Al Lopez (1908)
Fred Norman (1942)
Graig Nettles (1944)
Bobby Cuellar (1952)
Tom Brunansky (1960)
Mark Langston (1960)
Andy Benes (1967)
Todd Helton (1973)
Fred Norman (1942)
Graig Nettles (1944)
Bobby Cuellar (1952)
Tom Brunansky (1960)
Mark Langston (1960)
Andy Benes (1967)
Todd Helton (1973)
Third baseman Graig Nettles played for the Twins in parts of
seasons from 1967-1969. Born and raised in San Diego, he was drafted
by the Twins out of San Diego State in the fourth round in 1965. He showed
instant power, hitting 69 home runs in three minor league seasons. He made his
debut with Minnesota as a September callup in 1967 and reached the big leagues
for good in 1969, his first full season, when he was a part-time player
with the Twins. Nettles played more outfield than third base as a Twin, which
seems surprising until one remembers that Harmon Killebrew was the Twins’ third
baseman at the time. Nettles did not do a lot in 1969, and the Twins were
trying to win now, so they traded him, along with Dean Chance, Bob Miller, and
Ted Uhlaender, to Cleveland for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. Tiant and
Williams helped the Twins win the division in 1970, but after that the trade
does not look so good for Minnesota. On the other hand, how does it look for
Cleveland? After Nettles put up three solid seasons for the Indians, hitting a
total of 71 homers and getting a tenth-place vote for MVP in 1971, Cleveland
traded him to the Yankees with Jerry Moses for John Ellis, Jerry Kenney,
Charlie Spikes, and Rusty Torres. New York, of course, is where Nettles became
a star. He hit over 20 homers in each of his first seven seasons for the
Yankees, twice hitting over 30; drove in over 90 runs four times, made the
all-star team five times, and won a pair of Gold Gloves. At the end of 1984,
the Yankees traded Nettles to San Diego, a trade many said was prompted by the
release of a book Nettles wrote in which he was critical of George
Steinbrenner. In San Diego, he became the starting third baseman for the
Padres’ World Series team. He made the all-star team the next year, at age 40,
but it was his last productive season. After the 1986 season, the Padres let
Nettles go, and he spent 1987 with Atlanta and 1988 with Montreal, mostly as a
pinch-hitter. As a Twin, Graig Nettles hit .224/.314/.401 with 12 homers and 34
RBIs in 304 at-bats. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, but had
surgery and at last report was cancer-free. Nettles is a spring training
instructor for the Yankees. At last report, he was living in Lenoir City,
Tennessee, just outside Knoxville, but also traveled frequently.
Robert Cuellar never pitched for the Twins, but has been a minor
league pitching coach and manager for them for several years. He was born
in Alice, Texas, and was drafted out of the University of Texas by the
Rangers in the 29th round in 1974. Cuellar pitched well in relief for
eight years in the minors, five of them at AAA. He posted a minor-league ERA of
3.06 during this time, with a AAA ERA of 3.20, but never really got a chance in
the majors. Cuellar’s only time in the big leagues was as a September call-up
in 1977; he gave up only one run and four hits in 6.2 innings spread over four
games, for an ERA of 1.35. He left the Rangers organization after the 1978
season, playing three years for the Cleveland organization and one year in the
Mexican League. After his playing career ended in 1982, he turned to coaching.
He has been a minor league coach, minor league manager, and major league coach,
including serving as the pitching coach for Seattle and Montreal and as the
bullpen coach for Pittsburgh. For the Twins, Cuellar was the pitching coach for
the Rochester Red Wings from 2003-2005, managed the New Britain Rock Cats in
2008, and returned to the Red Wings as their pitching coach in 2009-2012. Among
the minor leaguers Cuellar has coached are Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana,
both of whom credit Cuellar for teaching them the changeup. Bobby Cuellar
was the bullpen coach of the Minnesota Twins from 2013-2014. He is
currently the pitching coach of the Great Lakes Loons in the Dodgers
organization.
The brother-in-law of Dave Engle, outfielder Thomas Andrew
Brunansky played for the Twins from 1982 through the first part of 1988.
He was born in Covina, California, went to high school in West Covina,
California, attended Cal Poly–Pomona, and was drafted by the
California Angels with the 14th pick of the 1978 draft. He hit well in his four
minor league seasons, average more than 20 homers and hitting over .300. He
made the Angels out of spring training in 1981, but hit .152 over 41 at-bats
and was returned to the minors. He started 1982 in the minors, but in May was
traded with Mike Walters to the Twins for Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong. The
Twins immediately installed him in their outfield, and Brunansky had what was
arguably his best season, batting .272 with 20 homers. He never hit for as high
an average again, but his power numbers increased, as he hit over 20 homers
each year through 1989. After winning the World Series in 1987, the Twins got
off to a slow start in 1988, and Brunansky was traded to St. Louis for Tom Herr
in what even Andy McPhail would later admit was a panic move. Brunansky
continued to be a solid player, but his low-average slugging did not really fit
with the Cardinals running style, and after a poor start in 1990 he was traded
to Boston for Lee Smith. He was a productive player for the Red Sox through
1992, went to Milwaukee as a free agent in 1993, and returned to the Red Sox in
June of 1994 to finish his career. As a Twin, Tom Brunansky batted
.250/.330/.452 with 163 homers and 469 RBIs in what works out to be about six
full seasons, and holds the distinction of being the only Twin to hit an
inside-the-park grand slam. Brunansky is coached high school baseball in Poway,
California. He became the batting coach for the GCL Twins in
late June of 2010, was the batting coach for the New Britain Rock Cats in 2011,
was the batting coach for the Rochester Red Wings in 2012, and became the
batting coach for the Minnesota Twins in 2013, a job he continues to hold.
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