Ed Delahanty (1867)
Buck Freeman (1871)
Charlie Deal (1891)
Clyde Manion (1896)
Bill Terry (1898)
Dave Barnhill (1914)
Leon Day (1916)
Bobby Bragan (1917)
Joe Adcock (1927)
Jim Perry (1935)
Bruce Gardner (1938)
Jim Ray Hart (1941)
Mickey Rivers (1948)
Houston Jimenez (1957)
Dave Leeper (1959)
Gerald Perry (1960)
Lee Tunnell (1960)
Dave Valle (1960)
Scott Garrelts (1961)
Mark Portugal (1962)
Danny Tartabull (1962)
Marco Scutaro (1975)
Jason Bartlett (1979)
Laynce Nix (1980)
Shane Robinson (1984)
Buck Freeman (1871)
Charlie Deal (1891)
Clyde Manion (1896)
Bill Terry (1898)
Dave Barnhill (1914)
Leon Day (1916)
Bobby Bragan (1917)
Joe Adcock (1927)
Jim Perry (1935)
Bruce Gardner (1938)
Jim Ray Hart (1941)
Mickey Rivers (1948)
Houston Jimenez (1957)
Dave Leeper (1959)
Gerald Perry (1960)
Lee Tunnell (1960)
Dave Valle (1960)
Scott Garrelts (1961)
Mark Portugal (1962)
Danny Tartabull (1962)
Marco Scutaro (1975)
Jason Bartlett (1979)
Laynce Nix (1980)
Shane Robinson (1984)
Pitcher Dave Barnhill was a four-time all-star in the Negro
Leagues.
Pitcher Leon Day was a star in
the Negro Leagues, primarily with the Newark Eagles.
Dave Leeper was drafted by
Minnesota in the third round in 1978, but did not sign.
Right-hander James Evan
Perry played for the Twins from 1963-1972. He is probably best remembered today
as Gaylord Perry's brother, but that's unfair, because Jim Perry was a fine
pitcher in his own right, winning 215 games in 17 seasons. He won a Cy Young
award and finished third another time, made the all-star team three times,
finished in the top ten in MVP voting twice, and twice led the league in wins.
Born and raised in Williamston, North Carolina, Jim Perry attended Campbell
University and was signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 1956. He pitched 551
minor league innings in only three years. Perry made the Indians out of spring
training in 1959 and never spent another day in the minors. He made an
immediate impact. Perry appeared in 44 games, 13 of them starts, won 12 games
with a 2.65 ERA, and finished second to Bob Allison for Rookie of the Year. The
next year, Perry was put into the starting rotation and led the league with 18
wins. In 1961 and 1962, however, the wins went down and the ERA went up,
although his other numbers were similar enough to make one believe it may have
been a change in luck more than anything. The Indians didn't look at it that
way, however, and when Perry got off to a slow start in 1963 they traded him to
the Twins for Jack Kralick. Perry was primarily a "swing man" for the
Twins through 1968, but was placed in the rotation in 1969, at age 33, and went
on to have his best years. Perry pitched over 260 innings each of the next
three seasons. He won 61 games over that period, including 24 in his Cy Young
season of 1970. He also led the league in starts that year with 40. He won only
13 games in 1972, but still had a fine year, with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.
He was 37 years old, however, and the Twins were looking both to get younger
and to save money, so in March of 1973 Perry was traded to Detroit for Dan Fife
and cash. He had another solid year for the Tigers, but was traded to Cleveland
as part of a three-team trade that also involved the Yankees. He had another
strong year in 1974, winning 17 games with a 2.96 ERA and pitching 252 innings
at age 38. That was to be his last good year, however; Perry struggled at the
start of 1975, was traded to Oakland in May, was released in August, and
retired. Jim Perry pitched for the Twins for nearly ten years, going 128-90
with a 3.15 ERA and 61 complete games. He did some scouting for Oakland for
a while, signing Terry Steinbach, among others. He also worked for
Dial-Net, a long-distance telephone service. Perry sponsors the Jim Perry
Legends Golf Classic to raise money for Alzheimer's and dementia care services.
His son, Chris, is a golfer on the PGA tour. He is a member of the Twins
Hall of Fame. Campbell University has named its baseball stadium in his
honor. At last report, Jim Perry was living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
and Greensboro, North Carolina.
Shortstop Alfonso (Gonzalez) “Houston”
Jimenez played for the Twins in 1983 and 1984. He was born in Mexico City. He
played in Class A in the Cubs organization in 1975, hitting only .217 as a
17-year-old but drawing 105 walks. He then apparently spent a few years in the
Mexican League. He shows up in AA briefly in 1978, playing in 13 games for the
White Sox' organization. The Twins signed him in October of 1980, but sold him
to Reynosa of the Mexican League near the end of 1981 spring training. The
Twins bought him back from Reynosa in July of 1982 and sent him to Toledo.
Jimenez never hit much: in parts of seven minor league seasons, his batting
average was .227 with little power. He was considered a very good defensive
player, however, and came up to the Twins in June of 1983. He was the
semi-regular shortstop for the Twins in 1984, but hit about like you'd expect
someone with a .227 average in the minors to hit, and was sent back down for
1985. The Twins released him in April of 1986. He presumably went back to
Mexico that year, but he was with the AAA team of Pittsburgh in 1987 and
Cleveland in 1988, getting 27 more at-bats in the big leagues in those years.
As a Twin, Houston Jimenez had 384 at-bats and hit .195/.231/.247. After his
playing career ended, he turned to coaching and managing. Most recently,
he won over eight hundred games as a manager in the Mexican League; however, it
is unclear whether he continues to manage there. He is a member of the
Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.
Right-hander Byron Lee Tunnell
made ten appearances for the Twins in 1989 at the end of a fairly respectable
major league career. Born in Tyler, Texas, Tunnell attended Baylor and was
drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round in 1981. He moved through
the Pirates' system quickly; after going 12-9 with a 3.46 ERA for AAA Portland
in 1982, he received a September call-up. He spent most of the next three years
in Pittsburgh, with mixed results. After a solid year as a starter for the
Pirates in 1983, in which he won 11 games and finished ninth in Rookie of the
Year voting, Tunnell was moved to the bullpen for 1984, but did not do well
there. He went back to the starting rotation in 1985 and pitched decently, but
his record was 4-10, and that was apparently all Pittsburgh was interested in.
The Pirates sent him down to AAA Hawaii for 1986, and after a poor year there
they sold him to the Cardinals. He split 1987 between AAA and St. Louis, doing
an adequate job out of the Cardinals bullpen. Returned to the starting
rotation, he spent all of 1988 at AAA Louisville and was released after the
season. The Twins signed him for 1989, and he pitched well for AAA Portland,
spending about a month in the big leagues. Minnesota released him after the
season, and he appeared in the minor leagues for Houston, Colorado, and Detroit
and also spent three years pitching in Japan before calling it a career. As a
Twin, Lee Tunnell pitched in 10 games, all in relief. He went 1-0 with an ERA
of 6.00 in 12 innings. He always did fairly well as a starter; perhaps nothing
would have changed, but one can't help but wonder how his career might have
gone if the Pirates had just left him in their rotation in 1984. He got into
coaching after his playing career ended. He was the minor league pitching
coordinator of the Milwaukee Brewers until late July of 2012, when he became
the Brewers' bullpen coach, a position he continued to hold at last
report. Lee Tunnell also works with the OKC Ambassadors, an organization
which lists as its goals helping baseball players develop as followers of
Christ and helping those players be seen by major league and college scouts to
advance their careers.
Right-hander Mark Steven Portugal
began what turned into a substantial career with the Twins, pitching for them
from 1985-1988. Born in Los Angeles, he went to high school in Norwalk,
California and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1980. He did well
throughout his minor league career, coming to the Twins in August of 1985. He
was with the Twins for most of 1986 and did a decent job as a sometimes
starter, sometimes reliever. 1987, however, was a disaster. Portugal started
the season with the Twins, and went 1-3 with an ERA of 7.77. Sent to AAA
Portland, he went 1-10 with an ERA of 6.00 the rest of the year. He got
straightened out in 1988, and again was with the Twins most of the year, doing
a decent job as a middle reliever. The Twins, however, apparently decided he
was never going to develop, and traded him to Houston in December of 1988 for
Todd McClure. The Twins were wrong. Portugal started 1989 with AAA Tucson, but
reached Houston by June and stayed there for five years. Used mostly as a
starter, Portugal won 52 games for the Astros, three times posting ERAs under
3.00. His best year in Houston was 1993, when he made 33 starts, won 18 games, and
posted an ERA of 2.77. He finished sixth in the Cy Young voting that year.
Portugal became a free agent after that season, and signed with the Giants. His
ERA went up when he left Houston, but he pitched fairly well for a year and a
half with San Francisco. He was then traded to Cincinnati, for whom he posted
an ERA just under 4.00 for another year and a half. He became a free agent
after the 1996 season and signed with Philadelphia. Portugal was injured much
of 1997, but came back in 1998 to be an average starting pitcher. He moved on
to Boston for 1999, but posted an ERA of 5.51 and was released. Cincinnati gave
him another shot in 2000, but he failed to make the team and retired . As a
Twin, Mark Portugal appeared in 72 games, 26 of them starts. He was 11-19 with
a 5.13 ERA. For his career, however, he played in 15 seasons, won 109 games,
had a 4.03 ERA and an ERA+ of 100, which is not too shabby. At last report,
Mark Portugal was living in Barrington, Rhode Island where his son, Jacob, was
a fine high school baseball player.
Shortstop Jason Alan Bartlett
played for the Twins from 2004-2006. and again in 2014. He was born in
Mountain View, California, went to high school in Stockton, California,
attended the University of Oklahoma, and was drafted by San Diego in the 13th
round in 2001. He hit well at Class A in 2001, but after a slow start in 2002
he was traded to the Twins for Brian Buchanan. He worked his way up the system,
hitting .296 at AA in 2003 and .331 at AAA in 2004. He spent about two weeks with
the Twins in 2004, and was the regular shortstop for them for about six weeks
in 2005. He hit only .240, however, and was returned to Rochester. After
hitting .332 there, he was brought back to Minnesota late in the season and was
the regular shortstop for the Twins the rest of the way. The Twins were still
reluctant to trust him with the job, however, and come April of 2006, Bartlett
was back in Rochester while Juan Castro played in Minnesota. After again
hitting over .300, Bartlett was brought back to Minnesota, and this time did
not return to the minors. He hit .309 the rest of the way, helping the Twins'
improbable run into the playoffs. In 2007, however, he slumped to .265 and was
traded that off-season, along with Eduardo Morlan and Matt Garza, to Tampa Bay
for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, and Delmon Young. As a Twin, Jason Bartlett
hit .272/.341/.362. He had three strong seasons for Tampa Bay, being named the
MVP of the Devil Rays' World Series team in 2008 and making the all-star team
in 2009. In 2010, however, his average fell to .254 and his OPS to .675.
Traded to San Diego in 2011, he fell even farther, hitting .245 with an
OPS of .615. In 2012, he appeared in only 29 games, batting .133, was released
in August, and did not play in 2013. At that time, we wrote, "he
turns 34 today, hasn't played since 2012, and hasn't played well since 2009.
It is probably time for Jason Bartlett to move on to the next phase of
his life." It was, but he didn't know it yet and neither did the
Twins' front office. He signed with Minnesota for 2014 and made the
Twins' roster out of spring training, but after a misbegotten attempt to make
him an outfielder he retired in mid-April. At last report, Jason Bartlett
was splitting time between Fort Myers and San Diego.
Outfielder Shane Michael Robinson
played for the Twins in 2015. Born and raised in Tampa, he attended
Florida State and was drafted by St. Louis in 2006. He didn't hit much
until 2008, when he hit .352 in 244 at-bats in AA. Promoted to AAA, he
didn't do much his first couple of years there, although he still spent a
couple of weeks in St. Louis in May of 2009. He had a better year in AAA
in 2010 and finally broke through in 2011, batting .299 in AAA and getting a
September call-up. He has mostly been in the majors ever since. He
has been a reserve outfielder all of that time. He was with the Cardinals
through 2014, but they released him after that season and he signed with
Minnesota. He was again a reserve outfielder for them, but got his first
full season in the big leagues. He had 180 at-bats and hit
.250/.299/.322, numbers that are pretty much in line with his career numbers in
the big leagues. He became a free agent after the season and signed with
Cleveland for 2016. He was released in late March but signed with the
Angels two days later. He was often used as a pinch-runner and/or
defensive replacement, playing in 65 games but getting only 98 at-bats.
He started 2017 in AAA but was called up in late May and had the same role with
the Angels the rest of the season, playing in 20 games but getting just 31
at-bats. He hasn't done much at the plate for the Angels, batting just
.178. In another era he might have been able to stick as a fifth
outfielder, but teams rarely carry five outfielders these days. Shane
Robinson turns thirty-three today. His best bet would appear to be to
sign a AAA contract and see if an opening develops somewhere.
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