Kid Carsey (1870)
Bill Carrigan (1883)
Johnny Morrison (1895)
Jumbo Elliott (1900)
Jimmie Foxx (1907)
Wilbur Wood (1941)
Jamie Quirk (1954)
Frank DiPino (1956)
Keith Osik (1968)
Hector Carrasco (1969)
Ichiro Suzuki (1973)
Michael Barrett (1976)
Brad Thomas (1977)
Eli Whiteside (1979)
Robinson Cano (1982)
Bill Carrigan (1883)
Johnny Morrison (1895)
Jumbo Elliott (1900)
Jimmie Foxx (1907)
Wilbur Wood (1941)
Jamie Quirk (1954)
Frank DiPino (1956)
Keith Osik (1968)
Hector Carrasco (1969)
Ichiro Suzuki (1973)
Michael Barrett (1976)
Brad Thomas (1977)
Eli Whiteside (1979)
Robinson Cano (1982)
Right-hander Hector
(Pacheco) Carrasco pitched for the Twins from 1998-2000 and again in 2001. Born
and raised in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, he was signed by the
Mets as a free agent in 1988. After four seasons in their minor-league system,
three of them in rookie ball, Carrasco was released. He signed with Houston and
had a good year for Class A Asheville in 1972. He was then traded to the
Marlins, and after spending 1993 in Class A was traded to the Reds. After six
years in the minors, three in rookie leagues and three in Class A, Cincinnati
decided Carrasco was ready for the big leagues. He made the most of the
opportunity. Pitching exclusively out of the bullpen, he pitched in 45 games,
posting an ERA of 2.24, a WHIP of 1.28, and an ERA+ of 187. Carrasco would
remain in the Cincinnati bullpen for three and a half years, performing well in
a middle relief/setup role. In July of 1997, he was traded to the Royals. After
the season, he was chosen by Arizona in the expansion draft, but was placed on
waivers at the end of spring training. Carrasco was selected by the Twins and
spent nearly three seasons in the Twins' bullpen. He remained in the middle
relief/setup role, and did a decent job for the Twins over that time. In
September of 2000, he was traded to Boston for Lew Ford. A free agent after the
season, Carrasco signed with the Blue Jays, but was released near the end of
spring training and returned to Minnesota. His pitching in 2001 was about the
same as it had been. A free agent again after the season, he was signed by
Texas, but did not play for them, and was out of baseball in 2002. He signed
with Baltimore for 2003 and appeared in 40 games for the Orioles, but was let
go after the season and again was out of baseball in 2004. The Nationals took a
chance on him in 2005, and Carrasco turned in what may have been his best
season at age 35: a 2.04 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 199 ERA+ in 64 games, 5 of them
starts. Once again a free agent, he signed with the Angels, for whom he had a
good season in 2006. He did not do well in a half season in 2007, however, and
was released. Since then, he has pitched in the minors for Washington,
Pittsburgh, the Cubs, and three teams in the Atlantic League. He has been
pitching in the Mexican League since 2011 and did well that year, but not so
well in 2012. His playing career was over after that. It was a
pretty good one, though. No current information about Hector Carrasco was
readily available.
Left-hander Bradley Richard Thomas pitched for the Twins in 2001
and again in 2003-2004. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, he was signed by
the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995. The Dodgers quickly soured on him,
releasing him in May of 1997 after only one year of rookie ball. Minnesota
signed him three days later, and he slowly worked his way up the Twins' system.
In 2001, at AA New Britain, Thomas went 10-3 with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.
He had a couple of brief trials with the Twins that year, making five starts.
Thomas spent the next two years at AAA. He pitched poorly in 2002 and was hurt
part of 2003, but did better when he came back. Thomas received a September
call-up in 2003, working 4.2 innings over three games. He started 2004 in
Minnesota, but after three ineffective relief appearances was sold to Boston.
As a Twin, he appeared in 11 games, five of them starts, and went 0-3, 9.89 in
23.2 innings. He pitched briefly in AAA for the Red Sox and then went to Japan.
He tried to come back to the United States in 2007, signing with the Mariners,
but after a mediocre season in AAA he was released and it appeared his chances
for a big league career had ended. He then went to Korea, where he became a
star closer in the Korean league, setting a record for saves. He also pitched
in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for Australia. After the 2009 campaign, he
signed with Detroit and surprisingly enough made the team in 2010. Even more
surprisingly, he didn’t do too badly, going 6-2, 3.89 in 49 appearances, two of
them starts. He was injured for most of 2011 and did not pitch well in the
majors when he did pitch, although he did not do too badly in eight AAA
appearances. He was a free agent after the 2011 season and went unsigned.
He played in Taiwan from 2012-2014, pitching for the Brother Elephants.
At last report, Brad Thomas had returned to Australia and was operating
Brad Thomas' Big League Xperience Baseball Academy in New South Wales.
Catcher Dustin Eli Whiteside never played for the Twins, but he
was in their farm system for a time. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, he
attended Delta State University, and then was drafted by the Orioles in the
sixth round in 2001. Whiteside never hit much in the minors, although he did
hit 18 homers with AA Bowie in 2004. He reached AAA in 2005, and played in nine
games for the Orioles that year, going 3-for-12. He went back to the Orioles'
minor-league system for the next two years, becoming a free agent after the
2007 season. The Twins signed him and sent him to Rochester for 2008, but he
was released at the end of April. Signed by the Giants, he came back to the
majors with them at the end of May, and was their reserve catcher the rest of
the season. As such, he caught a no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez and hit his
first major league home run, a grand slam. In 2010 he played his first full
season in the majors at age 30. He slumped to .197 as a part-time catcher
in 2011, however, and spent most of 2012 in AAA, appearing in only twelve major
league games. He had an eventful off-season following 2012: he was
waived by the Giants in November and claimed by the Yankees, waived by the
Yankees in December and claimed by Toronto, then waived by Toronto the same day
and claimed by Texas. He spent the year at AAA Round Rock but hit only
.187 as a part-time catcher. A free agent again after the 2013 season, he
signed with the Cubs and got back to the majors again for about two weeks in
2014. He signed with Atlanta for 2015, but chose instead to become the
bullpen catcher for the San Francisco Giants, a job he still held at last
report.
No comments:
Post a Comment