Dutch Zwilling (1888)
Travis Jackson (1903)
Chief Hogsett (1903)
Johnny Vander Meer (1914)
Al Campanis (1916)
Ron Reed (1942)
Tom Paciorek (1946)
Scott Boras (1952)
Paul Hartzell (1953)
Greg Harris (1955)
Willie McGee (1958)
Sam Horn (1963)
Orlando Merced (1966)
Travis Miller (1972)
Orlando Cabrera (1974)
Sidney Ponson (1976)
Wilson Betamit (1981)
Yunel Escobar (1982)
Daryl Thompsn (1985)
Travis Jackson (1903)
Chief Hogsett (1903)
Johnny Vander Meer (1914)
Al Campanis (1916)
Ron Reed (1942)
Tom Paciorek (1946)
Scott Boras (1952)
Paul Hartzell (1953)
Greg Harris (1955)
Willie McGee (1958)
Sam Horn (1963)
Orlando Merced (1966)
Travis Miller (1972)
Orlando Cabrera (1974)
Sidney Ponson (1976)
Wilson Betamit (1981)
Yunel Escobar (1982)
Daryl Thompsn (1985)
Dutch Zwilling holds the record for last major leaguer in
alphabetical order.
Al Campanis was the general manager of the Dodgers from
1969-1987.
Scott Boras has been a player agent for many years.
Right-hander Paul Franklin
Hartzell was in the Twins' starting rotation for one season (1979). He was born
in Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania and attended Lehigh University. Hartzell was
drafted by the Angels in the 10th round in 1975. He spent only one season in
Class A, mostly pitching out of the bullpen, and was jumped to the majors in
1976. He was a "swing man" for the Angels for three seasons, and
pitched pretty well. Hartzell posted a 3.27 ERA for the Angels, with a 1.28
WHIP and a 111 ERA+ in 132 games, 50 of them starts. On February 3, 1979, he
was traded to the Twins along with Dave Engle, Brad Havens, and Ken Landreaux
for Rod Carew. Maybe it was a different park, maybe it was the pressure of
being traded for Carew, maybe it was a worse defense, but for whatever reason,
Hartzell's career went straight downhill after that. He was 6-10 with a 5.36
ERA for Minnesota and was released the following April. He signed with
Baltimore and had a good year at AAA, but flopped in six outings in the majors.
The Orioles released him after the season, and he moved on to the Brewers. He
was released by them after a poor 1981 at AAA. He tried to come back in 1984,
and had another good year at AAA, but pitched poorly in a September call-up and
his career was over. Paul Hartzell was a senior vice-president with Merrill
DataSite Services of Palo Alto, California, then became vice president of
EVault, a cloud-connected business data backup and recovery company. He
is currently the senior director for the Asian/Pacific Market for Seagate
Technology. He is a member of the Lehigh University Hall of Fame.
Outfielder/first baseman Orlando Luis (Villanueva) Merced played
for the Twins for four months in 1998. He had a longer career than you might
remember, as he played in parts of 13 seasons in the big leagues. Born in Hato
Rey, Puerto Rico, he went to high school in San Juan and was signed by
Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1985. He started very slowly in the minors,
possibly due to injuries. He began his career as an infielder, then moved to
first base and the outfield. His minor league numbers are not all that
impressive, but after a stint as a pinch-hitter in 1990, Merced became the
more-or-less regular first baseman for the Pirates in 1991, finishing second in
the Rookie of the Year balloting to Jeff Bagwell. He remained a more-or-less
regular first baseman/outfielder for Pittsburgh through 1996. He never put up
eye-popping numbers, but he was a steady, solid contributor, hitting for a
decent average, drawing a good number of walks, and providing occasional power.
Traded to Toronto prior to the 1997 season, he continued to be a steady, solid
contributor for the Blue Jays. He became a free agent after that season, and
signed with the Twins in January of 1998. Merced continued to produce at about
the same rate for the Twins, but his playing time was cut down. The 1998 Twins
were going nowhere, so at the end of July, Merced and Greg Swindell were traded
to Boston for Joe Thomas, John Barnes, and Matt Kinney. The Red Sox really
didn't have a spot for Merced, and released him on September 1. The Cubs picked
him up for their September playoff drive, but allowed him to become a free
agent after the season. Signing with Montreal, Merced again had a solid season
as a part-time player, but he again was allowed to become a free agent. Merced
went to Japan for most of 2000, but signed with Houston on August 15. He did
not play for the Astros that year, but spent 2001-2003 with them. He again had
a couple of solid seasons as a part-time player. He had a down year in 2003,
which may have had as much to do with sample size as anything, but he was now
36, and no one was willing to give him another chance. As a Twin, Orlando
Merced hit .289/.345/.422, numbers which are quite close to his career numbers.
After his playing career ended, Merced did some minor-league coaching, most
recently with the Tulsa Drillers in 2007. He is currently the owner of
the Orlando Merced Seven Tools Baseball Training Center in Kissimmee, Florida.
Left-hander Travis Eugene Miller pitched for the Twins from
1996-2002. He was born in Dayton, went to high school in New Paris, Ohio, and
attended Kent State University. The Twins drafted him in the first round in
1994. A starting pitcher in the minors, his numbers were not all that impressive,
but this was the late '90s Twins--anyone who looked like he might possibly be a
pitcher was given a chance. Each year, from 1996 to 1998, Travis Miller was
given a chance. He made the Twins to stay in May of 1999, and was a not-awful
left-handed bullpen option for the Twins for the next three seasons. He never
developed into anything more than that, however, and after spending most of the
2002 at AAA Edmonton, the Twins let Travis Miller go. He moved on to the Cubs,
Indians, Reds, and Brewers organizations, but never got back to the big
leagues. He was out of baseball after 2003. In his big league career, Travis
Miller made 203 appearances and pitched 267.1 innings. He had a 5.05 ERA, a
1.66 WHIP and an ERA+ of 97. At last report, he was living in Eaton, Ohio.
In 2012, he was the pitching coach for the Dayton Docs, a team in the
Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.
The brother of former big-leaguer Jolbert Cabrera, shortstop
Orlando Luis Cabrera played for the Twins for two months in 2009. Born and raised
in Cartagena, Colombia, he was signed by Montreal as a free agent in 1993. His
minor-league record is somewhat mixed, but on the whole appears to be fairly
average, although he started somewhat young. He made his debut with Montreal in
1997, and was in the majors to stay by June of 1998. He was a part-time player
in 1998, but was the regular shortstop for the Expos from 1999 until the end of
July of 2004. As an Expo, he hit about the way he has hit his entire career: a
decent but unspectacular batting average, not a lot of walks, a little power
but not significant power. On July 31, 2004, Cabrera was traded to Boston as
part of a four-team trade that saw Doug Mientkiewicz also go to Boston. This is
apparently when Cabrera began learning how to win, because he certainly didn't
learn it with the Expos. He became a free agent after the 2004 season and
signed with the Angels, where his education in winning continued. He had some
good years with the Angels: he hit over .300 for the only time in his career in
2007, a year in which he finished 15th in the MVP balloting and won his second
Gold Glove (his first came in 2001). He was traded to the White Sox after the
2008 season, signed with Oakland as a free agent for 2009, and was traded to
Minnesota on July 31 for Tyler Ladendorf. As a Twin, he hit
.289/.313/.430 in 242 at-bats. A free agent after the season, Cabrera signed
with Cincinnati, batting .263 for the Reds. A free agent again after the
2010 campaign, he signed with Cleveland for 2011, then was traded to San
Francisco just before the July deadline. Cabrera was an extremely durable
player: he played in over 160 games four times, and in over 150 games three
more times. He had the worst year of his career in 2011, however, batting
just .238 with an OPS of .573. He retired after that season. He holds the
record for most career doubles (459) by a player who never made an all-star
game roster. No information about what Orlando Cabrera has been doing
since then was readily available, but he is apparently alive and well, as he
made an appearance at a Vermont Lake Monsters game last August.
Sir Sidney Alton Ponson made seven starts for the Twins in 2007.
Born and raised in Noord, Aruba, he is one of four major league players to be
born in Aruba and is the most successful of the four. Baltimore signed him as a
free agent in 1993. He did not have a lot of success in the minors, but came to
the majors in April of 1998 and stayed there. He finished fifth in the Rookie
of the Year voting in 1998, and was a durable rotation starter for the Orioles
through July of 2003, consistently posting ERAs in the fours. Near the end of
his contract, Ponson was traded to the Giants on July 31, 2003, and finished
out the season with them. 2003 was Ponson's best year: he won 17 games, posting
an ERA of 3.75. He returned to Baltimore as a free agent in 2004, but his ERA
went over five, and then over six the next year. The Orioles released him on
September 1, 2005, and Ponson began bouncing around. He was with St. Louis and the
Yankees in 2006, the Twins in 2007, Texas and the Yankees again in 2008, and
Kansas City in 2009. His stint with the Twins in 2007 consisted of seven games,
all starts. He was 2-5 with a 6.93 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP. He played briefly for
the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League in 2010, but was placed on the
retired list in mid-June. No information about what he has done since then was
readily available.
Right-hander Daryl Marcelus Thompson did not play for the Twins,
but he was in their organization for part of 2012. Born and raised in
LaPlata, Maryland, he was drafted by Montreal in the eighth round in 2003.
He had not gotten out of Class A in 2007, and was now in the Cincinnati
organization, having been traded after the 2006 season. In 2008, though,
he made ten excellent starts at AA, seven fine starts in AAA, and ended the
season in the majors, where he went 0-2, 6.91. He was injured much of
2009, making only seven minor league starts, and made only fifteen minor league
starts in 2010. The Reds thought enough of him to send him to the Arizona
Fall League, though, and in 2011, even though he wasn't pitching that well in
the minors, they brought him back to the majors for one relief appearance.
After that season, though, the Reds released him. He signed with
Minnesota for 2012 and was sent to Rochester, where he went 1-5, 4.71 in nine
starts. The Twins released him on the first of June. He didn't give
up, though. He had a fine year in the Atlantic League in 2013 and signed
with the Mets after the season, but was released before 2014 spring training.
He has continued to pitch in the Atlantic League and also in Mexico.
He turns thirty-one today. His career major league record is 0-3,
8.31 in 17 innings. I guess as long as you're still playing someplace,
there's still a chance, but it seems extremely unlikely that we'll see Daryl
Thompson in a big league uniform again.
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