James John Rantz is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 front-office executive in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

. Rantz has been the Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

' farm system director since , holding the title of "Director of Minor Leagues

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

." As of , his 25th consecutive season in the post, Rantz is one of the longest-tenured farm system directors in Major League Baseball. From 1971 through 1985, he was the assistant minor league director for the Twins. As such, he has 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.

Although Rantz is a native of Saint Paul and attended the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

, his association with the Twins predates their arrival in his native Twin Cities

Twin cities

Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...

. A 5 inch, 175 lb (79.4 kg) right-handed pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe 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 a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 as a player, he signed with the original Washington Senators in — the year before the franchise shifted to Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. Rantz compiled a 22-16 won/loss mark with a 3.64 earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 in five minor-league seasons. After serving as manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 for the St. Cloud Rox

St. Cloud Rox

The St. Cloud Rox were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1946 to 1971. Located in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the team played in the Northern League and was affiliated with the New York Giants from 1946 to 1957, the San Francisco Giants from 1958 to 1959, the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1964...

, the Twins' affiliate in the Class A Northern League

Northern League (baseball, 1902-71)

This article refers to the original incarnations of the Northern League, which operated between 1902 and 1971. For the more recent league, see Northern League ...

, for one season, he moved into the club's front office in 1966. He also managed during the 1977 season, with the Wisconsin Rapids Twins

Wisconsin Rapids Twins

The Wisconsin Rapids Twins were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1963 to 1983. Affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, they played in the Midwest League and were located in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin...

 of the Class A Midwest League

Midwest League

The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

. The 2009 season marked Rantz' 50th consecutive season with the Minnesota franchise.

In recognition of his accomplishments as the team's player development boss, Rantz was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2007.