Tag: Minneapolis Millers

Jose Valdivielso – a member of 1961 Twins passes away

Jose Valdivielso

One of the few remaining members, Jose Valdivielso, of the 1961 Minnesota Twins passed away on March 4, 2025 at the age of 90. José Martinez de Valdivielso Lopez was born on May 22, 1934 in Matanzas, Cuba.

Valdivielso started his professional baseball career as a shortstop with the Class C 1953 Lubbock Hubbers in the West Texas-New Mexico League. During the 1954 season Valdivielso was assigned to the Washington Nationals in an unknown transaction and was sent from Lubbock to the Class B Rock Hill Chiefs and then on to the Class A Charlotte Hornets. He started the 1955 season with Charlotte but was called up by the Washington Nationals and made his MLB debut on June 21, 1955 at Griffith Stadium against the Chicago White Sox in a 6-1 Nats loss in which Valdivielso went 0 for 3. Valdivielso split his time with the Nats and their minor league teams in 1955-1956.

Valdivielso with Minneapolis Millers in 1958

Somehow he ended up playing for the Chicago White Sox AAA Indianapolis Indians in 1957 and in 1958 he split his time with the AAA Boston Red Sox Minneapolis Millers and the AAA San Francisco Giants Phoenix Giants. He started the 1959 season with the AAA Baltimore Orioles Miami Marlins and then low and behold he showed back up with the Washington Nationals where he played in the rest of the 1959 and the 1960 season.

In 1960, the team’s sixtieth and last season in Washington, Valdivielso was the Senators’ most-used shortstop, starting in 92 games and playing a career-high 117 contests. But by late September he had lost his starting job to Zoilo Versalles, a 20-year-old fellow countryman.

Valdivielso spent the 1961 season with the Minnesota Twins but only played in 76 games mainly as a defensive replacement and had just 158 PA’s in which he hit .195 with 29 hits and 9 RBI. One of those 29 hits was his lone Twins home run a long blast to left field that took place on June 4, 1961 at Tiger Stadium off Frank Lary in a 10-4 Twins loss to the Detroit Tigers. Jose played his final major league game at Met Stadium against the Detroit Tigers and went 2 for 3 with an RBI on the 1961 season’s final game, which was called in the top of the sixth inning on account of rain.

Valdivielso never played in the major leagues again and finished his career with the Minnesota Twins AAA Vancouver Mounties in 1962, and the Chicago White Sox AAA Indianapolis Indians in 1963-1964. In total, Jose Valdivielso collected 213 hits in the majors, with 26 doubles and eight triples to go along with his nine home runs.

Continue reading Jose Valdivielso – a member of 1961 Twins passes away

Chuck Schilling dead at 83

Chuck Schilling was born on October 25, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York and passed away on March 30, 2021 in West Chester, Pa. After graduating from high school Schilling attended Manhattan College, majoring in electrical engineering but then switched over to mechanical engineering. While still in college in 1958 Schilling signed a $25,000 bonus contract with the Boston Red Sox, eschewing the New York Yankees, a team he disliked even though they had actually started scouting him first.

Schilling played second base and started his pro career in 1959 playing in Class D ball and after 95 games was bumped up to class B and after just 15 game there was called up by the AAA Minneapolis Millers (managed by Gene Mauch and who also played in 8 games) to see if he could help them in the playoffs. He didn’t make that playoff roster but the next season he played for the Eddie Popowski managed 1960 Minneapolis Millers. Both of these Millers teams are full of names that played in the big leagues at one time or another.

Continue reading Chuck Schilling dead at 83

This Day in Twins History – January 9, 1961

The new Minnesota Twins and the American Association finally agree on a $500,000 indemnity payment to the minor league for the Minneapolis/St. Paul territory, ending 2 months of negotiations.

The 1960 American Association was made up of eight AAA teams which included the Minneapolis Millers (Boston Red Sox), St. Paul Saints (LA Dodgers), Denver Bears (Detroit Tigers), Louisville Colonels (Milwaukee Braves), Houston Buffs (Chicago Cubs), Charleston Senators (Washington Senators), Indianapolis Indians (Philadelphia Phillies), and the Dallas-Ft.Worth Rangers (Kansas City Athletics). In 1961 the American Association was down to six teams with Charleston being replaced by Omaha and Minneapolis and St. Paul obviously gone.

Here is the article that Halsey Hall wrote for the January 18, 1961 Sporting News. The same Sporting News page has a nice article about the Twins first ever barnstorming trip by Twins publicist Herb Heft that had him traveling 1,312 miles over a four days to sell the upper Midwest on Minnesota Twins professional baseball. I guess you could call this beginning of the Twins Winter caravans that are still taking place 54 years later.

Indemnity article 01181961 Sporting News

This Day in Twins/Senators History – September 6, 1954

Outfielder Carlos Paula

On this day back in 1954 the Washington Senators played a black ballplayer for the first time. His name was Carlos Paula and he was from Havana, Cuba. The 6’3″ 26 year-old Paula was a right-handed hitter and started in left field for the Senators seven years after Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut. Only the Yankees in 1955, the Phillies in 1957, the Tigers in 1958 and the Red Sox in 1959 broke the color-line later than did the Senators/Twins franchise.

Carlos Paula was acquired by the Washington Senators prior to the 1954 season from Paris, Texas of the class “B” Big State league. Paula spent most of the 1954 season in class “A” Charlotte before being called up by the Senators late in the season. In his first big league game, Paula started in left field in the first game of a double-header at Griffith Stadium against the Philadelphia Athletics and struck out in his first at bat but finished the game 2 for 5 (double and a single) with 2 RBI’s and helped his team to an 8-1 win. Paula played in 115 games for the Washington Senators in 1955 and hit .299 with 6 home runs and had 45 RBI’s while stealing 2 bases. Carlos got off to a slow start in 1956 and with Jim Lemon having a breakout year and the addition of rookie center fielder Whitey Herzog, there was no room for the struggling Paula in the Senators’ outfield and after 33 games the Senators sent him to the minors and Paula never again played in a big league game. Paula spent 1957-1960 in the minors playing for various organizations before ending his career in Mexico in 1960. One of his minor league stops was with the Minneapolis Millers in 1957 where he played in 104 games. Carlos Paula passed away on April 25, 1983 in Miami, Florida at the age of 55.

Baseball integration time-line

Be sure to check out what else happened to the Minnesota Twins today on our Today in Twins History  page.

This Day in Twins History – January 9, 1961

The new Minnesota Twins and the American Association finally agree on a $500,000 indemnity payment to the minor league for the Minneapolis/St. Paul territory, ending 2 months of negotiations.

The 1960 American Association was made up of eight AAA teams which included the Minneapolis Millers (Boston Red Sox), St. Paul Saints (LA Dodgers), Denver Bears (Detroit Tigers), Louisville Colonels (Milwaukee Braves), Houston Buffs (Chicago Cubs), Charleston Senators (Washington Senators), Indianapolis Indians (Philadelphia Phillies), and the Dallas-Ft.Worth Rangers (Kansas City Athletics). In 1961 the American Association was down to six teams with Charleston being replaced by Omaha and Minneapolis and St. Paul obviously gone.

Did you know?

June 20, 2009 – That in 1961 the Minnesota Twins became the first team to use the name of their state to identify their team? The Twins, who were the original Washington Senators wanted to appease the fans from both St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Twin Cities. The Twins played their home games in a newly refined Metropolitan Stadium which was located in Bloomington near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and was originally built for the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.