Heinie
Manush (1901)
Bob Short (1917)
Mike Ilitch (1929)
Dick Stello (1934)
Tony Oliva (1938)
Mickey Stanley (1942)
Mike Witt (1960)
Charles Johnson (1971)
Bengie Molina (1974)
Jason Miller (1982)
Alexi Casilla (1984)
Stephen Strasburg (1988)
Bob Short (1917)
Mike Ilitch (1929)
Dick Stello (1934)
Tony Oliva (1938)
Mickey Stanley (1942)
Mike Witt (1960)
Charles Johnson (1971)
Bengie Molina (1974)
Jason Miller (1982)
Alexi Casilla (1984)
Stephen Strasburg (1988)
Bob
Short owned the second Washington Senators franchise and moved them to Texas.
He also owned the Minneapolis Lakers and moved them to Los Angeles.
Mike
Ilitch purchased the Detroit Tigers in 1992.
Dick
Stello was a National League umpire from 1968-1987, when he died in a car
accident.
Outfielder
Tony Pedro Oliva played his entire career for the Twins, playing briefly in
1962-1963, making the team for good in 1964 and staying through 1976. He
was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and signed as a free agent with Minnesota
in 1961, one of the last Cubans allowed to leave the country to play major
league baseball. The Twins released him, but he continued to train with a
friend who was playing for the Twins’ Class A team in Charlotte.
Charlotte manager Paul Howser encouraged the Twins to re-sign Oliva, which they
did. His minor league numbers are impressive: in three seasons, he
hit .342 with 50 home runs. He got September call-ups in 1962 and 1963,
then became the Twins’ starting right fielder in 1964. He was the Rookie
of the Year, leading the league in batting (.323), runs (109), hits (217),
doubles (43), and total bases (374). He finished fourth in MVP
voting. He again led the league in batting in 1965 and finished second
in MVP voting to teammate Zoilo Versalles. Oliva made the all-star
team his first eight seasons in the majors, 1964-1971. He finished in the
top twenty in MVP voting each of those years, finishing in the top ten five
times, in the top five three times, and finishing second twice (1965 and
1970). He also won the Gold Glove in 1966. He suffered a
devastating knee injury in 1972, missing almost the entire season, and when he
returned he was not the same player. He was strictly a DH after that, he
never topped .300 again (after having done so in six of his first eight seasons),
and never hit 20 homers again. He fell to part-time status in 1976 and
his playing career ended after that. Tony Oliva hit .304/.353/.476 with
220 home runs in 6,301 at-bats. If not for his knee injury, he would be
in the Hall of Fame; some would argue that he should be in anyway. For
eight seasons, he was as good a player as there was in the major leagues.
After his playing career ended, Oliva remained with the Twins as a coach in
both the major and minor league teams at various times. He is currently
living in Bloomington, Minnesota, and continues to make public appearances for
the Twins.
Left-hander
Jason Douglas Miller made four appearances for the Twins in 2007. Born
and raised in Sarasota, Florida, he was drafted by Minnesota in the fourth
round in 2000. He both started and relieved in the minors, as the Twins’
organization never seemed to really settle on a role for him. He pitched
pretty well on his way up, only once posting an ERA over four (4.05 at
Elizabethton in 2001) and never posting a WHIP as high as 1.4 until 2007.
He was with the Twins for about ten days in 2007, appearing in four
games. His numbers show an ERA of 18, allowing eight runs and seven hits
in four innings, but that’s somewhat misleading. He was unscored upon in
his first three appearances, giving up no hits and one walk in 3.2 innings,
then gave up eight runs, seven hits, and two walks in a third of an inning his
last time out. The Twins were trailing 8-3 to the Angels in the eighth,
and Gardy obviously did not want to burn up another reliever, so he let Miller
get beat on for a while. Miller went back to AAA the rest of the season,
did not do particularly well, had a bad year in AA in 2008, and then the Twins
let him go. He signed with Detroit for 2009 but was released in April,
and his playing career came to an end. At last report, Jason Miller had
returned to his home town of Sarasota. where he works as a pitching instructor
for Extra Innings, which offers both baseball and softball instruction.
Infielder
Alexi (Lora) Casilla played for the Twins from 2006-2012. He was born and
raised in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, and signed with Anaheim as a free
agent in 2003. He had a big year in 2005, hitting .325 at Class A Cedar
Rapids. That off-season, Casilla was traded to Minnesota for J. C.
Romero. He was a September call-up for the Twins in 2006 and has gone
back and forth between AAA and the majors ever since. Casilla was
the Twins’ starting second baseman the last two months of 2007, but did not hit.
He began 2008 in the minors, came up to the Twins in mid-May, took over the
starting second base job about a week later, and had his best season, hitting
.281 with 50 RBIs. The Twins thought they had their second base position
filled for several years, but it did not work out that way. He did not
hit in 2009, lost the starting job in early May, spent some time in the minors,
got the starting job back a couple of times but couldn’t hold it, and ended up
hitting just .202 for the season. He was a reserve for the Twins in 2010
and did fairly well in that role. He began 2011 starting at shortstop,
but did not hit. He was moved to second base in early May and continued
to not hit for a few weeks, then started doing better, although he wasn’t exactly
getting all-star consideration. He began 2012 as the starting second
baseman again, but lost the job in early June and was a reserve the rest of the
year. As a Twin, Alexi Casilla hit .250/.305/.334 in 1580 major league at
bats. He was placed on waivers after the 2012 season and chosen by
Baltimore, for whom he was a backup second baseman in 2013. He didn't do
much, and while the Orioles re-signed him for 2014 they sent him to AAA
Norfolk, playing him in only one major league game in September. He
signed with Tampa Bay for 2015, was released at the end of March, was re-signed
nine days later, and was traded to Detroit in late June for a player to be
named later or cash. A free agent after the season, he signed with
Toronto for 2016 and is in AAA for them. He's thirty-two today. He
has had stretches in which he has played well, he has never been able to
sustain a major league level of play over the course of a season. At this
point, one has to assume that he is what he is, and will never be more than a
temporary fill-in or utility infielder in the major leagues. That, of
course, is still more than the vast majority of us will ever do in baseball.
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