Lou Criger (1872)
Slim Sallee (1885)
Larry MacPhail (1890)
Joe Stripp (1903)
Buck Ross (1915)
Dick Tracewski (1935)
Joe Coleman (1947)
Bake McBride (1949)
Fred Lynn (1952)
Ronald Williamson (1953)
Fred Toliver (1961)
Joe Klink (1962)
Scott Klingenbeck (1971)
Skip Schumaker (1980)
B. J. Garbe (1981)
Slim Sallee (1885)
Larry MacPhail (1890)
Joe Stripp (1903)
Buck Ross (1915)
Dick Tracewski (1935)
Joe Coleman (1947)
Bake McBride (1949)
Fred Lynn (1952)
Ronald Williamson (1953)
Fred Toliver (1961)
Joe Klink (1962)
Scott Klingenbeck (1971)
Skip Schumaker (1980)
B. J. Garbe (1981)
Larry MacPhail was the general manager of Cincinnati (1933-36)
and Brooklyn (1938-42) and was president and part-owner of the Yankees
(1946-47). His son Lee MacPhail was president of the American League and
his grandson Andy MacPhail was the general manager of the Twins (1985-94) and
the president of the Cubs (2000-02) and the Orioles (2007-present).
Ronald Williamson was a catcher in the Oakland organization from
1971-1973. In 1988, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to
death. He was cleared in 1999 through DNA testing and became the subject
of John Grisham’s first non-fiction book, “The Innocent Man.” Williamson
passed away from cirrhosis in 2004.
Outfielder B. J. Garbe was chosen by the Twins with the fifth
pick of the 1999 draft. He was with the Twins through 2004, ended his
career in 2006, and never got higher than AA.
Right-hander Freddie Lee
Toliver was with Minnesota from 1988-1989. He was born in Natchez,
Mississippi, but went to high school in San Gorgonio, California. The
Yankees drafted Toliver in the third round in 1979. He was in the
Yankees' organization for three years, pitching pretty well but never rising
higher than Class A. After the 1981 season, Toliver was sent to
Cincinnati in a deal that brought Ken Griffey (Senior) to New York. He
was promoted to AAA in 1982, got a September call-up in 1984, and had his first
good year at AAA in 1985, going 11-3, 3.24 in Denver. In August of that
year, however, Toliver was again a player to be named later, going to
Philadelphia in a deal that involved Bo Diaz. He was a Phillie for most
of 1986 and 1987, although he spent time in the minors both seasons.
Shortly before the 1988 season, Toliver was traded to Minnesota for Chris
Calvert. He started the season in AAA, but came up to the Twins
in mid-June and did not do too badly, going 7-6, 4.24 in 21
appearances, 19 of them starts. He started 1989 for the Twins, but
did poorly, making only seven appearances, five of them
starts, before being sent back to the minors. He was
then traded to San Diego in late June for Greg Booker. Toliver
was with the Padres the rest of the season, then was once again a player to be
named later, going to the Yankees. He then spent three years back in the
minors: he was released by the Yankees in April of 1990 signed with
California in late May, stayed in the Angels' system through 1991, started 1992
playing for an independent team, and went to the Pittsburgh organization in
late July, 1992. Toliver stayed with the Pirates' organization through
1993, spending about six weeks of 1993 in the Pirates' bullpen.
Toliver's career was basically over after that season, although he pitched
briefly in the independent Western League in 1998. For a guy who never
had a full season in the majors, he didn't have a bad career: 78
appearances, 37 starts, and a lifetime ERA of 4.73. As a Twin, Fred
Toliver went 8-9, 4.95 in 28 appearances, 24 of them starts. He was, for
a while, the pitching coach, at Los Angeles City College. At last report,
Fred Toliver was living in Highland, California and was affiliated with a
company called Player Development LLC, along with James Lofton and Derrel
Thomas.
Left-hander Joseph Charles Klink was with the Twins for a couple
of months at the start of the 1987 season. Born in Johnstown,
Pennsylvania, he went to St. Thomas University, one of seven players that university
has produced. He was drafted by the Mets in the 36th round in 1983.
He was a reliever in Class A for the Mets for three seasons and pitched pretty
well. Before the 1986 season, however, Klink was traded with Billy Beane
and Bill Latham for Pat Crosby and Tim Teufel. He had a good year in AA
in 1986 and made the Twins out of spring training in 1987. He made twelve
appearances out of the bullpen and wasn't that awful, really, but an outing in
late May in which he gave up eight runs skews his numbers. He went back
to AAA in early June, and just before the 1988 season started was traded to
Oakland for a player to be named later (Russ Kibler). Klink split 1988
and 1989 between AA and AAA and pitched well. He made the Athletics at the
beginning of the 1990 season and stayed there two years, pitching pretty well
in relief. He suffered an injured elbow in 1991, however, and did not
play at all in 1992. He became a free agent after that season and
signed with Florida for 1993. He was with the Marlins all year but did
not pitch well and was released after the season. He signed with the
Dodgers for 1994 but was sent to the minors and released in June. Klink
went to Cleveland for 1995 and had a good year at AAA, but did not get a shot
at the majors. He signed with Seattle for 1996 and was with the big club
for about two weeks in May, pitching well in three appearances, but then was
released and his career was over. As a Twin, Joe Klink was 0-1, 6.65 in
23 innings. Klink went 90 consecutive appearances without allowing a
home run, the most by a left-hander since at least 1957. There’s a Joe
Klink who’s a youth baseball coach in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, but it could not
be determined whether it is the same one.
Right-hander Scott Edward Klingenbeck pitched for the Twins in
1995 and 1996. He was born in Cincinnati, went to high school there, and
then attended Ohio State. He was drafted by Baltimore in the fifth round
in 1992. He pitched very well in the Orioles' minor league system.
He made an emergency start in June of 1994, but made his "real" debut
in June of 1995, when he stayed in the big leagues for the rest of the
season. It wasn't all with Baltimore, though, because in early July
Klingenbeck was traded to Minnesota with a player to be named later
(Kimera Bartee) for Scott Erickson. He made 18 appearances for the Twins,
four of them starts, and did not pitch well. He did pitch very well in
Salt Lake in 1996, but again flopped in ten appearances (three starts) in the
majors. He was sent to Cincinnati in April of 1997, where he pitched
fairly well in AAA, but not well enough to get back to the big leagues.
He pitched very well in AAA in 1998, and made four starts for the Reds in June,
his last appearances in the majors. Klingenbeck was released by
Cincinnati in early July, finished out the season with Pittsburgh, went back to
AAA for 1999, and then his career was over. As a Twin, he was 1-3,
8.30 in 77 innings pitched over 28 games, seven of them starts. At last
report, Scott Klingenbeck was an instructor for Sports Of All Sorts clinics and
camps of Cincinnati.
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