Art
Devlin (1879)
Goose Goslin (1900)
Boom-Boom Beck (1904)
Matt Batts (1921)
Dave DeBusschere (1940)
Tim McCarver (1941)
Don Hood (1949)
Brian Harper (1959)
Kevin McReynolds (1959)
Billy Taylor (1961)
Darren Reed (1965)
Josias Manzanillo (1967)
Bryce Harper (1992)
Goose Goslin (1900)
Boom-Boom Beck (1904)
Matt Batts (1921)
Dave DeBusschere (1940)
Tim McCarver (1941)
Don Hood (1949)
Brian Harper (1959)
Kevin McReynolds (1959)
Billy Taylor (1961)
Darren Reed (1965)
Josias Manzanillo (1967)
Bryce Harper (1992)
Goose Goslin was a star for the franchise in the 1920s, when it
played in Washington.
Better known as a basketball
player, Dave DeBusschere pitched for the White Sox from 1962-1963.
Catcher Brian David Harper played for the Twins from 1988-1993.
He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in San Pedro, California, and
was drafted by the Angels in the fourth round in 1977. He hit very well in the
minors, but it took him a long time to advance. Harper hit .314 with 14 homers
at AA El Paso in 1979, and was made to repeat AA the next year. In 1981, Harper
hit .350 with 28 homers and an OPS of 1.006 at AAA Salt Lake; he found himself
back in AAA the next season. He also found himself no longer a catcher, as he
was converted to the outfield. Harper was traded to Pittsburgh in the 1981-82
off-season. He had made brief appearances with the Angels in 1979 and 1981, and
made another brief appearance with the Pirates in 1982. He spent the next three
full seasons in the big leagues, two with Pittsburgh and one with St. Louis,
but averaged fewer than 100 at-bats per season. The Cardinals released him at
the end of spring training in 1986. He signed with Detroit and was back in AAA
again, although he did spend about a month with the Tigers. 1987 was a similar
story: released at the end of spring training, he signed with Oakland and was
again at AAA, spending about a month with the A's. It looked like 1988 might be
the same thing again: released by Oakland, he signed with Minnesota and again
started the season in AAA. This time, however, he was promoted to the majors in
late May and he stayed there. He was a semi-regular catcher for the Twins in
1988, and took over full-time duties the next year. Finally given an
opportunity at age 28, Harper took advantage of it, batting over .290 for seven
consecutive seasons and playing an instrumental role in the Twins' World
Championship team of 1991. An excellent contact hitter, Harper twice led the
league in most at-bats per strikeout and never fanned more than 29 times in a
season. A free agent in 1994, he signed with Milwaukee, where he became the
regular catcher and continued to hit well until late June, when he was hit by a
pitch and fractured his wrist, missing the rest of the season. Harper signed
with Oakland for 1995, but played only two games for them before retiring.
Brian Harper spent six years with the Twins, batting .306/.342/.431 in 2,503
at-bats, with an OPS+ of 110. Since his playing career ended, he has turned to
coaching and managing. He was first in the Angels organization but moved
to the Giants’ organization in 2008, serving as their roving minor-league
catching instructor for two years. In 2010 he was the manager of the San Jose
Giants, but then moved to the Cubs chain, serving as the manager of the
Tennessee Smokies in 2011 and of the Daytona Cubs in 2012. He was the
batting coach of the Iowa Cubs since 2013-16. In 2017, however, he
changed organizations, as he was the batting coach of the Toledo Mud Hens that
year.
Outfielder Darren A. Douglass
Reed played in fourteen games for the Twins in 1992. He was born in Ojai,
California, went to high school in Ventura, California, and was drafted by the
Yankees in 1984 in the third round of the June draft's secondary phase. He
repeated both Class A and Class AA, hitting over .300 in his second year at
both levels. He was traded to the Mets after that second year of AA, and was
promoted to AAA. He repeated that level, too, but did not have the same success
in his second year. In his third year of AAA, in 1990, he hit .265 with 17 home
runs, which was enough to get him promoted to the majors for two months. He was
traded to Montreal in 1991, but was apparently injured that year, as he did not
play at all. He came back in 1992, starting the year in AAA but being promoted
to the Expos in May. He remained with Montreal as a reserve catcher until the
end of August, when he was traded to the Twins for Bill Krueger. He was with
the Twins through the end of the season, playing in 14 games, and then was
traded to the Mets for Pat Howell. He missed all of the 1993 season, and then
came back for two seasons at AAA, one for Pittsburgh and one for Atlanta. He
played in the Northern League in 1996, then called it a career. Darren Reed had
33 at-bats as a Twin, batting .182 with no home runs and four runs batted in.
There are a couple of people named "Darren Reed" who are coaching
baseball in various places, but there was no way to tell if either of them was
"our" Darren Reed.
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