Mordecai Brown (1876)
Fred Snodgrass (1887)
Bob O'Farrell (1896)
Al Brazle (1913)
Walt Bond (1937)
Sandy Alomar (1943)
Al Gallagher (1945)
Mark Davis (1960)
Tim Belcher (1961)
Dave Veres (1966)
Keith Foulke (1972)
Horacio Estrada (1975)
Michael Young (1976)
Randy Ruiz (1977)
Jose Bautista (1980)
Rajai Davis (1980)
J. A. Happ (1982)
Fred Snodgrass (1887)
Bob O'Farrell (1896)
Al Brazle (1913)
Walt Bond (1937)
Sandy Alomar (1943)
Al Gallagher (1945)
Mark Davis (1960)
Tim Belcher (1961)
Dave Veres (1966)
Keith Foulke (1972)
Horacio Estrada (1975)
Michael Young (1976)
Randy Ruiz (1977)
Jose Bautista (1980)
Rajai Davis (1980)
J. A. Happ (1982)
The Twins chose Tim Belcher with the first pick of the 1983
draft, but he did not sign.
Outfielder/first baseman
Walter Franklin Bond played in ten games for the Twins in 1967. The 6’ 7’ Bond
was born in Denmark, Tennessee, attended Lane College in Jackson Tennessee (the
only major league the school has produced), and was drafted by Cleveland in
1957. He provided solid production throughout his minor league career. Bond
jumped from Class A to the majors in 1960, but was not ready, and went to AAA
in June. He did quite well there, but stayed there through 1963 with the
exception of brief shots with the Indians in 1961 and 1962. There were rumors
that race played a part in Cleveland's decision to keep Bond in the minors,
although this cannot be proven. After the 1963 season, the Cleveland front
office learned that Bond had leukemia. The disease was in remission, but the
Indians quickly sold Bond to the Houston Colt .45s. Houston was willing to give
him a chance, and he spent two full seasons in the majors with them. Bond had a
good year in 1964, hitting .254 with 20 homers. In 1965, however, Houston moved
into the Astrodome, and he was able to hit only 7 home runs. In April of 1966,
Bond was traded to the Twins for Ken Retzer. He again had a big year in AAA,
and started 1967 with the Twins. Unfortunately, Bond's leukemia returned, and
his condition deteriorated. Used mostly as a pinch-hitter, Bond was doing well
in that role, but was released by the Twins in mid-May. He appeared briefly
with the Mets' AAA team in Jacksonville, but then his career was over. As a
Twin, he had 16 at-bats, hitting .313 with a home run and 5 RBIs. Sadly, Walt
Bond passed away on September 14, 1967 in Houston at the age of 29. Walt Bond
is a member of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.
Left-hander Horacio (Jimenez) Estrada did not play for the
Twins, but was in their minor league system for about two months in 2003. Born
and raised in San Joaquin, Venezuela, he signed with Milwaukee as a free agent
in 1992. It seems likely that he continued to play in Venezuela for a couple of
years, because he does not show up in American minor league statistics until
1995. He struck out a lot of guys, but he also had some control trouble, and
was up-and-down in his minor league career. He made his first major league appearance
in 1999, playing in four games in May. In 2000 he seemed to have a breakout
season at AAA Indianapolis, going 14-4, 3.33 with a 1.22 WHIP. He made seven
appearances for the Brewers that season, but did not do well. Despite his AAA
season, the Brewers gave up on him, putting him on waivers on March 27, 2001.
Florida claimed him, but put him back on waivers on March 30, and he was
claimed by Colorado. Estrada wasn’t too bad in Colorado Springs, but again
failed in four appearances in the majors, and he did not get another big league
shot. He was a free agent after the 2001 season, played in AAA for Arizona in
2002, was a free agent again after the season, went unsigned, and signed with
Minnesota in early July of 2003. He made five starts in New Britain and pitched
very well, going 2-1, 3.34, 1.05 WHIP, but was a free agent again after the
season. He was out of baseball in 2004, played briefly in AAA for Baltimore in
2005, then went to the Mexican League. He stayed there through 2008, then
played in Italy in 2008 and 2009. He continued to play in winter ball
through 2013. Horacio Estrada was the assistant pitching coach of the DSL
Diamondbacks in 2016.
First baseman/outfielder Randy Radames Ruiz played in twenty-two
games for the Twins in 2008. Born and raised in the Bronx, he attended Bellevue
University in Bellevue, Nebraska, one of two major league players that school
has produced (T. J. Bohn), and was signed as a free agent by Cincinnati in
1999. It took him a long time to advance in the minors; despite putting up
decent numbers, he was in rookie leagues for two years, and spent an additional
four seasons in Class A. Finally promoted to AA in 2005, he spent most of three
seasons there before finally getting 22 games in AAA in 2007. Along the way,
Ruiz was released by the Reds after the 2002 season, by Baltimore after 2003,
by the Cardinals in March of 2004, by Philadelphia after 2005, by the Royals in
the April of 2006, and by the Yankees after 2006. Signed by the Phillies before
2007, he was sent to the Pirates as part of a conditional deal. In a month, the
Pirates sent him back. The Phillies released him in July, and he signed with
the Giants, who released him at the end of the season. Ruiz is nothing if not
persistent, and for many years every time he was released, some team was
willing to sign him. In November of 2007, it was the Twins, and after a big
year in Rochester Randy Ruiz finally made his big-league debut in August of
2008. He did fairly well in 68 at-bats, hitting .274/.338/.355 with 1 homer and
7 RBIs, but was released again after the season. Once again, there was a team
that wanted him. This time, it was Toronto, and after another big year in AAA
Ruiz spent the last two months of the season with the Blue Jays, hitting
.313/.385/.635. He started 2010 with Toronto but rarely played and was released
in mid-May. He then went to Japan to finish the season and stayed there for
2011. He began 2012 there as well, but signed with Arizona and played
very well for AAA Reno, batting .331 with 14 homers in 181 at-bats. No
one signed him and he started 2013 in Mexico, but when he dominated the league
he signed with the Yankees in mid-June. He had another good year in AAA
but did not get called up to the majors. He started 2014 back in the
Atlantic League and did well for Long Island, but finished the year back in the
Mexican League. He did the same thing in 2015, but did not play in 2016,
so his playing career is presumably over. He obviously had some
short-comings, but he also hit .272/.332/.488 in 217 major league at-bats.
When teams only had nine or ten pitchers, he'd have been a valuable
pinch-hitter/bench player. Even in modern times, it seems like he did
enough that someone would have wanted to give him a chance as a bench player, but
apparently no one did. No information about what Randy Ruiz did in 2016
was readily available.
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