Johnny Kling (1875)
Jackie Price (1912)
Ted Wilks (1915)
Jim Delsing (1925)
Steve Bilko (1928)
Wes Parker (1939)
Mel Stottlemyre (1941)
Gene Garber (1947)
John Sutton (1952)
Dan Petry (1958)
Pat Hentgen (1968)
Jason Simontacchi (1973)
Gerald Laird (1979)
Jackie Price (1912)
Ted Wilks (1915)
Jim Delsing (1925)
Steve Bilko (1928)
Wes Parker (1939)
Mel Stottlemyre (1941)
Gene Garber (1947)
John Sutton (1952)
Dan Petry (1958)
Pat Hentgen (1968)
Jason Simontacchi (1973)
Gerald Laird (1979)
Jackie Price played one season in the major leagues, but was
better known as a baseball entertainer. He is sometimes called a
"baseball clown", but that's not really accurate, because he really
performed tricks more than actually clowning.
Right-hander Johnny Ike
Sutton played for Minnesota in the second half of 1978. Born in Dallas, he
attended the University of Plano (a school which no longer exists) and was
chosen by Texas in the third round of the January draft of 1974. He was a
starting pitcher his first year in the minors, but switched almost exclusively
to the bullpen after that. He did well his first two minor league seasons but
after a poor 1976 season at AAA he was traded to St. Louis for Mike Wallace. He
pitched the first and last months of 1977 for the Cardinals, and did fairly
well, although in only 24.1 innings: he had an ERA of 2.59 and a WHIP of 1.52.
He had a good year for AAA New Orleans as well, but was left unprotected in the
Rule 5 draft and claimed by Minnesota. The Twins apparently worked something
out with St. Louis, because Sutton started the season in AAA. He did a decent
job in Toledo, and was called up to the majors in early July. He did a decent
job in Minnesota, too, posting a 3.45 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. The highlight of his
time there was a game on August 7 in Seattle, when he pitched nine shutout
innings of relief, giving up only five hits, in what turned out to be a 14-inning
loss to the Mariners. The Twins apparently let him go after the season,
however; in 1979 he was in AAA for San Diego and Oakland. He had a poor year,
and was out of baseball in 1981. He tried to come back, pitching three games in
the Philadelphia system in 1982 and working in the Mariners' organization in
1983, but it was not to be. No information about John Sutton's life beyond that
point was readily available.
Right-hander Jason William Simontacchi did not play for the
Twins, but he was in their farm system in 2001. He was born in Mountain View,
California, went to high school in Sunnyvale, California, attended Albertson
College and San Jose State, and was drafted by Kansas City in the twenty-first
round in 1996. He pitched poorly in Class A with the Royals and was released on
July 30, 1997. He pitched for Springfield in the independent Pioneer League in
1998, had an excellent year there, and signed with Pittsburgh for 1999. He did
all right in Class A that year, but was still released after the season.
Simontacchi pitched in Italy in 2000, signing with the Twins on September 27 of
that year. The Twins sent him to AAA Edmonton, where he went 7-13, 5.34, 1.50
WHIP in 143.1 innings. He became a free agent after the 2001 season and signed
with St. Louis. He got off to a hot start at AAA Memphis, going 5-1, 2.34 in
six starts, and amazingly, by May 4, found himself in the Cardinals’ starting
rotation. Even more amazingly, he did pretty well, going 11-5, 4.02, 1.31 WHIP
in 143.1 innings (24 starts). He got his only full season in the majors in 2003
but could not sustain his success, being dropped from the starting rotation at
mid-season and seeing his ERA go to 5.56 and his WHIP to 1.54. He went back and
forth between AAA and the majors in 2004, doing decently at AAA but not well in
the majors. He was released by St. Louis after the season and has been in and
out of baseball ever since. He missed 2005 with a torn labrum. He pitched for
independent Bridgeport in 2006, made it back to the majors for thirteen
not-very-good starts for Washington in 2007, went to independent Long Island in
2008, and to independent Lancaster in 2010 before finally ending his playing
career. According to howmanyofme.com, there is only one Jason Simontacchi
living in the United States. He was a part-time baseball analyst on St.
Louis sports talk radio, then became the pitching coach of the Peoria Chiefs in
2013, then moved up to the Springfield Cardinals in 2015 and was still there in
2016.
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