Francis Richter (1854)
Kaiser Wilhelm (1877)
Tubby Spencer (1884)
George Blaeholder (1904)
Charlie Gelbert (1906)
Bob Nieman (1927)
Ray Knoblauch (1928)
Bob Uecker (1935)
Mike Pazik (1950)
Rick Schu (1962)
Jeff Branson (1967)
Esteban German (1978)
Andres Torres (1978)
Ryan Rowland-Smith (1983)
Kaiser Wilhelm (1877)
Tubby Spencer (1884)
George Blaeholder (1904)
Charlie Gelbert (1906)
Bob Nieman (1927)
Ray Knoblauch (1928)
Bob Uecker (1935)
Mike Pazik (1950)
Rick Schu (1962)
Jeff Branson (1967)
Esteban German (1978)
Andres Torres (1978)
Ryan Rowland-Smith (1983)
Francis Richter was the editor of two influential early
baseball publications, the Sporting Life and the Reach Guide.
The father of Chuck Knoblauch, Ray Knoblauch pitched in the
minors from 1948-1957, going 54-51.
Left-hander Michael Joseph
Pazik appeared in 13 games for Minnesota from 1975-1977. He was born in
Lynn, Massachusetts, attended high school there, and then went to Holy Cross,
the most recent major league player to come from that school. Pazik was
drafted by the Yankees in the 13th round in 1971. He was used as a
starter in the Yankees' minor league system and pitched pretty well, but did
not get a chance in the majors with them. In May of 1974, Pazik was
traded along with cash to Minnesota for Dick Woodson. He pitched pretty
well at AAA Tacoma and came to the Twins for about a month in 1975, but got
little chance to play, appearing in five games (three starts) and pitching 19.2
innings. Pazik made the Twins out of spring training in 1976, but again appeared
in only five games (all in relief) before going back to AAA. In 1977,
Pazik again made the Twins out of spring training and pitched very well in
three starts, but then was seriously injured in an automobile accident which
broke both his legs, and missed the rest of the season. He became a free
agent after the season and signed with the White Sox. He pitched well in
the minors, but was not brought back to the big leagues. Pazik started
1979 still in the White Sox' organization, moved on to Pittsburgh, and then
ended his career. His entire major league career was with
Minnesota: he was 1-4, 5.79 in 46.2 innings. After his career
ended, Pazik went on to coaching and managing, and was the pitching coach for
the White Sox from 1995 to 1998. At last report, Mike Pazik was a scout
for Kansas City and was living in the Washington, D. C. area.
His daughter, Kristen Pazik, is a model and is married to Ukrainian soccer
player turned politician Andriy Shevchenko.
Outfielder Andres Vungo (Feliciano) Torres did not play for the
Twins, but was in the minor league system in 2006. He was born in
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round in
1998. He started slowly and never did show any power, but hit .296 for
Class A Lakeland in 2000 and .294 for AA Erie in 2001. He started 2002 as
a platoon center fielder for the Tigers, but hit only .211 in ten games and
went back to AAA, coming back in September. He was in the majors over
half of 2003 as a reserve but again didn’t hit. There was really no
reason to think he would, because he was pretty average in AAA in those years
as well, hitting around .260. He again started 2004 in the majors, but
played in only three games and never batted before being released in late
April. The White Sox signed him and sent him to AAA, where he had a good
season, batting .295. A free agent after the season, he signed with Texas
and got off to a good start in AAA, hitting .302 before being brought up to the
majors in mid-May. He played in only eight games as a reserve outfielder,
going 3-for-19, before being release in mid-June. The Twins signed him
for 2006 and sent him to Rochester, where he hit .236/.333/.353. He spent
2007 in AAA for Detroit and was in AAA again in 2008 with the Cubs. He
hit for a good average both years, but did not get a call to the majors, and at
age 30 it appeared his career might be over. He signed with San Francisco
for 2009, and was in the majors for all but a month of the season, hitting .270
as a reserve. In 2010, at age 32, he spent his first full season in the
majors, starting 124 games at all three outfield positions, 73 in center, 38 in
right, and 13 in left. He actually hit well, batting .268/.343/.479 with
16 home runs. He did not repeat that performance in 2011, however,
batting only .221 with four home runs in 348 at-bats and starting only 78
games, all in center field. He was traded to the Mets after the season
and was their mostly-regular center fielder in 2012, starting 101 games.
Unfortunately, his batting did not improve, as he hit .230, although with a
.327 OBP. A free agent after the season, he returned to the Giants for
2013 and did about the same, raising his batting average a little but dropping
his OBP. He again became a free agent after the season and did not
sign with anyone until mid-June, when the Red Sox signed him. They sent
him to AAA but he opted out of his contract six weeks later, bringing his
playing career to an end. He was diagnosed with ADHD in 2002 and has
since become a spokesperson to raise awareness of ADHD.
Left-hander Ryan Benjamin Rowland-Smith never played for
Minnesota, but was in spring training with them in 2005. Born in Sydney,
Austalia, he attended high school in Newcastle, Australia. He was signed
by Seattle as a free agent in 2000. He alternated between starting and
relieving through much of his early career. Despite generally pitching
well, he had not been above Class A through the 2004 season. Following
that season, Minnesota selected him in the Rule 5 draft; however, he did not
make the team, and was returned to Seattle in late March. He struggled in
his AA debut in 2005, but did much better the second time around in 2006.
He split his time from 2007-2009 between Seattle and AAA Tacoma. He was
used in relief in 2007, but was converted back to starting in 2008. He
had pitched well in the majors through 2009, going 11-7, 3.62, 1.30 WHIP in
253.1 innings. He appeared ready to be a major league starter in 2010,
and was given every opportunity to be, but in 27 appearances, 20 of them
starts, he went 1-10, 6.75, 1.69 WHIP. He was, however, featured in a
couple of humorous TV ads for Mariners baseball that season. He was sent
back to the minors for six starts and did not do much better there, going 2-4,
5.11. He was a free agent after the season and signed with Houston for
2011. He was released on April 1, but re-signed on April 4 and spent the
season in the minors, where he did not pitch well. He signed with the
Cubs for 2012 and again spent the season in AAA, doing okay but nothing
special. He signed with Boston for 2013 and had a really good year in
relief for AAA Pawtucket, became a free agent, and signed with Arizona for
2014. He was released in late April, signed with Toronto, went to AAA,
was released in mid-June, signed with Cincinnati a couple of weeks
later, and was released again in early August. He played with the EDA
Rhinos in Taiwan in 2015. That seemed to end his summer baseball career,
but he continues to play winter ball in Australia, where it's actually summer.
He and Trent Oeltjen are co-owners of NxtGen Baseball, whose goal is to
train and inspire the next generation of Australian baseball players.
No comments:
Post a Comment