Ken Roy was a minor league umpire for two years before becoming a Catholic priest. He said that his umpiring career helped him in ministry because it gave him more patience with people and made him a better listener.
Masahiro Doi was a fifteen-time all-star in the Japanese Pacific League, playing from 1962-1981.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to AMR’s son, HPR.
Outfielder Garrabrant Ryerson Alyea played for the Twins from 1970-1971, the first of which was the best season of his career. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, he attended Rutherford High School in Rutherford, New Jersey. He then went to Hofstra, and was signed by Cincinnati as a free agent in 1962. He had a tremendous year for Class D Geneva, hitting .319 with 32 home runs. After the 1962 season, Alyea was drafted by Washington in the first-year draft. He jumped to Class A in 1963, and advanced a level per season after that. He reached AAA in 1965, hitting 27 homers for Hawaii, earning a September callup. In 1966, however, he fell to .218 with 21 homers for Hawaii, and the next year, 1967, he found himself back in AA. Alyea rebounded in 1968, hitting .253 with 31 home runs for AAA Buffalo, and was back in the big-leagues by late July, this time to stay a while. He had a mediocre season in 1969 as a part-time outfielder for the Senators, and was traded to Minnesota in March of 1970 for Joe Grzenda and Charlie Walters. He went on to have his best season in 1970, setting career highs in batting average (.291), home runs (16), doubles (12), and RBIs (61), and at-bats (258). The next year, however, he fell on his face, hitting only .177 with two homers. Left unprotected, he was chosen by Oakland in that winter's rule 5 draft. He did little for Oakland, was traded to St. Louis in May, did little there, and was returned to the Athletics in July. He was traded to Texas in the off-season, didn't make the team, went to AAA Pawtucket in the Boston organization, and then retired. After baseball, Alyea went into bartending, the insurance business, worked for a casino in Atlantic City, then worked for a Volvo dealership in Huntington, Pennsylvania. At last report, Brant Alyea was living in Pleasantville, New Jersey. His son, Brant Jose Alyea, born in Nicaragua, played in the minor leagues from 1985-1990, briefly reaching AAA.
Catcher/first baseman Jeffrey Scott Grotewold, who shares his first two names with your author, did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1993. He was born in Madera, California, went to the University of San Diego, and was signed by Philadelphia as a free agent in 1986. He rose slowly through the Phillies’ system, reaching AA in 1989 and AAA in 1991. Nothing about his minor league record is particularly noteworthy, either for good or for bad. His best season was probably 1990, when he hit .269 with 15 homers and an OPS of .827. He reached the majors in 1992, spent nearly the entire season there, and was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter, playing 72 games but making just 75 plate appearances. In July of that year, he hit three pinch-hit home runs in three consecutive days, setting a record. He hit only four home runs in his major league career. In late March of 1993, the Phillies traded Grotewald to Minnesota for minor league infielder Mica Lewis. The Twins sent him to AAA Portland, where he did okay as a reserve, hitting .252/.370/.450 in 151 at-bats. He signed with Detroit for 1994, was released late in spring training, and played in independent ball that year. He then signed with Kansas City and spent two years playing in AAA Omaha, getting about one month in the majors in 1995. His playing career ended after the 1996 season. He then went into business, and has successfully started Grotewold Construction, Inc., Carpet Station, Inc., and Motocinch, Inc. in the Los Angeles area. At last report, he was living in Running Springs, California.
Right-hander Garvin James Alston did not play for the Twins, but he was their pitching coach in 2018. Born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, he attended Mercy College, one of two big-leaguers that school has produced (Brian Sweeney) and also attended Florida International University. He was drafted by Colorado in the tenth round in 1992. He didn't do much in his first couple of years, when he was a starter, but had a fine year in AA in 1995 when he went to the bullpen. He pitched poorly in AAA in 1996, despite which he got about two weeks in the majors in June. He made six appearances, pitching well in three and not pitching well in the other three, which gave him a line of 1-0, 9.00, 2.00 WHIP with 5 strikeouts in 6 innings. He missed all of 1997, presumably due to injury, and while he came back he never really did much again. He was in the minors with the Rockies in 1998, with the Dodgers in 1999, and with the Dodgers and Kansas City in 2000, posting ERAs above five each season. He made eight appearances in independent ball in 2003, pitching well, but then he was done. He then went into coaching. He served in the minors from 2005-2007, as the pitching rehab coordinator for Oakland from 2008-2014, and as Oakland's minor league pitching coordinator in 2015. He got his first major league coaching assignment in 2016 as the bullpen coach for Arizona. He was the bullpen coach for Oakland in 2017 and was the Twins' pitching coach in 2018. He was let go, along with manager Paul Molitor and various other coaches, after the 2018 season. I don't know what he did in 2019-2020, but in 2021-2022 he was the pitching coach of AAA Sacramento in the Giants' organization and in 2023 was the Giants' bullpen coach. He will be the pitching coach for San Francisco in 2024. His son, Garvin Alston, Jr., was a pitcher for Arizona State and pitched in Class A for the White Sox in 2021 and for Washington in 2022-2023.
Third baseman Joshua Adam Donaldson came to the Twins in 2020. He was born in Pensacola, Florida, went to high school in Mobile, Alabama, attended Auburn University, and was drafted by the Cubs in the first round in 2007. He was dominating in Class A in 2008 when he was traded to Oakland in a trade involving Chad Gaudin and Rich Harden. He was okay in AA in 2009 but struggled in AAA in 2010, despite which he was brought to the majors in two stints that totaled about a month. He spent all of 2011 at AAA. He was up and down a couple of times in 2012, dominating at AAA but struggling in the majors, although he got better as the season went a long. In 2013 he finally made the majors to stay and had a big year, batting .301 with 24 homers and finishing fourth MVP voting. He was down some in 2014, although he wasn't bad by any means. He was traded to Toronto after that season and had an excellent season, winning the MVP award by batting .297 with 40 homers and leading the league in RBIs. He continued to play well through 2017, but had an injury-plagued and down year in 2018 and was traded to Cleveland at the August deadline. He was a free agent after the season and signed with Atlanta, for whom he hit 37 homers with an OPS of .900. A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2020 and was their regular third baseman for two seasons. He was a solid offensive contributor, posting numbers of .243/.355/.474 in 538 at-bats. In spring training of 2022 he was traded to the Yankees with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. It did not go well for him in New York in 2022, as he batted just .222 with an OPS of .682. A year ago, we said, "When a younger player has a bad year you say he had a bad year; when an older player has a bad year you wonder if he might be done." It looks like it was the latter. In 2023 he batted .142 with the Yankees, was released in late August, signed with Milwaukee, and batted .169 for them. He did hit thirteen homers, for an OPS of .667, but still. He turns thirty-eight today and is a free agent. We wish him well, but we suspect it's time for Josh Donaldson to move on to the next phase of his life.
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