Another trip around the Sun and it is once again time to to look back and remember former Minnesota Twins that have gotten the call to their final resting place. They may be gone from this earth but their memories remain.
Garrabrant Ryerson Alyea was born on December 8, 1940 in Passaic, New Jersey and passed away on February 4, 2024. Alyea, originally signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1962 but made his major league debut with the Washington Senators in 1965. Alyea was traded to the Minnesota Twins on March 21, 1970 for pitchers Joe Grzenda and Charlie Walters. Yes, the same Charlie Walters that writes for the St. Paul Pioneer Press now days. Alyea, primarily a left fielder played for the Twins from 1970-1971 before being picked up in the Rule 5 draft (rules were different back then) by the Oakland A’s. Brant’s best season in pro ball was in 1970 with the Minnesota Twins. Alyea had a son, Brant Alyea Jr. that played minor league ball for Toronto, Texas and the New York Mets from 1985 to 1990. Brant Alyea played in the major leagues for all or parts of 1965, 1968-1972 appearing in 371 games for the Senators, Twins. A’s and Cardinals.
Sean Burroughs was born on September 12, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia and passed away on May 9, 2024. Burroughs was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1st round (9th) of the 1998 MLB June Amateur Draft and made his big league debut with the Padres in 2002. Burroughs played for the Padres from 2002-2005, Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006, Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 and the Minnesota Twins in 2012. Burroughs time in Minnesota was short, just 10 games and 18 AB’s with two hits. After the Twins released him late in 2012 he signed with the LA Dodgers but never played for them. Burroughs continued to play Independent league ball through 2017. Sean’s Father Jeff Burroughs was a major league player for many years.
Mike Cubbage was born on July 21, 1950 in Charlottesville, Virginia and passed away on August 10, 2024. Cubbage was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 2nd round of the 1971 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase. Cubbage debuted with the Texas Rangers in 1974 and then was traded by the Rangers along with Jim Gideon, Bill Singer, Roy Smalley and $250,000 to the Minnesota Twins for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson on June 1, 1976. Cubbage played third, second and some first base during his time Minnesota. Cubbage played in Minnesota between 1976-1980 appearing in 555 games and had a 6.8 WAR during that time. After the 1980 season Cubbage became a free agent and signed with the New York Mets where he played his final season in the big leagues in 1981. Mike was a baseball lifer and I talked with him on numerous occasions and found him to be very friendly, knowledgeable and fun to talk with. I did an interview with him back in 2010 (about an hour long) that you can listen to here.
Gary Dotter was born on August 7, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri and passed away on July 27, 2024. Dotter was originally signed by the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 1960 season. After the 1960 season Dotter was drafted by the Minnesota Twins from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1960 first-year draft. The Twins assigned him to the class B Wilson Tobs in 1961. Amazingly, after a great season at Wilson the Twins called him up fora cup of coffee in September. He made his major league debut in relief of Jack Kralick at the age of 19 (and 34 days) on September 10 at Municipal Stadium against the Kansas City Athletics in a 13-1 blow-out loss. Dotter pitched 4 innings allowing 6 runs on 6 hits, 4 walks while striking out 2 A’s. Although his line score does not look particularly good, he actually pitched very well for 3+ innings before running out of gas and was relieved by Julio Becquer. Dotter spent 1962 with class A Charlotte Hornets in the South Atlantic League and pitched well enough for the Twins to send him to triple-A Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers as a 20-year old. There Dotter pitched in 42 games with 21 starts throwing 166 innings. That September he was called up again appearing in two games throwing two innings with no hits and no runs allowed. Dotter made great strides in 1963 but in January 1964 the United States Army came calling and he was inducted on January 28, 1964 and missed a good part of the baseball season serving in the Army’s 6-month program. Dotter served in the Army reserves for six years. He made three appearances for the Twins late in the season and it turned out to be the last time that he would pitch in the major leagues. How Dotter ended up in the Houston Astros organization in 1965 is unknown but he spent the rest of his pro ball career with the Astros in the minor leagues before calling it a career after the 1967 season.
Danny Fife was born on October 5, 1949 in Harrisburg, Illinois and passed away on May 30, 2024. Fife was a three-sport standout athlete at Clarkston High School (MI), Fife played 3 years of varsity basketball and baseball at the University of Michigan. He served as basketball captain in his senior year. Fife was drafted in the 1971 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and also by the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd round of the 1971 amateur draft (June Secondary). The Tigers traded Fife and cash to the Minnesota Twins for Jim Perry in March of 1973. The Twins assigned him to the AAA Tacoma Twins where in 27 starts he had a 10-14 record in 27 starts throwing 176 inning. The Twins called him up in August and Fife made his big league debut in Cleveland Stadium with 3 innings of shutout relief allowing just 2 hits. In his next appearance four days later he relieved Bill Campbell with two outs in the first inning against the Orioles and pitched the final 7.1 innings of the game but took his first big league loss when a run scored on a ground ball double play in the fifth inning. Fife was a starter for the rest of 1973 but was inconsistent probably due to being tired from having pitched so many innings. His final start in 1973 was a start against the California Angels at Anaheim Stadium against the likes of Mickey Rivers, Vada Pinson, Frank Robinson, Bob Oliver and others and he pitched a complete game winning 7-1. It turns out that it would be his only complete game in relatively short big league career. Fife allowed the one run on seven hits , six walks and zero strikeouts. Fife made the 1974 Twins team out of Spring Training albeit as a reliever. He struggled in that role and after four appearances was sent down never to pitch in the big leagues again. Fife continued to struggle in AAA Tacoma and after just 8 games in 1975 he called it quits due to a sore arm. Fife went on to a long and fruitful basketball coaching career.
Billy Gardner was born on July 19, 1927 in New London, Connecticut and passed away on January 3, 2024 at he age of 96. A true baseball lifer that played in the majors for all or part of ten seasons between 1954 – 1963 for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. During his brief time in Minnesota with the Twins at the age of 33 he played in just 45 games, mostly at 2B and only had 191 PA’s before being traded on June 14 to the Yankees for pitcher Danny McDevitt. After retiring as a player, he spent over 20 years as a coach or manager. “Whitey” rejoined the Twins organization in 1981 as a third base coach and was promoted to manager on May 23, 1981, replacing Johnny Goryl, and served until June 21, 1985, never leading Minnesota to the playoffs and avoiding a losing record only once (1984, at 81–81). That said, Gardner incorporated young players such as Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, Frank Viola and Tim Laudner into the Twin lineup, beginning the foundation of the club’s two World Series clubs to come. Gardner also managed the Kansas City Royals for part of 1986.
Dave McCarty was born on November 23, 1969 in Houston, Texas and passed away on April, 19, 2024. McCarty was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (3rd) of the 1991 MLB June Amateur Draft from Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA). McCarty, a first baseman/outfielder made his debut on May 17, 1993 at the Metrodome in right field going 1 for 4 in an 11-5 loss to the New York Yankees. McCarty and manager Tom Kelly never saw eye to eye and McCarty was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in June of 1995. McCarty never played for the Reds before being sent to the San Francisco Giants in an 8 player trade. McCarty went on to play for the Royals, Devil Rays, A’s, and the Red Sox over his 11 years in the big leagues. In 2005 after he retired, he moved into the broadcasting booth and was a Red Sox analyst on NESN from July 1, 2005, until the end of the 2008 season.
Cristobal Rigoberto Mendoza Carreras was born on December 3, 1934 in Ceiba del Agua, Cuba and passed away on September 9, 2024. Mendoza was originally signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1956 after playing for a variety of minor league teams in 1954-1955 and assigned to the Havana Sugar Kings. Prior to the 1958 season Mendoza ended up with the Washington Senators in some fashion and stayed with the Senators/Twins franchise until the Twins called him up April 9, 1970 after 1,513 games in their minor league system. Mendoza made his major league debut at the age of 35 at White Sox Park as a defensive replacement for Harmon Killebrew at third base hitting clean-up in the bottom of the ninth inning but he never had an at bat in that 6-4 Twins win over the White Sox. Mendoza got his first big league hit in his 10th at bat and it was off fellow Cuban, Mike Cuellar of the Orioles. According to Wiki, Mendoza is featured in the controversy surrounding the naming of the Mendoza Line, meaning a .200 batting average. While most believe that the “Mendoza Line” first referred to by George Brett is named after 9-year veteran Mario Mendoza (who had a .215 career batting average and hit .198 in his biggest season), there is some controversy as to whether Brett was actually referring to Minnie Mendoza when he coined the famous phrase. However, Minnie did not play during the time of George Brett.
Buzz Stephen was born on July 13, 1944 in Porterville, California and passed away on May 9, 2024. Stephen was drafted by the Astros in 1965, The Twins in 1966 and he finally signed with Minnesota when they drafted him again in the 1st round (6th) of the 1966 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from California State University, Fresno (Fresno, CA). Louis Roberts Stephen debuted in the big leagues on September 20, 1968 at Met Stadium against the Oakland A’s in a game he started and pitched 6.1 innings allowing 4 earned runs on 8 hits with 1 strikeout but took the loss when the A’s won 7-1. Five days later he started his second game and this time he was a winner in a 5-2 win over the California Angels. Those were his only two big league games. On October 15, 1968 the Seattle Pilots selected Stephen in the expansion draft. Stephen spend his next two seasons in the minors with four different organizations before retiring from the game.
Luis Tiant was born on November 23, 1940 in Marianao, Cuba and passed away on October 8, 2024. Tiant was the son of Luis Tiant Sr. who also pitched pro ball from 1926 to 1948. The senior Tiant was a great left-handed pitcher for the Negro league’s New York Cubans during the summer and the Cuban professional league’s Cienfuegos in the winter. “El Tiante” pitched in the major leagues for 19 seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and the California Angels. His time with the Twins was short due to an arm injury and he pitched for Minnesota in 1970 posting a 7-3 record in 17 starts. He first started playing pro ball at the age of 18 in 1959 in the Mexico League and threw his final pitches at the age of 42 once again in the Mexican League. It is a crying shame Luis Tiant is not in the MLB Hall of Fame.
Tom Tischinski was born on July 12, 1940 in Kansas City, Missouri and passed away on April 23, 2024. Tischinski was originally signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1962. The Cincinnati Reds drafted him from Kansas City in November 1962 in the first-year draft. The Minnesota Twins drafted him from the Reds in the 1967 minor league draft. Tischinski debuted on April 11, 1969 at Anaheim Stadium against the California Angels as a pinch-hitter and flew out to right field in his only at bat in the game. Tischinski played all his major league games in a Twins uniform appearing in 82 games and hitting .181 with 21 hits in 116 at bats between 1969-1971. His lone big league home run in 1970 at Met Stadium against the Washington Senators turned out to be a game winner. Tischinski played in 888 minor league games between 1962-1974.
It takes a lot of hard work and patience to reach the big leagues on the part of the player but also on the part of his family. Thank you so much for all the wonderful memories.