Art Devlin (1879)
Goose Goslin (1900)
Boom-Boom Beck (1904)
Matt Batts (1921)
Dave DeBusschere (1940)
Tim McCarver (1941)
Don Hood (1949)
Brian Harper (1959)
Kevin McReynolds (1959)
Billy Taylor (1961)
Darren Reed (1965)
Josias Manzanillo (1967)
Bryce Harper (1992)
Goose Goslin (1900)
Boom-Boom Beck (1904)
Matt Batts (1921)
Dave DeBusschere (1940)
Tim McCarver (1941)
Don Hood (1949)
Brian Harper (1959)
Kevin McReynolds (1959)
Billy Taylor (1961)
Darren Reed (1965)
Josias Manzanillo (1967)
Bryce Harper (1992)
Goose Goslin was a star for the franchise in the 1920s, when it
played in Washington.
Better known as a basketball player, Dave DeBusschere pitched
for the White Sox from 1962-1963.
Catcher Brian David Harper
played for the Twins from 1988-1993. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high
school in San Pedro, California, and was drafted by the Angels in the fourth
round in 1977. He hit very well in the minors, but it took him a long time to
advance. Harper hit .314 with 14 homers at AA El Paso in 1979, and was made to
repeat AA the next year. In 1981, Harper hit .350 with 28 homers and an OPS of
1.006 at AAA Salt Lake; he found himself back in AAA the next season. He also
found himself no longer a catcher, as he was converted to the outfield. Harper
was traded to Pittsburgh in the 1981-82 off-season. He had made brief
appearances with the Angels in 1979 and 1981, and made another brief appearance
with the Pirates in 1982. He spent the next three full seasons in the big
leagues, two with Pittsburgh and one with St. Louis, but averaged fewer than
100 at-bats per season. The Cardinals released him at the end of spring
training in 1986. He signed with Detroit and was back in AAA again, although he
did spend about a month with the Tigers. 1987 was a similar story: released at
the end of spring training, he signed with Oakland and was again at AAA,
spending about a month with the A's. It looked like 1988 might be the same
thing again: released by Oakland, he signed with Minnesota and again started
the season in AAA. This time, however, he was promoted to the majors in late
May and he stayed there. He was a semi-regular catcher for the Twins in 1988,
and took over full-time duties the next year. Finally given an opportunity at
age 28, Harper took advantage of it, batting over .290 for seven consecutive
seasons and playing an instrumental role in the Twins' World Championship team
of 1991. An excellent contact hitter, Harper twice led the league in most
at-bats per strikeout and never fanned more than 29 times in a season. A free
agent in 1994, he signed with Milwaukee, where he became the regular catcher
and continued to hit well until late June, when he was hit by a pitch and
fractured his wrist, missing the rest of the season. Harper signed with Oakland
for 1995, but played only two games for them before retiring. Brian Harper
spent six years with the Twins, batting .306/.342/.431 in 2,503 at-bats, with
an OPS+ of 110. Since his playing career ended, he has turned to coaching and
managing. He was first in the Angels organization but moved to the
Giants’ organization in 2008, serving as their roving minor-league catching
instructor for two years. In 2010 he was the manager of the San Jose Giants,
but then moved to the Cubs chain, serving as the manager of the Tennessee
Smokies in 2011 and of the Daytona Cubs in 2012. He has been the batting
coach of the Iowa Cubs since 2013.
Outfielder Darren A. Douglass Reed played in fourteen games for
the Twins in 1992. He was born in Ojai, California, went to high school in
Ventura, California, and was drafted by the Yankees in 1984 in the third round
of the June draft's secondary phase. He repeated both Class A and Class AA,
hitting over .300 in his second year at both levels. He was traded to the Mets
after that second year of AA, and was promoted to AAA. He repeated that level,
too, but did not have the same success in his second year. In his third year of
AAA, in 1990, he hit .265 with 17 home runs, which was enough to get him
promoted to the majors for two months. He was traded to Montreal in 1991, but
was apparently injured that year, as he did not play at all. He came back in
1992, starting the year in AAA but being promoted to the Expos in May. He
remained with Montreal as a reserve catcher until the end of August, when he
was traded to the Twins for Bill Krueger. He was with the Twins through the end
of the season, playing in 14 games, and then was traded to the Mets for Pat
Howell. He missed all of the 1993 season, and then came back for two seasons at
AAA, one for Pittsburgh and one for Atlanta. He played in the Northern League
in 1996, then called it a career. Darren Reed had 33 at-bats as a Twin, batting
.182 with no home runs and four runs batted in. There are a couple of people
named "Darren Reed" who are coaching baseball in various places, but
there was no way to tell if either of them was "our" Darren Reed.
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