[Terry D]

Houston Jimenez was an OK field, no-hit-at-all shortstop of the 1980s. He had a long career in the Mexican League and had some good years with the bat there, but his major league OPS was a paltry .454. Jimenez got to the Minnesota Twins in 1983 mainly on the strength of a fast start at AAA Toledo and he was the Twins' most-regular SS for the next two seasons. The Twins wised up and released him early in 1986. The Pittsburgh Pirates were in the early years of the Jim Leyland era and Leyland and Syd Thrift were looking at a lot of people in the hopes of finding some hidden gems to rebuild the club. So, the Pirates took a chance and signed Jimenez. He got into just five games for the Bucs in '87 and went hitless. Here is the first image I have ever seen of Jimenez as a Pirate, courtesy of the excellent Fritsch card auction site on ebay. Now, if we could only find him as an Indian...