Minor League Baseball Players

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Here is a photo of Calvin King. He went to L. B. Landry High School. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1977. Played for Bellingham in 1977, Alexandria and Stockton in 1978. He was born November 12, 1952 and passed away April 10, 2015. This photo is from the obit section site.

[Penale52]

Longtime minor league player and manager Billy Smith was shown in the April 10, 1916 edition of the Buffalo Evening News.

[Rainmaker]

Brian Mazone with Norwich (2005) and Reading (2006). From Trading Card Database.

[Cusick]

Shortstop Ricky Magdaleno died recently on October 31 at age 42. He was a long-time minor leaguer in the Cincinnati Reds' system. He also was a non-roster invitee to the Chicago White Sox spring camp in 1999.

He first gained attention as an outstanding player at Baldwin Park High School in Baldwin Park, California.

The photo shows him in the uniform of the Winston-Salem Spirits.

Ricky Magdaleno Minor & Independent Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

P. S. Just discovered that Ricky was in the Reds' spring camp in 1995. Performed as a replacement player in some of the Reds' exhibition games.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

1972 photo of Chuck Estrada, Dennis Saunders and Clarence Burgy. Burgy drafted by Mets June 1971. Pitched only for three years but went 14-9 in 1972 for Pampano.

[Rainmaker]

As the good people of the board went about the task of ID'ing the Topps Vault images, a fascinating sub-genre emerged: the spring training catcher.
We have seen dozens of players, all catchers, low minors performers who were in camp solely to satisfy the need to give pitchers adequate work. And since the photographers working for Topps were not making roster judgements, many of them have been captured for posterity. And some of them have been bears to identify.
But this isn't one of them! Surprise, and huge thanks to Cusick below: Art Kusnyer!

[Cusick]

Your Angel catcher is Art Kusnyer. I had a really hard time with this, because I was trying to find players in the Ba... series. What finally revealed the answer to me was the writing on the player's shoes. I had to enlarge the image and rotate it 180 degrees, and then I realized that the writing on his left shoe says "Kusnyer." See below for a comparison photo of Kusnyer.

[Pinetarpress]

Johnny Ard was a very highly regarded prospect with the Twins and Giants. He was the Twins 1st round pick (20th overall) in the 1988 draft out of The State College of Florida (Bradenton) He had a terrific introduction to pro baseball in 1988 as he went 7-1 with a 1.69 E.R.A between Elizabethton (APPY) and Kenosha (MIDWEST) striking out 87 in 85 IP. His star got even bigger after a very successful campaign in the hitting friendly Cal League in 1989 as he was 13-7 with a 3.29 E.R.A for Visalia striking out 153 in 186 IP. He entered 1990 as the 46th best prospect in MLB as he moved up to AA Orlando. He was 12-9 with a 3.79 E.R.A and saw his strikeout numbers drop to 101 in 180 IP while walking 85 batters. He still was ranked the 77th best prospect in the game entering 1991.

Ard was traded to the Giants for Steve Bedrosian before the 91 season and he pitched really well at AA Shreveport (9-3, 2.74) before moving up to AAA Phoenix where he struggled mightily at AAA Phoenix going 3-5 with a 5.78 E.R.A striking out 30 and walking 33 in 62 IP. He returned to Phoenix in 1992 where he was 5-8 with a 4.46 E.R.A in 22 G (19 GS) striking out 56 and waling 69 in 113 IP.

He only pitched in 3 games (AA Shreveport) in 1993 and was done with affiliated baseball after having shoulder reconstructive surgery. He did return to pro baseball in 1996 when he pitched for Aberdeen in the Prairie League having success with a record of 9-4 and a 3.37 E.R.A striking out 104 and walking just 19 in 120 IP.

[Pinetarpress]

Ken Angulo was a left handed pitcher taken by the Twins in the 19th round of the 1977 MLB draft from Edgewood HS in West Covina, CA. His high school team was recently named the 6th best team in California HS baseball history after he and future big leaguer Rick Acguilera (sophomore and the teams 3B) and combined with star Mike Pill to go 29-1 as a team *Pill, btw, was 14-0 as a SR and 14-0 as a JR. That team had 6 future pros in Angulo, Pill (promising career cut short by injuries after being taken by Pirates in 2nd round 1977 , Acguilera, OF David Daniels who was the White Sox 2nd rounder in 77, OF/2B Sal Favata, 1B/OF Jeffrey Toothman)

He was in the Twins system from 1977 thru 1982. He finished his time with the Twins in 1982 going a combined 5-6 with a 4.84 E.R.A between Visalia and AA Orlando. He pitched for the Angels Cal League team Redwood in 1983 going 6-6 with a 4.06 E.R.A in 31 games with 13 starts striking out 94 and walking 70 in 109 IP. He missed almost the entire 1984 season pitching in just 2 games at AAA Edmonton. He came back for one last professional season in 1985 throwing for the Angels AA team at Midland where he started 21 games and was 10-5 with a 4.62 E.R.A.

I found this on Angulo in my research...It looked like he continue his career in the Mexican League

And where he is now

[Cusick]

The timing of the Topps photos of Angulo must have been 1985. He was in the Angels' spring camp that year as a non-roster invitee. He did not last long, however, as he was a relatively early demotion into the minor league camp.

[Rainmaker]

Longtime Cubs' minor leaguer Tom Badcock was part of Friday's small release into the Topps Vault despite being badly exposed images of a career minor leaguer.
But fortunately for completists and Cub collectors, Badcock has appeared in the Vault once before in sharp, clear relief. in the still-available Folder GR (424-425).

New release in Folder KE (058)


Badcock in Folder GD (424-425)

[Pinetarpress]

Not many minor leaguers have their own BR-Bullpen page but Brian Abraham does

I will just tell you some quick points on why he deserved this page...15 year professional spending parts of 8 seasons at AAA in the Expos and Athletics organizations. He spent 1977-83 with the A's. One would think he would have been given plenty of big league opportunities in today's game with expansion and minor league free agency. But, Abraham who pitched in 431 minor league games, never got that opportunity. An opportunity he definitely deserved later in his career when he went 10-4 with a 1.89 E.R.A over 55 games in 1981. Or, when he was 12-4 with a 2.81 E.R.A as a 30 year old in AAA in 1982.

[Merkle923]

Look hard enough and you can find almost anybody.

Steve Fox Steven Fox Minor & Japanese Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com was a first baseman in camp with the 1965 Cubs, Leroy Haynes Leroy Haynes Minor & Winter Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com an outfielder and Jon Robisch Jon Robisch Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com a pitcher for them in Spring Training 1967 - and up they all popped in a very clear, very well lit team photograph for the Cubs' rookie league team at Treasure Valley (Idaho) in 1964.

[Cusick]

Merkle, thanks especially for the Cubs' photo of Steve Fox. I had found one of him in a uniform of a Japanese League team, but not with the Cubs. Was interested in him because he became a spokesman for the cause against smokeless tobacco. Due to his use of chewing tobacco for six years, he contracted cancer and had to have half his tongue removed.

[Penale52]

Levi Knapp shown in a 1908 F.J. Offerman postcard

[Penale52]

Fred Lange pictured with the 1887 Lincoln Tree Planters

[Penale52]

Edward Toohey pictured with the 1887 Lincoln Tree Planters

[Penale52]

Wallace Hollingsworth with the 1895 Lincoln Treeplanters

[Penale52]

Ernie Gragg with the 1895 Lincoln Treeplanters

[Penale52]

George Speer with the 1895 Lincoln Treeplanters