TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
The players listed below had just one hit while wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform. Most had more than one big league hit in their big league careers but for our purposes we are just looking for those players that had just one hit while wearing Minnesota Twins colors.
As you might suspect, since this list covers players that played for the Minnesota Twins from 1961 (when pitchers still batted) through 2019 the list has a lot of pitchers on it. The right-hand column on the list shows you the positions played by that player.
Former major league pitcher and one-time Minnesota Twins pitcher Joseph Charles Grzenda, 82, of Covington Twp, PA. passed away on Friday, July 12, 2019 at home. Grzenda was born on June 8, 1937 in Scranton, PA. the son of the late Joseph C. and Josephine (Jankowski) Grzenda. Joe Grzenda graduated from Moosic High School in Greenwood in 1955 and went on to serve in the U.S. Army.
The left-handed Grezenda was first signed in 1955 as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers and worked his way up the Tigers minor league system playing in D, B, AA and AAA ball before finally getting his shot in the big leagues with the Tigers in 1961.
The Twins lose to the Angels 5-1 as Dean Chance gives up four runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Twins used 22 players and get 9 hits but could only score once.
The Red Sox get shutout 6-0 and the White Sox lose a DH to the KC A’s 5-2 and 4-0. The Tigers were idle. The Twins are alone on top with a full game lead on the Tigers and the Sox and are up 1.5 games on the Mighty Whitey’s. What a pennant race!
I found out just recently that former Minnesota Twins pitcher Bill Whitby had passed away on March 12, 2016 in Huntersville, North Carolina at the age of 72 from heart disease.
William Edward Whitby was born in Crewe, Virginia on July 29, 1943. Bill was a star athlete at Victoria High School (Virginia) and after his high school graduation signed as a 17-year-old amateur free agent with the Minnesota Twins for $10,000, a substantial bonus back then.
Bill started his professional pitching career as a 17 year old in class D ball with the Wytheville Twins and played there with future Twins to be Jim Manning, Tony Oliva, Frank Quilici, and Ted Uhlaender. Whitby climbed the Twins minor league ladder quickly and found himself pitching for the AA Charlotte Hornets late in 1963. In 1964 Bill started the season in Charlotte again but got the call that all players wait for, the call to the big leagues. Bill Whitby made his big league debut at the age of 20 on June 17, 1964 at Cleveland Stadium in game 2 of a doubleheader in the 8th inning with two runners on and two out with the Twins trailing 4-0. He retired Indians second baseman Larry Brown for the final out but in the ninth inning he got the first batter out before giving up a home run (Pedro Ramos) and a single before retiring the final two batters. Whitby made three more relief appearances in a Twins uniform before being returned to Charlotte.
Sadly for Bill, it turned out that those four appearances for the Twins would be his only pitching opportunities in the big leagues. Bill started the 1965 season in Charlotte but after posting a 10-8 record with a 2.61 ERA (including pitching a no-hitter) he was promoted to AAA Denver where it turns out he spent the next four years. The Twins traded RHP Bill Whitby to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 1, 1969 and in return received 1B Bill Davis and RHP Mel Nelson. Bill pitched briefly in 1970 for AAA Denver which was then a Washington Senators affiliate before encountering some shoulder issues that prompted him to hang up his baseball spikes for good at the age of 26.
Bill and his wife Donelle were married for over 50 years and actually met when Donelle was selected as “Miss Hornet” in 1964 and Bill who was playing for Charlotte at the time served as her escort. As part of being selected “Miss Hornet”, Donelle Ranson was also given a trip to spring training in Melbourne, Florida where she and Bill started dating and on February 12, 1966 they were married and went on to have two children, son’s Brian and Kevin.
After baseball was in his rear view mirror Bill and Donelle returned to their farming roots and bought a farm near Huntersville, North Carolina where they raised beef cattle and some crops. When I talked with Donelle she was very grateful to the Minnesota Twins because they provided the opportunity for her and Bill to meet and share a wonderful life together.
The 1965 Minnesota Twins had 35 different players suit up and play ball wearing a Twins logo across their chest against the nine other members of the American league. Their manager, Sam Mele had four coaches at his disposal to help guide the team. Here are the images of the players and coaching staff that made up the 1965 American League champions. Team owner Calvin Griffith also served as the teams General Manager.
Just click on any player image to see a larger image
Earl Battey - Catcher
Don Mincher - 1B
Jerry Kindall - 2B
Zoilo Versalles - SS
Rich Rollins - 3B
Bob Allison - OF
Jimmie Hall - OF
Tony Oliva - OF
Harmon Killebrew - 1B/3B/OF
Sandy Valdespino - OF
Joe Nossek - OF/3B
Jerry Zimmerman - Catcher
Frank Quilici - 2B/SS
Andy Kosco - OF/1B
Bernie Allen - 2B/3B
Frank Kostro - 2B/3B/OF
Cesar Tovar - 2B/SS/3B/OF
Ted Uhlaender - OF
John Sevcik - Catcher
Rich Reese - 1B/OF
Jim "Mudcat" Grant - Pitcher
Jim Kaat - Pitcher
Camilo Pascual - Pitcher
Jim Perry - Pitcher
Dave Boswell - Pitcher
Jim Merritt - Pitcher
Dick Stigman - Pitcher
Al Worthington - Pitcher
Mel Nelson - Pitcher
Johnny Klippstein - Pitcher
Bill Pleis - Pitcher
Garry Roggenburk - Pitcher
Jerry Fosnow - Pitcher
Dwight Siebler - Pitcher
Pete Cimino - Pitcher
Sam Mele - Manager
Billy Martin - Coach
L-R: Johnny Sain - Pitching Coach with Manager Sam Mele
The Minnesota Twins hosted a 59th anniversary celebration on July 31 and August 1 for the 1965 American League champions. On July 31st the organization put on a “Championship Breakfast” that was attended by about 250 Twins fans and 11 players from the 1965 championship team that won a Twins record 102 games. Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer served as the master of ceremonies.
I was able to attend the breakfast which was held in the Metropolitan Club at Target Field and had a great time meeting other Twins fans and chatting briefly with some of the players. The cost of the breakfast was $75 for season ticket holders and $100 if you were not a Twins season ticket holder with the proceeds going to the Twins Community Fund.
John Sevcik and Bill Pleis were unable to attend due to family health issues. Jimmie Hall also was invited but was not in attendance. Why he was not here is unclear, I saw some where that he was not able to change his schedule in time to attend and the other reason that has floated around for a long time is that Hall likes to stay close to home and that he is not a huge fan of the Twins organization due to some conflicts that have arisen in the past over medical claims. I have no idea why Dwight Siebler or Pete Cimino were not in attendance other than Siebler only appeared in seven games and Cimino only appeared in one game.As nored earlier, coach Hal Naragon was in attendance.
Manager Sam Mele who is 93 was not able to attend due to health concerns but he did make a short video that was played for the crowd. Coaches Billy Martin, Johnny Sain, and Jim Lemon have also passed on. Coach Hal Naragon as mentioned earlier was in attendance.
I took a few pictures at the championship breakfast that I will share with you here. Just click on the first thumbnail image to get started.
The Twins were kind enough to provide me with a group picture from the Saturday celebration. Clicking on the picture will enlarge it slightly.
BACK ROW L – R: Jim Merritt, Jerry Kindall, Dick Stigman, Rich Reese, Mel Nelson, Andy Kosco, Frank Kostro, Garry Roggenburk, Jerry Fosnow, Bernie Allen, Hal Naragon FRONT ROW L – R: Joe Nossek, Sandy Valdespino, Rich Rollins, Jim Perry, Camilo Pascual, Al Worthington, Frank Quilici, Jim Kaat, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Tony Oliva
