James John Rantz (born February 24, 1938, at

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

and executive. He was the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

director from –, holding the title of "Director of

Minor Leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

." When he retired after his 27th consecutive season in the post, Rantz was one of the longest-tenured farm system directors in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

; it was his 53rd consecutive season with the Twins' organization. From 1971 through 1985, Rantz was assistant minor league director under George Brophy. As such, during his career, he sent multiple generations of home-grown players to the Twins, and contributed materially to the team's and world titles and its run of playoff teams during the first decade of the 21st century.

Playing career

A , right-handed relief

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, Rantz attended Washington High School in St. Paul (now Washington Technical Magnet School) then walked on at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

where he pitched (for

Dick Siebert Richard Walther Siebert (February 19, 1912 – December 9, 1978) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career from 1932, 1936–1945. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals, both of the N ...

) and played hockey (for

John Mariucci John Mariucci (May 8, 1916 – March 23, 1987) was an American ice hockey player, administrator and coach. Mariucci was born in Eveleth, Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota where he played for both the hockey and football teams. H ...

). Despite never having started a game in his collegiate (or later professional) career, Rantz pitched a complete game in the Gophers 2-1, 10 inning victory which gave Minnesota the 1960

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

title over the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He signed with the original Washington Senators in — a year before the franchise shifted to

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. Rantz compiled a 22–16 won–loss mark with a 3.64

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in five minor-league seasons. After serving as

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for the St. Cloud Rox, the Twins' affiliate in the Class A Northern League, for one season (

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

), he moved into the club's front office in 1965.

Front office

Originally hired by Brophy (then serving as the assistant director of farm clubs for the Twins) as an intern in the Twins' Media Relations department during the 1965 World Series, Rantz moved over four years later to work under Brophy. Other than a one-year stint in 1977 as manager of the

Wisconsin Rapids Twins The Wisconsin Rapids Twins were a Class A (baseball), Class A Minor League Baseball team that existed from 1963 to 1983, playing in the Midwest League. Affiliated with the Washington Senators (1961–71), Washington Senators (1963) and the Minnesot ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, Rantz worked for Brophy for the next 16 years. Following Brophy's retirement from the Twins in 1985 due to health problems, Rantz was promoted to succeed him as Director of Minor League Operations. In recognition of his accomplishments as the team's player development boss for 22 years, Rantz was inducted into the

Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in 2007. On October 15, 2012, the Twins announced that Rantz would retire from his post at the end of the calendar year, after 53 years with the organization.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rantz, Jim 1938 births Living people Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players Atlanta Crackers players Dallas Rangers players Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball farm directors Minnesota Twins executives University of Minnesota alumni Vancouver Mounties players Wilson Tobs players Wytheville Senators players Ice hockey players from Saint Paul, Minnesota Baseball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota