This
is a copy-and-paste from last year. If you have updates, please include
them below.
Carl Hubbell (1903)
Walt Masterson (1920)
Han Urbanus (1927)
Faye Throneberry (1931)
Russ Snyder (1934)
Dave Tomlin (1949)
Ron Hodges (1949)
Greg Booker (1960)
Brant Brown (1971)
Esteban Yan (1975)
Willie Harris (1978)
Luis Maza (1980)
Ian Kinsler (1982)
Walt Masterson (1920)
Han Urbanus (1927)
Faye Throneberry (1931)
Russ Snyder (1934)
Dave Tomlin (1949)
Ron Hodges (1949)
Greg Booker (1960)
Brant Brown (1971)
Esteban Yan (1975)
Willie Harris (1978)
Luis Maza (1980)
Ian Kinsler (1982)
Han Urbanus is in the Dutch Baseball Hall of
Fame. He pitched over 150 consecutive complete games over a period of
eight years.
The brother of Marv Throneberry, outfielder
Faye Throneberry spent much of his career with the Twins franchise while it was
still in Washington (1957-1960). In December of 1960, he was chosen by
the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft.
Right-handed
reliever Gregory Scott Booker appeared in six games for the Twins in
1989. The son-in-law of Jack McKeon, he was born in Lynchburg, Virginia,
went to high school in Burlington, North Carolina, and then attended Elon
University in Elon, North Carolina (a school also attended by Dick Such).
He was drafted by San Diego in the tenth round in 1981. Mostly a starter
in the minors, he did not have very good numbers there at all, although much of
his time was spent in hitter-friendly Las Vegas in the PCL. Despite never
posting a minor league ERA under 5.25 or a WHIP under 1.6, Booker got a
September call-up in 1983. He went back-and-forth between San Diego and
Las Vegas from 1984-1986. He was almost exclusively a reliever in the majors,
making only four career starts. His major league numbers are
substantially better than his minor league totals, although it should be noted
that Booker never pitched as many as seventy innings in a major league
season. His only two full seasons in the majors were 1987-1988, and he
pitched pretty well in those years, posting ERAs in the low threes and WHIPs
around 1.35. He did not pitch as well in 1989, was sent back to AAA in
June. In late June, his father-in-law traded him to Minnesota
for Fred Toliver. Most of his time with the Twins was in AAA, but he came
up to the majors in September. He appeared in six games and pitched 8.2
innings. Had no record, giving up four runs on eleven hits for a 4.15 ERA
and a 1.50 WHIP. The Twins allowed him to become a free agent and he
signed with the Cubs, but he was released at the end of spring training.
He signed with the Giants for 1990 and was in AAA most of the year,
playing in two major league games in late May. That was the end of his
playing career. He has stayed in professional baseball since then,
coaching in the Indians and Rockies organizations, and was the major
league pitching coach for San Diego from 1997-2003. He was the pitching
coach of the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League from 2010-2013.
At last report, Greg Booker was a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
His son, Zach Booker, is on the roster for the AAA Norfolk Tides in the
Baltimore organization, but has barely played since 2008, hasn't played at all
since 2011, and is currently on the disabled list. One source says he's
their bullpen catcher and gets activated on occasions when the team is
temporarily short-handed.
Infielder Luis Alberto Maza did not play for
the Twins, but was in their minor league system for several years. Born
and raised in Cumana, Venezuela, he signed with the Twins as a free agent in
1997. Partly due to his age, Maza was in the low minors for several
years, not reaching AA until 2004. He hit .311 there that year and was
promoted to AAA in 2005. He had a bad year in Rochester in 2006, hitting
only .207, and became a free agent after the season. He signed with the
Dodgers, played very well in the minors, and reached the majors in mid-May of
2008, staying for two months. He hit only .228, however, and so far this
has been Maza’s only time in the majors. He hit .378 in Albuquerque that
year, and followed it up with a .300 season last year. When he did not
get a call back to the big leagues, Maza again became a free agent, this time
signing with Philadelphia. He moved on to Houston in late June, but was
released in early August. He signed with Grosseto in the Italian Baseball
League for 2011 and played for Rimini in that same league in 2012. He did
not play anywhere during the regular 2013 or 2014 seasons but continues to play
winter ball in Venezuela. It seems extremely unlikely that we'll ever see
him in the majors again, but he's still playing, so I suppose it's not
impossible.
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