Charlie Gehringer (1903)
Rip Sewell (1907)
Eddie Chiles (1910)
Jack Lang (1921)
Nestor Chylak (1922)
Milt Pappas (1939)
Frank Quilici (1939)
Jerry Martin (1949)
Dane Iorg (1950)
Mark Huismann (1958)
Walt Terrell (1958)
Trent Hubbard (1964)
Bobby Witt (1964)
Kerry Ligtenberg (1971)
Francisco Cordero (1975)
Miguel Sano (1993)
Rip Sewell (1907)
Eddie Chiles (1910)
Jack Lang (1921)
Nestor Chylak (1922)
Milt Pappas (1939)
Frank Quilici (1939)
Jerry Martin (1949)
Dane Iorg (1950)
Mark Huismann (1958)
Walt Terrell (1958)
Trent Hubbard (1964)
Bobby Witt (1964)
Kerry Ligtenberg (1971)
Francisco Cordero (1975)
Miguel Sano (1993)
Eddie Chiles was the owner of the Texas
Rangers from 1980-1989.
Jack Lang was a long-time sportswriter in New
York and was the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of
America from 1966-1988.
Nestor Chylak was an American League umpire
from 1954-1978.
Infielder/manager/broadcaster
Francis Ralph Quilici has been associated with the Twins for a long
time. He was born and raised in Chicago, attended Loras College of
Dubuque, Iowa, one of two major league players that school has produced (Red
Faber), then transferred to Western Michigan. Quilici signed
with Minnesota as a free agent in 1961. He was not a great batter in
the minors, but had a decent season at AA Charlotte in 1964 and was hitting
.277 in AAA Denver when he was called up to the majors in mid-July of
1965. He only hit .208 in Minnesota that year but started in the World
Series in place of the injured Jerry Kindall. Quilici was back in Denver
for all of 1966 and was a seldom-used reserve in 1967. In 1968 he got the
most playing time of his career, starting 34 games at second and 24 at third
and getting 229 at-bats. He didn’t do much with the playing time, and by
1969 he was essentially Harmon Killebrew’s late-inning defensive replacement at
third. In 1970, he was given another chance at second when Rod Carew was
out, but he didn’t do much with it and was released in April of 1971.
That ended Quilici’s playing career; he hit .214/.281/.287 in 682
at-bats. He became a coach with the Twins in 1971, and when Bill Rigney
was fired in July of the following year Quilici became the youngest
manager in the major leagues. He remained the manager through the 1975
season, when he was replaced by Gene Mauch. Quilici then joined the
Twins’ broadcasting crew, calling games for the team on radio from
1976-1977, 1980-1982 and on television in 1987. Quilici
was nominated as a candidate for the College World Series Legends Team.
At last report, he was living in Burnsville, Minnesota, was a member of the
board of directors of the Twins Community Fund, and participates in Twins’ fantasy
camps. In August of 2011, a baseball field in North Minneapolis was
renovated and re-named “Frank Quilici Field” in his honor. It serves
as home to the North Minneapolis RBI program. He is also involved in
charitable work encouraging organ donation.
Third baseman/right fielder Miguel Angel
(Jean) Sano has been with the Twins since 2015. He was born in San Pedro
de Macoris, Puerto Rico and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 2009.
He dominated throughout the low minors, posting an OPS of over .900 every
year but 2012, when it was .893 for Class A Beloit. His batting averages
were not always high, but he always drew a lot of walks and always hit for
power. He reached AA in 2013, missed 2014 due to injury, but came back
strong in 2015, when he jumped from AA to the majors in early July. He
made an immediate impact, hitting .269/.385/.530 in a half-season. Used
mostly as a designated hitter, he was moved from his natural position, third
base, to right field in 2016 in what can only be described as a lame-brained
decision. He was a liability in the outfield, then got hurt, and had a
year that, while it wasn't all that bad (25 homers, an OPS of .781), was not a
step forward in his development. Back at third base where he belongs in
2017, he has improved in the field and at this writing is having an excellent
year at the plate, posting an OPS of over a thousand. He turns
twenty-four today. Things can happen, of course, but there's every reason
to expect Miguel Sano to have a fine major league career.
No comments:
Post a Comment