Kid
Nichols (1869)
Jerry Doggett (1916)
Jerry Coleman (1924)
Jim Fanning (1927)
Stan Williams (1936)
Jerry Don Gleaton (1957)
Tim Wallach (1957)
Mike Durant (1969)
David Bell (1972)
Chad Bradford (1974)
Delmon Young (1985)
Jerry Doggett (1916)
Jerry Coleman (1924)
Jim Fanning (1927)
Stan Williams (1936)
Jerry Don Gleaton (1957)
Tim Wallach (1957)
Mike Durant (1969)
David Bell (1972)
Chad Bradford (1974)
Delmon Young (1985)
Jerry Doggett was a broadcaster for the Dodgers from 1956-1987.
Right-hander
Stanley Wilson Williams played for the Twins from 1970-1971. He was born in
Enfield, New Hampshire, went to high school in Denver, and was signed by the
Brooklyn Dodgers as a free agent in 1954. He was somewhat up and down in the
minors, but after a strong 1957 at AAA St. Paul and a good start there in 1958,
Williams was called up to the then Los Angeles Dodgers in May of 1958. He was
with the Dodgers through the 1962 season, used mostly as a starter, but was
traded in the 1962-63 off-season to the Yankees for Moose Skowron. He had a
couple of seemingly solid years for New York, but apparently the Yankees
weren’t impressed, because he was sold to Cleveland after the 1964 campaign. He
spent most of 1965 and 1967 and all of 1966 in the minors, but made it back in
1968, putting in two good years for the Indians as a swing man. In December of
1969, Williams was traded to the Twins with Luis Tiant for Dean Chance, Bob
Miller, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender. Used exclusively in relief for the
Twins, he had a tremendous 1970, going 10-1 with a 1.99 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in
113 innings. He did not repeat that in 1971, but was still decent; the Twins,
however, were not, and so traded Williams to St. Louis on September 1 for Fred
Rico and Dan Ford. As a Twin, he was 14-6, 2.87, 1.17 WHIP. He appeared in 114
games, pitching 191.1 innings. He pitched well for the Cardinals down the
stretch, but was released after the season. He played briefly in the Angels
organization and got back to the big leagues with Boston for three games in
1972. Stan Williams remained in baseball after his playing career ended, and
was the pitching coach for Boston, the Yankees, Seattle, the White Sox, and
Cincinnati. He also was a scout for Tampa Bay and Washington until his retirement
in 2010. Stan Williams is a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Catcher Michael Joseph Durant played in 40 games for the Twins
in 1996. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he was drafted by the Twins in the
second round of the 1991 draft out of Ohio State. He had a decent but
unspectacular minor league career, with his best year coming in 1994, when he
batted .297 with 24 doubles for AAA Salt Lake. Durant made the Twins out of
spring training in 1996 and played 40 games for them in three stints with the
team that totaled a little more than half the season. He was the third catcher,
playing behind Greg Myers and Matt Walbeck, and batted .210/.293/.247 with 5
RBIs in 81 at-bats. Sent back to the minors, he played for Salt Lake again in
1997, but batted only .206, and retired after that season. At last report, Mike
Durant was the facilities coordinator for D1 Sports Training in Columbus.
Outfielder Delmon Damarcus Young played for the Twins from
2008-2011. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, went to high school in
Camarillo, California, and was chosen by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with the
first pick of the 2003 draft. He hit extremely well at Class A and AA, not
quite as well, but still solidly enough, in AAA. Young was named Baseball
America’s 2005 minor league player of the year, and despite being suspended for
50 games in 2006 for throwing a bat which hit the home plate umpire, made his
debut in the majors with Tampa Bay in August of that year. Young played in
every game for the Devil Rays in 2007, batting .288 with 13 homers and 93 RBIs
as a 21-year-old, finishing second to Dustin Pedroia in Rookie of the Year
voting. That off-season he was traded to the Twins with Brendan Harris and
Jason Pridie for Eduardo Morlan, Jason Bartlett, and Matt Garza. Young hit for
a decent average as a Twin and hit double digit home runs in his first three
seasons there. In 2010, he set career highs in doubles, home runs, and RBIs,
leading some to think he was about to live up to the stardom predicted for him
when we was chosen first in the draft. In 2011, however, he went
backward, and was traded to Detroit in mid-August for Cole Nelson and a player
to be named later (Lester Oliveros). He did well for the Tigers the rest
of the season. He was used mostly at DH by the Tigers in 2012, and while
he wasn’t awful, he did not do enough offensively for someone who has no
defensive value. A free agent after the season, he signed with
Philadelphia. He was their regular right fielder for about three months,
and while he again wasn't awful, he wasn't very good, either. The
Phillies released him in mid-August and he signed with Tampa Bay, getting
called up to the majors in September. A free agent once more after the
season, he signed with Baltimore and did fairly well as a reserve in 2014.
One suspects Buck Showalter did a good job of playing him against
pitchers he could hit. That didn't help him in 2015, though; his numbers
dropped and he was released in July. That apparently brought his playing
career to an end, out of baseball at age twenty-nine. He was charged with
battery after an incident at a club in Miami in February of 2016, but the
charge was dropped in May when his accuser failed to appear at a hearing.
He turns thirty-one today. One hopes that he will have a good life.
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