Joe Sommer (1958)
Kenesaw Landis (1866)
Clark Griffith (1869)
George McBride (1880)
Leon Cadore (1890)
Larry Benton (1897)
Jay Ritchie (1936)
Herm Starrette (1938)
Jay Johnstone (1945)
Rick Monday (1945)
Ron Cash (1949)
Alex Arias (1967)
Gabe White (1971)
J. D. Drew (1975)
Sam Fuld (1981)
Brock Peterson (1983)
Kenesaw Landis (1866)
Clark Griffith (1869)
George McBride (1880)
Leon Cadore (1890)
Larry Benton (1897)
Jay Ritchie (1936)
Herm Starrette (1938)
Jay Johnstone (1945)
Rick Monday (1945)
Ron Cash (1949)
Alex Arias (1967)
Gabe White (1971)
J. D. Drew (1975)
Sam Fuld (1981)
Brock Peterson (1983)
Kenesaw Landis, as I'm sure you know, was the first commissioner
of baseball, holding the job from 1920 until his death in 1944.
Pitcher Clark Griffith was a star for the Cubs before jumping to
the White Sox when the American League was formed. Later, of course, was the
owner of the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington. His adopted son,
Calvin, brought the team to Minnesota.
Ron Cash was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 1969,
but did not sign.
Outfielder Samuel Babson
Fuld was with the Twins for about half of the 2014 season. He was born in
Durham, New Hampshire, went to high school in Exeter, New Hampshire, attended
Stanford University, and was drafted by the Cubs in the tenth round in 2004.
He never showed much power, but he hit for a high average, drew a good
number of walks, and stole some bases throughout his minor league career.
He got his first taste of major league ball as a September call-up in
2007, was with the Cubs for the second half of 2009, and finally made the
majors to stay in mid-August of 2010. That off-season, he was traded to
Tampa Bay in a multi-player trade that included ex-Twin Matt Garza. He
started 2011 as the Rays' regular left fielder, but could not hit enough to hold
the position. He was injured much of 2012, was a reserve for the Rays in
2013, was a free agent after the season, and signed with Oakland. The
Athletics waived him three weeks into the season and was claimed by Minnesota.
He was a mostly regular outfielder for them when healthy and didn't do
badly, hitting ,274/.370/.354 in 164 at-bats. The Twins traded him to
Oakland at the end of July for Tommy Milone and he was a regular outfielder for
them for the rest of the season. He was again with Oakland in 2015 and
started nearly half the team's games, starting at all three outfield positions,
but hit only .197. He missed all of 2016 with a shoulder injury. He
turns thirty-five today and is currently a free agent. It's possible that
he will go to spring training with someone in 2017, but it seems more likely
that his playing career is over. Still, he was in the big leagues for
parts of eight seasons, overcoming type 1 diabetes to get there, and he made a
number of highlight-reel catches during his career. We wish him success
in whatever he chooses to do with the rest of his life.
First baseman/outfielder Brock Alan Peterson did not play for
the Twins, but was drafted by them and was in their farm system for eight
years. He was born in Centralia, Washington, went to high school in
Chehalis, Washington, and was drafted by Minnesota in the forty-ninth round in
2002. He was initially a third baseman, but switched to first in 2004.
He rose very slowly, spending one year in rookie ball and three in Class
A. After hitting .291 with 21 home runs in Fort Myers in 2006, he finally
reached New Britain in 2007. He had a couple of decent years there,
reaching AAA briefly in 2008 before going there for all of the following two
seasons. The Twins let him go after the 2010 campaign. When one
looks at his minor league career, one doesn't really see any bad years, but one
doesn't really see much to make him sit up and take notice, either. He
was a consistently good minor league player, but not really any more than that.
He played in Bridgeport in the Atlantic League for most of the next two
years before signing with the Cardinals in mid-August of 2012. They sent
him to AAA Memphis, and in 2013 he had the best minor league season of his
career, hitting .296/.364/.531 with twenty-five home runs. He got two
stints in the majors that season, playing in St. Louis for about three weeks
from mid-July to early-August and then getting a September callup. He was
used mostly as a pinch-hitter, playing in 23 games but getting only 26 at-bats.
He did not do well in those at-bats, going 2-for-26 with no extra-base
hits, two walks, and two RBIs. He once again became a free agent after
the season, signed with Washington, was sold to the Dodgers in July, and spent
the entire season at AAA, doing much better in Albuquerque than he had done in
Syracuse. He signed back with the Twins for 2015 but hit only ,186 in
Rochester and was released in late May. He signed with the Mets a couple
weeks later and finished out the season in AAA for them. He was a free
agent after the season and went unsigned. No information about what he
may have done in 2016 was readily available, but it appears that his playing
career is probably over. Twenty-six big league at-bats isn't a lot, but
it's not bad for a forty-ninth round draft choice, and it's twenty-six more
than you or I will ever get.
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