Dave Brain (1879)
Pinch Thomas (1888)
Cliff Heathcote (1898)
Flint Rhem (1901)
Jean Yawkey (1909)
Johnny Dickshot (1910)
Ray Kelly (1914)
Jack Brickhouse (1916)
Walter Haas (1916)
Dick Stigman (1936)
Sandy Valdespino (1939)
Jumbo Ozaki (1947)
Tim Stoddard (1953)
Neil Allen (1958)
Atlee Hammaker (1958)
Rob Dibble (1964)
Scott Kazmir (1984)
Tyler Flowers (1986)
Franklin Morales (1986)
Jose Quintana (1989)
Mark Contreras (1995)
Chester "Pinch" Thomas got his nickname because he was frequently used as a pinch-hitter.
Jean Yawkey was the wife of Tom Yawkey and was owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1978 until her death in 1992.
Ray Kelly was a baseball writer in Philadelphia for fifty years.
Jack Brickhouse was a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs from 1948-1981.
Walter Haas was the owner of the Oakland Athletics from 1980 until his death in 1995.
Better known as a professional golfer, Jumbo Ozaki played professional baseball in Japan for three seasons, pitching for two seasons and playing outfield for one.
Right-hander Richard Lewis Stigman pitched for Minnesota for four years, 1962-1965. A native of Nimrod, Minnesota, he attended high school in Sebeka, Minnesota and signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1954. Stigman was in Class D for three years. The first two were pretty awful, but in 1956 he went 17-9 with a 1.44 ERA in 213 innings for Class D Vidalia. That earned him a promotion to AA, where he pitched well for two years. He was decent in AAA in 1959 (in one game he pitched 10 2/3 hitless innings) and made the Indians out of spring training in 1960, not returning to the minors until his major league career was over. Stigman got off to a good start in 1960, even making the all-star team as a rookie, but faded badly in the second half. He missed the first two months of 1961, and did not pitch very well when he was available. On April 2, 1962, Stigman was traded to Minnesota with Vic Power for Pedro Ramos. He started 1962 in the bullpen, pitched well there, and was moved into the starting rotation in mid-July. He continued to pitch well, leading the league in winning percentage that year. He was in the rotation for two more years, pitching a total of 431 innings in those two years and still pitching quite well. In spring training of 1965, he lost his spot in the starting rotation to Jim Perry and moved back to the bullpen. He was decent, but no more, and on April 6, 1966 Stigman was traded with a player to be named later (Jose Calero) to Boston for Russ Nixon and Chuck Schilling. The Red Sox put him in their rotation, but after seven mostly mediocre starts moved him to the bullpen, where he finished out the year. Stigman was traded to Cincinnati in the off-season and was in AAA for 1967, where he was adequate but nothing more. He finished the year in the Philadelphia organization, and then his playing career ended. As a Twin, Dick Stigman was 37-37, 3.69 in 138 games, 85 of them starts. He had a WHIP of 1.24 and an ERA+ of 101. In 1965-66, Stigman set a record for making ten consecutive starts without a decision. After leaving baseball, he went into business in the Twin Cities area. At last report, Dick Stigman was living in Burnsville and making occasional appearances at baseball-related events, including the Twins' Fantasy Camp. A city park in Nimrod has been named in his honor, as has the local baseball field.
Hilario (Borroto) "Sandy" Valdespino was a left-handed hitting outfielder who played for Minnesota from 1965-1967. Born in San Jose De Las Lajas, Cuba, he signed with Washington as a free agent in 1957. He was nicknamed "Sandy" by a minor league manager who thought he resembled Sandy Amaros. Valdespino produced rather pedestrian numbers for several years, but then started to figure some things out, hitting .284 for AAA Dallas-Ft. Worth in 1963 and jumping to .337 with 16 homers for AAA Atlanta in 1964. In 1965 Valdespino played his first full season in the majors, being used primarily as a pinch-hitter and occasional outfielder--his first 13 appearances in the big leagues were as a pinch-hitter. He was an odd choice for the role, as he was a small man with little power. He hit .261 that year, and did start two games of the World Series, hitting a key double in game one. He was used in a similar role in 1966, but did not hit and was sent back to the minors in late June. He once again hit very well in AAA and was called back to the Twins in September. Valdespino was once again with Minnesota for a full season in 1967, but did not get any more chances to play, and did not hit well in the chances he got. That off-season he was left off the forty-man roster and was chosen by Atlanta in the Rule 5 draft. Apparently something was worked out, because in late June he was sent back to AAA after hitting .233 as a pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder for the Braves. He was traded to Houston in December of 1968, traded to Seattle in August of 1969, and was sold to Kansas City in July of 1970. Much of that time was spent in the minors, although he did log some major league time with each of those teams. He remained in the Royals' organization through 1972, and then his playing career came to an end. As a Twin, Sandy Valdespino hit .220/.269/.284 in 450 at-bats. He did some coaching in the minors before leaving baseball. Sandy Valdespino passed away in Moultrie, Georgia on February 26, 2023.
Right-hander Neil Patrick Allen was the Twins' pitching coach from 2015-2017. Born and raised in Kansas City, he was drafted by the Mets in the eleventh round in 1976. He was a starter throughout his minor league career and did pretty well, although he stumbled when promoted to AAA in mid-1978. Despite that, he made the Mets as a reliever at the start of 1979. He became the Mets closer in 1980 and did pretty well, although he never racked up big save totals. He had a poor start in 1983, lost the closer role to Jesse Orosco, and was traded to St. Louis in mid-June. He never closed again, but went on to pitch several more years. He pitched well through 1984, but did not do well in 1985 and was sold to the Yankees in mid-July. He pitched well for them the rest of the year, but was a free agent after the season and signed with the White Sox. He started the season in the bullpen but moved into the rotation in May and did well but got hurt in late July. He came back to the rotation in 1987 but could not duplicate his success and was released in late August, signing with the Yankees in September. He went back to the bullpen and was a good pitcher again, staying through the 1988 season. He was a free agent after the season and signed with Cleveland but made only three appearances with them, spending most of the year in AAA. That brought his playing career to an end, but he stayed in the game as a pitching coach. He was in the minors through 2014 with the exception of 2005, when he was the bullpen coach for the Yankees. He became the Twins' pitching coach in 2015 and held that position through 2017, being let go after the season. No information about what Neil Allen has done since then was readily available.
Outfielder Mark Anthony Contreras appeared in twenty-eight games for the Twins in 2022. He was born in Moreno Valley, California, attended the University of California at Riverside, and was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round in 2017. He did not show much power in college, but batted close to .350 in his last two seasons. He spent 2017 in rookie ball, reached Class A in 2018 and went to AA in 2019, but really did not show anything to suggest he would be a good major league player. He missed the COVID season of 2020 and in 2021 suddenly showed some power, hitting twenty homers in a season spent mostly at AAA. He was on a shuttle between St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2022, ultimately spending about a month in the majors, although it took four or five stints to get there. He did not hit in the majors, posting a line of .121/.148/.293, although the sporadic playing time he received certainly didn't help any. He stayed at AAA in 2023 and had a decent year, but nothing special, and the Twins released him in early August. He signed with Boston for 2024. We wish him well, but barring injuries it does not seem likely that Mark Contreras will see much more major league playing time.