My previous post was about Twins position players that were born in the 1920’s and played for the home town team, today’s post will cover the pitchers.
| Rk | Player | G | From | To | GS | W | L | SV | IP | SO | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Worthington | 327 | 1964 | 1969 | 0 | 37 | 31 | .544 | 88 | 473.1 | 399 | 2.62 |
| 2 | Ray Moore | 126 | 1961 | 1963 | 1 | 13 | 10 | .565 | 25 | 159.2 | 141 | 4.90 |
| 3 | Johnny Klippstein | 115 | 1964 | 1966 | 0 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 10 | 161.2 | 124 | 2.45 |
| 4 | Chuck Stobbs | 24 | 1961 | 1961 | 3 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2 | 44.2 | 17 | 7.46 |
| 5 | Jackie Collum | 8 | 1962 | 1962 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 15.1 | 5 | 11.15 |
| 6 | Ruben Gomez | 6 | 1962 | 1962 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 19.1 | 8 | 4.66 |
Al Worthington, nicknamed “Red”, was a right-hander who is credited with being baseball’s first born-again Christian. Worthington started his big league career by pitching complete game shutouts in his first two games in 1953 for the New York Giants. However; it turned out that starting was not his forte and he eventually migrated to the bullpen where he earned 111 career saves. Worthington pitched for the Twins between 1964-1969 notching 37 wins and 88 saves with a 2.62 ERA before hanging up his spikes for good. Al Worthington SABR Bio.
Ray Moore was a right hander who started his major league career in 1952 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. “Farmer” or “Old Blue” as he was called had an 11 year big league career that started as a starter and ended as a reliever. Credited with the Twins first ever save. Ray Moore SABR Bio.
Johnny Klippstein pitched in Minnesota from 1964-1966. Klippstein had an 18 year big league career in which he was used as a starter for the first eight years and as a reliever for the last 10 years and he earned 101 wins and 65 saves. Hung up his player cleats after five games for the Tigers in 1967. Johnny Klippstein SABR Bio.
Chuck Stobbs was a lefty that received a $50,000 bonus to sign from the Boston Red Sox prior to the 1947 season Stobbs won over 100 big league games and is probably best noted for giving up “that 565 foot home run to Mickey Mantle that left Griffith Stadium” in 1953. Stobbs played in Minnesota in 1961, his 15th and final season as a player. Chuck Stobbs SABR Bio.
Jackie Collum was height challenged standing only 5’7″ but yet he pitched in the big leagues for nine season between 1951-1962. The Iowa lefty pitched briefly for the Twins in 8 games going 0-2 and posting a 11.15 ERA before the Twins traded him to the Indians along with a PTBNL for pitcher Ruben Gomez.
Rubén Gómez pitched for the Twins very briefly in 1962 getting two starts and pitching one complete game in his only win for Minnesota. Gomez pitched in the big leagues on and off for 10 years but he pitched an amazing 29 seasons in the Puerto Rican Winter League from 1947 to 1977 and by the time he hung it up he had over 400 wins. Gomez got his nickname of “El Divino Loco” from friends and Santurce teammates for two reasons: his highway speeding habits and crazy driving off the field; and, he could not be intimidated on the mound. Ruben Gomez SABR Bio.