Dad
Clarkson (1866)
Duke Farrell (1866)
Red Ehret (1868)
Monte Cross (1869)
Eddie Plank (1875)
Sarge Connally (1898)
Ray Berres (1907)
Ray Dandridge (1913)
Danny Litwhiler (1916)
Frank Robinson (1935)
Boots Day (1947)
Claudell Washington (1954)
Tom Candiotti (1957)
Von Hayes (1958)
Mike Hartley (1961)
Hideo Nomo (1968)
Pat Howell (1968)
Ramon Santiago (1979)
Tim Raines (1979)
Armando Gabino (1983)
John Hicks (1989)
Duke Farrell (1866)
Red Ehret (1868)
Monte Cross (1869)
Eddie Plank (1875)
Sarge Connally (1898)
Ray Berres (1907)
Ray Dandridge (1913)
Danny Litwhiler (1916)
Frank Robinson (1935)
Boots Day (1947)
Claudell Washington (1954)
Tom Candiotti (1957)
Von Hayes (1958)
Mike Hartley (1961)
Hideo Nomo (1968)
Pat Howell (1968)
Ramon Santiago (1979)
Tim Raines (1979)
Armando Gabino (1983)
John Hicks (1989)
Ray Dandridge is considered by some to be the greatest Negro
League third baseman.
Pitcher
Michael Edward Hartley played for the Twins in 1993. He was born in
Hawthorne, California, went to high school in El Cajon, California, attended
East Carolina University, and was signed as a free agent by the
Cardinals in 1981. He had a good year in rookie ball in 1982, but then spent
the next four years at Class A before being drafted by the Dodgers in the minor
league draft. They started him at Class A in 1987, but advanced him to AA and
then pitched him in two games in AAA that year. Hartley split 1988 between AA
and AAA. In 1989, after an excellent year at AAA Albuquerque, he earned a
September call-up with the Dodgers, and had a fine year for them in 1990,
pitching mostly in relief. The Dodgers traded Hartley to Philadelphia mid-way
through the 1991 season, and after a year and a half there, he was traded to
the Twins for David West. Hartley was not awful as a long
reliever for the Twins in 1993, pitching in 53 games, all in relief, and
going 1-2 with an ERA of 4.00 and a WHIP of 1.51 in 81 innings. He became
a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the Angels, but was sold
to the Chiba Lotte Marines three days later. After pitching in Japan in 1994,
Hartley returned to the United States and signed with the Red Sox organization,
spending most of 1995 in the minors but making five appearances with Boston and
three with Baltimore, who signed him after he was released by the Red Sox. He
played independent ball in 1997, and later got into coaching. He was the
pitching coach for the Reno Silver Sox from 2005-2007, making one appearance
for them in 2005. From 2008-2010 Mike Hartley was a coach and part-time pitcher
for a German professional team, the Heidenheim Heidekopfe, becoming the first
former big-leaguer to play in Germany. He managed the Croatian national
team in 2011, was manager of Grosseto in the Italian Baseball League in 2012,
moved back to Heidenheim for the 2013-2014 seasons, and was the pitching coach
for the Dutch National team at last report.
Outfielder Patrick O’Neal Howell did not play for the Twins, but
was in spring training with them in 1991 and in their minor league system in
1993. He was born in Mobile, Alabama, attended high school in Prichard,
Alabama, and was drafted by the Mets in the ninth round in 1987. A speedy
outfielder with no power, he advanced slowly up the Mets’ system, playing in
rookie ball for two years and Class A for two more. His best season at
that point had been in Class A in 1989, when he hit .290 (with a .346 slugging
percentage). The Twins thought they saw something in him, though, and
took him in the Rule 5 draft after the 1990 season. The Twins
clearly wanted to keep him, but simply could not justify leaving him on the
major league roster, and on April 5 returned him to the Mets. He reached
AA that season and AAA in 1992, and while he neither hit nor
walked much he stole a lot of bases, including 64 of them in 1991.
The Mets even called him up for about two months in 1992 and used him as a
reserve outfielder. He did about what you’d expect from his minor league
record: .187/.218/.200 in 75 at-bats. The Twins still liked him,
though, and after the 1992 season they traded Darren Reed for him. They
sent him to AAA Portland, and while he stole 36 bases he hit .209 with an OPS
of .505, which was enough to finally convince the Twins that there was nothing
there. He went back to the Mets for 1994, played in Mexico from 1995-1997,
to Taiwan in 1998, and then played in independent leagues for eight seasons
before finally ending his playing career after the 2004 season. At last
report, Pat Howell had returned to the Mobile area and was working with
baseball clinics there.
The son of the all-star, outfielder Timothy Raines Jr. was in
spring training with the Twins for a couple of weeks in 2006. He was born
in Memphis, went to high school in Sanford, Florida, and was drafted by
Baltimore in the sixth round in 1998. His minor league record is rather
unimpressive, but after hitting .274 for three minor league teams in 2001 he
got a September call-up and appeared in seven games. In 2003, still only
twenty-three years old, he hit .304 in a season split between AA and AAA and
was called up to the Orioles in late August, playing in twenty more
games. He had three stints in the majors in 2004, totalling roughly half
the season, hitting .255 in 94 at-bats. He had a down year in 2005 in AAA
Ottawa, hitting .254, and became a free agent after the season. He signed
with the Twins as a free agent on January 31, 2006, but was released on March
2. He bounced around after that, going to the Washington organization in
2006, Houston in 2007, Arizona in 2008, and Kansas City in 2009, spending time
both in AA and AAA but never making it back to the majors. He also played
briefly in Taiwan. He played in the Atlantic League in 2010 and moved to
Newark of the Can-Am League for 2011, where he was managed by his father.
Tim Raines, Jr. was a coach for Newark in 2012, with his father becoming
director of player development. At last report, he was an instructor for
IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Right-hander Armando Leisdeker (Garcia) Gabino made two
appearances for the Twins in 2009. He was born in Santiago, Dominican
Republic, and signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 2001. He may
have spent a couple of years in the Dominican Summer League or something,
because his official minor league statistics do not begin until 2004, when
he pitched five games in the Appalachian League. He came to the
Twins organization the following year in the minor league draft. He had a poor
2005, but has pitched well in the minors since, posting a 2.94 ERA and a 1.06
WHIP in AAA Rochester in 2009. He has been predominantly a relief pitcher in
the minors, making only 13 starts in 176 minor-league appearances. He
made one start and one relief appearance for the Twins, pitching 3.2 innings
and allowing seven runs on nine hits and five walks. The Twins placed
Gabino on waivers after the season and he was claimed by Baltimore. He
has spent most of the 2010 season at AAA Norfolk but made five appearances for
the Orioles, again allowing seven runs on nine hits, but this time in 4.2
innings. He has had a fine year for Norfolk, however, posting a 2.09 ERA
in 77.1 innings. He continued to pitch well in the minors for the Orioles
in 2011, but did not gotten a shot back in the majors. He was a free
agent after the season, but no major league team signed him. He did not
give up, though, pitching in the Mexican League in 2012 and in the Atlantic
League in 2013. He signed with Camden of the Atlantic League for 2014 but
was placed on the inactive list in mid-April and does not appear to have
pitched for them. His playing career came to an end at that point.
Armando Gabino was a pitching coach for the VSL Cubs at last report.
Catcher John Austin Hicks did not play for the Twins, but he was
in AAA for them briefly in 2016. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, went
to high school in Goochland, Virginia, attended the University of Virginia, and
was drafted by Seattle in the fourth round in 2011. He moved up one level
at a time, playing in low-A in 2011, high-A in 2012, and AA in 2013. He
struggled at the plate in 2013, but did well when he repeated it in 2014.
He also had a month in AAA that season and also did well in the Arizona
Fall League. He struggled when he went to AAA in 2015, but still went to
the bigs at the end of August. He went just 2-for-32 with the Mariners and
was waived after the season. The Twins claimed him and sent him to
Rochester, but he was waived after playing just nine games there and was
claimed by Detroit. He had a solid year in AAA for them, batting .303.
He turns twenty-seven today. He's been brought along very slowly,
so there's apparently something about him teams don't like (possibly defense,
but that's just speculation). When teams had decently-sized bullpens, he
would've valuable as a backup catcher/bench bat. He still may get a
chance, but if it doesn't happen soon time is going to run out on him.