Jimmy Archer (1883)
Larry Gardner (1886)
Babe Dye (1898)
Bill McKinley (1910)
Bill Kinnamon (1919)
Dusty Rhodes (1927)
Johnny Roseboro (1933)
Leon Wagner (1934)
Juan Beniquez (1950)
Bobby Valentine (1950)
Lenny Faedo (1960)
Sean McDonough (1962)
Jose Rijo (1965)
Jack Cressend (1975)
Trajan Langdon (1976)
Barry Zito (1978)
John Ryan Murphy (1991)
Larry Gardner (1886)
Babe Dye (1898)
Bill McKinley (1910)
Bill Kinnamon (1919)
Dusty Rhodes (1927)
Johnny Roseboro (1933)
Leon Wagner (1934)
Juan Beniquez (1950)
Bobby Valentine (1950)
Lenny Faedo (1960)
Sean McDonough (1962)
Jose Rijo (1965)
Jack Cressend (1975)
Trajan Langdon (1976)
Barry Zito (1978)
John Ryan Murphy (1991)
Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Dye was a minor
league outfielder from 1919-1926, spending much of his career in the American
Association. In 811 games, he hit .311, slugged .443, and stole 118
bases.
Bill McKinley was an American League umpire
from 1946-65.
Bill Kinnamon was an American League umpire
from 1960-69.
Sean McDonough has been a baseball
broadcaster since 1988.
College basketball star Trajan Langdon was a
third baseman in the low minors for three seasons.
Catcher John Junior
Roseboro was with the Twins from 1968-1969, near the end of his career.
Born and raised in Ashland, Ohio, Roseboro signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers as
a free agent in 1952. He hit very well for two years in the low minors,
then missed a year due to military service. It took Roseboro a while to
get going upon his return, but he hit .273 with 25 homers at AAA Montreal in
1956. He started 1957 in Montreal, but was brought up to Brooklyn in
mid-June as a seldom-used backup to Roy Campanella. That
off-season, however, Campanella's career ended suddenly in an automobile
accident, and Roseboro became the regular catcher of the then Los Angeles Dodgers
in 1958. He hit .271 with 14 home runs that season and made the all-star
team for the first time. He was rather up-and-down at the plate in his
Dodger career, hitting as high as .287 in 1964 and as low as .213 in
1960. His best offensive year may have been 1961, when he hit 18 home
runs with a .251 batting average and walked a career-high 56 times. He
made his second all-star team that year, won his first Gold Glove, and finished
19th in MVP voting. Roseboro made three all-star teams for the Dodgers,
won two Gold Gloves, and received MVP consideration three times, with his
highest finish being thirteenth in 1966. He had decent speed for a
catcher, hitting 44 triples in his career. Roseboro remained the regular
catcher for the Dodgers through the 1967 season, at which time he was traded to
Minnesota with Bob Miller and Ron Perranoski for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo
Versalles. He did not hit much in 1968, but he bounced back in 1969 to
make his fourth all-star team as the Twins won the Western Division title.
That was to be Roseboro's last hurrah, however, as the Twins released him after
the season. As a Twin, Johnny Roseboro hit .239/.316/.316 in 741
at-bats. He signed with Washington, but struggled to adapt to a reserve
role and was released in mid-August, ending his playing career. Roseboro
went on to coach for the Senators and the Angels, and later served as both a
batting instructor and a catching instructor for the Dodgers. Johnny
Roseboro passed away on August 16, 2002 in Los Angeles from complications
resulting from a stroke.
Shortstop Leonardo Lago Faedo was with the
Twins for the first half of the 1980s. Born and raised in Tampa, Faedo
was drafted by Minnesota in the first round of the 1978 draft. He was not
a great batter in the minors; his best year was 1979, when he hit .271 with AA
Orlando. He hit .240 there in 1980, the year he made his big-league debut
as a September call-up. He was apparently loaned to the Cleveland
organization for part of 1981, as he split that season between AAA Charleston
and AAA Toledo before being promoted to the Twins after the strike ended in
August. 1982 was Faedo's only first season in the majors, as he was the
semi-regular at shortstop, sharing the job with Ron Washington. He won
the starting job in 1983 and played well, hitting .305 on May 6 before injuries
started to bother him. Faedo played sporadically for a month, then was
shut down in early June, missing half the season before coming back in
September. When he came back, he could not duplicate his earlier success,
hitting only .231 the rest of the way. He started the 1984 season as the
Twins shortstop and was not playing that badly, at least not compared to the
alternatives the Twins had, but they soured on him and not only sent him to the
minors in late April but again loaned him to other organizations, as he
finished the season in AAA for Detroit and Texas. The Twins finally
released Faedo just before the 1985 season and he signed with Kansas
City. He played two more seasons in the minors, one in the Royals'
organization and one in the Dodgers' chain, before his playing career ended
after the 1986 campaign. In parts of five seasons in the majors, all with
the Twins, Lenny Faedo hit .251/.284/.316 in 529 at-bats. He has moved
back to Tampa and is a scout for the Detroit Tigers as well as providing
personalized batting instruction. A younger cousin of his, Alex Faedo, was
drafted by Detroit in the fortieth round in 2014 but elected to go to college
at the University of Florida instead. He is in his third year there and
has pitched quite well for them.
Right-hander John Baptiste Cressend pitched
for the Twins from 2000-2002. He was born in New Orleans and went to high
school in Mandeville, Louisiana. He then attended Tulane, and signed with
Boston as a free agent in 1996. He pitched well in the low minors, but
struggled in the Red Sox' organization when promoted to AA. Boston waived
him in late April of 1999, and Cressend was selected by Minnesota. He had
always been a starter to this point, but the Twins moved him to the bullpen in
2000 and he had a decent season in AAA, coming up to the majors at the end of
August of that year. He began the 2001 season in AAA, but came up to
Minnesota in mid-May and stayed the rest of the season. He was a pretty
valuable reliever that season, going 3-2, 3.67 with a WHIP of 1.17. He
started 2002 with the Twins, but could not duplicate his success of the
previous year, became injured, and was placed on waivers after the
season. As a Twin, Jack Cressend was 3-3, 4.59 in 102 innings spread over
78 games. The Indians selected him off waivers, and Cressend
spent the next two years bouncing back and forth between Cleveland and the
minors. He pitched well in half a season for them in 2003, but again
could not sustain his success the next season, and was released after the 2004
campaign. He signed with Boston and pitched in Pawtucket in 2005, but it
did not go well and his playing career came to an end. After that, Jack
Cressend became a scout for Tampa Bay from 2006-2008. He was the pitching
coach for Tulane University from 2009-2010, then became the pitching coach for
the University of Houston in 2011. He then got back into professional
baseball, scouting for the Rays from 2012-2014 and being hired as a
cross-checker for the Dodgers in 2015.
Catcher John Ryan Murphy joined the Twins in
2016. Born and raised in Bradenton, Florida, he was drafted by the
Yankees in the second round in 2009. He hit decently in the low minors,
had a poor 2012, but rebounded in a 2013 split between AA and AAA, getting a
September call-up that year. He was the Yankees reserve catcher in 2014
and did okay in that role for two and a half months, batting .286 (though with
few walks and little power), but was sent back to AAA in mid-June anyway, again
receiving a September call-up. He was the Yankees reserve catcher for all
of 2015, so far his only full season in the majors, and hit .277/.327/.406 in
155 at-bats. After that season he was traded to the Twins for Aaron
Hicks, a trade which is not likely to go down as one of Terry Ryan's best deals.
He was the Twins' reserve catcher for the first month of 2016 and played
both poorly and seldom, batting .075/.119/.100 in 40 at-bats. He came
back in September and did a little better but not much. In between he
played in Rochester, where he batted .236 with an OPS of .609. He is back
in Rochester in 2017, where he is sharing time with Mitch Garver. He is
batting better so far, but in only forty-two at-bats at this writing. He
turns twenty-six today. If John Ryan Murphy is going to make a move, he'd
better do it pretty soon.
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