Louis Santop (1890)
Hank Leiber (1911)
Lum Harris (1915)
Mayo Smith (1915)
Don Zimmer (1931)
Keith Lieppman (1949)
Antonio Munoz (1949)
Pete LaCock (1952)
Darrell Porter (1952)
Mark Littell (1953)
Jerry Turner (1954)
Doug Simunic (1956)
T. R. Bryden (1959)
Chili Davis (1960)
Tyler Houston (1971)
Rob Bell (1977)
Hank Leiber (1911)
Lum Harris (1915)
Mayo Smith (1915)
Don Zimmer (1931)
Keith Lieppman (1949)
Antonio Munoz (1949)
Pete LaCock (1952)
Darrell Porter (1952)
Mark Littell (1953)
Jerry Turner (1954)
Doug Simunic (1956)
T. R. Bryden (1959)
Chili Davis (1960)
Tyler Houston (1971)
Rob Bell (1977)
Catcher Louis Santop was a star in the Negro Leagues, hitting
.349 over fifteen seasons.
Keith Lieppman has been Oakland's Director of Player Development
since 1992.
Antonio Munoz was a long-time star in Cuba, winning eight
home run titles and becoming the all-time leader in walks.
Doug Simunic has been the manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks
since 1996.
Right-hander Thomas Ray Bryden did not play for the Twins, but
was in their minor league system in 1988. He was born in Moses Lake,
Washington, went to high school in Enumclaw, Washington, and was signed by
California as a free agent in 1981. After two ineffective minor league
years as a starter, he was moved to the bullpen in 1983. He did
substantially better there, reaching AA in 1984. He worked mostly in AAA
in 1985 and had a bad year, but pitched very well in spring training in 1986
and made the major league team. Bryden made sixteen appearances with the
Angels through early June, going 2-1, 6.55, 1.72 WHIP with 21 walks in 34.1
innings. He was sent back to AAA after that and did well, but did not
make it back to the major leagues. In 1987, he was still in AAA, posting
a record of 9-1 despite a 6.35 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 72.1 innings. The
Angels were not fooled by his won-lost record and released him after the
season. Bryden signed with Minnesota and spent 1988 in AAA
Portland. He made 30 appearances there, 13 of them starts, and went 8-8,
4.99, 1.56 WHIP in 113.2 innings. That brought his playing career to
an end. No information about T. R. Bryden since that time was readily
available.
Switch-hitting outfielder Charles Theodore
"Chili" Davis was with Minnesota from 1991-1992 and was used
almost exclusively as a designated hitter. He was born in Kingston,
Jamaica, one of four major league players to be born in Jamaica. He
attended high school in Los Angeles, and was drafted by San Francisco in
the 11th round in 1977. He hit well in three minor league seasons and
made the Giants out of spring training in 1981, but was seldom used and was
sent back to AAA in early May. Davis had a huge year in AAA Phoenix,
hitting .350 with 19 homers and an OPS over 1.000. He was the regular
center fielder for the Giants in 1982, and remained a big league regular for
the rest of his long career. He finished fourth in Rookie of the Year
voting in 1982, hitting .261 with 19 homers. His best year as a Giant was
1984, when he hit .315 with 21 home runs and an OPS of .875. He made his
first all-star team that year, making the team again in 1986. Davis
became a free agent after the 1987 season and signed with the California
Angels. He put in three solid seasons for the Angels from
1988-1990. He received a few MVP votes in 1989, but there was nothing
about that season that made it particularly better than his other Angel
seasons, as they were all good. A free agent again after the 1990
campaign, Davis signed with Minnesota. He had started doing some DH-ing
in 1990, and was the regular designated hitter for the Twins for two seasons.
He put up good numbers for the Twins in those two seasons: he hit
.282/.385/.476, with 41 home runs and 159 RBIs. He finished 14th in MVP
voting in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series. Davis was once more
a free agent after the 1992 season, and returned to the California
Angels. He was an Angel for four years this time, and after a
disappointing 1993 went on to produce three of his best seasons, hitting over
.300 and averaging 25 homers for those years. He was traded to Kansas
City for 1997, the only time in his career he was ever traded. After
a good year there, he became a Yankee for 1998, but was hurt early in the
season and missed most of the year. Healthy again in 1999, Davis had
another solid season, hitting .269 with 19 homers at age 39. He retired after
that season. He has been coaching for several years, three of them with
the Australian national baseball team. He was the batting coach for the
Dodgers’ instructional league team in 2010, the batting coach for AAA Pawtucket
in 2011, was the batting coach for the Oakland Athletics from 2012-2014, and
has been the batting coach for the Boston Red Sox since 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment