Frank Selee was the manager of the Boston Beaneaters from 1890-1901, winning the National League pennant five times. He also managed the Cubs from 1902-1905 until his health forced him to retire.
William Julius "Judy" Johnson was a star third baseman in the Negro Leagues.
Outfielder David Lee Coleman did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1979. Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, he signed with Boston as a free agent in 1970. He was in Class A for three years, then began to advance up the minor league system. His numbers weren’t awful, but were not terribly impressive, either. He reached AAA for the first time in 1974, arriving to stay in 1975. He began 1977 in Boston as a reserve outfielder and stayed through the end of May, but appeared in only eleven games and started only two of them. He was used four times as a pinch-hitter, twice as a pinch runner, and three times as a defensive replacement. He went 0-for-12, drawing a walk and scoring once, then was sent back to AAA. His best AAA season came in 1978, when he hit .270 with 24 homers for AAA Pawtucket. By then, however, he was 27 and was no longer considered a prospect. In February of 1979 the Red Sox traded Coleman to Minnesota for Larry Wolfe. He spent the year in Toledo, cracking 20 home runs but hitting only .237. He moved on to the Yankees’ organization after the season, playing in AAA Columbus for two years. His playing career came to an end after the 1981 season; his 0-for-12 in 1977 would be his major league career record. It appears that Dave Coleman returned to the Dayton area after his playing career ended. His son, Chris, played baseball at Wright State University before starting a career in dentistry.
Left-hander Francisco Casillas Liriano played for the Twins from 2005-2012. Born and raised in San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic, he was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 2000. His early minor-league numbers don't seem that impressive until you realize that he was still a teenager posting ERAs in the threes in Class A. He was apparently injured in 2003, as he pitched in only five games. In November of 2003, Liriano was traded, along with Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan, to Minnesota for A. J. Pierzynski and cash, a trade some observers believe worked out well for Minnesota. The Twins moved him up slowly, but after a half-season in Rochester in which he went 9-2 with a 1.78 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP in 2005 he received a September call-up. He started 2006 in the bullpen, but was moved to the starting rotation in mid-May. He had a tremendous season, going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00, but then blew out his elbow. Liriano missed all of the 2007 season. He tried to start 2008 in Minnesota, but was ineffective and went back to Rochester. After three solid months there, he was back with the Twins in August and pitched fairly well, although not like his 2006 season. His 2009 season was not good, but he came back to throw the ever-living fire out of the ball in the Winter League that off-season. He came back strong in 2010, going 14-10, 3.62 with a WHIP of 1.26 and leading the league in fewest home runs per nine innings. He won the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2010. Unfortunately, in 2011 he put himself in position to win that award again, as he stumbled to a 9-10, 5.09 campaign before being shut down toward the end of the season, although he did throw a no-hitter. Twins fans were hoping for a resurgence in 2012, but it was not to be, and in late July Liriano was traded to the White Sox for Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Hernandez. A free agent after the season, he signed with Pittsburgh and had his best season since 2010 and arguably his best season since 2006. He continued to pitch well for them through 2015, but was having a poor year in 2016 when he was traded to Toronto. on August 1. He pitched well for the Blue Jays the rest of the season. He started 2017 with the Blue Jays, pitched poorly, was traded to Houston at the July trade deadline, and continued to pitch poorly. He signed with Detroit for 2018 and managed to stay in their rotation, but really was not very good. Back with Pittsburgh in 2019, however, he did fairly well coming out of the bullpen. He signed with Philadelphia for 2020 but was released shortly before the season started. He had interest from other teams, but opted out of the 2020 season. He signed with Toronto for 2021 but was released at the end of spring training, bringing his playing career to an end. It wasn't all either he or Twins fans hoped it would be, but he played in the majors for fourteen seasons, and there aren't a lot of people who can say that. No information about what Francisco Liriano is doing now was readily available.
Left-handed reliever Daniel Paul Coulombe came to the Twins in 2020. He was born in St. Louis, attended high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, attended Texas Tech, and was drafted by the Dodgers in 2012. He got a September call-up in 2014 after a good season split between high-A and AA. He went back to AAA in 2015 and again did well, getting about a month and a half in the majors. The last month of that time in the majors was with Oakland, as the Athletics purchased him in September. He started 2016 in AAA, but came to the majors in early May and stayed through mid-June of 2018. He was decent--not particularly good, not particularly terrible. He was sent back to AAA midway through the 2018 season despite the fact that he was pitching about the same as he always had. A free agent after the season, he signed with the Yankees for 2019, was released on the first of July, signed with Milwaukee in mid-July, was released in late August, and signed back with the Yankees again for the rest of the season. He was in AAA all of that time, became a free agent, and signed with Minnesota for 2020. He appeared in two games that year, started 2021 in AAA, came up to the majors in late June, and stayed the rest of the season. He had a solid half-season for the Twins, posting an ERA of 3.67 and a WHIP of 1.22. He was off to a fine start in 2022 when he was injured and was unable to return. He turns thirty-three today and is a free agent. The last word we had is that it was unclear whether he would be ready by 2023 spring training. If he is, though, it seems likely he will sign with someone for that season.
No comments:
Post a Comment