Who am I?

 

I was born in Cuba and signed by super scout Joe Cambria and the Washington Senators as a amateur free agent prior to the 1960 season but I never played for the Washington Senators big league ballclub.  I finally made the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins but I appeared in only 37 games in a Twins uniform. I then went on to play for the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Oakland A’s, and the Texas Rangers. I was in the majors for parts of seven seasons and I played in 436 games. I had 1,038 plate appearances in the big leagues but I was not what you called a power hitter as I never hit a big league home run. I did however, play all nine positions in the big leagues. After my playing career ended, I spent many years in the Seattle Mariners organization performing numerous duties. One of my duties for the Mariners was in scouting and I am credited with signing Edgar Martinez and Omar Vizquel. Who am I?

UPDATE: The answer is shortstop Marty Martinez.

Former Twins infielder Bud Bloomfield passes away

Clyde Stalcup "Bud" Bloomfield in 1964

I found out recently that former Twins and Cardinals infielder Clyde Stalcup “Bud” Bloomfield, 75, passed away on December 21, 2011 at the Countryside Retirement Center in Huntsville, Arkansas after a short illness.

Bloomfield was born on January 5, 1936 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and attended the University of Tulsa and the University of Arkansas where he played baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals signed Bloomfield as an amateur free agent prior to the 1957 season. Bloomfield, an Army veteran, worked his way up through the Cardinals minor league ladder and finally made his major league debut on September 25, 1963 at Wrigley Field as a defensive replacement for 3B Ken Boyer and was waiting in the on-deck circle when the game ended. It turns out that was Bud’s only Cardinal big league appearance.

In December of 1963 the Minnesota Twins acquired Bloomfield from the Cardinals in the minor league draft. Bloomfield spent most of the 1964 season playing for the Twins AAA affiliate Atlanta Crackers but he did appear in seven games for the Twins playing at 2B, SS, and 3B. Bud had one hit as a Minnesota Twin, his only major league hit in his 7 plate appearances. When the 1964 baseball season ended, so did Bud Bloomfield’s professional baseball career.

We at Twins Trivia would like to pass on our condolences to Bud Bloomfield’s family and friends during this difficult time.

Bloomfield’s obit can be found here.