Bob Wren was the head coach of Ohio University from 1949-1972.
Jim Riggleman managed San Diego, the Cubs, Seattle, and Washington.
Left-hander Charles Hamilton James appeared in eight games for the Twins in 2011. He was born in Atlanta, went to high school in Mableton, Georgia, and was drafted by Atlanta in the twentieth round in 2002. A starter for most of his minor league career, he did quite well, rose fairly rapidly, and after an outstanding 2005 season in which he excelled at three different minor league levels, he made his major league debut on September 28 of that year. He started 2006 in the majors and was doing well out of the bullpen in a limited role, but apparently got caught in a numbers game and went back to AAA in early May. He was back in the majors by late June, this time in the starting rotation. He did a solid job as a starter, going 11-4, 3.93, 1.27 WHIP with 85 strikeouts in 107.2 innings. He spent all of 2007 with the Braves and was still decent enough, going 11-10, 4.24, 1.38. In 2008, however, he struggled in two of his first three starts and was sent to the minors. He pitched well in AAA, but was only called up briefly a couple of times that year, and has never really gotten another chance. He missed all of 2009 due to injury and when he came back in 2010 it was in the Washington organization as a relief pitcher. He pitched well in the minors, but never got called up, was a free agent after the season, and signed with Minnesota for 2011. He pitched quite well in Rochester, going 3-2, 2.30, 1.21 WHIP in 62.2 innings (38 appearances). He was called up to the Twins twice, for a total of about three weeks, and went 0-0, 6.10, 1.66 WHIP in 10.1 innings (8 appearances). The Twins did not retain him for 2012 and he signed with the Mets. He was decent enough for AAA Buffalo, but the Mets released him in early July and he did not sign with another team. His record indicates that he might have helped somebody if given the chance, but several teams had the opportunity to give him that chance and didn't do it. At last report, Chuck James was living in the Atlanta area and was a sales consultant for Window World, Inc.
Right-hander Joel Martin Zumaya did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2012. Born and raised in Chula Vista, California, he was drafted by Detroit in the eleventh round in 2002. A starter throughout his minor league career, he pitched very well for a couple of years, stumbled in 2004 when promoted to high-A, but came back and pitched very well at AA and AAA in 2005. He made the Tigers out of spring training in 2006 and had a tremendous year as a set-up man, going 6-3, 1.94, 1.18 WHIP in 62 appearances (83.1 innings). He got off to a good start in 2007, but then started a string of injuries that has never really stopped. He missed much of 2007 with a ruptured tendon in his finger, injured his shoulder in 2008, and had a wrist injury in 2009. He got off to a good start in 2010, but in late June broke a bone in his elbow. He missed the rest of that season and all of 2011. He wanted to try to come back, and Minnesota gave him the chance in 2012. He threw thirteen pitches of batting practice before rupturing his ulnar collateral ligament, requiring Tommy John surgery. He again attempted to come back, but in February of 2014 finally realized that it was not to be. At last report, Joel Zumaya was living in Chula Vista, California, and was a professional fisherman, also coaching youth baseball.
First baseman/outfielder Alexander David Kirilloff has played for the Twins since 2020. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, he was drafted out of high school by the Twins in the first round (fifteenth pick) of the 2016 draft. He had a fine year with Elizabethton in 2016, but then missed the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery. He had a tremendous 2018 season split between Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers, but had a not-so-tremendous 2019 season in Pensacola. We don't mean to overstate that--he wasn't awful by any means, but .283/.343/.413 were not quite the numbers hoped for, especially in the power department. He was on the Twins' sixty-man roster for all of 2020, but did not get the call until the post-season, when he was added to the playoff roster. He got a start for the Twins in Game Two and went 1-for-4. He started 2021 in St. Paul but was quickly brought to the majors. He got off a slow start, but was doing fairly well until he was injured in July, which brought an end to his season. He started 2022 with the Twins, but struggled and went back down to AAA for a couple of months. He hit tremendously there and came back to the majors in mid-June. He did much better for a month and a half, but then an injury again brought his season to an early end. He did well in 2023 when healthy, but again missed time due to injury. His major league numbers so far are .259/.319/.419 in 640 at-bats. He turns twenty-six today and presumably goes into 2024 as the Twins' starting first baseman. Here's hoping he can stay healthy all year to show what he can do.
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