George Shoch (1859)
Phil Masi (1916)
Jiro Noguchi (1920)
Early Wynn (1920)
Ralph Branca (1926)
Lee Walls (1933)
Lenny Green (1933)
Ruben Amaro (1936)
Don Gullett (1951)
Norm Charlton (1963)
Dan Naulty (1970)
Marlon Anderson (1974)
Brian Bass (1982)
Anthony Slama (1984)
Phil Masi (1916)
Jiro Noguchi (1920)
Early Wynn (1920)
Ralph Branca (1926)
Lee Walls (1933)
Lenny Green (1933)
Ruben Amaro (1936)
Don Gullett (1951)
Norm Charlton (1963)
Dan Naulty (1970)
Marlon Anderson (1974)
Brian Bass (1982)
Anthony Slama (1984)
Jiro Noguchi was one of
the greatest pitchers in the early days of Japanese professional baseball,
winning 237 games with an ERA of 1.96.
Right-hander Early Wynn
did not play for the Twins, but he did play for the Washington Senators and was
the Twins pitching coach in the 1960s. Born and raised in Hartford,
Alabama, he signed with Washington as a free agent in 1937. His minor league
numbers are really not very impressive until 1941, when he went 16-12, 2.56,
1,26 WHIP for Class A Springfield. Minor leagues went all the way to
Class D, so Class A is not as low as it may sound. He made three starts
for Washington in 1939, five more in 1941, and reached the majors to stay in
1942. For a Hall-of-Famer, his early years were not that consistent.
His best season as a Senator was 1943, when he went 18-12, 2.91, 1.23
WHIP in 256 innings. His worst was 1948, when he was 8-19, 5.82, 1.48
WHIP. After that season, Washington traded him to Cleveland, where he
played for ten years. His best season as an Indian was probably 1954,
when he went 23-11, 2.73, 1.14 WHIP in a league-leading 270.2 innings. He
pitched well for the Indians through 1956, but slumped in 1957 to 14-17, 4.31,
1.42 WHIP. Now 37 years old, the Indians may have thought he was done,
and so traded him to the White Sox. He was not a lot better in 1958, but
in 1959 he bounced back to go 22-10, 3.17, 1.26 WHIP. He pitched well
again in 1960 and did all right in 1961 when healthy, but at age 41 he was only
able to make 16 starts. He had a poor year in 1962 and was released by
the White Sox after the season. Sitting at 299 wins, he desperately
wanted to get to 300, but could not find a team to take him. Finally, it
late June, Cleveland signed him and placed him in the rotation through July 13,
when he finally won game number 300. He was a seldom-used relief pitcher
after that, although he did well when called upon. He was not afraid to
pitch inside--it was said that he would throw at his own grandmother if she was
digging in at the plate. He retired after the 1963 season and became a
pitching coach, first for Cleveland and later for Minnesota. He became
the Twins' pitching coach in 1967, but when he left them is unclear. He
also was a minor-league manager for Minnesota. The Twins considered
activating him in 1972 as a publicity stunt, but decided against it. He
later became a broadcaster, first for Toronto and then for the White Sox.
Early Wynn passed away on April 4, 1999 in Venice, Florida.
Outfielder Leonard Charles
Green was one of the original Minnesota Twins and stayed with them until 1964.
He was born in Detroit and attended high school there. He was signed as a free
agent by Baltimore in 1955. He hit for a good average with a high number of
doubles for most of his minor league career. Green made his major league debut
in late August of 1957 with the Orioles and was with them for much of the 1958
season. He did not play a lot in those years, and did not hit well when he did
play. Eventually, Baltimore gave up on him, and in May of 1959 traded him to
Washington for Albie Pearson. He began to hit better, earning more playing
time. By late July of 1960, Green was the starting center fielder. He hit .294
that year, his best season in the major leagues. He came to Minnesota with the
team as the starting center fielder, and continued to hit well in 1961 and
1962. In 1963, however, he slumped to .239. He lost the starting job to Jimmie
Hall in 1964, and in June of 1965 was part of a three-team trade in which the
Twins traded Green and Vic Power to the Angels and received back Frank Kostro
from the Angels and Jerry Kindall from Cleveland. In September the Angels sold
Green to Baltimore, and in March of 1965 he was sold to Boston. He got a
starting center fielder job back in 1965, and responded by hitting .276. It
would be his last year as a regular. He was a reserve for the Red Sox in 1966,
and was released after the season. Green signed with Detroit and played with
the Tigers for a year and a half, spending much of his time in AAA Toledo
before being released in July of 1968, which ended his career. As a Twin
(including his Washington stats), he hit .270/.359/.384 for an OPS+ of 99 in just
over two thousand at-bats. After his playing career Green decided he'd had
enough of baseball, and instead remained in Detroit, where he had grown
up, and took a job as a security supervisor for the Ford Motor Company. At
last report, Lenny Green was still living in retirement in the Detroit
area.
Right-handed reliever
Daniel Donovan Naulty played parts of three seasons for Minnesota in the late
'90s. He was born in Los Angeles and attended high school in Huntington Beach,
California. He then went to Cal State-Fullerton, and was drafted by Minnesota
in the 14th round in 1992. A starter for most of his minor-league career,
Naulty did not pitch all that well, although he did have a good strikeout
total. He made the Twins out of spring training in 1996 and had both his only
full year and his only good year in the majors that season. He pitched 57
innings over 49 appearances, going 3-2, 3.79 with a 1.37 WHIP. In 1997 his WHIP
actually went down to 1.27, but his ERA soared to 5.87, thanks largely to
giving up eight homers in only 30.2 innings. He suffered through injuries both
in that season and in 1998. Naulty was traded to the Yankees after the 1998
season for Allen Butler. He stayed in the big leagues most of 1999 and pitched
decently in a mop-up role. He was traded to the Dodgers after the season, but
failed to make the team. In 2000 he mostly pitched in independent ball, signing
with AAA Omaha for four appearances at the end of the season. Those appearances
brought his playing career to a close. As a Twin, Dan Naulty was 4-5, 4.61 with
a 1.37 WHIP and an ERA+ of 106. After his career ended, he admitted to having
used performance-enhancing drugs beginning in 1996 and continuing through 1999.
He became a Christian in 2000. He received a Ph. D. in Biblical Studies
from Iliff School of Theology, a fine United Methodist institution, and is
currently a pastor at The Rock Community Church in Yorba Linda,
California. Another pastor at that church is former major league
infielder Johnny Werhas, who is Naulty's father-in-law.
Right-hander Brian Michael
Bass was with Minnesota for much of the 2008 season. Born in Pinehurst, North
Carolina, he went to high school in Montgomery, Alabama. He was drafted by
Kansas City in the sixth round in 2000. He pitched fairly well in the low
minors, but did not get above Class A until 2004. He did not have a good year
above Class A until 2007, when he went 7-3, 3.48 for AAA Rochester. A starter
most of his minor league career, he began relieving in that 2007 season,
although he still made ten starts. He made the Twins out of spring training in
2008 as a long reliever/mop-up man, and wasn't bad for a pitcher in that role,
going 3-4, 4.87. In early September, though, he was traded to Baltimore. He
remained with the Orioles in 2009, his first full season in the majors, and
pitched about the same way that he had in 2008: not bad for a long
reliever/mop-up guy, but not well enough that you'd move him into a larger
role. Pittsburgh signed him for 2010 and he spent most of the season in AAA, making
four appearances with the Pirates. He signed with Philadelphia for 2011,
spending the entire season in AAA. He became a free agent after the
season and went unsigned until late May, when Houston took a chance on
him. Unfortunately, he pitched poorly for AAA Oklahoma City. In
2013 he pitched, but not well, for Camden of the Atlantic League, and retired
in mid-July. At last report, Brian Bass was the owner of Side Sessions, a
pitching instruction business based in the Baltimore area.
Right-handed reliever
Anthony Thomas Slama made seven relief appearances for Minnesota in
2010-2011. He was born in Orange, California, went to Santa Ana Community
College and the University of San Diego, and was drafted by Minnesota in the
39th round in 2006. He has pitched very well throughout his minor league
career, generally pitching as a closer. In six minor league seasons, he is
15-10, 1.99, 1.09 WHIP with 100 saves in 254 appearances (325
innings). At AAA Rochester, from 2009-2012 he was 6-6, 2.27, 1.16 WHIP
with 36 saves in 123 appearances (54.1 innings). Slama was with the
Twins briefly in 2010 and 2011, going 0-1, 5.14. He gave up four runs on
six hits and seven walks in seven innings, striking out eight.
Given some of the guys who were in the Twins bullpen over that time,
it's hard to understand why they didn't give Slama more of a shot, but they
didn't. In 2013, he battled injuries, pitched poorly in Rochester, and
was released in mid-June. No one picked him up, so it would appear that
other teams shared the Twins' opinion of him. He signed with York of the
Atlantic League and finished out the season there. He was having an
excellent season for Southern Maryland of the Atlantic League when he was
signed by the Dodgers in early August. He made five AAA appearances for
them and his playing career came to an end. It appears that Anthony Slama
is a sales and marketing manager for SCS Energy Solutions in Irvine,
California. He is also a sales manager with Pura Naturals, LLC in Lake
Forest, California, and is founder of Arrow Web Services, which was founded
" To help the best brands with the best products reach more customers on
the best seller's platform ever created: Amazon."
No comments:
Post a Comment