Johnny
Rawlings (1892)
Rudy York (1913)
Donald Honig (1931)
Jim Davenport (1933)
John Buzhardt (1936)
Diego Segui (1937)
Boog Powell (1941)
Ron Boyer (1944)
Skip Lockwood (1946)
Butch Hobson (1951)
Alex Cole (1965)
Jorge Posada (1971)
Mike Maroth (1977)
Brett Myers (1980)
Dustin Pedroia (1983)
Rudy York (1913)
Donald Honig (1931)
Jim Davenport (1933)
John Buzhardt (1936)
Diego Segui (1937)
Boog Powell (1941)
Ron Boyer (1944)
Skip Lockwood (1946)
Butch Hobson (1951)
Alex Cole (1965)
Jorge Posada (1971)
Mike Maroth (1977)
Brett Myers (1980)
Dustin Pedroia (1983)
Author Donald Honig has written nearly forty books about
baseball.
Ron Boyer is the brother of Clete Boyer and Ken Boyer. He played
in the Yankees’ farm system for eight years, reaching AAA.
Outfielder
Alexander Cole played for the Twins in 1994-1995. He was born in
Fayetteville, North Carolina, attended Manatee Community College of Bradenton,
Florida, and was taken by St. Louis in the second round of the 1985
January draft. A speedy singles hitter with no power at all, he didn’t hit
enough singles to really establish himself after getting to AAA in 1986.
Cole moved around a few times in AAA–he did not hit enough to make the team he
was with want to keep him, but he was so fast that there was always someone who
wanted him. Traded from St. Louis to San Diego to Cleveland, Cole made his
debut with the Indians in July of 1990. He posted good batting averages as a
part-time player in 1990 and 1991, but after a poor start in 1992 he was
traded to Pittsburgh. After the 1992 season, the Colorado Rockies selected Cole
in the expansion draft. He played for the Rockies in 1993, but hit only .256 as
a semi-regular center fielder and became a free agent. He was signed
by the Twins at the start of spring training in 1994 and stayed in Minnesota
for two years. Cole did well as a part-time player for the Twins in 1994,
hitting .296 with an OBP of .375. Unfortunately, he was injured much of
1995 and became a free agent after that season. He hit , batting .304
with a .381 OBP in 424 at-bats. He again became a free agent after the 1995
season and signed with Boston for 1996, his last year in the big-leagues. Cole
was in the Marlins organization for part of 1997 and then spent a few years
playing independent ball before calling it a career after the 2001 season.
Sadly, life after baseball does not seem to have gone well for him: in 2002,
Cole was sentenced to 18 months in prison possession of heroin with the intent
to distribute, and in 2006, a $30,000 judgment was entered against him for
running up credit card bills under someone else’s name. No information
about Alex Cole’s recent years is readily available; it’s to be hoped that this
is a good thing, and that he has his life straightened out now.
Left-hander Michael Warren Maroth did not play for the Twins,
but was in their farm system in 2010. Born and raised in Orlando,
Florida, he attended the University of Central Florida and was drafted by
Boston in the third round in 1998. He showed some promise in the Red Sox’
system, but was traded to Detroit at the July, 1999 deadline for Bryce
Florie. He struggled in the Tigers’ system until 2002, when he went 8-1,
2.82 in eleven starts for AAA Toledo. He made his big league debut that
season, making 21 starts for the Tigers and not pitching too badly. The
next year, 2003, Detroit made a serious run at having the worst record in the
history of baseball, and Maroth became a symbol of their futility, losing 21
games. He was not that horrible, but he wasn’t all that good, either,
posting an ERA of 5.73 and a WHIP of 1.45. He was in the rotation for two
more seasons and was fairly average. He was off to a good start in 2006
but was injured, missing most of the year. He was back in the rotation in
2007 but did not pitch well and was traded to St. Louis in June. He did
worse there and was allowed to become a free agent after the season. He
signed with Kansas City for 2008, but was released in late April and was out of
baseball the rest of the year. He signed with Toronto for 2009 but was
released in late March and was out of baseball again. The Twins signed
him for 2010 and sent him to Rochester. He got off to a decent start, but
was injured after only three starts. He made a rehab appearance in late
July, but that was it for him as a Twin. He became a free agent after the
season and pitched in winter ball, but did not sign with anyone for 2011 and
officially retired on January 25, 2011. He has since spent some time as a
minor league pitching coach. Mike Maroth is currently minor league rehab
pitching coordinator for the Atlanta Braves.
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