Fielder
Jones (1871)
George Susce (1907)
Lou Finney (1910)
Sid Gordon (1917)
Jerry Neudecker (1930)
Vinegar Bend Mizell (1930)
Mudcat Grant (1935)
Tony Cloninger (1940)
Fred Stanley (1947)
Jerry Crawford (1947)
Andre Thornton (1949)
Tom Niedenfuer (1959)
Jim Reboulet (1961)
Jay Buhner (1964)
Tom Prince (1964)
Mark Lemke (1965)
Alex Fernandez (1969)
Jarrod Washburn (1974)
Will Ohman (1977)
Corey Patterson (1979)
Dallas Braden (1983)
Boone Logan (1984)
George Susce (1907)
Lou Finney (1910)
Sid Gordon (1917)
Jerry Neudecker (1930)
Vinegar Bend Mizell (1930)
Mudcat Grant (1935)
Tony Cloninger (1940)
Fred Stanley (1947)
Jerry Crawford (1947)
Andre Thornton (1949)
Tom Niedenfuer (1959)
Jim Reboulet (1961)
Jay Buhner (1964)
Tom Prince (1964)
Mark Lemke (1965)
Alex Fernandez (1969)
Jarrod Washburn (1974)
Will Ohman (1977)
Corey Patterson (1979)
Dallas Braden (1983)
Boone Logan (1984)
Jerry
Neudecker was an American League umpire from 1966-1985. He was the last
major league umpire to use an outside chest protector.
Jerry
Crawford was a major league umpire from 1976-2010. He is tied with Bruce
Froemming for the most postseason games umpired, 111.
Jim
Reboulet is the brother of Jeff Reboulet. He was in the minors for six years,
reaching AAA. He had three seasons with sixty or more stolen bases.
Right-hander
James Timothy “Mudcat” Grant pitched for the Twins from 1964-1967. He was
born in Lacoochee, Florida, went to high school in Dade City, Florida,
and was signed as a free agent by Cleveland in 1954. He pitched quite well
in the minors, going 70-28 with an ERA under 3.20 and averaging over 200
innings per season. He made the Indians out of spring training
in 1958. Grant was a solid member of the Cleveland rotation for six years,
making the all-star team in 1963. He also did some singing as part of a
nightclub act. When he got off to a poor start in 1964, he was traded to
Minnesota for George Banks and Lee Stange. Something clicked for him when he
came to the Twins, as he had his best years in Minnesota: for the rest of 1964,
he was 11-9 with a 2.82 ERA, in 1965 he went 21-7 with a 3.30 ERA and finished
sixth in the MVP voting, and he went 13-13 in 1966 with a 3.25 ERA. Four
consecutive years of pitching between 228 and 270 innings appeared to take its
toll, however; 1966 was Grant’s last good year as a starter, and after the 1967
season, he was traded to the Dodgers with Zoilo Versalles for Bob Miller, Ron
Perranoski, and Johnny Roseboro. He then had a relatively successful career as
a relief pitcher, saving 24 games for Oakland in 1970 and leading major league
baseball in appearances with 80. The last year of his 14-year major league
career was split between Oakland and Pittsburgh; he also pitched for Iowa in
the Oakland organization in 1972. Grant pitched in 129 games as a Twin, 111 of
them starts, and went 50-35 with a 3.35 ERA. There are various stories
about who gave him the nickname “Mudcat”, with the most popular being
that he was given it by Cleveland teammate Larry Doby or a minor-league
teammate named LeRoy Irby. He has served on the board of the Negro
Leagues Baseball Museum, the Baseball Assistance Team, and the Major League
Baseball Alumni Association. In recent years, Grant has been promoting
education about the history of blacks in baseball. His book, “The Black Aces”,
profiles African-American pitchers who have won twenty games in the majors,
along with Negro League pitchers who might have done so had they had they
opportunity. At last report, Mudcat Grant was living in Los Angeles.
Catcher
Thomas Albert Prince played for the Twins from 2001-2003. He was born in Kankakee,
Illinois, and was drafted by Pittsburgh in 1984 in the 4th round of the
secondary phase of the January draft. Prince did not hit particularly well
in the low minors, but showed moderate power and got a reputation
as a good defensive player. He surprisingly hit .307 at
AA Harrisburg in 1987, nearly fifty points higher than he had ever hit in
the minors. That was good enough for him to make his debut in
Pittsburgh as a September call-up that season. He spent parts of the next seven
seasons with the Pirates, sticking for the whole year only in 1993, which was
the only year he got more than 100 at-bats for Pittsburgh. He never hit
for them, posting batting averages of over .200 only twice in those seven
years. Let go by the Pirates after that season, Prince spent parts
of the next four years with the Dodgers, again only getting 100 at-bats once,
in 1997, although he did hit .200 or above every year. He spent 1999-2000
with the Phillies, and was signed as a free agent by the Twins after the 2000
campaign. With the Twins, Prince was who they thought he was: a reserve
catcher who was good defensively and couldn’t hit. In 2 1/2 years in Minnesota,
he got 361 at-bats and hit .219/.300/.374 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs. Released
by the Twins in July of 2003, he signed with the Royals, spending most of the
rest of the year in Omaha. He retired after that year at the age of 38.
Tom Prince managed to play in parts of seventeen major league seasons and get
1,190 major league at-bats with a lifetime batting average of .208. Since
his playing days ended, he has been affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates,
mostly as a minor league manager. He is currently the minor league field
coordinator for the Pirates.
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