Doc Crandall (1887)
Donie Bush (1887)
Ping Bodie (1887)
Wally Moses (1910)
Danny Murtaugh (1917)
Catfish Metkovich (1920)
Ed Kirkpatrick (1924)
Paul Splittorff (1926)
Don Pepper (1943)
Rick Stelmaszek (1948)
Enos Cabell (1949)
Jeff Lahti (1956)
Mike Morgan (1959)
J. T. Bruett (1967)
Born in Tulare, California, well-traveled pitcher Mike Morgan came to the Twins near the end of his long career. Drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the fourth pick in the 1978 draft, Morgan was immediately placed in the big-league starting rotation at age 18. The experiment did not work, and after three starts, all losses, he was sent to AAA Vancouver for the rest of the season. He was really not yet ready for Vancouver, either, but on his second try at AAA, in 1979, he had a pretty good season. He was again promoted to the majors that year, but still was not ready. He spent all of 1980 in AAA, and then was traded to the Yankees. The Yankees sent him to AA for 1981, where he was still somewhat young for the league at 21. 1982 was Morgan's first full season in the big leagues, and it was his best to date, but still, he was only 7-11 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. In the off-season, Morgan was traded to Toronto. He was with the Blue Jays for most of the 1983 season, pitching mostly in relief, but spent 1984 in AAA Syracuse. That off-season, the Mariners selected him in the rule 5 draft. Morgan was injured for much of the 1985 season, but when he came back in 1986, he was finally ready for the big leagues. He still wasn't great, but he was good enough to stay in the Mariners' rotation for the next two seasons. After that, he was traded to the Orioles, but was with them for only the 1988 season before being sent to the Dodgers. In 1989, eleven years after making his major league debut, Morgan finally had a good season, posting a 2.53 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He was with the Dodgers for three years, making the all-star team in 1991. Morgan then became a free agent and moved on to the Cubs, where he was very good in 1992, decent in 1993, and pretty bad in 1994. He moved to the Cardinals in June of 1995, to the Reds in September of 1996, and signed with the Twins on December 16, 1997. Now 38 years old, Morgan did a decent job for the Twins, going 4-2 in seventeen starts with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. This was the late '90s Twins, however; by August they were about 95 games out of first place, so they traded Morgan to the Cubs for Scott Downs. The Cubs hoped Morgan would help them in their playoff push, but he pitched poorly for them, and became a free agent after the season. He moved on to Texas for 1999, and then to the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he pitched in relief for three years, finally retiring after the 2002 season at age 42. At last report, Mike Morgan was living in Ogden, Utah.
Outfielder Joseph Timothy Bruett was born in Milwaukee. He attended the University of Minnesota, and was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round in 1988. He was in Class A for three years, hitting for a decent average, but showing no power whatsoever. After hitting .307 in Visalia in 1990, Bruett was jumped to AAA, and made his major-league debut in 1992 as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner. He began 1993 with the Twins in the same role. Returned to Portland in early May, he hit .322 with an OBP of .421. It did him no good, however; not only did Bruett not get a September call-up, when he could not repeat his success in 1994 he was sent to Cleveland. He never played for the Indians, going instead to AAA Charlotte. He moved on to Omaha in the Royals' organization in 1995, played independent ball in 1996 with the St. Paul Saints, and then was finished. J. T. Bruett's entire big league career was with the Twins. He appeared in 73 games, but got only 96 at-bats. He hit .250/.314/.313 with no homers and 3 RBIs. Bruett was an assistant baseball coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is currently director of athletic compliance at the University of Minnesota.
Don Pepper played in the big leagues for only one season, getting only three at-bats in four games for the Tigers in 1966. He is on the list solely because he was part of a story Herb Carneal loved to tell about Bob Casey. Pepper was used in a late September game in Minnesota, and Casey had no idea who he was. Casey looked at his roster sheet, and all it said was "Pepper", with no first name. So Casey grabbed the microphone and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, pinch-hitting for the Tigers, Salty Pepper!"
While he never played for the Twins, Rick Stelmaszek has been a coach for the Twins for twenty-nine years, currently serving as the bullpen coach. He has served under five different managers. This is the third-longest tenure as a coach with the same team in baseball history. The longest is Nick Altrock, 42 years with the old Washington Senators. Second is Manny Mota, who is currently in his 30th year coaching for the Dodgers. Prior to beginning his coaching tenure, Stelmaszek was the manager of Class A Wisconsin Rapids in the Twins' organization for three years.
Thanks, CH!
You bet. Rhu_Ru and I are on different schedules, but I'll try to get these posted earlier.
My apologies to the fine Twins' players born during vacation week. Thanks for the coverage too, CH.
(btw, width="250" for the portraits, width="350" for the landscapes works really well)