Joe Start (1842)
Paul Radford (1861)
Ivy Olson (1885)
Oscar Charleston (1896)
Harry Brecheen (1914)
Ken Heintzelman (1915)
Tom Cheney (1934)
Tommy Harper (1940)
Al Oliver (1946)
Frank Duffy (1946)
Ed Figueroa (1948)
Kiko Garcia (1953)
Willie Aikens (1954)
Jesus Vega (1955)
Joe Girardi (1964)
Midre Cummings (1971)
Ryan Church (1978)
Boof Bonser (1981)
Carlos Marmol (1982)
Paul Radford (1861)
Ivy Olson (1885)
Oscar Charleston (1896)
Harry Brecheen (1914)
Ken Heintzelman (1915)
Tom Cheney (1934)
Tommy Harper (1940)
Al Oliver (1946)
Frank Duffy (1946)
Ed Figueroa (1948)
Kiko Garcia (1953)
Willie Aikens (1954)
Jesus Vega (1955)
Joe Girardi (1964)
Midre Cummings (1971)
Ryan Church (1978)
Boof Bonser (1981)
Carlos Marmol (1982)
Outfielder Oscar Charleston is considered by some to have been
the greatest player in Negro League history.
First baseman Jesus
Anthony (Morales) Vega played for the Twins in 1979 and 1980 and again in 1982.
He was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico and signed with the Brewers as a free agent
in 1975. Vega hit over .300 for three consecutive years in Class A, adding 23
homers in 1977 for Burlington. The Brewers were so impressed that they left him
unprotected, and the Twins selected him in the off-season minor-league draft.
Vega continued to hit well, first in AA, and then in AAA. He got a September
call-up with the Twins in 1979 and spent about two weeks with them in May 1980.
He had his first off-year in the minors in 1981, a year he split between the
Twins AAA Toledo team and Tidewater in the Mets' organization. Vega was back
with the Twins in 1982, and spent the whole year with them, his only full
season in the big leagues. Used primarily as a part-time DH, his numbers were
rather mundane, and he was back in the minors the next year. Vega hit only .258
at AAA in 1983, and the Twins let him go after the season. He went to AAA
Albuquerque in the Dodgers' organization in 1984, but hit only .177 and was
done. His only time in the big leagues was with the Twins: he hit
.246/.275/.335 in 236 at-bats. No information about Jesus Vega's
current life was readily available.
Outfielder Midre Almeric Cummings played for the Twins from
1999-2000. He was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, went to high school in
Miami, and was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 1990. He hit over
.300 in rookie ball in 1990, and did it again in Class A in 1991. The Twins
were coming off a World Series, however, and were trying to win now, so they
traded him to Pittsburgh with Denny Neagle during 1992 spring training for John
Smiley. While his average dropped a little as he went up the minor-league
ladder, he continued to hit well, and actually hit for a little power,
providing 29 home runs over the 1992 and 1993 seasons. He reached AAA in 1993
at age 21, but spent three and a half years there, getting brief trials in the
majors each season but failing to impress. Cummings made the Pirates out of
spring training in 1997, but hit only .189 in a part-time role. Placed on
waivers at mid-season, he was picked up by Philadelphia. The move paid off for
the Phillies, as Cummings hit .303 in 208 at-bats with them. The Phils were
underwhelmed, however, and released him in February 1998. The Reds signed him,
but put him on waivers three weeks later. Cummings then went to the Red Sox,
where he had his best year in the big leagues, batting .283 with an OBP of .381
in 120 at-bats. The Red Sox released him at the end of spring training of 1999,
and he signed with the Twins in May. He hit well in the minors, getting a
September call-up, and was with the Twins in 2000. He again played well in a
reserve role, but the Twins were nowhere near first place, so he was traded to
Boston at the end of August for Hector De Los Santos. Cummings was released at
the end of the season, and would never spend significant time in the majors
again. He hung in there, though, playing five more years in AAA for Arizona,
Milwaukee, the Cubs, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore. He made brief appearances in the
majors in 2001 for the Diamondbacks, 2004 for the Devil Rays, and 2005 for the
Orioles before his American career ended. He played in a few games in Taiwan in
2006, but decided to retire instead. Midre Cummings appeared in 93 games for
the Twins, getting 219 at-bats and batting .273/.325/.388. There is a park
named after him in St. Croix. He is currently living in Tarpon Springs,
Florida, a suburb of Tampa, and is the head coach of Hit and Run Baseball,
which has AAU traveling teams. His U12 team won the 2008 AAU state
championship.
Right-hander Boof Bonser pitched for the Twins from 2006-2008.
He was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. He attended Gibbs High School there,
played in the 2000 Florida high school all-star game, and was drafted by San
Francisco in the first round in 2000. Born John Paul Bonser, he had his name
legally changed to Boof in 2001. He pitched well in Class A in 2001 and 2002.
He was not quite as good in AA in 2003, though not terrible. In the 2003-2004
off-season, he was traded along with Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan for A. J.
Pierzynski, a trade that worked out fairly well for the Twins. He had two
fairly decent years in the Twins system, one in AA and one in AAA. In 2006,
Bonser got off to a very good start for AAA Rochester, and was promoted to the
Twins in May. He was in the Twins starting rotation for the rest of that year
and all of the next one. He got off to a poor start in 2008, however, and after
twelve starts was moved to the bullpen, where he spent the rest of the season.
Bonser was injured early in 2009 spring training, tearing his labrum and his
rotator cuff, and spent the entire year on the disabled list. When he came
back, he was no longer with the Twins, getting traded in December of 2009 for a
player to be named later (Chris Province). As a Twin, Boof Bonser appeared in
96 games, 60 of them starts. He was 18-25 with a 5.12 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP, and an
ERA+ of 84. He pitched poorly in Pawtucket in nine games in 2010, made two
appearances for the Red Sox, and was released in late June. Oakland signed him
a few days later, and after sending him to Sacramento for a month brought him
up in early August. He made thirteen appearances, but did not do especially
well. He signed with the Mets for 2011, but made only one appearance in
AAA. He signed with San Francisco for 2012 and made eleven appearances,
seven of them starts, for AAA Fresno. He stayed with Fresno in 2013,
making fifteen starts, but did not do well and was released in late June.
He signed with Cleveland a couple of days later but made only three
appearances for AAA Columbus before being released again. He then signed
with a team in Taiwan, where he finished the 2013 season. He started 2014
in Taiwan as well, but then came back to the United States and made twelve
appearances for Bridgeport in the Atlantic League. He did very well
there, but retired after the season. At last report, Boof Bonser was working
as a sales associate at Bob Valenti Auto Mall in Mystic, Connecticut.
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