Terry R. Tiffee
was born April 21st, 1979 in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
He graduated from Sylvan Hills (AR) High School in 1997
and grew up a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan. His parents
would take him to St. Louis for “baseball vacations”
and he would watch mesmerized as Ozzie Smith made one
fantastic play after another at shortstop. He attended
Pratt Junior College (KS) where he was a 1999 26th round
draft pick by the Minnesota Twins.
Terry had a rocky start to his minor league
career in 2000. He hit a paltry .254 with 7 home runs
and 60 RBI’s in 129 games. Not exactly the power
numbers you want from your third baseman. He remembered
not to panic and turned things around in the next season.
In 2001, he played in Quad City and this time he hit
.309 with 11 home runs and drove in 86 runs. In 2002,
he hit .281 for Class A Fort Myers.
In 2003, he really cranked it up,
batting .315 with 14 home runs and a whopping 93 RBI
for Double-A New Britain. The icing on the cake came
in July, when he was named MVP of the Eastern League
All-Star Game, which was played at New Britain. He also
finished the season ninth in all minor leagues for hits
and tied for fourth among third baseman in batting.
He also led the Twins' minor leaguers in RBI’s.
After the rough season in 2000, Terry has had an impressive
minor league career, most recently hitting .307 with
12 homers and 68 RBI’s.
On September 1st, 2004, Terry made his
first major league debut with the Twins. He enjoyed
a fabulous, albeit brief, time with the Twins, hitting
.375 in 10 games. That included a four-hit performance
against no less than the New York Yankees. Shortly after
his debut, Terry injured his right shoulder in a play
at the plate sending him to the disabled list and off
the Twins roster.
If Terry can remain healthy, he could
be a candidate to get some serious time in the infield
for the Twins. “It’s up to me to make the
most of my chance,” Tiffee says.
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