trevor Plouffe has hit
.245/.306/.417 in nearly 2500 major league at-bats. He's 30 today, so
while he may get back to his regular career numbers it's unlikely he's ever
going to significantly surpass them. Some have suggested that he be
traded to make room for Miguel Sano at third base, but so far the Twins have
resisted that suggestion. As long as he's with the Twins, Trevor Plouffe
is likely to remain their regular third baseman.
Infielder/outfielder
Eduardo Michelle (Mendez) Nunez came to the Twins in April of 2014. He
was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, went to high school in San
Juan, Puerto Rico, and signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 2004.
He did not reach AA until 2009, but it should be remembered that he was
still only 22 then. He reached AAA in 2010 and made his major league
debut in August of that year. Prior to 2016, he has never been a
particularly strong batter, although he hit for a decent average. In
2016, however, he is at this writing batting .324/.354/.507. His AAA line
is .273/.317/.359 in 666 at-bats. His major league numbers so far have
been similar, although with a little more power: .276/.315/.407 in 1357
at-bats at this writing. Despite the fact that the Yankees knew they
would soon be looking for a shortstop, they traded Nunez to Minnesota in April
of 2014 for Miguel Sulbaran. He has mostly played shortstop and third
base in the majors, although he does have a handful of games at second and in
the outfield. He turns 29 today. It seems very unlikely that he'll
be able to maintain his current batting pace, but if he can just keep his
averages around where they've been, he'll probably have a job in the majors for
at least a few more seasons.
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