Ben Mondor was the owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox from 1977-2010. He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and the International League Hall of Fame and won numerous minor league Executive of the Year awards from various organizations.
Infielder Jason Raymond Maxwell played for Minnesota in 2000 and 2001. Born and raised in Lewisburg, Tennessee, he attended Middle Tennessee State and was drafted by the Cubs in the 74th round in 1993. He hit fairly well, though not outstandingly, during his minor league career, posting decent averages with moderate power. His best year in the minors was 1998, when he hit .298 with 15 homers and 40 doubles for AAA Iowa. He earned a September call-up that year, going 1-for-3 as a pinch hitter. In late March of 1999, Maxwell was placed on waivers and taken by Detroit. He had a poor year at AAA, became a free agent, and signed with the Twins for 2000. He played for Minnesota for two years as a reserve infielder. He had 179 at-bats as a Twin, hitting .223/.294/.313. A free agent after the 2001 season, he signed with Texas for 2002, was released in late March, and signed with Cincinnati the next day. He was in AAA for the Reds for two years, hitting .301 in 2002, but did not reach the majors. He moved on to the Tampa Bay organization for 2004, and then his playing career was over. At last report, Jason Maxwell was a teacher and baseball coach at Ensworth High School in Nashville, Tennessee. He also was an instructor with Big E Camps, offering instruction in various sports and also located in Nashville.
Right-hander Eric Lynn Hacker appeared in two games for the Twins in 2011. Born and raised in Duncanville, Texas, he was drafted by the Yankees in the twenty-second round in 2002. He pitched very well in the low minors when he was able to pitch, but he missed a lot of time with injuries. He was out the entire seasons of 2004 and 2006, and going into the 2007 season had appeared in only twenty-two minor league games and pitched just one hundred three innings. He finally had a full minor league season in 2007 and pitched well in high A ball, but did not do as well when tried at higher levels. He had a solid 2008 split between A and AA, but by then he was twenty-five years old. He has never really pitched well above AA. His best year in AAA was 2009, when he went 5-5, 4.02, but he had a WHIP of 1.56. He was traded away from the Yankees in May of that year, going to the Pittsburgh organization. He got a September call-up in 2009, giving up two runs on four hits in three innings. A free agent after the season, he was in AAA for San Francisco in 2010. A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2011. He made two appearances with the Twins in April and actually pitched well, allowing no runs on four hits and four walks in 5.1 innings. It was a different story in Rochester, as he went 7-14, 6.10 with a 1.56 WHIP. He was a free agent after the season and signed a minor league contract with San Francisco for 2012. He had a fairly good year for AAA Fresno and got back to the majors for four more games, going 0-1, 5.59. He was released in January and signed with the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization, for whom he pitched from 2013-2017. He signed with Nexen in the KBO for 2018, but did not have a good year there and his playing career came to an end. It's anyone's guess what he might have done if not for the injuries, but or course that could be said of any number of players. At last report Eric Hacker was a luxury real estate professional with The Pistana Group in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Utility player Robert Daniel Refsnyder was with the Twins in 2021. He was born in Seoul, South Korea, went to high school in Laguna Hills, California, attended the University of Arizona, and was drafted by the Yankees in the fifth round in 2012. He hit for high averages in the minors with quite a few doubles, giving him a high OPS even though he hit very few home runs. He reached the majors in 2015 and spent the next few years commuting between New York and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was traded to Toronto in July 2017, waived at the end of the season, claimed by Cleveland, and sold to Tampa Bay before the 2018 season. He didn't hit, and other than his sixteen game stint in 2015 he has never hit in the majors. He became a free agent after 2018, signed with Arizona for 2019, but was sold to Cincinnati in early April. He spent that summer in AAA until his release in late August. He signed with Texas for 2020, again didn't hit, and again was released in late August. He signed with the Twins for 2021 and split the season between AAA and the majors. He got off to a hot start, leading some fans to believe the Twins might have stumbled onto something, but he stumbled badly in the last two months of the season and ended up at .245/.325./338, He became a free agent and signed with Boston for 2022. He turns thirty-one today. He has played both infield and outfield, which could make him a useful bench player. But it seems unlikely that he'll ever hit.
No comments:
Post a Comment