[Terry D]

For most of the 1980s, the Twins had real trouble developing starting pitchers. Jay Pettibone was a 6'4" right-hander out of Mount Clemens Michigan. The Rangers drafted him but released him in 1981 after undistinguished seasons in Rookie and Class A ball. The Twins signed him and he showed some improvement first in A and then in AA in the Minnesota chain. He had an OK 1983 split between AA and AAA, and that was enough for the Twins to take a look at him in the bigs. He went 0-4, 5.33 in four starts, one of them a no-doubt-heartbreaking complete game loss. In 1984 Jay got the whey beaten out of him back in the minors (4-12) so the Twins sent him to the Cards as part of the payment for Chris Speier. He has proved to be quite a difficult find in a major league uniform, but here he is at last.