November 28

Heinie Pietz (1870)

Frank O'Rourke (1894)

Johnny Wright (1916)

Jerry Gardner (1920)

Wes Westrum (1922)

Sixto Lezcano (1953)

Dave Righetti (1958)

Walt Weiss (1963)

John Burkett (1964)

Matt Williams (1965)

Pedro Astacio (1969)

Robb Nen (1969)

Jose Parra (1972)

Carlos Villaneuva (1983)

Miguel Diaz (1994)

Jerry Gardner spent most of his life in baseball as a minor-league player and manager and as a scout.

Right-hander Jose Miguel Parra pitched for the Twins in 1995 and 1996. He may not have spent a lot of time in the majors, but he stretched that time over several years. Born in Jacagua, Dominican Republic, Parra was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 1989 at age 16. He had a good year in 1990 in the Gulf Coast League, but struggled quite a bit after that. Despite posting an ERA near five in just over a season at AAA, the Dodgers gave him about a month in the big leagues in June of 1995. At the end of July, Parra was traded to the Twins along with Ron Coomer, Greg Hansell, and Chris Latham for Mark Guthrie and Kevin Tapani. Parra was in the Twins' starting rotation through the end of 1995, and was in Minnesota for the bulk of 1996, beginning the year in the rotation and going to the bullpen after five starts. His time in Minnesota did not go well: he posted a 6.77 ERA in 131.2 innings. He was no better in AAA Salt Lake in 1997, and the Twins released him after that season. Parra did not give up, however; he went to Korea for a year, and was in Japan for another year. In 2000, he found himself back in the majors with Pittsburgh. It would be wonderful to report that he went on to big league success, but in reality he pitched about the same for the Pirates as he had for Minnesota, and was back in the minors a month later. He spent 2001 in the Mexican League, but in 2002 was back in the big leagues, getting a month with Arizona. He posted a 3.21 ERA in 16 relief appearances, but had a WHIP of 1.71. Returned to the minors, he went back to Mexico for 2003, but came back again in 2004, getting another month in the majors with the Mets. Parra again had a 3.21 ERA, but again had a high WHIP, and went back to AAA. He was back in Japan for 2005, and then ended his playing career. It took a long time, but he pitched in 82 major league games, which is something a lot of people wish they could say. He also is tied for an all-time batting record: most walks in a career without an official at-bat (2, tied with Ernie Rudolph). Jose Parra was the pitching coach for the DSL Tigers from 2008-2018 and was the pitching coach for the GCL Tigers in 2019, but was let go after the season.  One would think that, with that much experience, he could get another job in baseball, but if he did we didn't find it.  So, as we say, no information about what Jose Parra is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Miguel Angel Diaz did not play for the Twins, but was in their organization for part of December 8, 2016.  He was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic and signed by the Milwaukee Brewers in December of 2011.  He spent two years in the Dominican Summer League and two years in the Arizona Summer League, in both cases doing substantially better in his second year.  He spent 2016 with Class A Wisconsin, going 1-8, but posting an ERA of 3.71 and a WHIP of 1.18.  He was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and was claimed by Minnesota, but was traded to San Diego that same day for Justin Haley.  He started the season in the majors with the Padres, presumably because of the Rule 5 rules, but apparently was injured in late June.  He came back in September when the rosters expanded.  He clearly wasn't ready to be in the majors, posting an ERA of 7.34 in 41.2 innings.  He had a strong 2018 in AA El Paso, however, and while he didn't exactly shine when brought up to the majors he was a lot better, going 1-0, 4.82 in 18.2 innings.  He was apparently injured much of 2019, as he appeared in just fifteen games, five of them with the Padres in June.  He again didn't do much in the majors.  He signed with the Padres again for 2020 but did not play for them.  He remained with them for 2021, however, and split the season between AAA and the majors, spending a little over half the season with the big club. He did well, going 3-1, 3.64, 1.19 WHIP with 46 strikeouts in 42 innings.  Despite that, he was allowed to become a free agent after the season.  He signed with Detroit and had a rather mediocre year in AAA, although he pitched quite well in three major league outings at the end of the season.  2023 was similar--he had a poor year in AAA, but did very well in a September call-up to the majors.  He was waived anyway and claimed by Houston for 2024.  He pitched poorly again in AAA, was released in late May, and signed back with Detroit for whom, for a change, he pitched very well in AAA.  He signed with the Giants for 2025 and had another good year in AAA, but did not get called up to the majors.  His career major league numbers don't look all that impressive, but if you start from 2021 he's 4-1, 2.82, 1.09 WHIP with 65 strikeouts in 60.2 innings (41 games).  He turns thirty-one today and is a free agent.  He'll never be a star or anything, but if you're looking for relief help you could do worse than to give him a shot.

November 27

Bullet Joe Bush (1892)

Johnny Schmitz (1920)

Billy Moran (1933)

Jose Tartabull (1938)

Dave Giusti (1939)

Dan Spillner (1951)

Mike Scioscia (1958)

Randy Milligan (1961)

Tim Laker (1969)

Ivan Rodriguez (1971)

Willie Bloomquist (1977)

Jimmy Rollins (1978)

Kody Funderburk (1996)

Billy Moran was part of a three-team trade involving Minnesota, Cleveland, and the Los Angeles Angels. Minnesota acquired Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall and sent Lenny Green and Vic Power to Los Angeles. Moran was sent from the Angels to Cleveland in that trade.

Left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk has been with the Twins since 2023.  He was born in Mesa, Arizona, attended Dallas Baptist University, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fifteenth round in 2018.  He actually had a very poor year in his last year in college, going 1-3, 6.84, 1.72 WHIP in fifty innings.  He did strike out fifty-three batters, which is probably why the Twins took a chance on him.  A starter in college and for much of his minor league career, he was not impressive in the low minors in 2018 or 2019.  He did not pitch in the COVID year of 2020, but he came back strong in 2021, posting a 2.55 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in a season split between high-A and AA.  He had a good year in AA in 2022, when he began a shift to the bullpen.  He pitched very well in relief for St. Paul in 2023 and came up to the Twins in late August.  He gave up a run in his second appearance, but no more the rest of the season (nine games).  A year ago, we said, "we assume a spot in the Twins' bullpen in 2024 is his to lose."  Well, he lost it, pitching well in April but very poorly in May.  He was sent down in late May and made only brief appearances in the majors after that.  He did not do very well in AAA, either.  Given another chance in 2025, however, he pitched much better and spent most of the season in Minnesota.  He turns twenty-nine today, and has a major league record of 7-1, 4.31, 2 saves, 1.47 WHIP with 91 strikeouts in 87.2 innings.  Given the Twins' lack of relief pitchers, we assume he will be in their bullpen in 2026.

November 26

Hugh Duffy (1866)

Fred Tenney (1871)

Bob Johnson (1905)

Lefty Gomez (1908)

Howard Easterling (1911)

Bob Elliott (1916)

Eddie Miller (1916)

Jeff Torborg (1941)

Larry Gura (1947)

Richie Hebner (1947)

Jorge Orta (1950)

Jay Howell (1955)

Bob Walk (1956)

Mike Moore (1959)

Harold Reynolds (1960)

Chuck Finley (1962)

Brian Schneider (1976)

Matt Garza (1983)

Matt Carpenter (1985)

Cal Raleigh (1996)

Infielder Howard Easterling was a star in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 1940s.

Right-hander Matthew Scott Garza appeared in 26 games for the Twins in 2006-2007.  He was born in Selma, California, went to high school in Washington Union, California, went to Cal State-Fresno, and was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2005.  He played at every level in the Twins’ minor league system, but did not stay anywhere very long, as he was promoted rapidly.  He reached the majors in mid-August of 2006 and went 3-6, 5.76, numbers which are made to look much worse by a terrible first outing (his ERA drops by a run if you throw it out).  He started 2007 back in AAA, but was in the Twins’ rotation by mid-season and did okay.  As a Twin, he was 8-13, 4.47, although with a 1.60 WHIP.  It appeared that he might be in the Twins’ rotation for some time, but instead he was traded to Tampa Bay with Eduardo Morlan and Jason Bartlett for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, and Delmon Young.  Garza was immediately installed into the Rays’ rotation and was a solid starter for three seasons, posting ERAs in the high threes and WHIPs around 1.25.  After the 2010 season, he was traded again, this time to the Cubs.  He again had a solid season as a member of their starting rotation in 2011, and was doing so in 2012 until he suffered an elbow injury in late July that forced him to miss the rest of the season.  He came back in 2013 and was pitching well for the Cubs when he was traded to Texas in late July, for whom he pitched not quite as well but still decently.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Milwaukee and had another good year for them in 2014.  He stumbled badly in 2015, however, having by far the worst season of his career and missing significant time due to a shoulder injury.  He came back in 2016 and did better, but nothing special.  He took a small step backward in 2017, not pitching particularly well in twenty-two starts.  For his career, Matt Garza was 93-106, 4.09, 1.32 WHIP.  He had surgery to repair a torn labrum in January of 2018, and that ended his playing career.  It appears that Matt Garza is currently living in the Fresno area and is the majority owner of Authentic 559, which offers "an incredible selection of cannabis products from top name brands".  He is also involved in youth baseball coaching.

November 25

Bert Cunningham (1865)

Jakie May (1895)

Clint Thomas (1896)

Charles Baron (1913)

Joe DiMaggio (1914)

Mike Ryan (1941)

Bucky Dent (1951)

Dave Baker (1956)

Chico Walker (1958)

Mark Whiten (1966)

Octavio Dotel (1973)

Nick Swisher (1980)

First baseman Charles Baron played in the minors from 1931-1951, batting .306 with 2,319 hits.  He was a player-manager for the last five of those seasons.

The brother of ex-Twin Doug Baker, third baseman David Glenn Baker did not play for the Twins, but he was in their minor league system for two seasons. He was born in Lacona, Iowa, went to high school in Grenada Hills, California, attended UCLA, and was drafted by Toronto in the eleventh round in 1978. He advanced quickly through the Blue Jays minor league system, reaching AAA in 1979 despite not really doing anything to deserve that. It was not until his fourth year at AAA, 1982, that he actually had a good year there, hitting .279 with 16 homers and an OBP of .364. He got a September call-up that year, going 5-for-20 with three walks in nine games. After the season, he was traded to Minnesota for Don Cooper. He had a good year in AAA Toledo in 1983, hitting .278 with 14 homers and an OBP of .352, but did not get a call-up. He slumped to .226 in Toledo in 1984, and as he was now twenty-seven and the Twins had Gary Gaetti at third base, they let him go. No one signed him, and his playing career was over.  At last report, Dave Baker had returned to Lacona and was offering baseball training and instruction.

November 24

George Burns (1889)
Billy Rogell (1904)
Joe Medwick (1911)
Danny Ozark (1923)
Bob Friend (1930)
Jim Northrup (1939)
Steve Yeager (1948)
Randy Velarde (1962)
Cal Eldred (1967)
Ben McDonald (1967)
Al Martin (1967)
Dave Hansen (1968)
Chris Herrmann (1987)
Jeimer Candelario (1993)

Danny Ozark was the manager of Philadelphia from 1973-1979.

Catcher/outfielder Christopher Ryan Herrmann was with the Twins off and on from 2012-2015.  He was born and raised in Tomball, Texas and is one of two big-league players to come out of Tomball High School (Troy Patton).  He attended the University of Miami and was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 2009.  He hit well in Elizabethton that season, struggled in Fort Myers in 2010, but did well when he started the season in Fort Myers in 2011.  He was promoted to New Britain fairly early in the 2011 campaign and was there again for all of 2012, with the exception of his September call-up.  He was okay in New Britain, but was nothing special, batting .268 with an OPS of .754.  Promoted to Rochester for 2013, he did not do particularly well there, batting .227, but was in Minnesota for about half of 2013 anyway.  He hit about like you'd expect him to, going .204/.286./.325.  He was in Minnesota for about half of 2014, too, and while he hit better in the half spent in Rochester that did not translate into better numbers at the major league level.  He was in Minnesota for nearly all of 2015 despite batting a sub-Buteran .146/.214/.272.  After the 2015, the Twins traded Herrmann to Arizona for Daniel Palka.  He was the reserve catcher for the Diamondbacks for 2016, with the exception of time on the disabled list.  His April was typical Chris Herrmann, but in May he suddenly started to hit and kept hitting the rest of the season.  It was only 148 at-bats, but he hit .284/.352/.493, numbers that were far above anything anyone had any reason to expect.  In 2017 he came back to earth, batting .181, although he did hit ten home runs in 226 at-bats.  The Diamondbacks released him in spring training of 2018, but he signed with Seattle.  He started the season in AAA but came up to the majors for about two-thirds of the season.  Despite that, he got only seventy-six at-bats, batting .237.  He was waived after the season and was claimed by Houston, but was released less than a month later.  He then signed with Oakland for 2019, was in the majors for about two months, and did about what you'd expect him to do, batting .202 in eighty-four at-bats.  He was released in mid-September.  He signed with Tampa Bay for 2020, was released shortly before the season started, and signed with San Francisco but did not play for them in 2020.  He signed with Boston for 2021 and spent the season in AAA.  A free agent again, he signed with Washington for 2022, was a reserve catcher in AAA, and was released in August. He played for Kansas City in the American Association in 2023 and had an outstanding year, batting .355 with an OPS of 1.056.  He decided to stop playing on that high note.  At last report, Chris Herrmann was living in Montgomery, Texas and was an account executive for Unishippers-MFM Partners, a freight and package transportation company.  He was also a part-time instructor for Lone Star Sports Zone.

November 23

This is a great day for names:

Chief Zimmer (1860)

Hi Church (1863)

Socks Seybold (1870)

George Stovall (1877)

Jimmy Sheckard (1878)

Runt Marr (1891)

Freddy Leach (1897)

Beans Reardon (1897)

Bubber Jonnard (1897)

Roy Parnell (1903)

Prince Hal Schumacher (1910)

Bill Gates (1918)

Charles Osgood (1926)

John Anderson (1929)

Jack McKeon (1930)

Luis Tiant (1940)

Tom Hall (1947)

Ken Schrom (1954)

Brook Jacoby (1959)

Dale Sveum (1963)

David McCarty (1969)

Adam Eaton (1977)

Jonathan Papelbon (1980)

Justin Turner (1984)

Lewis Thorpe (1995)

Runt Marr played in the minor leagues for nineteen years, managed in the minors for fifteen years, and was also a scout for many years.

Beans Reardon was a National League umpire from 1926-1949.

Bubber Jonnard was a long-time coach and scout.

Bill Gates was a minor league pitcher from 1938-1940 and 1946-1951.

Jack McKeon was a long-time manager and general manager, leading the Florida Marlins to a World Series victory in 2003.  In 2011, he became the second-oldest manager in major league history at age 80.  He also managed in the minor leagues for the Senators/Twins from 1957-64 and again in 1968, scouting for the Twins from 1965-67.

Right-hander Luis Clemente (Vega) Tiant played for Minnesota in 1970, one of his 19 major league seasons. His father had been a star in the Negro Leagues, pitching for the New York Cubans as well as pitching in Cuba in the winter. Born in Marianao, Cuba, the younger Tiant pitched 26 games in the Mexican League in 1961, then went into the Cleveland farm system. He pitched very well in the minors, culminating in a 15-1 season with a 2.04 ERA in only 17 starts for AAA Portland in 1964. Tiant was promoted to Cleveland in mid-July, and was in the big leagues to stay. He spent six years in Cleveland; the best was 1968, when he went 21-9 with a 1.60 ERA and an 0.87 WHIP. The next year, however, was a poor one--while Tiant's ERA was still only 3.71, he lost twenty games and led the league in both home runs and walks. After that 1969 season, Cleveland traded him to Minnesota along with Stan Williams for Dean Chance, Bob Miller, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender. Tiant missed the middle two months of the season with a fractured shoulder blade, making only 17 starts, but went 7-3 with a 3.40 ERA. At the end of March, 1971, the Twins released the 30-year-old Tiant, apparently thinking his career was nearing an end. They were only off by 12 years. The Twins weren't the only ones to make this mistake, however; Atlanta signed Tiant in April of 1971, only to release him in May. He then went to Boston and converted himself from a hard thrower to a junkballer. He was successful, staying in Boston for eight years and winning 122 games for the Red Sox. He led the league in ERA in 1972, in WHIP in 1973, and in shutouts in 1974. From 1973-76 he averaged 280 innings per season. A free agent after the 1978 season, he moved on to the Yankees for two years, Pittsburgh in 1981, the Mexican League in 1982, and California in August of 1982 before retiring at age 42. He did some coaching in college after his playing days ended. He also worked for the Red Sox as a pitching advisor. He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame. He also founded a charitable foundation, the Luis Tiant Charitable Foundation, which provides assistance to various children’s and family programs.  Luis Tiant passed away in Wells, Maine, on October 8, 2024.

Nicknamed "The Blade", left-hander Tom Edward Hall pitched the first four of his ten major league seasons, 1968-1971, with Minnesota. He was born in Thomasville, North Carolina, but attended high school in Riverside, California. He was thin, standing six feet tall but weighing only 150 pounds. Hall was drafted by the Twins in the third round in January of 1966. He moved through the Twins system very quickly, never posting an ERA as high as three at any stop. Hall was with the Twins for about a month and a half in 1968, and made the team to stay in 1969. The Twins seem to have been unsure how to use him, but he did well in any role in which he was placed. A Twin through 1971, he posted an ERA of 3.00, a record of 25-21 with 13 saves, a WHIP of 1.19, an ERA+ of 121, and struck out 8.5 batters per nine innings. He appeared in 139 games, 44 of them starts. After the 1971 season, Minnesota traded him to Cincinnati for Wayne Granger. Hall pitched well for Cincinnati for two years, but then suffered injury problems and was never as good again. The Reds traded him to the Mets in April of 1975, and the Mets sent him to Kansas City in May of 1976. The Royals released him in June of 1977. The Twins signed Hall and sent him to AAA Tacoma, but he did not pitch well there and his career was at an end after the season. After his retirement, he returned to the Riverside area and worked at Rohr Aero Space as a prefit supervisor for three years. He then began a new career with the United States Post Office where he was a mail carrier for over twenty years. In November 2002, Tom Hall retired  to spend more time with his family and became more involved with the community.  He was inducted into the Riverside Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Right-hander Kenneth Marvin Schrom pitched for the Twins from 1983-1985, in the middle of his major league career. Born and raised in Grangeville, Idaho, he then attended the University of Idaho, playing quarterback as well as pitching, and was drafted by California in the 17th round in 1976. He did well as a reliever his first two seasons in the minors, but did less well when changed to starting at AA in 1978-1979. Returned to the bullpen in 1980, Schrom was off to a good start in AAA when he was traded to Toronto. He made his big-league debut in August for the Blue Jays, but his control, which had never been particularly good, caused him substantial problems at the big league level. Returned to AAA for 1981 and 1982, his control improved, but he flopped in a brief trial with Toronto in August of 1982 and was released. Minnesota signed him in December and converted him back to starting. He did not get off to a great start in AAA, but he was 3-1 in five starts, and the 1983 Twins were desperate for pitching, so he came up to Minnesota in May. He did better than would have been expected, going 15-7 with a 3.71 ERA. His WHIP, however, was 1.41, indicating that he might have gotten some luck, and indeed, his ERAs got progressively higher each of the next two years, though his WHIP remained about the same. As a Twin, he was 29-31 with a 4.34 ERA in 87 appearances, 75 of them starts. In January of 1986, Schrom was traded to Cleveland with Bryan Oelkers for Ramon Romero and Roy Smith. Schrom bounced back to win 14 games for Cleveland in 1986 with the lowest WHIP of his career, though his ERA was around four and a half. He made his only all-star appearance that season. The next year, however, Schrom soared to a 6.50 ERA, and his major league career was over. He was out of baseball in 1988; he tried to come back with Milwaukee in 1989 and actually did well for AA El Paso in five starts, but then hung up the spikes for good. Ken Schrom was the president of the Corpus Christi Hooks AA baseball team until his retirement in 2019.  He is a member of the Idaho Baseball Hall of Fame, the Texas League Hall of Fame, and the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award at the South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet in 2025.  At last report, he had moved to Weatherford, Texas to be closer to family.

Outfielder/first baseman David Andrew McCarty was a can't-miss prospect who mostly missed, although he did play in parts of eleven major league seasons. Born in Houston, McCarty attended Stanford and was drafted by Minnesota with the third pick in the 1991 draft. He hit very well at Class A and less well, though still respectably, at AA. He was off to a hot start at AAA Portland in 1993 when he was called up to the Twins. He was a semi-regular for Minnesota that year, but batted only .214 in 350 at-bats. McCarty would never get that many at-bats in the majors again. He started 1994 with the Twins, but batted .260 with only one home run in limited play and was sent back to AAA. He began 1995 in Minnesota, but again failed to hit, and was traded to Cincinnati in June for John Courtright. After a month in AAA for the Reds, he was traded again, this time to San Francisco in a trade that involved Mark Portugal. McCarty stuck with the Giants in 1996 as a reserve, but again did not hit, and was in AAA Phoenix in 1997. He moved to the Seattle organization for 1998, to the Detroit organization for 1999, and was signed as a free agent by Oakland after the 1999 season. Oakland sold him to Kansas City before the 2000 season started, and he stuck with the Royals for all of 2000 and 2001, the only two consecutive years that he spent in the big leagues. They were also his best years, as he hit .255 with 20 homers in 502 at-bats with Kansas City. Off to a poor start in 2002, the Royals released him. He was in the Tampa Bay organization for a few months, was released again, went to the Oakland organization for 2003, was placed on waivers in August, and went to Boston. He managed to stick with Boston in a reserve role in 2004, but was released in May of 2005, and his career was over. As a Twin, David McCarty hit .226/.275/.310 in 536 at-bats. Since retiring as a player, McCarty has done some television work, most recently as an analyst for NESN. He then became a principal at Lee & Associates, a commercial real estate firm in Piedmont, California.  David McCarty passed away due to a "cardiac event" in Oakland on April 19, 2024 at the young age of fifty-four.

Left-hander Lewis James Thorpe appeared in twelve games for the Twins in 2019.  He was born in Melbourne, Australia.  He signed with the Twins as a free agent in 2012 at age sixteen.  He pitched very well in the low minors through 2014, but then had Tommy John surgery and missed the next two seasons.  He came back to have a fine season in Fort Myers in 2017 and also did well in Chattanooga in 2018.  2019 did not go as well--he was 5-4, 4.58 in Rochester, although with a WHIP of 1.20.  He had a few stints with the Twins that year, pitching mostly in long relief, and was not very good, going 3-2, 6.18, 1.74 WHIP.  2020 was pretty much a lost year for him--he made only seven appearances with the Twins and had similar numbers to those of 2019.  2021 wasn't much better, as he battled injuries and appeared in just eight minor league and five major league games.  He made one really bad start in AAA in 2022 and was released in late April.  He then pitched for the independent Kansas City Monarchs and did okay, but nothing impressive.  His major league numbers are 3-5, 5.76, 1.74 WHIP in 59.1 innings (24 games, seven of them starts).  He did not play in 2023, but he played winter ball that off-season and pitched in the Mexican League in 2024-2025, not doing very well in either season.  One assumes that will bring his playing career to an end, but one assumed that before, so time will tell.  wikipedia says he has a pet kangaroo named Skippy, a kangaroo name which means something to people of a certain age.

November 22

Harry Rice (1901)

Dick Bartell (1907)

Fred Bankhead (1912)

Lew Burdette (1926)

Wade Blasingame (1943)

Rich Chiles (1946)

Greg Luzinski (1950)

Lyman Bostock (1950)

Wayne Tolleson (1955)

Lee Guetterman (1958)

Mike Benjamin (1965)

Jay Payton (1972)

Ricky Ledee (1973)

Joe Nathan (1974)

Jonny Gomes (1980)

Yusmeiro Petit (1984)

Adam Ottovino (1985)

Drew Pomeranz (1988)

Austin Romine (1988)

Griffin Jax (1994)

Mike Benjamin was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in January, 1985, but did not sign.

Outfielder/DH Richard Francis Chiles came to the Twins at the end of a career that covered parts of six seasons. A cousin of Hall of Famer George “High Pockets” Kelly, he was born in Sacramento, went to high school in Winters, California and was drafted by Houston in the second round in 1968. Chiles had a few fairly good years in the Astros' system. In 1970, he hit .304 with 11 triples for AAA Oklahoma City. On the strength of that, Chiles was in the majors in 1971. He was seldom used and did not have a particularly good season, hitting .227 in only 119 at-bats, although he did have 11 pinch-hits. Chiles was back in the minors in 1972, getting only a September call-up in the big leagues. That offseason, he was traded to the Mets. 1973 was another year of AAA with the exception of two weeks in April. The Mets released Chiles in April of 1974, and he was out of baseball for over a month until San Diego signed him. He did nothing particularly exceptional at AAA for the Padres, was released again in March of 1975, and was out of baseball that season. The Astros signed him for 1976, and things got better, as Chiles hit .302 in AAA Memphis. Left unprotected, the Twins signed Chiles in the Rule 5 draft, and kept him for two years. He was primarily a DH in 1977 and a left fielder in 1978, although he never got as many as 300 at-bats either season. As a Twin, Chiles hit .266/.328/.357 in 459 at-bats. The Twins released Chiles in February of 1979. He was in AAA in the Cleveland organization in 1979, and in the Pittsburgh organization in 1980, but never made it back to the major leagues. Since his retirement as a player, Rich Chiles did some scouting and also has operated youth baseball clinics in California; one of the youth who attended was Dustin Pedroia. At last report, Rich Chiles was living in Yolo County, California.

Outfielder Lyman Bostock got off to a tremendous start in his career, only to have that career cut tragically short. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, his father, Lyman Bostock Sr., was a star in the Negro Leagues. The elder Bostock left when Lyman was four, and the family relocated to Gary, Indiana. The family moved to Los Angeles four years later. Bostock went to high school in Los Angeles and then attended college at Cal State-Northridge. He did not play baseball his first two years in college. He was drafted by the Twins in the 26th round in 1972. Bostock came through the minors quickly, not hitting for much power but posting high batting averages with a good number of walks. In parts of four minor league seasons, Bostock averaged .326 with an OBP of .389. He started1975 in Minnesota, but after a slow start was sent back to AAA for a couple of months. Brought back in late June, he continued to struggle for a few weeks, but caught fire in mid-July, raising his average from .191 on July 11 to .282 by the end of the year. He hit .323 in 1976 and .336 in 1977, adding 14 homers and 12 triples and finishing 27th in MVP voting. Bostock became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with California. He started very slowly, possibly as a result of putting pressure on himself due to his free agent contract. Bostock donated his first month's salary to charity, because he did not believe he had earned it. He was still hitting only .209 at the end of May, but had raised that to .296 by September 23. The Angels were playing Chicago that day; Bostock traveled to Gary, Indiana to visit his uncle. While there, Bostock went to visit a childhood friend. He was shot by the estranged husband of the friend's sister, who apparently mistook him for the estranged wife's boyfriend. Taken to a hospital, Lyman Bostock passed away two hours later. We will obviously never know what he might have done, but in his major league career, he hit .311/.365/.427. As a Twin, he hit .318/.366/.446. Lyman Bostock died at the age of 27.

Right-hander Joseph Michael Nathan pitched for the Twins from 2004-2009 and again in 2011.  He was born in Houston. He attended Pine Bush High School in Circleville, New York. He then went to Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, and is the only major league player the school has ever produced. He was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round in 1995. Originally a shortstop, Nathan hit .232 at Class A Bellingham that year. The Giants then decided to convert him to pitching, but Nathan refused and did not play in 1996, choosing instead to go back to college and get his degree. He returned to baseball as a pitcher in 1997, and by 1999 was in the big leagues with the Giants. Nathan was in San Francisco most of the next two seasons, mostly as a starter, and was not particularly impressive. Sent back to the minors for 2001 and 2002, he continued to struggle, although he still got a September call-up the latter season. Nathan was converted to relief pitching in 2003, and the results were immediate. Used mostly as a set-up man, he posted an ERA of 2.96 and a WHIP of 1.06 in 78 appearances. In November, he was traded to the Twins with Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano for A. J. Pierzynski. He immediately became the Twins' closer, a role he filled for six years. He had 246 saves in those six years, with an ERA of 1.87, a WHIP of 0.93, and an ERA+ of 236. He made the all-star team four of those six years, received MVP consideration twice, and twice finished in the top five in Cy Young balloting. Nathan missed all of 2010 with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. He struggled in the first part of 2011 and gave up the closer role, but reclaimed it after the All-star break.  He pitched better over the second half of the season, although not well enough for the Twins to pick up his option.  A free agent, he signed with Texas in 2012 and had a couple of fine seasons, making the all-star team in both years.  Again a free agent after the 2013 season, he signed with Detroit.  It did not go well for him, as he had the worst season of his career.  He was injured for nearly all of 2015, appearing in one game for the Tigers and one game for AAA Toledo.  He signed with the Cubs in May 2016 and played in three games in July, picking up a win and posting a 0.00 ERA in two innings.  The Cubs released him in August and he finished the season with San Francisco, getting another win and again posting a 0.00 ERA, this time in 4.1 innings (7 games).  He signed with Washington for 2017 and was in AAA for a couple of months, but didn't get much accomplished and was released.  He signed a contract with the Twins in September so that he could retire as a Twin, which seems a little silly but is okay if it means something to him.  As a Twin, he was 24-13, 2.16, 0.96 WHIP, 260 saves.  For his career he was 64-34, 2.87, 1.12 WHIP, 377 saves.  He was inducted into the Twins' Hall of Fame in 2019.  At last report, he was living in Knoxville, Tennessee.  At one time he had expressed an interest in  returning to organized baseball in some capacity if the right opportunity should arise, but that was some time ago, so it's unclear whether that desire still exists.

Right-hander James Griffin Jax pitched for the Twins from 2021-2025.  He was born in Phoenix, attended high school in Greenwood Village, Colorado, attended the Air Force Academy, and was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 2016.  He missed most of 2017 due to injury, was in Class A in 2018, and had a strong season in AA in 2019, also making three starts in AAA that season.  He did not pitch in 2020, but did well in eight AAA starts in 2021 and was promoted to the Twins in June and joined the rotation in late July.  He did well at times--he had five starts with a game score over fifty, and two with a game score over sixty--but at the end of the season he was 4-5, 6.37, although with a 1.35 WHIP.  Moved to the bullpen for 2022, he responded with three very good seasons, the best of which was 2024.  He had a down year in 2025 and was part of the Twins' bullpen purge, traded to Tampa Bay at the deadline for Taj Bradley.  As a Twin, he was 23-29, 4.06, 1.14 WHIP with 378 strikeouts in 336.2 innings, but those numbers are much better if you only look at him as a reliever.  He turns thirty-one today, and presumably will be an important part of the Rays bullpen in 2026.