Minor League Baseball Players

[keonleafs]

Originally Posted by Rainmaker

Attachment 476491

...This shot of a Dodgers' minor league prospect was ID'd as Steve Armstrong, for whom I find no listing in Baseball Reference or the Vault. The latter did contain a couple of images of Dodgers prospect Dick "Night Train" Armstrong (seen below), who is not the same guy. Hoping there's a Dodgers expert who can pin down the mystery man.

In the Topps Vault, folder gq, there is a guy IDed as Stephen Anderson, Dodgers's farmhand righthander pitcher 1962-67. Looks a lot like the player you are looking for.

[Pinetarpress]

Mike Turgeon was a 6th round pick of the Cubs in the 1977 draft out of Eastern Connecticut State University. He came out raking in his first full season in pro ball batting .323 with 10 HR and 16 SB between Geneva and Pompano Beach in 1978. He spent 1979 at AA MIdland batting .297 with 10 HR and 83 RBI while swiping 13 bags. Offensively he slipped in 1980 hitting just .249 with 13 HR and 75 RBI at AAA Wichita. He spent 1981 at AAA with the Cubs (now with their team at Iowa) batting just .216 in 328 AB. He closed out the 81 season when he was traded to the Giants in August (player to be named later from a previous December trade as Giants received Jerry Martin and Jesus Figueroa and the Cubs got Joe Strain and Phil Nastu) playing for their AAA club at Phoenix batting .276 in 15 games. In 1982 he spent the entire season at Phoenix batting .269 with 10 HR in 469 AB.

He comes from a big baseball family as his brother Dave played professionally and has been a longtime coach at the minor league level and college level. His other brother, Steve, also played pro ball in the Cards organization. He also has 2 nephews who have played pro ball in Eric and Casey Turgeon. Mike is currently the Assistant Baseball Coach for the Coast Guard Academy.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Are there any known cards or photo's of these Seattle Mariners minor leaguers? 1. Lloyd Ard 2. Rudi M. Arias 3. Anthony Cameron 4. Thomas Fitzgerald 5. Paul Givens 6. Richard Kelly 7. Calvin King 8. James Knight 9. Kyle Koke 10. Steven Mason 11. Gary McDonnell 12. Jorge Sanchez 13. Alan Viebrock 14. Alfred Weston. Thanks to any response

[Cusick]

Archie Kelsey is another case of a ballplayer who fell into a life of crime.

Based on an 18-9 record with Waterloo (IA) of the Mississippi Valley League in 1925, Archie earned a spot on the Boston Braves' spring roster in 1926. He didn't make the major league team coming out of spring training, but instead was optioned to the Lynn (MA) team. Baseball-reference hasn't recognized that the Archie Kelsey with Waterloo and with Lynn are the same player, so they have two separate records for Archie:

Archie Kelsey Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com
Archie Kelsey Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

The Altoona (PA) Tribune of February 4, 1927 explained the whole picture nicely, as follows: "Archie Kelsey, a young southpaw, was bought from Waterloo, Ind. (sic). He is an Indian, and was farmed out with the Lynn club of the New England League, where he failed to shine as a pitcher, but showed ability as a batter and gave promise of developing into a good outfielder."

Archie was a Winnebago Indian from Tekamah, Nebraska.

In 1932, the newspapers were reporting that he had been sentenced to a 4-year term in the Nebraska state penitentiary for robbery. If that wasn't bad enough, part of the story was that he had already spent four years in prison for breaking and entering. But he was still pitching on prison teams and Tekamah town teams whenever he was given an opportunity. Despite that short experiment in trying to make him an outfielder, his true calling was as a pitcher when he wasn't getting into criminal trouble.

The attached photo is from the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader of Nov. 17, 1925. It shows him in a Waterloo Hawks uniform.

[wunderman]

Filling in some of the gaps in baseball-reference.com. Plenty of pictures of pre-WWII (the Big One) minor leaguers : Hope it is okay to post this since I am not posting any actual pictures.

PRE-WAR MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER DATA BASE

[Pinetarpress]

John Upshaw was the Tigers 9th round pick out of Emporia (KS) State University in 1977. Upshaw started his career at AA Montgomery hitting just .138 in 65 AB. He spent 1978 playing at Lakeland where he batted .232 in 345 AB. He split 1979 between Lakeland and Montgomery where he hit .204 in the 1st stop and .206 in the second. In 1980 he returned to Montgomery hitting 10 HR with a .212 .AVG.

He closed out his career with 3 games at Lakeland in 1981 and finished with a .214 .AVG, 19 HR and 112 RBI in 1034 AB.

Very little info on him on the net...Wonder if he went by something other than John...Full name is John Charles Upshaw

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Pinetarpress

John Upshaw was the Tigers 9th round pick out of Emporia (KS) State University in 1977. Upshaw started his career at AA Montgomery hitting just .138 in 65 AB. He spent 1978 playing at Lakeland where he batted .232 in 345 AB. He split 1979 between Lakeland and Montgomery where he hit .204 in the 1st stop and .206 in the second. In 1980 he returned to Montgomery hitting 10 HR with a .212 .AVG.

He closed out his career with 3 games at Lakeland in 1981 and finished with a .214 .AVG, 19 HR and 112 RBI in 1034 AB.

Very little info on him on the net...Wonder if he went by something other than John...Full name is John Charles Upshaw

He went by John Upshaw here he is with 1974 Palo Verde High School. ]He is the catcher. Here also is his senior picture from 1974 Palo Verde

[pepsikula]

I'm looking for images of the following players who played in the minors with the Indians from 1969-1971. Any help is greatly appreciated.
David Beber
Thomas Bennett
Edward Cope
Clifford Crawford
Delmas Culp
Joseph Davis
Richard Fay
Donald Gray
Eddie Green
Walter Hallberg
William Harper
William Hernandez
Weldon Johnson
Richard Kahn
George King
Louis Krivda
Clifford Lee
David Lowe
Omar Machado
Daniel Maluzhinsky
Ernest McMahan
Salvador Ramirez
James Sanders
Dean Schneider
Richard Schwartz
Frederick Smith
Carlos Suarez
Roosevelt Turner
Frank Valdes
John Wheeler

[Pinetarpress]

One of the cool things about the Topps Vault is that pictures of guys like Mike Tennant are released. I just sent these photos to Mike and I am sure he will appreciate them. I have to believe there are so many guys who have very few pictures of their time in big league camp. Last year I sent Whit Merrifield pictures of his father Bill in Angels camp...

Mike was drafted out of Crowder CC (Neosho, MO) by the A's in the 1974 draft (January phase) and did not sign...He was drafted the next January in the 6th round by the Dodgers and he signed. He began his career at Bellingham and started 12 games going 2-8 with a 5.86 E.R.A. He spent 1976 between Lodi and Danville and had a combined 5-10 record with a 6.31 E.R.A. The hard throwing righty returned to Lodi in 1977 and was 12-6 with a 5.41 E.R.A striking out 143 in 158 IP. In 1978 he moved up to AA San Antonio and was pitching very well before getting hurt as he was 4-2 with a 3.38 E.R.A in 72 IP with 71 K. He came back in 1979 pitching at AAA Albuquerque where he struggled going 2-4 with a 8.56 E.R.A and an awful 12/38 K/BB ratio in 41 IP. The Dodgers sent him all the way down to A ball Vero Beach in 1980 but he could not regain the promise he showed in 1978 as he had a lofty 5.96 E.R.A with just 38 K in 80 IP. He threw 2 games back at Vero Beach in 1981 and was done. Today Mike lives in Rogersville, Missouri

[Cusick]

A response to the pepsikula request above. Photo is from a Reno newspaper while Beber was playing for the Reno SilverSox.

David Beber Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

In response to the Lumpkin request above.

This shows Ard in a Chipola College uniform. It's from the Panama City (FL) News-Herald of March 9, 1975.

Lloyd Ard Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

Another from the Lumpkin request above.

This photo comes from the Miami (FL) Nueva Herald of June 24, 1976. I think the uniform is that of the Miami Cubans. The accompanying article is written in Spanish, so I had some difficulty with it. My guess is that the Miami Cubans were a team formulated for some international competition over the summer. The description of Arias seems to suggest that he has potential to become a major leaguer. A subsequent edition of the Nueva Herald displayed a photo of him in a Mariners' uniform, but unfortunately the photo quality was horrible and totally blacked out his face.

Rodolfo Arias Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

Another response to the Lumpkin request, but other viewers may be interested in this one.

Tony Cameron is the son of movie star Rod Cameron, who was in a bunch of cowboy movies in the 1940's and 1950's.

Tony is shown here in the uniform of the Buckley School, a prep school for rich kids in Sherman Oaks, CA. The photo is from the Van Nuys (CA) Valley News of June 22, 1973.

Anthony Cameron Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

Response to another on the Lumpkin list.

These three photos all came from the Grand Prairie (TX) Daily News. From left to right, the dates are 3/11/1977, 3/27/1977, and 5/4/1977. In the two showing uniforms, he is with the South Grand Prairie High School Warriors.

Kyle Koke Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[Cusick]

This is my last response to Lumpkin's above list.

This photo comes from the Lansing (MI) State Journal of April 12, 1977. It shows him in a Michigan State uniform when he was named one of the co-captains of the team.

Alfred Weston Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Tom Berg of the Seattle Pilots Minors 1969. Worked as a ticket seller for the Mariners in 1977

[Cusick]

Not sure whether this player is the tallest in pro baseball history, but he must come close. He is 7'1" tall. An article in 2012, when he was a non-roster invitee with the Los Angeles Angels, said he was the tallest player in pro baseball at the time. He also appeared in a big league camp in 2010, as he was on the Minnesota Twins' spring roster that year.

The attached photo is from a website called alchetron.com. The shorter Twins player was not identified. As noted in his baseball-reference entry, Loek is from the Netherlands, and was still an active pro player in 2016.

Loek Van Mil Register Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Here is Loek Van Mil 7'1" and Chris Cates 5'2 1/2"

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Here is Mike Tarsi who pitched at Fort Myers Miracle with Loek Van Mil. Tarsi is 6'8"

[Pinetarpress]

The Angels took Don Timberlake in the 7th round of the 1982 draft out of South Granville HS (NC). He began his career at Salem in the Northwest league going 5-4 with a 4.78 E.R.A in 11 starts. He moved up to the Midwest league in his first full season pitching for Peoria and going 7-10 with a 4.75 E.R.A in 23 starts. He had his best season when he moved up to the "Hitter Friendly" Cal league in 1984 as he had a terrific 15-5 mark and a 3.04 E.R.A for Redwood. He took a giants strep back in 1985 when he was sent to the AA Texas League pitching for Midland and owning a 6.71 E.R.A along with a 5-12 mark. He finished out his career in 1986 pitching between AA MIdland and Palm Springs back in the Cal League, he had a combined record of 8-8 with a 4.78 E.R.A

He finished his minor league career with a 40-39 record and a 4.61 E.R.A in 107 games (starting all of those games) striking out 341 and walking 262 in 617 innings.