April 14

Cannonball Redding (1890)
Marvin Miller (1917)
Gordon Gillespie (1926)
Don Mueller (1927)
Marty Keough (1934)
Pete Rose (1941)
Joe Lahoud (1947)
Ron Schueler (1948)
David Justice (1966)
Greg Maddux (1966)
Greg Myers (1966)
Mike Trombley (1967)
Brad Ausmus (1969)
Steve Avery (1970)
Gregg Zaun (1971)
Kyle Farnsworth (1976)
Cory Gearrin (1986)
Jacob Barnes (1990)

Cannonball Redding was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues.

Marvin Miller was the head of the Major League Baseball Players association from 1966-1983.

Gordon Gillespie holds the record for most wins by a college baseball coach.

It must be kind of a bummer for a big league ballplayer to not only not be the best player born on the day and year he was born, but to not even be the best player with his first name born on the day and year he was born.

Right-hander Ronald Richard Schueler pitched for the Twins in 1977. Born and raised in Catherine, Kansas, Schueler was drafted by Atlanta in the third round of the secondary phase of the January draft in 1967. He struggled in his early years in the minors, but put things together in 1969, when he was used primarily in relief for AA Shreveport. He then had an excellent year as a starter in 1971, a year he split between AA Savannah and AAA Richmond. He made the Braves out of spring training in 1972 and never returned to the minors. He was with Atlanta for two seasons, making about an equal number of appearances as a starter and as a reliever. He was a valuable pitcher for the Braves in both years, but they didn’t seem to know what to do with him, and traded him to Philadelphia after the 1973 season. The Phillies placed him in the starting rotation for the first half of 1974 and he did reasonably well, but he was shifted to the bullpen in mid-July and mostly stayed there the rest of his career. Schueler was up and down in his career as a Phillie, but was fairly decent for the most part. Just before the 1977 season, he was sold to Minnesota. In his one season with the Twins, Ron Schueler went 8-7, 4.41. He pitched in 52 games, seven of them starts, and worked 134.2 innings. Schueler became a free agent after the season and signed with the White Sox, where he stayed for two years. His 1978 was pretty similar to his 1977, but he was injured much of 1979 and pitched poorly when he did pitch. His playing career came to an end after that season. After his playing career ended, Schueler became a major league pitching coach, working for the White Sox, Athletics, and Padres through 1986. He then worked in the Athletics front office through 1990, when he became the general manager of the White Sox. He held the job through 2000, then went into semi-retirement. He was a special consultant to the White Sox through 2002, was a special assistant for the Cubs in 2003, a special assistant for the Cardinals from 2005-2007, a special assistant for the Giants from 2008-2009, a special adviser to the general manager for the Washington Nationals from 2010-2013, and a scout for the Orioles from 2014-2018.  His daughter, Carey, was the first woman to be drafted by a major league baseball team when the White Sox drafted her in the forty-third round in 1993 (she did not sign).  At last report, Ron Schueler was living in the Phoenix area.

Catcher Gregory Richard Myers was with the Twins for almost two seasons, 1996-1997. Born and raised in Riverside, California, he was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 1984. He generally put up high batting averages in the minors, though he stumbled a couple of times when first promoted. Oddly, his first major league action came as a September call-up following one of those stumbles: he hit only .246 in his first year at AAA, but was promoted in September of that year. He got another brief trial in 1989 and had his first full year in the majors in 1990. He was a part-time catcher for the Blue Jays through 1992, when he was traded to California. He held the same status for the Angels through 1995. He was a mediocre hitter to this point; not great, not totally awful. His averages had ranged from .236 to .262, his home run total from five to nine. Myers was a free agent after the 1995 season and signed with Minnesota. Tom Kelly managed to get one of the best years of Myers’ career out of him, as Myers hit .286 in 1996, sharing catching duties with Matt Walbeck. He was backing up Terry Steinbach in 1997 when he was traded to Atlanta in early September for a player to be named later (Steve Hacker). As a Twin, he hit .279/.323/.429 in 494 at-bats. A free agent after the season, he signed with the Padres. Myers stayed with San Diego through July of 1999, when he was again traded to Atlanta. He again became a free agent after the season. Myers was with Baltimore through June of 2001, was with Oakland through 2002, and then made a full circle by signing back with Toronto for 2003. That year, at age 37, he had the best season of his career, hitting .307 with 15 home runs. He was injured most of 2004, and played briefly in 2005, retiring in late April of that year. Greg Myers played in parts of 18 seasons, despite never getting as many as 330 at-bats in any of them. He was an assistant baseball coach at his high school Riverside Poly, in his hometown of Riverside, California for a couple of years. He was inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame in 2009.  At last report, Greg Myers was offering private baseball instruction at Riverside Batting Cages & Pro Shop.

Right-hander Michael Scott Trombley pitched for the Twins from 1992-1999 and again briefly in 2002. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, grew up in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, attended Duke, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1989. Used mostly as a starter in the minors, Trombley pitched quite well, posting a WHIP below 1.3 every year through 1992. He made his debut in the majors in 1992, coming up in mid-August and pitching very well, going 3-2, 3.30. His first full year in the majors was 1993, but he struggled, posting an ERA of 4.88 and a WHIP of 1.50. He split the next three years, 1994-1996, between AAA and the majors. He continued to struggle in Minnesota until 1996, when he was moved to the bullpen for good. He also developed a split-finger fastball that year. He came up to the Twins in early June of that year and went 5-1, 3.01 in 68.2 innings. Trombley then was in the majors to stay, and remained with the Twins through 1999. He was a valuable member of their bullpen in those years, making numerous appearances and posting ERAs in the vicinity of four. After the 1999 season, Trombley became a free agent and signed with Baltimore. He was with the Orioles until late July of 2001, and pitched for them about like he had been pitching for the Twins. On July 31, 2001, the Orioles traded Trombley to the Dodgers. He struggled in 19 appearances and was released at the end of spring training in 2002. The Twins re-signed him in mid-April, but things did not work out. In five appearances for the Twins, Trombley gave up seven runs on ten hits in four innings. He was released in early June, ending his playing career. As a Twin, Mike Trombley was 30-34, 4.53. He pitched in 365 games, 36 of them starts, and pitched 645.2 innings. He lived in Florida until 2008, spent a year in North Carolina, and moved back to his home town of Wilbraham, Massachusetts in the summer of 2009. He currently a financial advisor and managing partner of Trombley Wealth Management, which was founded by his father.

Right-hander Cory Nathanial Gearrin pitched in one game for the Twins in 2020. He was born in Chattanooga, went to high school in Evensville, Tennessee, attended Mercer University, and was drafted by Atlanta in the fourth round in 2007. A reliever all the way, he struggled initially but got it going in 2009, reached AAA in 2010, and made his major league debut with the Braves in late April of 2011. He was shuttled between AAA and the majors for a while but got a full year with Atlanta in 2013 and did okay. In the spring of 2014, however, he needed Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season. The Braves released him and he signed with San Francisco for 2015. He again went back-and-forth between AAA and the majors until 2017, when he spent the entire season with the Giants and had an excellent season. He bounced around after that, though. He started 2018 with San Francisco, was traded to Texas in July, and was traded to Oakland in August. He was a free agent after the season, signed with Seattle for 2019, was put on waivers in August, and was claimed by the Yankees. He was up and down in those years, never great, never awful. He signed with the Twins for 2020. He appeared in one game, on August 9. He pitched two scoreless innings, giving up no hits, two walks, and striking out one. He then was sent back to the Twins' alternate site so they could bring in a fresh arm, and there he stayed the rest of the season. He became a free agent and went unsigned, bringing his playing career to an end.  He was never a star, but in parts of nine seasons he went 13-12, five saves, 3.61, 1.31 WHIP in 337 games (304 innings).  At last report, Cody Gearrin was a deputy mayor for strategic development and executive leadership for Hamilton County, Tennessee.

April 13

Herman Long (1866)
Kid Elberfeld (1875)
Jake Stahl (1879)
Claude Hendrix (1889)
Dewey Creasy (1900)
Ben Cantwell (1902)
Pete Quesada (1904)
Roxie Lawson (1906)
Bill Deegan (1935)
John Stephenson (1941)
Jeff Bittiger (1962)
Mark Leiter (1963)
Doug Strange (1964)
Ricardo Rincon (1970)
Kevin Ohme (1971)
Steve Pearce (1983)
Hunter Pence (1983)
Lorenzo Cain (1986)

Air Force General Pete Quesada was one of the original owners of the expansion Washington Senators.  He also was the first head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Bill Deegan was an American League umpire from 1971-1980.

Right-hander Jeffrey Scott Bittiger pitched in three games for the Twins in 1987. He was born in Jersey City and went to high school in Seacaucus, New Jersey. Bittiger was drafted by the Mets in the seventh round in 1980. His minor league numbers were fairly solid–his best year was 1982 with AA Jackson, when he went 12-5, 2.96 with a WHIP of 1.22 and 190 strikeouts in 164 innings. He was promoted to AAA in 1983 and spent three seasons at AAA Tidewater, where his numbers may not have been eye-popping but were not too bad, either. The Mets traded Bittiger to Philadelphia prior to the 1986 season. He won 13 games at AAA and pitched well enough to get a September call-up, but the Phillies gave up on him and released him after the season. He signed with Atlanta, was released at the end of spring training, and signed with Minnesota in mid-April of 1987. He spent most of the season at AAA, but was called up in September and started a game during the Twins’ stretch run, defeating the White Sox and giving up only a run on six hits in seven innings. He then made two poor relief appearances, however, and was released after the season. As a Twin, Jeff Bittiger was 1-0, 5.40, giving up five runs on eleven hits in 8.1 innings. His one good start must have impressed Chicago, however, as the White Sox signed him for 1988. Bittiger got the most big-league playing time of his career that season; after seven excellent starts at AAA, he came up to Chicago in mid-May and stayed the rest of the season. He was mostly used in relief, although he made occasional starts. He was unexceptional, but decent enough for the White Sox to keep him in AAA for 1989. He was in AAA almost all season, making only two appearances in the majors but having another fine season at AAA. The White Sox traded him to the Dodgers after the season. He moved on to the Indians organization for 1991, the Athletics’ system for 1992, and the Royals’ chain for 1993, not doing too badly but never getting another chance in the majors. He played in the Northern League in 1994, went back to the Oakland organization for 1995, and then played for the Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks in the Northern League from 1996-2002. Jeff Bittiger was a scout for the Athletics, a player personnel consultant for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, and was on the staff of the Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy. His son Eric played college baseball for four years.  Jeff Bittiger passed away from cancer on July 19, 2025.

Left-hander Kevin Arthur Ohme was drafted by the Twins, but did not play for them. Born in Palm Beach, Florida, he was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round in 1993. He was in the Twins’ farm system for seven seasons, used mostly in relief, although he made 11 starts for AA Hardware City in 1995. He pretty much topped out at AA, posting an ERA of 3.85 in two seasons there. He had three seasons for AAA Salt Lake, with an ERA over five in the first two. Even the third season, 1999, when his ERA was 3.83, was deceiving, as he had a WHIP of 1.52 that year. The Twins let him go after 1999 and he went to Japan for two years, playing for the Nippon Ham Fighters. He came back to the United States in 2002 and signed with St. Louis. Ohme had two undistinguished years at AAA Memphis, but in 2003 he appeared in two major league games for the Cardinals, giving up no runs on three hits in 4.1 innings. The Cardinals did not re-sign him after that season, but he went to spring training with the Angels for 2004. That spring, he injured his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. It did not work out, and Kevin Ohme’s playing career ended. He is one of the few players to retire with a major league ERA of 0.00. He also got a hit in his only major league at-bat, giving him a lifetime average of 1.000. Kevin Ohme is currently the Minister of Recreation for the First Baptist Church of Brandon, Florida. He also coaches youth baseball.

Outfielder/first baseman Steven Wayne Pearce did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2012.  Born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, he attended Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida, then went to the University of South Carolina.  He was drafted by Pittsburgh in the eighth round in 2005.  He hit well in the low minors.  He started 2007 in Class A, then went to AA, then to AAA, and finished the year in the majors as a September call-up, hitting .294.  He shuttled back and forth between AAA and the majors for the rest of his time with the Pirates, playing in 185 major league games over five seasons.  He was mostly a first baseman in the minors, but played mostly outfield for Pittsburgh.  He hit fairly well in AAA, but was never put into a major league lineup regularly to show what he could do.  A free agent after the 2011 season, he signed with Minnesota for 2012, but was released in late March.  That started an eventful year for him:  he signed with the Yankees, was sold to Baltimore in early June, was selected off waivers by Houston in late July, was sold to the Yankees in late August, and was selected off waivers by Baltimore again in late September.  He remained with Baltimore in 2013 and got almost a full season in the majors, although that full season consisted of 119 at-bats.  He actually did fairly well, hitting .261 with an OPS of .782.  At that time, we wrote, "One wishes he had gotten a chance to show what he could do in the majors as a regular, but he's thirty-one now, so the chances are that won't happen."  Well, he wasn't quite a regular in 2014, but he played in 102 games, and he showed us what he could do, hitting .293 with 21 homers and an OPS of .930.  He was essentially a utility player in 2015, starting games in left field, right field, first base, second base, and DH.  He could not repeat his 2015 success, batting only .218 with 15 homers and an OPS of .711.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Tampa Bay and was having a fine season as a part-time player for them when he was traded to Baltimore on August 1.   He did little for the Orioles in limited playing time and was again a free agent.  He signed with the Blue Jays for 2017 and had a decent season as a part-time outfielder.  He remained with Toronto at the start of 2018 and was again having a fine year when he was traded to Boston in late June.  He continued to bat well there in 2018, but had a poor year in 2019, after which he retired.  Through persistence and hard work, Steve Pearce had a fine major league career.  At last report, he was living in Tampa, coaching softball, playing golf, and fishing, which sounds like a pretty good life.

April 12

Vic Willis (1876)
Addie Joss (1880)
Bill Bailey (1888)
Eric McNair (1909)
Bill Wight (1922)
Bob Zuk (1927)
Johnny Antonelli (1930)
Terry Cooney (1933)
Charlie Lau (1933)
Woodie Fryman (1940)
Vicente Romo (1943)
Terry Harmon (1944)
Mike Macfarlane (1964)
Paul LoDuca (1972)
Antonio Osuna (1973)
Brad Brach (1986)
Pedro Hernandez (1989)
Dennis Santana (1996)

Bob Zuk was a long-time scout who was responsible for signing, among others, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, and Gary Carter.

Terry Cooney was an American League umpire from 1975-1992.

Left-hander Pedro Michel Hernandez appeared in fourteen games for the Twins in 2013. He was born in Barquimsimeto, Venezuela and signed with San Diego as a free agent in 2006. He did very well in rookie ball but struggled in his first two tries at Class A. He took a substantial step forward in 2011, pitching well in both A and AA, although he struggled in four AAA starts. He was traded to the White Sox after the 2011 season in a deal for Carlos Quentin. He started very well in AA in 2012 and also did well in three AAA appearances. He made what one presumes was an emergency start for the White Sox on July 18 in Boston, allowing eight runs on twelve hits in four innings. He was traded to Minnesota with Eduardo Escobar on July 28 for Francisco Liriano. The Twins sent him to Rochester, where he struggled in four starts, going 0-2, 5.19, 5.00 WHIP. He began 2013 in Rochester but was promoted to Minnesota early in the season. He was placed in the starting rotation but did not do particularly well and was sent back to Rochester in late May. He didn't do a lot in Rochester, either, but still made an emergency start for the Twins in June and was given a September call-up, when he was placed back in the starting rotation. He continued to not do particularly well there. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado. He again pitched poorly in AAA in 2014, but still made what one presumes was an emergency start for the big club. He was a free agent after the season, went unsigned, and pitched for St. Paul in the American Association in 2015, doing fairly well. He pitched in the Mexican League in 2016 and then played winter ball, but it appears that he did not play in 2017. He made four appearances with the Texas AirHogs in the American Association in 2018, but that was it for him.  As a Twin, he was 3-3, 6.83, 1.82 WHIP in fourteen appearances (56.2 innings), twelve of them starts. At last report, Pedro Hernandez was offering private pitching instruction in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Right-hander Dennis Anfernee Santana did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them for about three weeks in 2023.  He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 2013.  For the most part he pitched pretty well in the minor leagues, reaching AA in 2017 and AAA in 2018.  He made one appearance in the majors in 2018.  He made the Dodgers out of spring training in 2019, but was sent back to AAA after three poor appearances.  He had a bad year in AAA as well.  He was with the Dodgers in the COVID year of 2020, but did not do very well then, either.  He again pitched poorly for the Dodgers at the start of 2021, and they gave up on him and traded him to Texas in mid-June.  He did much better as a Ranger, posting an ERA of 3.63 in 39.2 innings (39 games).  He got his first full season in the majors in 2022, going 3-8, 5.22, 1.33 WHIP in 58.2 innings (63 games).  He had an eventful off-season--sold to Atlanta in November, waived and claimed by Minnesota in late February, waived again and claimed by the Mets in mid-March.  He was with New York for the first two weeks of the season, then went to AAA, where he had a poor year and was "granted free agency" in August.  He signed with the Yankees for 2024, but was waived in mid-June and claimed by Pittsburgh.  With the Pirates, he suddenly became an effective pitcher, going 1-1, 2.44, 0.93 WHIP with fifty strikeouts in 44.1 innings.  More impressively, his walk rate, which had 4.7 per nine innings, dropped to 2.2.  He had an even better year for Pittsburgh in 2025.  He turns thirty today.  It's possible that he'll lose the strike zone as quickly as he found it, but right now it looks like Dennis Santana will be an effective pitcher for at least a few more years.

April 11

Pop Corkhill (1858)

Ossee Schrecongost (1875)

Matsutaro Shoriki (1885)

Sam Chapman (1916)

Barney McCosky (1917)

Jim Hearn (1921)

Bob Casey (1925)

Sid Monge (1951)

Bret Saberhagen (1964)

Turner Ward (1965)

Sean Bergman (1970)

Robin Jennings (1972)

Jason Varitek (1972)

Trot Nixon (1974)

Todd Dunwoody (1975)

Kelvim Escobar (1976)

Mark Teixeira (1980)

Andres Blanco (1984)

Alejandro De Aza (1984)

Kenta Maeda (1988)
Adael Amador (2003)

Matustaro Shoriki is known as the father of Japanese baseball.

Bob Casey was the Twins' public address announcer from 1961 until his death in March of 2005.

Jason Varitek was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 1993, but did not sign.

Right-hander Sean Frederick Bergman made fifteen appearances for the Twins in 2000.  Born and raised in Joliet, Illinois, Bergman attended Southern Illinois University and was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round in 1991.  His minor league record is rather mixed.  He had an excellent half-season for Class A Lakeland in 1992 and pitched well for AAA Toledo in 1994, but did not do so well in 1991 or 1993.  Bergman was with the Tigers for about five weeks in 1993 and about two weeks in 1994, not pitching particularly well either time.  He had his first full year in the majors in 1995, making 28 starts, and continued to not pitch particularly well, going 7-10, 5.12.  In March of 1996 the Tigers traded Bergman to San Diego.  He began the year in the starting rotation but was moved to the bullpen in mid-June, where he was actually fairly effective the rest of the season.  He could not continue his bullpen success in 1997, and was not effective as a starter either, so after the season the Padres traded him to Houston.  Moved back to the rotation in 1998, he had what was easily his best year in the majors, going 12-9, 3.72 with a WHIP of 1.31.  He could not repeat his success in 1999 and was released at the end of August, finishing the year with Atlanta.  The Braves waived him after the season, and Minnesota selected Bergman for 2000.  He began the season in the Twins’ rotation and made 14 starts, two of which were fairly good.  As a Twin, Sean Bergman was 4-5, 9.66 with a WHIP of 2.12 in 68 innings.  The Twins released him in late June and he finished the season in AAA with Florida.  He signed with Tampa Bay for 2001, was released in spring training, and caught on with Colorado.  He got off to a good start at AAA Colorado Springs and was sold in April to the Kinetsu Buffaloes in Japan, where he pitched through 2002.  Returning to the United States in 2003, he pitched at AAA for Florida that year and for Baltimore in 2004 before ending his playing career.  Bergman had only one year with an ERA under four and only two with an ERA under five, but made 117 major league starts over eight seasons.  Sean Bergman was the pitching coach at the Division II University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, for a few years, and is currently the owner of Pitch Right, a company which produces pitching instructional videos.  He also teaches physical education at Hicksville Elementary School in Hicksville, Ohio.

Outfielder Robin Christopher Jennings did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for much of the 2000 season.  He was born in Singapore and holds the distinction of being the only major league player to have been born there.  He attended high school in Annandale, Texas, and was drafted by the Cubs in the thirty-third round in 1991.  He put up unspectacular but solid numbers in the minors, developing power in 1995 when he was at AA.  He opened 1996 in the majors but essentially wasted his time there, never starting a game and making fourteen pinch-hitting appearances before being sent to AAA in mid-May.  He had solid seasons in AAA in 1996 and 1997, getting a September call-up both years.  He missed some time with a broken hand in 1998, but came back in 1999 to hit .309 at AAA Iowa and spend about a week and a half with the Cubs.  Chicago never really gave him a chance, and when he became a free agent after the 1999 season he signed with Minnesota.  The Twins didn’t give him a chance, either:  despite hitting .310/.371/.536 in Salt Lake, they not only did not call him up to the majors, they released him in late July.  He signed with Cincinnati and finished out the season in AAA with them.  He divided 2001 among Oakland, Colorado, and Cincinnati, getting a handful of major league at-bats with each club.  Jennings was still in AAA with the Reds through 2003, but his moment had passed, and he was released after the 2003 season.  He signed with Tampa Bay for 2004, but was released at the end of spring training.  He appears to have been out of baseball for three years; if he was in Japan or in independent leagues or something, his record does not show it.  He tried to come back with Washington in 2007, dividing the season between AA and AAA.  He did okay, but no more, and was released in early June, ending his playing career for good.  At last report, Robin Jennings was living in Sarasota, Florida and had a variety of business and philanthropic interests.  He was also involved in youth baseball there.

Outfielder Todd Franklin Dunwoody did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2004 and 2005.  Born and raised in the Lafayette, Indiana area, he was drafted by Florida in the seventh round in 1993.  He was young and took a while to get started, but the Marlins stuck with him and were rewarded when he started to hit at Class A Kane County in 1995.  He progressed fairly rapidly after that and reached the majors for about six weeks in 1997.  He got the most playing time of his career with the Marlins in 1998, spending most of the year with the club as their starting center fielder.  Unfortunately, he hit only .251 with an OPS of .672 and struck out 113 times.  He would never get extended time as a regular again.  He split 1999 between AAA and the majors and was traded to Kansas City after the season.  He came back to the majors in early June of 2000 and stayed the rest of the year, playing regularly for about six weeks.  He did not hit, though, and was again a free agent after the season.  The Cubs signed him for 2001 and he again split the season between AAA and the majors.  He moved on to Cleveland for 2002 where he got his last major league playing time, going 0-for-6.  He kept trying, though, going to the Cardinals organization for 2003 and back to the Cubs for 2004.  The Cubs traded him back to Cleveland in early April, but he was released in mid-May.  The Twins signed Dunwoody about a week later and sent him to AAA Rochester.  He hit .305 there, but did not get another chance at the majors.  He stayed with the Red Wings for 2005 but hit only .247 and his playing career came to an end.  He served as the hitting coach for the South Bend Silver Hawks for a while.  At last report, Todd Dunwoody has returned to his hometown of Lafayette, Indiana, and was the owner of On Deck Baseball/Softball School.

Right-hander Kenta Maeda pitched for the Twins from 2020-2023.  He was born in Senboku-gun, Japan and began pitching for the Hiroshima Carp in the Japan Central League in 2008.  He had six consecutive seasons with an ERA below 2.50, with a low of 1.53 in 2012.  He also had a WHIP below 1.10 in those six seasons, with three of them below 1.00.  He was with the Carp through 2015, compiling a record of 97-67, 2.39, 1.05 WHIP.  He signed with the Dodgers for 2016, and while he did not match his Japanese numbers he was still a solid starter for them for four seasons.  He went 47-35, 3.87, 1.15 WHIP in those years, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2015.  After the 2019 season, he was traded with Jair Camargo to Minnesota for Luke Raley, Brusdar Graterol, and future considerations.  He had an outstanding (though obviously shortened) 2020, going 6-1, 2.70, with a league-leading 0.75 WHIP, and finishing second in Cy Young balloting.  He was not nearly as good in 2021, missing a couple months of the season and posting an ERA of 4.66, although some of the decline may have been injury-related.  He had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2022.  He came back in 2023 and had a solid season.  As a Twin, he was 18-14, 4.02, 1.12 WHIP with 310 strikeouts in 277.1 innings (53 games).  He became a free agent after the 2023 season and signed with Detroit for 2024, but had a poor year.  He was not better for them in 2025 and was released in early May.  He signed with the Cubs a week and a half later, pitched poorly in AAA, was released in early August, signed with the Yankees a couple days later, continued pitching poorly in AAA, and became a free agent after the season.  He is pitching in Japan in 2026, but it's not going any better for him.  He turns thirty-eight today.  We wish him well, but it appears to be time for Kenta Maeda to move on to the next phase of his life.

April 10

Ross Youngs (1897)

Bubba Hyde (1908)

Chuck Connors (1921)

Frank Lary (1930)

Robert Nederlander (1933)

Wes Stock (1934)

Joe Gibbon (1935)

Bob Watson (1946)

Lee Lacy (1948)

Tom Lundstedt (1949)

Ken Griffey (1950)

Mike Devereaux (1963)

Starvin’ Marvin Freeman (1963)

Alberto Reyes (1971)

Mike Lincoln (1975)

Andre Ethier (1982)

Corey Kluber (1986)

Charlie Culberson (1989)

Scott Blewett (1996)

Bubba Hyde was an outfielder in the Negro Leagues for twenty-six years.

Better known as an actor, Chuck Connors was a first baseman for the Chicago Cubs in 1951.  He also played professional basketball, and was the first player to break the glass backboard with a slam dunk in a professional basketball game.

Robert Nederlander is a part-owner of the New York Yankees and was managing partner in from 1990-1991, when George Steinbrenner was suspended.

Catcher Thomas Robert Lundstedt played in 18 games for the Twins in 1975.  He was born in Davenport, Iowa, went to high school in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, and then attended the University of Michigan.  He was drafted by the Cubs in the first round of the secondary phase of the June draft in 1970.  He started very slowly, but gradually improved in the minors.  His best season was 1973, when he hit .295 with 11 homers for AAA Wichita.  He made his major league debut that year, going 0-for-5 as a late-season call-up.  He started 1974 in the majors, but was hitting .094 in 32 at-bats when he was injured in mid-June and missed the rest of the season.  After the season, Lundstedt was traded to Minnesota for Mike Adams.  He split the season between AAA and the majors, coming to the Twins for three stints that totaled about two months.  He got 28 at-bats as a Twin, hitting .107/.219/.107 (his career batting average, in 65 at-bats, was .092.  His playing career ended after that season.  He has been more successful since then, becoming an expert on real estate investment and taxation.  He has traveled throughout the country, giving over 2,500 seminars on those subjects.  His website, tomlundstedt.com, said that he is known as "the funniest investment and tax guy in America".  It goes on to say that "Tom is a former Major League ball player who couldn't hit a curve but bats 1000 as a speaker."  That domain name no longer works, however, so perhaps he has retired.

Right-hander Michael George Lincoln pitched for the Twins from 1999-2000.  He was born in Carmichael, California, went to high school in Orangevale, California, and attended the University of Tennessee.  Minnesota drafted Lincoln in the thirteenth round in 1996.  He had a very good year in Ft. Myers in 1997 and followed it up with another fine year in New Britain in 1998.  He made the Twins’ starting rotation at the start of 1999, but unfortunately things did not go well for him, and he was sent back to AAA in mid-July after going 3-10, 6.84.  He had another good minor league year in 2000, but again pitched poorly in a five-week trial in the majors.  The Twins released him after the season:  as a Twin, Mike Lincoln was 3-13, 7.70 with a WHIP of 1.83.  He appeared in 26 games, 19 of them starts, and pitched 97 innings.  Lincoln signed with Pittsburgh for 2001 and stayed three years, splitting all three seasons between AAA Nashville and the majors.  He converted to the bullpen in 2001 and pitched very well there, both at AAA and in the big leagues.  He had a bad year in the majors in 2003, however (in only 36.1 innings), and was allowed to become a free agent.  He signed with St. Louis for 2004, but pitched for only a month before missing the rest of the season with injury.  He had Tommy John surgery, missed all of 2005, then had Tommy John surgery again.  He was out of baseball for nearly four years before attempting a comeback with Cincinnati in 2008.  He was fairly decent that year, but was pitching poorly in 2009 when he was again injured in mid-June, missing the rest of the season.  He again came back, however, and was in the Cincinnati bullpen again at the start of 2010.  It did not go well, he was injured again, and his season came to an end at the end of May.  That was the end of his playing career as well; he was a free agent after the season and was not signed by anyone. Mike Lincoln was the owner of Lincoln’s Sports Grille in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, but it closed in 2014.  No information about what he has been doing since then was readily available.  He apparently was alive and well as of February 2025, at least, because he did a testimonial for a hair transplant surgeon at that time.

Right-handed reliever Scott Thomas Blewett pitched for the Twins from 2024-2025.  He was born in Syracuse, New York, went to high school in Baldwinsville, New York, and was drafted by Kansas City in the second round in 2014.  He was a starter through his early minor league career and struggled in that role, although he did pitch well in the Arizona Fall League in 2018.  He made five good starts in AA in 2019, but struggled when promoted to AAA the rest of the season.  Despite that, he made two relief appearances for the Royals in the COVID season of 2020, one of which went well.  He both started and relieved in 2021 and had another poor year in AAA, although he made three good relief appearances for Kansas City in September.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the White Sox for 2022.  He was mostly in AA and again did not pitch well.  He signed with Atlanta for 2023 and did somewhat better in AA, but he still wasn't really good, and since he was now twenty-seven the Braves released him in August.  He finished up the season in Taiwan, where he made seven good starts.  The Twins signed him for 2024. He had a fine season in St. Paul, came up to the Twins in August, and went 1-1, 1.77, 1.23 WHIP with 18 strikeouts in 20.1 innings.  He was waived in mid-April 2025 and claimed by Baltimore, sold to Atlanta less than a week later, and sold back to Baltimore in early June.  A free agent after the season, he signed with St. Louis for 2026 and has started the season in AAA.  As a Twin, Scott Blewett was 1-1, 1.80, 1.16 WHIP with 23 strikeouts in 25 innings.  He turns thirty today.  It would not be surprising to see him back in the majors this year at some point.

April 9

Doc White (1879)

Hippo Vaughn (1888)

Wade Johnston (1898)

Vic Sorrell (1901)

Fred Frankhouse (1904)

Claude Passeau (1909)

Zip Payne (1909)

Joe Brinkman (1944)

Peter Gammons (1945)

Nate Colbert (1946)

Kirk McCaskill (1961)

Hal Morris (1965)

Graeme Lloyd (1967)

Rudy Hernandez (1968)

A. J. Ellis (1981)

David Robertson (1985)

Luis Arraez (1997)

Cecil "Zip" Payne was a long-time minor-league player and manager, collecting 2,179 hits.

Joe Brinkman and Derryl Cousins hold the record for most games umpired together, 2,123.

Rudy Hernandez was an infielder in the Mets organization from 1987-1991, reaching AA.  With the exception of 2004, he was a manager or coach in the Twins' organization from 2001-2024.

Infielder Luis Sangel Arraez played for the Twins from 2019-2022.  He was born in San Felipe, Venezuela and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 2013.  He went up about a level a season, playing in the Dominican Summer League in 2014, the Gulf Coast League in 2015, and the MIdwest League in 2016.  He missed most of 2017, presumably due to injury, split 2018 between high-A and AA, started 2019 in AA, moved up to AAA, and by mid-May was in the majors, eventually taking over the second base job from Jonathan Schoop.  He was more than worthy of it, batting .334/.399/.439.  He was the regular second baseman in 2020, and while a down stretch in August led to some doubts, he ended up batting .321/.364/.402 in the shortened season.  He was moved to a utility role in 2021 but ended up starting over a hundred games while playing second, third, and left field.  He did not hit quite as well in 2021, but still batted .294 with an OBP of .357.  He played first, second, and DH in 2022 and won the batting title, batting .316.  That off-season he was traded to Miami for Pablo Lopez, Brian Chourio, and Jose Salas.  He had the best season of his career so far in 2023, batting .354 with ten home runs and winning another batting title.  He was traded to San Diego in early May of 2024, and while he wasn't quite as good he won his third consecutive batting title with a mark of .315.  He did not win the batting title in 2025 for the Padres, but he did lead the league in hits.   A free agent after the season, he signed with San Francisco for 2026.  As a Twin, he batted .314/.374/.410 in 1412 at-bats.  He turns twenty-nine today.  He's the first player to win three consecutive batting titles for three different teams, which some people use as a knock against him:  "If he's so good, why does he keep getting traded?"  But it's also true that someone always wants him, and is willing to give up quite a bit to get him.  He's not Rod Carew or Tony Gwynn, but there's no reason to think he won't be a good player for a while yet.

April 8

John Peters (1850)

Kirby Higbe (1915)

Stan Wasiak (1920)

Charlie Maxwell (1927)

Turk Farrell (1934)

Takao Kajimoto (1935)

John Hiller (1943)

Catfish Hunter (1946)

Randy Marsh (1949)

Mac Scarce (1949)

Gary Carter (1954)

Alex Gonzalez (1973)

Timo Perez (1975)

Jeremy Guthrie (1979)

Matt Ford (1981)

Chris Iannetta (1983)

Bobby Wilson (1983)

Felix Hernandez (1986)

Carlos Santana (1986)

Yonder Alonso (1987)

Jeremy Hellickson (1987)

Zach Eflin (1994)

Jo Adell (1999)

Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530.  He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.

Pitcher Takao Kajimoto won 254 games in Japan and was a twelve-time all-star.

Randy Marsh was a major league umpire from 1981-2009 and is currently a director of umpiring.

Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.

Left-hander Guerrant McCurdy "Mac" Scarce pitched for the Twins in 1978.  The name "Guerrant" was the last name of his grandmother.  He was born in Danville, Virginia, went to high school in Richmond, Virginia, and attended Florida State.  While attending college, he spent two summers in Pierre, South Dakota, playing in the Basin League.  He was drafted by Philadelphia in the eighth round in 1971.  A reliever throughout his career, Scarce pitched brilliantly in the minors, posting a 1.29 ERA at Class A Peninsula in 1971 and a 0.46 ERA at AA Reading in 1972 before being called up to the Phillies in mid-June.  He did pretty well that year, posting a 3.44 ERA, and did even better in 1973, when his ERA dropped by over a run to 2.42 despite a won-lost record of 1-8.  He spent all but two weeks in the majors in 1974 but injured his arm and saw his ERA rise to nearly five.  After the season, Scarce was traded to the Mets.  He faced only one batter for the Mets, giving up a game-winning hit, and was traded in mid-April to Cincinnati for ex-Twin Tom Hall.  Scarce was in AAA for the Reds for three years, posting ERAs around four, and never made the majors for Cincinnati.  He became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with Minnesota for 1978.  He began the season at AAA Toledo, but did well and was quickly called up to the big leagues.  He stayed two months, making 17 appearances.  He went 1-1, 3.94 in 32 innings, but had a WHIP of 1.56.  He pitched well the rest of the season in Toledo, but was traded to Texas after the season for Mike Bacsik.  Feeling he had little chance of making the Rangers, Scarce retired, ending his playing career.  He worked for an electrical company for a few years, then went into the mortgage business.  He is currently the owner of McCurdy Mortgage, your mortgage and refinance specialist in Alpharetta, Georgia.  He is a member of the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Left-hander Matthew Lee Ford did not pitch for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2006.  He was born in Plantation, Florida, went to high school in Coral Springs, Florida, and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 1999.  He pitched well in the low minors, highlighted by a 2002 season in which he went 9-5, 2.37, 1.25 WHIP in Class A Dunedin.  Based on that, the Brewers took him in the Rule 5 draft and jumped him all the way to the majors in 2003.  He was pitching very well out of the bullpen (2.15 ERA, 1.13 WHIP in 29.1 innings, 21 appearances), when Milwaukee moved him to the starting rotation in late June.  The move was a disaster:  in four starts, he went 0-3, 8.79, 2.38 WHIP in 14.1 innings.  He was then missed the rest of the season with bone spurs in his elbow.  He never made it back to the majors, and seems to have never really recovered from his injury.  He had one and a half mediocre seasons in the Brewers farm system, finished 2005 in AAA for the Royals, and was signed by Minnesota as a free agent for 2006.  He made thirty-three appearances in Rochester, going 1-2, 4.50, 1.48 WHIP in 58 innings.  He became a free agent after the season, pitched poorly for two seasons in independent ball, and ended his playing career after the 2008 season.  He went into coaching, beginning at the high school level.   He was an assistant coach for the University of Akron from 2012-13, and then became a minor league pitching instructor for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He was the pitching coach for the Class A West Virginia Power in 2016, was the pitching coach for the high-A Bradenton Marauders from 2017-2019, was their rehab coach for 2020, was the pitching coach for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2021, was the pitching coach for the FCL Pirates in 2022, and was back in Bradenton for 2023-2024, and is the pitching coach for the AA Altoona Curve since 2025.

Catcher Robert Louis Wilson played for the Twins in 2018.  He was born in Dunedin, Florida, went to high school in Seminole, Florida, attended St. Petersburg College, and was drafted by Anaheim in the forty-eighth round in 2002.  He posted decent but unspectacular numbers for much of his minor league career.  He reached AAA in 2007 and batted .312 there in 2008, although with little power.  He got a September call-up that year and went 1-for-6.  He did not repeat his AAA numbers in 2009, but again got a September call-up and went 1-for-5.  He then began a long career as essentially a third catcher in an era in which major league teams carried two catchers.  He would start the season in AAA, but he would be available if one of the two main catchers was injured or didn't perform.  He had one full season in the majors, 2011, but got only 111 at-bats.  The most at-bats he had in a season was 228 in a 2016 season split among three teams.  He stayed with the Angels through 2012, signed with the Yankees for 2013 but did not reach the majors with them, signed with Arizona for 2014, went to Tampa Bay for 2015, was waived and claimed by Texas in late July, was traded to Detroit before the 2016 season, was traded back to Texas in early May, was waived and claimed by Tampa Bay in early August, signed with the Dodgers for 2017, signed with Minnesota for 2018, was traded to the Cubs for Chris Gimenez in late August, and signed with the Tigers for 2019.  He was reputed to be a good defensive catcher, and we assume he was, because for his career he batted .203/.258/.304 in 932 at-bats over ten seasons.  As a Twin, he batted .178/.242/.281 in 135 at-bats.  After the 2019 season he became a coach, and was currently the catching coach and catching coordinator with the Texas Rangers through 2025.  He took a similar role with the Washington Nationals in 2026.

First baseman Carlos Santana played for the Twins in 2024.  He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 2004.  He did well in rookie ball, but struggled when promoted to Class A in 2007 at age twenty-one, but had a tremendous year in high-A in 2008.  In July of that year the Dodgers traded him to Cleveland in in a deal that sent ex-Twin Casey Blake to Los Angeles.  He was really good in AA in 2009 and was really good in AAA in 2010 when he was promoted to the majors in mid-June.  Other than rehab assignments, he never went back to the minors.  He was in Cleveland for ten seasons and had some very productive years.  He was never a star--he made just one all-star team, in 2019--but he batted .251/.368/.450 with 216 home runs over ten seasons with Cleveland.  He was traded to the Phillies for the 2018 season, but returned to Cleveland in 2019.  He had a poor season in the COVID year of 2020 and became a free agent.  He signed with Kansas City for 2021, but he didn't do much for the Royals in a year and a half and was traded to Seattle in June of 2022.  A free agent again, he signed with Pittsburgh for 2023, then was traded to Milwaukee at the July deadline.  He bounced back somewhat that season, batting .240 with twenty-three home runs.  A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2024 and had a solid season, batting .238/.328/.420 with twenty-three home runs and winning his first Gold Glove.  Once more a free agent, he went back to Cleveland for 2025.  Unfortunately, he had a poor year and was released in late August.  He signed with the Cubs on September 1 but did no better.  He signed with Arizona for 2026.  He turns forty today.  We'd be happy to have him prove us wrong, but it certainly appears that Carlos Santana's playing career is about over.  If so, well, he'll never make the Hall of Fame, but he has certainly had a fine career.