Ned Cuthbert (1845)
Jim Delahanty (1879)
Cum Posey (1890)
Billy Werber (1908)
Andy Etchebarren (1943)
Dave Nelson (1944)
Paul Beeston (1945)
Dickie Thon (1958)
Doug Gwosdz (1960)
Juan Castro (1972)
Paul Bako (1972)
Carlos Lee (1976)
Kevin Gregg (1978)
Kendrys Morales (1983)
Adalberto Mejia (1993)
Jim Delahanty (1879)
Cum Posey (1890)
Billy Werber (1908)
Andy Etchebarren (1943)
Dave Nelson (1944)
Paul Beeston (1945)
Dickie Thon (1958)
Doug Gwosdz (1960)
Juan Castro (1972)
Paul Bako (1972)
Carlos Lee (1976)
Kevin Gregg (1978)
Kendrys Morales (1983)
Adalberto Mejia (1993)
Cum Posey, played for, managed, and owned the
Homestead Grays in the Negro National League.
Paul Beeston has been president and CEO of
the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989-1997 and since 2010.
Infielder Juan Gabriel
Castro played for the Twins in 2005 and the first part of 2006. Born and
raised in Los Mochis, Mexico, Castro signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in
1991. He had decent batting averages in the minors, but did not walk very
much nor did he show much power. He gained a reputation as a fine
fielder, however, and made his major league debut as a September call-up in
1995. He spent the next two years going back and forth between
Albuquerque and Los Angeles, putting up good numbers in the minors but bad
numbers in the majors, where he was used as a utility player. He got his
first full season in the majors in 1998, again as a utility player, and hit
only .195 with an OPS of .499. He was back in AAA for almost all of 1999
and then was traded to Cincinnati. He started 2000 in AAA but was back in
the majors in late April and remained with the Reds through 2004, again as a
utility infielder. He continued to not hit very well– his best year was
2003, when he hit .253 with nine homers for an OPS of .678. Castro became
a free agent after the 2004 campaign and signed with Minnesota. As a
Twin, he basically was what he was–a weak hitter with a reputation as a good
fielder. He hit .248/.271/.357 in 428 at-bats. He stayed with
Minnesota until mid-June of 2006, when he was traded to Cincinnati for Brandon
Roberts. He had a good rest-of-2006 for the Reds, but did little in 2007
and was released in early May of 2008. He signed with the Rockies, played
in AAA there for two and a half months, then was traded to Baltimore. He
was with the Dodgers in 2009, moved on to Philadelphia for 2010, was released
in mid-July, and signed with the Dodgers again. He was still with the
Dodgers in 2011, but spent most of the season in the minors and retired on July
10. Upon his retirement, Juan Castro was named a special assistant for
player personnel for the Dodgers. At last report, he was the Dodgers'
Quality Assurance Coach.
First baseman/designated hitter Kendrys
Morales was with the Twins for about six weeks in 2014. He was born in
Fomento, Cuba. He played in Cuba through 2003, then defected, established
residency in the Dominican Republic, and was signed by the Angels in December
of 2004. His name was incorrectly listed as "Kendry", a mistake
he lived with until prior to the 2011 season. He started 2005 in Class A
and quickly proved he was too good to be there, being promoted to AA after
twenty-two games. He started 2006 in AAA but spent half the season in the
majors, making his debut in late May. He went back and forth between AAA
and the majors through the 2008 season before coming up to stay in 2009.
He had a fine season, finishing fifth in MVP voting, and was having
another solid year in 2010 when he broke his leg stepping on home plate
following a walkoff grand slam on May 29. He missed the rest of that
season and all of 2011. He came back in 2012 and was again a good player,
although perhaps not quite as good as he had been before his injury.
After the season he was traded to Seattle for Jason Vargas. He
spent 2013 with the Mariners and again put up solid numbers. He became a
free agent after the season and went unsigned until early June, when he signed
with Minnesota. He hit poorly and was traded back to Seattle in late July
for Stephen Pryor. He was a free agent after the season and it looked
like he might be done, but he signed with Kansas City and started hitting
again. It's unclear what happened to him in 2014, but whatever it was is
obviously gone now, as he had two solid seasons for the Royals. A free
agent after the 2016 campaign, he signed with Toronto and is having a solid
season again. As a Twin, he hit .234/.259/.325 in 154 at-bats. For
his career, he has hit .272/.329/.466. He turns thirty-four today.
He's at an age where he could start to decline at any time, but he's
showing no signs of doing so now.
Left-hander Adalberto Mejia has pitched for
the Twins in 2016-2017. He was born in Donao, Dominican Republic and
signed with the Giants as a free agent in 2011. He moved steadily up the
Giants system, going to Class A in 2012, high-A in 2013, and AA in 2014.
He had a rough year in 2014 but was off to an excellent start there in 2015
when his season was cut short, first by injury and then by a suspension for use
of a banned stimulant. He did very well in eleven AA starts in 2016 and
did okay in seven AAA starts when he was traded to Minnesota for Eduardo Nunez.
He pitched well in four starts in Rochester and made one appearance with
the Twins. He started the 2017 season in the Twins' rotation, was sent
back to Rochester for a month after three starts, and came back to the Twins in
late May. Outside of one really bad start against Seattle, he has been
okay--not great, but okay. He turns twenty-four today. Time will
tell, but there's enough there to think Adalberto Mejia could have a decent
major league career.
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