While surfing Baseball Reference’s Frivolities page for unusual uniform number facts, as I do, I came across a “Cup of Coffee” page, listing players who only made one appearance in the majors. Surprisingly, there are only two players who appeared in their sole MLB games as members of the Twins, both pitchers, and one is in recent memory.
The first came in the Twins’ debut season, 12 games into their move away from Washington. Facing the Athletics in Kansas City on April 25, the home team took an early
7-0 lead, knocking starter Ted Sadowski out of the game after 2.2 innings. After Minnesota got two runs back in the top of the fourth, they brought Fred Bruckbauer to the mound.
A New Ulm native who attended the University of Minnesota, Bruckbauer had been signed by the Senators in 1959, receiving a $50,000 signing bonus. Two years later, he debuted for his home-state team… and faced four batters. After allowing three runs on two doubles, a walk, and a single, Bruckbauer was pulled for Chuck Stobbs, who induced a line-drive double play and got out of the inning without allowing any more runs. The Twins ultimately lost the game 20-2, and Bruckbauer never appeared in the majors again, ending his career with an infinite ERA.
Nearly 60 years later, during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Twins hosted the Cincinnati Reds on September 25. Down 4-2 entering the ninth, Minnesota called on Edwar Colina to hold the lead. The Venezuelan righty had been signed to the organization in 2015, finally cracking the big league bullpen nearly five years to the day later. Wearing #86, the first Twin (and fourth major leaguer, all in 2020) to do so, Colina’s outing and career lasted 24 pitches, the second of which Mike Moustakas clubbed over the right field fence. Colina’s next five batters consisted of two walks and three singles, and after Nick Castellanos grounded into a force at home, Colina was pulled for Jorge Alcala. He failed to crack the roster the following season (after a number switch to #52) and was eventually waived, claimed by the Rangers that October. Even with a new organization, he never made it back to the bigs.
We should remember that although Bruckbauer’s and Colina’s careers were short, they still worked hard enough and had enough pitching talent to make it to the majors in the first place. They may not have been great major league pitchers, but they were great pitchers, and they should not be disparaged for lasting a total of one-third of an inning.
It’s currently spring training. Some players getting a chance to play on the field with established major leaguers may never crack the big club’s roster. But even if they don’t make it — and of course, making it is the goal of every one of them — they have already achieved so much by getting this chance.
