The Minnesota Twins first center fielder – Lenny Green passes away on his birthday

Lenny Green

Leonard Charles Green (born January 6, 1933, in Detroit) was the middle of three sons born to Eugene and Anna Green and passed away on his 86th birthday on January 6, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan.

After graduating from Pershing High School, Lenny Green was signed as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Browns late in 1952 to play for York of the Class B Inter-State League. But before he ever put on a York uniform or a Browns uniform for that matter the Army called and he spent 1953-1954 in the service of his country during the Korean War. Green was stationed stateside and ended up playing on a baseball team with and against players like Willie Mays, Don Newcombe, Billy Martin and Zach Monroe. After being discharged from the Army as a corporal, Green was free to resume his pro baseball career but thing had changed and Green experienced his first MLB franchise shift as the Browns became the Baltimore Orioles.

Too many cooks in the kitchen

I think I liked the past better as far as baseball is concerned.

The 1960 Chicago Cubs finished with a 60-94 record, their 14th consecutive season without a winning record and owner P.K. Wrigley had seen enough. Wrigley announced in December of 1960 that the club would no longer be run by a manager but instead by a committee of eight coaches. The plan was dubbed the “College of Coaches”. The plan was for all the coaches to manage at different times throughout the season plus they would rotate through the minor leagues teams as well. Wrigley’s thought was that eight heads had to be better than one. In announcing the experiment, Wrigley argued, “Managers are expendable. I believe there should be relief managers just like relief pitchers.” Wrigley’s plan was ridiculed by most of baseball but he implemented the plan in time for Spring Training in 1961.

Former Twins players that passed away in 2018

As we start a new year in 2019 I wanted to share a list of former Minnesota Twins players that passed away in 2018. We lost some great ones.

Johnny Ard – Twins first round pick in 1988 but was traded and never played for Minnesota.
Bill Fischer
Hal Haydel
Frank Quilici
Lee Stange

 

RIP gentlemen and thank you for the great memories, you are a part of Minnesota Twins history forever.

A complete list of deceased former Minnesota Twins players can be found on our “Deceased Twins” page.