Jake
Beckley (1867)
Dolf Luque (1890)
Chick Galloway (1896)
Ski Melillo (1899)
Bill Hallahan (1902)
George Caster (1907)
Tuck Stainback (1911)
Luke Easter (1915)
Don Kolloway (1918)
Dallas Green (1934)
Frank Kostro (1937)
Ray Oyler (1938)
Cleon Jones (1942)
Johnny Grubb (1948)
Roger Clemens (1962)
B. J. Surhoff (1964)
Matt Merullo (1965)
Troy O’Leary (1969)
Bob Howry (1973)
Eric Milton (1975)
Scott Linebrink (1976)
Josh Roenicke (1982)
Dolf Luque (1890)
Chick Galloway (1896)
Ski Melillo (1899)
Bill Hallahan (1902)
George Caster (1907)
Tuck Stainback (1911)
Luke Easter (1915)
Don Kolloway (1918)
Dallas Green (1934)
Frank Kostro (1937)
Ray Oyler (1938)
Cleon Jones (1942)
Johnny Grubb (1948)
Roger Clemens (1962)
B. J. Surhoff (1964)
Matt Merullo (1965)
Troy O’Leary (1969)
Bob Howry (1973)
Eric Milton (1975)
Scott Linebrink (1976)
Josh Roenicke (1982)
While
this is an incredible day for names, it should be pointed out that none of
these players was listed here because of his name. In fact, each of them
had a substantial baseball career.
Infielder/outfielder
Frank Jerry Kostro played for the Twins from 1964-65 and 1967-1969. He
was born in Windber, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Pittsburgh, and
signed with Detroit as a free agent in 1956. He was generally a
high-average hitter without a lot of power in the minors. He hit .332 at
Class D Jamestown in 1956, then settled in as a guy who would hit about
.270-.290 at pretty much every level. He broke out of that in 1962, when
he hit .321 with 13 homers and 97 RBIs for AAA Denver. He got a September
call-up that year, and started 1963 in the majors with Detroit. He saw
most of his time as a reserve third baseman, but also played some at first
and both corner outfield positions. He was traded to the Angels at
mid-season, where the same pattern continued. He began 1964 in AAA, where
he was hitting .344 when he was traded to Minnesota as part of a three-team
trade (including Cleveland) in which the Twins acquired Kostro and Jerry
Kindall in exchange for Lenny Green and Vic Power. The Twins often used
him as a pinch-hitter; when he did play, he was all over the diamond, playing
third, second, first, left, and right. He did well with his limited
opportunities in 1964, hitting .272 in 103 at-bats, but in 1965 he hit just
.161 in 31 at-bats and was sent back to the minors in mid-June. He stayed
there through the 1966 season, continuing to hit well at AAA. He started
1967 at AAA as well, but was brought up in mid-June after hitting .369
there. He still did not get to play, however, batting only 31 times the
rest of the season. 1968 was Kostro’s only full season in the majors, but
he still got only 108 at-bats. He was back in AAA the next season, hit
.311, but only got two major league at-bats in a September call-up. His
American playing career ended after that season, although he played in
Japan in 1970. As a Twin, he hit .251/.292/.331 in 275 at-bats spread
over five seasons. He hit .311 in ten AAA seasons; one has to think he
could have helped a major league team if he’d been given a chance to
play. Frank Kostro is the owner of Kostro Insurance of
Denver, is active in baseball alumni events, and is also an
accomplished handball player.
Catcher
Matthew Bates Merullo played for the Twins in 1995. He came from a
baseball family: his grandfather, Lennie Merullo, was a shortstop for the
Cubs in the 1940s and his father, Boots Merullo, played in the Pittsburgh
organization. Matt was born in Winchester, Massachusettes, attended
the University of North Carolina, and was drafted by the White Sox in the
seventh round in 1986. He hit for good averages in the minors, although
without much power. He was promoted from AA in 1988 to the majors in1989,
backing up Carlton Fisk, but was sent back to the minors after two
months. He continued to hit well in AA and made it back to the majors at
the start of the 1991 season, again backing up Fisk but also acting as a
reserve first baseman. He played a similar role in 1992, but was sent
back to the minors in mid-June when he was hitting only .180. He mostly
stayed in AAA through 1994, getting only brief call-ups to the majors. He
hit very well there, batting .332 in 1993 and .300 in 1994, with twelve home
runs each season. The latter of those seasons was in the Cleveland
organization, to whom he was traded on March 30, 1994. He became a free
agent after that season and signed with Minnesota. He stayed with the
Twins for all of the 1995 season, backing up Matt Walbeck and making a few
appearances at DH. He had his best major league season for the Twins,
hitting .285/.333/.379 in 195 at-bats. The Twins did not retain him,
however, and he was back in AAA in 1996, playing in the Cubs and Angels
organizations. His playing career came to an end after that season.
Matt Merullo operates Pro Advantage Baseball in Connecticut. He was an
area scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks and from 2013-2014 was the manager of
the Aberdeen IronBirds in the Orioles organization. He was currently the
manager of the GCL Orioles in 2015. He was not rehired for 2016 and
appears to be looking for baseball employment at present.
Left-hander
Eric Robert Milton played for the Twins from 1998-2003. He was born in
State College, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania,
then attended the University of Maryland. He was drafted by the Yankees
in the first round in 1996. He had a good season in the minors in 1997,
split between A and AA, then was traded to Minnesota with Brian Buchanan,
Cristian Guzman, Danny Mota, and cash for Chuck Knoblauch. The Twins
immediately put him into their starting rotation, where he stayed for five
seasons. After a rough rookie year he settled in as a decent, unspectacular
starting pitcher, generally pitching around 200 innings and posting ERAs in the
mid-fours. He threw a no-hitter in 1999. He had very good WHIPs and
did not walk very many, but was susceptible to the home run. He won
fifteen games in 2001 and made the all-star team, but was not all that much
better that season than in any other. Milton missed most of 2003 due to
injury, making only three starts in September. After that season,
he was traded to Philadelphia for Nick Punto, Carlos Silva, and a player to be
named later (Bobby Korecky). As a Twin, Eric Milton was 57-51, 4.76,
1.29 WHIP. He appeared in 166 games, all but one a start, and worked
987.1 innings. He was in Philadelphia for one season and pitched about
the same as he had for the Twins, although due to the ballpark he gave up even
more home runs. A free agent after the season, he signed with Cincinnati,
where he played for three seasons. Things did not go well for Milton as a
Red; again, the small ballpark apparently hurt him. He suffered an
elbow injury in 2007, missed all of 2008, and came back with the Dodgers
in 2009, making five starts before missing the rest of the year with a
herniated disk. He went unsigned for 2010 and his playing career came to
an end. He became an assistant baseball coach at the University of
Maryland in September of 2011 and was named the interim head coach in late June
of 2012 when the team’s head coach took another job. He did not hold the
position long, however, as a new head coach was named in mid-July. At
last report, Eric Milton was the baseball coach of Severna Park High School in
Severna Park, Maryland.
Right-hander
Joshua James Roenicke pitched for the Twins in 2013. He is the son of
Gary Roenicke and the nephew of Ron Roenicke. He was born in Baltimore,
went to high school in Grass Valley, California, attended UCLA, and was drafted
by Cincinnati in the tenth round in 2006. A reliever from the start of
his pro career, he moved up quickly and made his major league debut with the
Reds in September of 2008. He spent the next three years bouncing between
AAA and the majors, but most of it was not with Cincinnati. He was traded
to Toronto at the July deadline in 2009 in a deal involving Scott Rolen.
He was in the Blue Jays organization until June of 2011, when he was
placed on waivers and selected by Colorado. He appeared in 59 major
league games from 2009-2011 but pitched only 66.2 innings. In 2012
Roenicke finally got his first full major league season and did okay, posting
an ERA of 3.25 (although with a WHIP of 1.44) in 88.2 innings. He was
waived after the season and claimed by Minnesota. He spent the entire
season with the Twins but really didn't get a whole lot accomplished, putting
up an ERA of 4.38 with a WHIP of 1.60 in 62 innings (63 games). He was a
free agent after the season and signed with Washington. He spent 2014
with AAA Syracuse, where he did not find much success. A free agent, he
signed with Milwaukee and has spent 2015 with AAA Colorado Springs, for whom he
continued to not pitch well. He did not give up, though, and signed with
the Angels for 2016. He is pitching well for them, but he's also at AA.
He turns 34 today. His career numbers are 8-3, 2 saves, 4.17 ERA,
1.52 WHIP, and one suspects those will remain his career numbers. But given
how long he's hung around, it would not be surprising if he becomes a pitching
coach at some point.
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