Ned Hanlon (1857)
Howie Camnitz (1881)
Wally Schang (1889)
Happy Felsch (1891)
Carl Yastrzemski (1939)
Bill Burbach (1947)
Doug Bair (1949)
Ray Burris (1950)
Paul Molitor (1956)
Darrin Jackson (1962)
Mike Everitt (1964)
Gary Scott (1968)
Hipolito Pichardo (1969)
Steve Kline (1972)
Jeff Weaver (1976)
Randy Wolf (1976)
Alan Busenitz (1990)
Mike Everitt was a major league umpire from 1996-2019.
Right-hander William David Burbach did not play for the Twins, but was in AAA for them in 1972. Born and raised in Dickeyville, Wisconsin, he attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, one of three players produced by that college (Hall of Famer Red Faber and Frank Quilici). He also attended the University of Iowa. He was drafted in the first round by the Yankees in 1965. He progressed one level per season and was solid at each stop, never outstanding but always pretty good. He came up to the Yankees at the start of 1969 and spent the entire year with them, going 6-8, 3.65, but with a WHIP of 1.52 due to the fact that he walked 102 batters in 140.2 innings. Control had been a problem for him early in his minor league career, but he seemed to have overcome it in the high minors. He started 1970 with the Yankees but pitched poorly in four starts and was back in AAA the rest of the season. He made two appearances for the Yankees in 1971, but then was traded to Baltimore for Jim Hardin and never made it back to the majors. The Orioles traded him to Detroit in February of 1972. B-r.com does not reveal how he made his way to the Twins' organization, but he was in the bullpen for AAA Tacoma that season. He did not pitch well, going 2-1, 4.50, 1.75 WHIP with 25 walks in 40 innings. That brought his playing career to an end. His major league numbers are 6-11, 4.48, 1.60 WHIP in 160.2 innings (37 games, 28 starts). After baseball, he moved to Johnson City, Tennessee, the place he had started his major league career. He worked for a local country club for many years before retiring. Bill Burbach passed away on July 20, 2022 in Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Hall of Famer Paul Leo Molitor played for the Twins from 1996-1998 and was their manager from 2015-2018. Born and raised in St. Paul, he attended the University of Minnesota and was chosen by Milwaukee with the third pick of the 1977 draft. He spent only one year in the minors, hitting .346 with Class A Burlington, before jumping to the big leagues. He was a fixture in the Brewers lineup for the next fifteen years, playing regularly at second base, center field, third base, and designated hitter, as well as playing a little shortstop. He made the all-star team five times in Milwaukee, received MVP consideration five times, finishing as high as fifth in 1987, and twice won the Silver Slugger award. After the 1992 season, Molitor became a free agent and went to Toronto, where he helped the Blue Jays win a world championship in 1993 and finished second in the MVP balloting to Frank Thomas. He made the all-star team in 1993 and 1994, but his average dropped to .270 in 1995, so the Blue Jays allowed him to again go the free-agent route. This time he came to Minnesota, and showed that his bat had plenty of life left. In his first year with the Twins, a year in which he turned forty, Molitor batted .341, led the league in hits, had 113 RBIs, won his fourth Silver Slugger award, and finished thirteenth in the MVP balloting. He played with the Twins for two more seasons before retiring at age 42. As a Twin, Paul Molitor hit .312/.362/.432 in exactly 1700 at-bats, driving in 271 runs. For his career, he batted .306 and had 3,319 hits. He was elected to the major league baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. He was the manager for the Minnesota Twins from 2015-2018, making the playoffs twice. He is currently a special assistant to baseball operations for the Twins and occasionally fills in on radio broadcasts.
Outfielder Darrin Jay Jackson played in 49 games for the Twins in 1997. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Culver City, California, and was drafted by the Cubs in the second round in 1981. He was fairly nondescript in the minors, with his best year prior to his major league debut coming in 1984, when he hit .270 with 15 homers at AA Midland. He got a brief cup of coffee with the Cubs in 1985, but then started to pick up the pace a little, and after a solid season with AAA Iowa in 1987 (.274, 23 homers), he spent all of 1988 with Chicago, getting 188 at-bats as a bench player. In August of 1989, he was sent to the Padres in a multi-player deal, and saw his playing time gradually increase, becoming a semi-regular in 1991 and a full-time regular in 1992, the only season in which he got more than 403 at-bats. He was decent that year, but that’s all, .249 with 17 homers and 70 RBIs. Jackson was traded to Toronto at the end of 1993 spring training, and in June the Blue Jays sent him to the Mets for Tony Fernandez. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the White Sox, where he had easily his best season in 1994, batting .312 as a semi-regular. Jackson played for the Seibu Lions in 1995-96, but returned to the United States in 1997, when the Twins signed him as a free agent. He played in 49 games for the Twins, batting .254/.272/.354 with 3 homers and 21 RBIs, before the Twins traded him to Milwaukee in August for the immortal Mick Fieldbinder. He stayed with the Brewers in 1998 before rounding out his career back with the White Sox, batting decently (.275) in a reserve role in 1999. His numbers are not particularly impressive, but he spent parts of 12 years in a big-league uniform, and a guy could do a lot worse. Darrin Jackson is currently a broadcaster for the White Sox radio network.
Third baseman Gary Thomas Scott did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for a short time. He was born in New Rochelle, New York, went to high school in Pelham, New York, and then attended Villanova. Scott was drafted by the Cubs in the second round in 1989. He had a couple of solid years in A and AA, and after a tremendous spring training in 1991, he was installed with much fanfare as the regular third baseman with the big club. Unfortunately, he was not up to the task, and was sent back to the minors after hitting only .165 in 31 games. He did poorly in the minors that year, too, hitting only .208 at AAA Iowa. He came back some in 1992, but when promoted to the Cubs late in the season he was awful again, batting .156 in 36 games. The Cubs gave up on Scott and traded him to Florida at the end of the season. He never played for Florida, however, as the Marlins traded him to Cincinnati for Hector Carrasco just prior to the 1994 season. The Reds sent him to AAA Indianapolis, and at the end of June traded him to the Twins for Tom Houk and Alan Newman. He hit .291 at AAA Portland, but it did not convince the Twins of anything, and they let him go after the season. Scott then played at AAA for the Giants, Braves, and Padres with mixed results, but never got another chance in the majors. Overall, he played in 67 big league games and had a batting line of .160/.250/.240, with 3 home runs and 16 RBIs. At last report, Gary Scott was an oil broker for Compagnie Financiere Tradition in the New York area.
Right-hander Alan Paul Busenitz played for the Twins in 2017 and 2018. He was born in Watkinsville, Georgia, went to high school in Athens, Georgia, attended Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, and was drafted by the Angels in the twenty-fifth round in 2013. He pitched quite well in the low minors his first two seasons. He stumbled when he was promoted to AA in 2015 but did quite well there in 2016. On August 1 of 2016 he was traded to the Twins with Hector Santiago for Ricky Nolasco, Alex Meyer, and cash. He finished that season in the minors with Minnesota, making five appearances in Chattanooga and six in Rochester. He started 2017 in Rochester and did very well there. He came up to Minnesota for about two weeks in June and did very well there, too, but was sent back anyway because the Twins needed "a fresh arm for the bullpen". He came back in late July and continued to do well. 2018 did not go as well for him--he pitched very well in Rochester, but not very well in limited chances in Minnesota. He went to Japan for 2019 and pitched pretty well for Rakuten through 2022. He signed with Cincinnati in 2023. He has spent most of the year at AAA, but made four major league appearances in May, one in August, and one in October. He remains in AAA for the Reds in 2024 and is pitching reasonably well. As a Twin, he was 5-2, 4.58, 1.44 WHIP in 57 innings (51 games, all in relief). He turns thirty-four today. As we always say, as long as you're still playing you still have a chance, so it's possible that Alan Busenitz will get another shot at the major leagues.