Twin(s) brothers throwback: The Cliburn coaches

Earlier this week, the Twins continued their trend of putting in minimal effort at signing free agents, adding veteran shortstop Orlando Arcia on a minor league deal. That got me thinking about other sets of brothers who have spent time with the Twins, and while many recent fans (including me) still wish Minnesota had signed Tyler Rogers to pair with his brother Taylor, I thought of another set of brothers — fittingly, twins — who have put their mark on the organization.

In 1980, catcher Stan Cliburn debuted with the California Angels; he put up negative WAR in that season, his only year as a big leaguer, across 54 games. Four years later, his brother Stew, a pitcher, also made the majors as an Angel; after a single appearance in 1984, he had his best season in 1985, putting up a 2.09 ERA in 44 relief appearances and finishing fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Stew pitched just one more season (1988, 40 games, 4.07 ERA), again for the Angels.

While neither brother played for the Twins, their presence in Minnesota comes via Connecticut and New York. The Cliburns were hired to coach the New Britain Rock Cats, then Minnesota’s Double-A affiliate, for the 2001 season, with Stan managing and Stew serving as pitching coach. That first season was their most successful together, leading a team that featured Michael Cuddyer (.301, 30 homers) and Dustan Mohr (.336, 24 homers) on offense; Juan Rincón (14-6, 2.88 ERA) and Brad Thomas (10-3, 1.96 ERA) as starters; and Grant Balfour (35 games, 1.08 ERA), Kevin Frederick (44 games, 1.63 ERA), and Saúl Rivera (33 games, 27 saves, 3.16 ERA) out of the bullpen. The ‘01 Cats went 87-55, reaching the Eastern League championship finals and being named co-champions with the Reading Phillies after the series was cancelled due to the September 11 attacks.

The Cliburns coached together for four more seasons in New Britain, during which the team gave out dual-faced bobbleheads featuring the two, and three in Triple-A Rochester. They reached the International League finals in 2006, their first heading the Red Wings, but lost the series 3-2 to the Toledo Mud Hens. For the ‘09 season, the Twins reassigned Stew to New Britain while keeping Stan in Rochester; the franchise chose not to renew Stan’s contract after that year.

Although the Rock Cats and Red Wings only saw the playoffs twice during the Cliburns’ time coaching together, the brothers coached in the minors while some of the best mid-‘00s Twins were making their way up to Minnesota. The greatest of the era, Joe Mauer, reached New Britain in 2003 and batted .341 in 73 games; his alliterative batting mate, Justin Morneau made his New Britain debut in ‘01 and played parts of three seasons there; twelve years later, he returned to the Hardware City for the final series at New Britain Stadium on a Colorado Rockies rehab assignment.

Neither Stan nor Stew remains in the Twins organization, but their coaching shaped some of the best players and teams of the mid- to late-’00s. For that, residual Rock Cats and Red Wings fans still appreciate them.