Minor League Baseball Players

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

anyone have team photo's or player photo's of 1958-1962 Geneva Reds/Redlegs?

Pitcher Doug Ritter appeared on the Washington Senators' spring roster in 1967. He was also with the Geneva Redlegs in 1961.

I think this photo was from baseball-birthdays.com in 2011.

Doug Ritter Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Dto7

Here you go with the 1959 Geneva Reds photo with team player names.

thank you so much for this photo that is awesome

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

Pitcher Larry Dovel was on the Cincinnati Reds' spring roster in 1964 and 1965, and was a non-roster invitee with the Reds in 1962. Don't know where I obtained this photo, but I've had it for a number of years.

Dovel was on the 1960 Geneva Redlegs. Also on that team were Martin Dihigo, Tony Perez, and Pete Rose. Surely, you need no help with those players. Another career minor leaguer on the team was Dan Neville. He was on a Topps card, so his image should be easily available by using Google images.

Larry Dovel Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

thank you for the help very appreciative helps me to complete my rosters

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

Pitcher Doug Ritter appeared on the Washington Senators' spring roster in 1967. He was also with the Geneva Redlegs in 1961.

I think this photo was from baseball-birthdays.com in 2011.

Doug Ritter Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

THANKS. this is Great!

[Dto7]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

anyone have team photo's or player photo's of 1958-1962 Geneva Reds/Redlegs?

Wallace "Spud" Bush 1958 Geneva Redlegs pitcher.

[Dto7]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

anyone have team photo's or player photo's of 1958-1962 Geneva Reds/Redlegs?

1959 Geneva Redlegs batterymen.

[Cusick]

Pitcher Claus Helmig was a significant personage in German baseball. He and his brother, Hanjorg, were the first two German citizens to sign major league contracts. They signed with the Baltimore Orioles, and went to the Orioles' spring camp in 1956 as non-roster invitees. Claus went on to play for the German National Baseball Team and compete successfully in the European Championships. He also founded a league of US Army bases in Germany, and then founded and maintained two high-level German baseball teams. He was inducted into the German baseball Hall of Fame.

Claus' US minor league career was about as brief as it could possibly get -- one game with the Paris Orioles.

The head shot photo of Claus comes from the Milwaukee (WI) Journal-Sentinel of January 22, 1956. The second shot pretty well masks his face, but it shows him in a Baltimore Orioles uniform. It's from the Baltimore Sun of February 17, 1956. I've added a third shot, which gives a better view of him in an Orioles uniform. The third photo was posted by Claus' son on a website called Martin Helmig Baseballtrainer - martinhelmigs Webseite! Within that photo, there is a partial view of Hanjorg Helmig on the right.

Sadly, Claus passed away on June 1, 2016.

The article about Claus in the first baseball-reference link below mentions his ball-playing brother, Jurgen. Newspaper articles about Hanjorg indicated that he was a first baseman as well as pitcher, and that he was three years younger than Claus at the time. If you click on the link to Jurgen within the baseball-reference article on Claus, you'll find a sentence which says that Jurgen was signed by the Baltimore Orioles. Therefore, Jurgen and Hanjorg are the same player. The corrected dates of birth in these articles are 2/1/1936 for Claus and 8/16/1938 for Jurgen (Hanjorg).

Claus Helmig - BR Bullpen

Claus Helmig Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

Despite baseball-reference.com's not showing any professional baseball activity for catcher Jim Schindler later than 1953, he showed up in the Washington Senators' spring camp in 1956 as a non-roster invitee. An AP Bulletin with a dateline of Orlando, FL , March 22, 1956, announced that the Washington Senators had farmed him out to Charlotte of the South Atlantic League.

The photo is from the Lubbock (TX) Morning Avalanche of July 23, 1953. Jim Schindler is wearing the uniform of the Lubbock Hubbers.

Jim Schindler Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

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[Cusick]

Here's a non-roster invitee who is in the Hall of Fame. Happens to be the Mexican Hall of Fame, rather than Cooperstown, but he had a rather substantial career nonetheless. Meet Miguel "Becerril" Fernandez. He was primarily a shortstop, but was found playing third base in Pittsburgh Pirates' exhibition game box scores during the spring training season of 1957.

Baseball-reference.com only touches the surface of his stats in the Mexican League. According to the Encyclopedia of Mexican Baseball, he played 14 seasons in the Mexican League, had a batting average of .286, and accumulated over 1500 hits. In 1961, he hit .332 for the Mexico City Red Devils (Diablos Rojos).

The photo comes from a website called tommyatbat.blogspot.com.

Miguel Fernandez Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[FatJack]

Several years back, someone on eBay offered up some pictures of minor league players from the International League of the 70s, including a lot of Tidewater Tides. The Tides were the Mets AAA franchise at the time. The colors were a bit washed out and I tried to "restore" them on a picture or two, but my skills were still fairly sucky at the time. I thought I'd give it another go, the other night, just to see whether my skills had improved at all. Little bit.

Bill Dillman pitched in the majors for the Orioles and Expos and was Cardinals property in between. For most of that time, he was on the shuttle--major leaguer one day, minor leaguer the next. He finished his pro career with Tidewater in 1972. This wasn't one of those "NRI/minor league contract" deals with the major league club. He was actually NRI that spring with the Phillies, who chose not to sign him. So he signed a contract with Tidewater in the hopes that he could impress someone in some front office somewhere.

Dillman pitched out of the pen for Tidewater--mostly in mop-up duty. He finished 5-5 with 2 saves and an ERA of 4.20. He did make the headlines once that season. In a game with the Peninsula Whips on June 29, a pitch got away from Bill, hitting Chico Diaz on the elbow. Diaz, who, interestingly, had been a Mets farmhand with Tidewater the year before when Dillman was an Expos farmhand with the Winnipeg Whips, became incensed and threw the bat at Dillman who had his back turned to the plate at the time. Dillman ducked in time and the bat sailed over his head, but Diaz was suspended and fined.

After the season, Dillman decided he'd had enough of the constant travel and uncertainty, as well as the meager minor league paychecks. He had three kids and just wanted to settle down.

Last year, Bill was inducted into the Bucks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. But, when the announcement was made, the papers mistakenly identified him as "the late Bill Dillman", so Bill had to let everyone know he was still alive and kicking.

Below, the original image of Bill Dillman, 1972 Tidewater Tides as sold on eBay and my "restoration". If I "restore" any more of these, I'll certainly post them up.

Edit: To answer the question of how Bill knew to duck if he had his back to the plate... Both the umpire and catcher shouted a warning to him. Sorry I left that out in my initial overnight post.

[FatJack]

Since I mentioned him in the Bill Dillman post, here is a B&W of Arsenio "Chico" (Rodriguez) Diaz with Tidewater in 1971. Chico, who spent most of his pro career in the Mets system, was generally a fan favorite, but he never reached The Show. I'll have to check to see if he ever had a spring invite. He hit .268 over 8 minor league seasons with 112 home runs and 479 RBIs. After the 1972 season, he went on to play another decade in the Mexican League. Originally a first baseman, he would play every position on the diamond except shortstop in his minor league career (he pitched in 15 games, overall, and had a respectable 2.73 ERA, but no decisions).

[Cusick]

Chico Diaz apparently was a non-roster invitee with the Mets in 1969 and 1970. Newspaper articles reported that the NY Mets cut catcher Chico Diaz on March 29, 1969 and sent him to their minor league camp. Despite that, on April 2 he appeared as an outfielder on the NY Mets' B team in an exhibition game against the Montreal Expos.

As for 1970, the indication I picked up was a poor quality photo which showed a bunch of Mets' players in a pepper game scene on approximately March 27, 1970 in St. Petersburg, FL, when rain washed out a scheduled exhibition game. Chico Diaz was among the players pictured.

Baseball-reference.com does not give his place of birth. It was Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He can be found having played winter ball in Puerto Rico under the name Arsenio "Pinolo" Rodriguez.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

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[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

does anyone have photo's of David Kropfelder? He was drafted by the Pilots in January of 1970, played two seasons in the Brewers System.

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

does anyone have photo's of David Kropfelder? He was drafted by the Pilots in January of 1970, played two seasons in the Brewers System.

Here's a photo of David Kropfelder with his daughters. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD, which explains why he is wearing the t-shirt. He was from Baltimore. He was born on Nov. 26, 1949 and died on February 12, 2003 from cancer. A David Kropfelder Melanoma Foundation for Research and Education has now been established at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The photo was placed at the following website by one of his daughters:
https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/memori...-j-kropfelder/

You might also want to read the background on the Kropfelder Melanoma Foundation at:
http://www.kropfelder.org/

I could not find any decent photos of Kropfelder in a baseball uniform. Found one sliding into home plate in a high school uniform, but his face was completely hidden.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

Here's a photo of David Kropfelder with his daughters. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD, which explains why he is wearing the t-shirt. He was from Baltimore. He was born on Nov. 26, 1949 and died on February 12, 2003 from cancer. A David Kropfelder Melanoma Foundation for Research and Education has now been established at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The photo was placed at the following website by one of his daughters:
https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/memori...-j-kropfelder/

You might also want to read the background on the Kropfelder Melanoma Foundation at:
https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/memori...-j-kropfelder/

I could not find any photos of Kropfelder in a baseball uniform.

Thanks. I

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

Here's a photo of David Kropfelder with his daughters. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD, which explains why he is wearing the t-shirt. He was from Baltimore. He was born on Nov. 26, 1949 and died on February 12, 2003 from cancer. A David Kropfelder Melanoma Foundation for Research and Education has now been established at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The photo was placed at the following website by one of his daughters:
https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/memori...-j-kropfelder/

You might also want to read the background on the Kropfelder Melanoma Foundation at:
The Kropfelder Foundation for Melanoma Education and Research

I could not find any decent photos of Kropfelder in a baseball uniform. Found one sliding into home plate in a high school uniform, but his face was completely hidden.

can you send that high school photo? please

[Cusick]

Originally Posted by rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com

can you send that high school photo? please

Can't say that you weren't warned about his face being hidden.

The photo is from the Baltimore Sun of May 10, 1966. Kropfelder was playing for Mount St. Joseph's, a Baltimore Catholic High School.

[Penale52]

Dan Ramer in the 1948 University of Richmond yearbook