Minor league seasons start today! Oddly, all four Twins' affiliates begin their seasons on the road. Here are the matchups:
1:05 Rochester (Alex Meyer) at Buffalo (Andrew Albers)
5:30 Fort Myers (Kohl Stewart) at Charlotte (Drew Smyly)
6:30 Cedar Rapids (Mat Batts) at Kane County (Brent Jones
7:05 Chattanooga (TBA) at Montgomery (TBA)
The Twins' low-A affiliate, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, plays in the Midwest League. Here'a look at the teams in that league. I have again included "notables', but I claim no scouting expertise whatsoever. Take that for whatever you think it may be worth.
Doc White (1879)
Hippo Vaughn (1888)
Vic Sorrell (1901)
Fred Frankhouse (1904)
Claude Passeau (1909)
Zip Payne (1909)
Joe Brinkman (1944)
Peter Gammons (1945)
Nate Colbert (1946)
Kirk McCaskill (1961)
Hal Morris (1965)
Graeme Lloyd (1967)
Rudy Hernandez (1968)
Cecil "Zip" Payne was a long-time minor-league player and manager, collecting 2,179 hits.
Joe Brinkman and Derryl Cousins hold the record for most games umpired together, 2,123.
Rudy Hernandez was an infielder in the Mets organization from 1987-1991, reaching AA. With the exception of 2004, he has been a manager or coach in the Twins' organization since 2001. He is currently the assistant batting coach for the major league team.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Mamma MagUidhir.
There do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.
The Twins high-A team is the Fort Myers Miracle, playing in the Florida State League. He's a quick look at the teams in that league. I have listed "notables", but take that for whatever you think it's worth--I claim no ability as a scout. Rosters are as shown at milb.com this morning.
John Peters (1850)
Kirby Higbe (1915)
Stan Wasiak (1920)
Charlie Maxwell (1927)
Turk Farrell (1934)
Takao Kajimoto (1935)
John Hiller (1943)
Catfish Hunter (1946)
Randy Marsh (1949)
Mac Scarce (1949)
Gary Carter (1954)
Alex Gonzalez (1973)
Timo Perez (1975)
Jeremy Guthrie (1979)
Matt Ford (1981)
Felix Hernandez (1986)
Yonder Alonso (1987)
Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530. He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.
Pitcher Takao Kajimoto won 254 games in Japan and was a twelve-time all-star.
Randy Marsh was a major league umpire from 1981-2009 and is currently a director of umpiring.
Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.
We would like to wish a happy birthday to the brother of Daneeka's Ghost.
The Twins have a new AA affiliate: the Chattanooga Lookouts. That means two things: 1) I have to remember how to spell Chattanooga (two ts, one n, two os) and 2) we have a bunch of new opponents. It's good-bye Eastern League, hello Southern League. Good-bye New Hampshire Fisher Cats and Richmond Flying Squirrels, hello Montgomery Biscuits and Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Here's a quick look at the teams of the Southern League. Again, "notables" is a list of names you might recognize, not a scouting report, and is based on rosters listed on milb.com this morning.
John McGraw (1873)
Oral Hildebrand (1907)
Bobby Doerr (1918)
Jerry Hoffberger (1919)
Tom Phoebus (1942)
Bill Stoneman (1944)
Pete Van Wieren (1944)
Bobby Mitchell (1955)
Ricky Bones (1969)
Brett Tomko (1973)
Ronnie Belliard (1975)
Adrian Beltre (1979)
Jerry Hoffberger was the principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles from 1965-1979.
Pete Van Wieren was a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves from 1976-2008.
The Twins' AAA team, the Rochester Red Wings, plays in the International League. Here's a look at the teams in that league. "Notables" is not intended as a scouting report, but rather is a listing of names you might recognize. Rosters used are those found on milb.com this morning.
Here's a list of ex-Twins on active rosters at the start of the season. Rosters are as listed on each team's website as of this morning. If I missed someone, please feel free to let me know.
