Fun Facts About Obscure Twins

I did not know what to write about this week. When in doubt, Wikipedia is the place to go. Without further ado, I present to you: fun facts about obscure Twins.

• Mike Lamb, who signed a two-year deal to “fix” third base for the Twins, was DFA’d by his first August with the team to make room for Eddie Guardado’s return home (Guardado returned via trade, with Mike Hamburger going to Texas). This isn’t even the fun fact! The fun fact, per Wikipedia: “he hit the first World Series home run in Astros history, becoming only the second player whose last name is a type of animal to homer in the World Series”. I bet you didn’t know that!
• Quinton McCracken, who did play for the Twins, was the first-ever Tampa Bay Devil Rays starting centerfielder, and his wife would later go on to appear on VH1’s Baseball Wives, which was a real show for 8 episodes. Chuck Knoblauch’s ex-wife was also one of the nine recurring women who appeared on the show.
• In 2012, Clete Thomas hit a home run in his first game with the Twins, was DFA’d less than a month later, cleared waivers, did a stint as the starting centerfielder in 2013, and eventually was benched due to the acquisition of everyone’s favorite star outfielder, Alex Presley.
• As members of the Reds, an Eric Milton injury resulted in Jared Burton being called up. As they say, the rest is history.
• I learned some fascinating things about former Twins catcher Juan Centeno. 1) He does indeed have a Wikipedia page. 2) He was still with an organization in 2022, in the minor leagues with Arizona. 3) His entire personal life section consists of one sentence: “Centeno is married.”
• Middle reliever Craig Breslow graduated from Yale with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry.
• A list of teams JT Riddle has played for:

-Muckdogs

-Grasshoppers

-Hammerheads

-Suns

-Solar Sox

-Baby Cakes

-Marlins

-Pirates (DFA’d to make room for old friend Sean Poppen)

-Twins (you already forgot about the 2021 JT Riddle Era, didn’t you?)

-Reds

I thought Mr. Riddle had a particularly delightful collection of minor league team names, and I figured you’d enjoy them too.

• Rick Dempsey started his career with the Twins, did nothing, and then later would become a World Series MVP and one of the best defensive catchers of his time.
• Tim Beckham was the first overall draft pick in 2008.
• If Nick Punto slides headfirst into your Mom, nine months later she’ll give birth to Matt Tolbert. It’s science.

Please feel free to discuss these fun facts, share your own, and just reminisce about obscure Twins in the comment section.

(I didn’t really get that last fact from Wikipedia) (Shoutout Randball’s Stu)