January 14

Billy Meyer (1892)
Smead Jolley (1902)
Phil Piton (1903)
Chet Brewer (1907)
Sonny Siebert (1937)
Dave Campbell (1942)
Ron Clark (1943)
Derrel Thomas (1951)
Terry Forster (1952)
Wayne Gross (1952)
Erick Aybar (1984)
Mike Pelfrey (1984)
Logan Forsythe (1987)
J. R. Graham (1990)

Billy Meyer won 1,604 games as a minor league manager, mostly in the Yankees organization.

Phil Piton was president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1964-1971.

Chet Brewer was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues known for his mastery of throwing scuffed baseballs.

Infielder Ronald Bruce Clark was with Minnesota from 1966-1969. He was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, and attended high school in White Settlement, Texas. In his youth, he competed in rodeo and in the Golden Gloves. He signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1961. After a poor year with Class C Bakersfield he was sent to the Angels in what was described as an "unknown transaction". He did somewhat better at Class C San Jose, but came to Minnesota after the 1962 season in another unknown transaction. Clark had a good year at Class A Wilson in 1963, had two undistinguished years in AA, but then hit .294 with 16 homers in 1966 for AAA Denver. He briefly held the regular third base job in 1967, but did not hit and then was injured for about half the season. Clark was used as a utility player in 1968, but again did not hit. He started 1969 in Minnesota, but was sent back to AAA in April and was sold to Seattle in July. After that season, he was traded to Oakland. Clark was in AAA for the Athletics all of 1970 and 1971 with the exception of two games in Oakland in April of 1971. He started 1972 in AAA, came up to the majors in mid-May, and was traded to Milwaukee in mid-June. He was with the Brewers for about a month and was traded to the Angels, who sent him to AAA. He was traded again in June of 1973, going to San Diego, and at the end of the season was traded one more time, this time to Philadelphia. He was with the Phillies organization for two years, getting one last at-bat in the majors in 1975 before his career ended. As a Twin, Ron Clark hit .182/.238/.253 in 296 at-bats. He became a minor-league manager and major league coach, last managing the Iowa Cubs in 1996.  He then became a scout for the Kansas City Royals until his retirement in 2014.  At last report, Ron Clark was living in Florida.

Left-handed reliever Terry Jay Forster did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1987. He was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, went to high school in Santee, California, and was drafted by the White Sox in the second round in 1970. He made ten excellent appearances in Class A that year and jumped from there all the way to the majors at the start of the 1971 season. He did well in limited duty, making 45 appearances but pitching only 49.2 innings. He was a solid reliever for the White Sox through 1975, leading the league in saves with 24 in 1974. In 1976, he was converted to starting, and the results were not good: he went 2-12, 4.37, 1.50 WHIP. After the season, Forster was traded to Pittsburgh with Rich Gossage for Richie Zisk. He stayed with the Pirates only one season, becoming a free agent and signing with the Dodgers for 1978. He had an excellent year for the Dodgers that season, posting a 1.93 ERA and saving 22 games. He started suffering injuries after that, pitching less than 60 innings in the next three seasons combined. He came back to have a fine season in 1982, just in time to become a free agent again. Atlanta signed him, and while he continued to battle injuries he pitched very well when healthy. He also battled weight problems and gained some fame when David Letterman termed him a "fat tub of goo." The Braves released him on April 1, 1986 and he signed with the Angels, for whom he posted a good ERA but a very high WHIP. A free agent once more after the season, he was out of baseball until June 15, when the Twins signed him. He made thirteen appearances for AAA Portland, went 0-1, 7.27, and his playing career was over. Overall, he made 614 major league appearances, pitched 1,105.2 innings, had a 3.23 ERA and 127 saves. He was a special assignment scout for the Angels and did some coaching for the University of Ottawa.  However, no information about what Terry Forster is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Michael Alan Pelfrey was with the Twins from 2013-2015. Born on Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, he went to high school in Wichita, Kansas, attended Wichita State, and was drafted by the Mets with the ninth pick of the 2005 draft. He did not make his professional debut until 2006, but he shot through the Mets system, making four starts at Class A, twelve at AA, two in AAA, and four in the major leagues. He went back and forth between AAA and the majors in 2007 before coming to the majors for good in 2008. He was rather inconsistent as a major league pitcher. He had a Bret Saberhagen kind of thing going for a while, doing fairly well in even-numbered years (2008 and 2010) but not so well in odd-numbered years (2009 and 2011). He was off to a good start in 2012, but was injured after only three starts and missed the rest of the season. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota. In 2013 he was, well, not very good, going 5-13, 5.19, 1.55 WHIP. He started poorly, did better in the summer months, then fell apart at the end of the season. He was a free agent after the season but re-signed with the Twins for 2014. He made only five starts, none of them very good, before missing the rest of the season with groin and elbow injuries. He was healthy in 2015, making thirty starts, but still wasn't very good. A free agent after the season, he signed with Detroit, for whom he again pitched poorly in 2016.  He signed with the White Sox for 2017 and turned in another poor season.  That, finally, brought an end to his playing career.  As a Twin, he was 11-27, 4.49, 1.55 WHIP.   Mike Pelfrey was the pitching coach for Newman University in 2018, then became the pitching coach for Wichita State, a position he held through 2023.  He then became the head baseball coach at Kapaun Mt. Carmel high school in Wichita, a position he held at last report.  He is a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.

Infielder John Logan Forsythe was with the Twins for the last two months of 2018.  Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, he attended the University of Arkansas and was drafted by San Diego in the first round in 2008.  He reached AA in 2009 and started 2011 in AAA, but after he batted .326 over the first month he was promoted to the big leagues.  With the exception of rehab assignments, he has been there ever since.  It took him a long time to become a full-time player, though.  He shared second base with Alexi Amarista in 2012 and with Jedd Gyorko in 2013.  He was then traded to Tampa Bay for the 2014 season, where he shared second base with Ben Zobrist.  Finally becoming a regular in 2015, he had his best season to date, batting .281 with seventeen home runs and an OPS of .804.  His numbers (other than the home runs) went down slightly in 2016, but he still had a fine season.  He was traded to the Dodgers for the 2017 season, for Jose DeLeon, a traded that helped neither club.  DeLeon has made only one appearace for the Rays to date and Forsythe flopped as a Dodger.  He batted just .232 in 2017 and was batting .207 at the end of July when he was traded to Minnesota with Luke Raley and Devin Smeltzer for Brian Dozier.  In two months as a Twin his batting average rebounded some, but he showed none of the power he'd had in Tampa Bay.  As a Twin, Logan Forsythe batted .258/.356/.292 in fifty games (178 at-bats).  He signed with Texas for 2019 and was a utility infielder for them, playing in 101 games but not doing much with the bat.  He signed with Philadelphia for 2020, was released shortly before the season started, and signed with Miami in early August.  He appeared in twelve games, batting .118, and was again a free agent after the season.  He signed with Milwaukee for 2021 but was released after playing seventeen games in AAA.  That brought his playing career to an end.   At last report, Logan Forsythe was an analyst for the Razorback Sports Network in Arkansas.

Right-hander Johnathan Ryan Graham pitched for the Twins from 2015-2016. Born and raised in Livermore, California, he attended Santa Clara University and was drafted by Atlanta in the fourth round in 2011. He pitched well in his first couple of seasons in the minors, but then made only eight starts in 2013 before getting injured. He had a poor 2014 in AA and was claimed by the Twins in the rule five draft after the season. He was with the Twins for the entire 2015 season, and while he had a few good outings he was not very good overall. He had been almost exclusively a starter in the Atlanta organization, but pitched in relief after that. He was in AAA at the start of 2016, did not pitch well, made one poor appearance with Minnesota, and was traded to the Yankees in mid-May for a player to be named, which eventually just turned into an exchange for cash. As a Twin, he was 1-1, 5.10, 1.50 WHIP in 65.1 innings. He pitched well for AA Trenton and made two good appearances in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  In 2017, he made five good appearances in Trenton but eighteen bad ones in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  Well, probably all eighteen weren't bad, but he had an ERA of 6.44, so a lot of them must have been.  Those twenty-three games were all he pitched in, so he may have been injured.  The Yankees released him in January of 2018 and his playing career came to an end.  At last report, J. R. Graham was a baseball coach and substitute teacher at Brentwood High School in the Nashville area.

January 13

Ernie Calbert (1887)

Fred Schulte (1901)

Alonzo Boone (1908)

Ron Brand (1940)

Makoto Matsubara (1944)

Mike Tyson (1950)

Bob Forsch (1950)

Odell Jones (1953)

Gene Roof (1958)

Kevin Mitchell (1962)

Kevin McClatchy (1963)

Elmer Dessens (1971)

Oliver Drake (1987)

Heath Hembree (1989)

Ernie Calbert won six minor league home run titles.  He also once pitched a minor league no-hitter.

Makoto Matsubara was an eleven-time all-star in Japan.

Kevin McClatchy was the CEO of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1996-2007.

When Elmer Dessens made his major league debut in 1996, he was the first big leaguer in thirty-five years to have the first name "Elmer".  There have been none since.

Gene Roof is the brother of ex-Twin Phil Roof.

Right-hander Oliver Gardner Drake appeared in nineteen games for the Twins at the end of the 2018 season.  He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, went to high school in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and was drafted by Baltimore in the forty-third round in 2008.  According to b-r.com, "Drake had attended a year of prep school before the Naval Academy, making him draft eligible after his sophomore year, and he wouldn't have to fulfill his military requirement if he didn't return for his junior year."  He pitched very well as a reliever in rookie ball and low A in 2008.  The Orioles then spent three seasons trying to make him a starter, a plan which did not work.  The only success he had as a starter was a half-season in 2011, when he was a twenty-four-year-old in Class A.  He missed most of 2012 due to shoulder surgery and when he returned he was back in the bullpen, where he remained.  He made nineteen appearances in AA in 2013 and did well, but was made to repeat it in 2014.  He finally was moved up to AAA in 2015 and dominated the International League, but got only two weeks in the majors before getting September call-up.  He was the second midshipman to make his debut that season (Mitch Harris), but before that there had not been one since Nemo Gaines in 1921.  He posted an ERA of 2.87 in 15.2 innings, but 2016 saw him back in AAA, again getting only about two weeks in the majors before a September call-up.  He began 2017 with the Orioles but made just three appearances before being traded to Milwaukee for a player to be named later or cash.  Drake pitched the rest of the season for the Brewers, going 3-5, 4.44 as a Brewer.  Then life got really interesting for him.  He started 2018 with Milwaukee, but was sold to Cleveland on May 3.  The Indians waived him, and he was claimed by the Angels on May 31.  The Angels waived him, and he was claimed by Toronto on July 26.  The Blue Jays waived him, and he was claimed by Minnesota on August 3.  He actually pitched very well for the Twins, going 0-0, 2.21, 0.93 WHIP in 20.1 innings (19 games).  The Twins waived him after the season, however, and he was claimed by Tampa Bay on November 1.  Tampa Bay waived him, and he was claimed by Toronto on November 26.  Toronto then sold him back to Tampa Bay on January 4.  If you're keeping score at home, that's seven transfers in one calendar year.  He may have thought that attending the Naval Academy would help him see the world, but I doubt he envisioned it happening this way.  He stayed with the Rays for the 2019 season and had easily the best year of his career.  He was still with them in 2020, but was injured much of the season and appeared in just eleven games, pitching eleven innings.  His ERA doesn't look good, but one bad appearance skewed it.  He was still with the Rays in 2021 but missed the entire season due to injury.  He was released after the season and his playing career came to an end.  Baseball-reference.com says his nickname was "Bucko", although I don't remember ever hearing him called that.  No information about what Oliver Drake has been doing since then was readily available.

January 12

Henry Larkin (1860)

Tom Kinslow (1866)

George Browne (1876)

Joe Hauser (1899)

Lee Allen (1915)

Alfredo Ortiz (1944)

Ron Polk (1944)

Paul Reuschel (1947)

Randy Jones (1950)

Bill Madlock (1951)

Terry Whitfield (1953)

Tim Hulett (1960)

Mike Marshall (1960)

Casey Candaele (1961)

Andy Fox (1971)

Luis Ayala (1978)

Dontrelle Willis (1982)

Ivan Nova (1987)

Alex Wood (1991)

Joe Hauser twice hit over 60 home runs in a season in AAA.

Historian and writer Lee Allen contributed much to the Hall of Fame and to the first edition of the Baseball Encyclopedia.

Alfredo Ortiz won 287 games in the minor leagues, mostly in the Mexican League, and 104 more in the Mexican Winter League.

Ron Polk was a very successful college baseball coach, most notably at Mississippi State.

The Mike Marshall listed above is the outfielder/first baseman who played mostly for the Dodgers.

Infielder Andrew Junipero Fox did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2005. Born and raised in Sacramento, he was drafted by the Yankees in the second round in 1989. He started very slowly, hitting a combined .231 in four seasons of rookie and Class A ball. He had a better year in AA in 1993, hitting .275, but slumped to .222 in AA the following season. Finally, in 1995, he got things going, batting .296 with 14 homers in a year spent mostly at AAA. In 1996, he got his first full season for the big leagues, but batted just .196 as a reserve infielder for the Yankees and found himself back in the minors in 1997. A solid season in AAA earned him a September call-up, but he was traded to Arizona the following March. He was a regular in the batting order for the Diamondbacks in 1998 but had no regular position, starting games at each outfield position and each infield position except shortstop. He responded with his best major league season, hitting .277 with an OPS of .751. Oddly, shortstop became his primary position in 1999, as he was a semi-regular there and hit .255. He was traded to Florida in June of 2000. He stayed there through 2003, filling a reserve role each season but 2002, when he was the regular shortstop. Once again, he did better as a regular than as a reserve, but not enough better that a team would want to keep using him as a regular. A free agent after 2003, he signed with Texas, but was left unprotected and was chosen by Montreal in the Rule 5 draft. He was with the Expos through mid-July, was released, and finished the season with Texas. A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2005, but was released in late March. He signed with the Angels on April 1, but retired four weeks later, ending his playing career. He stayed in baseball as a manager and coach both in the majors and minors.  Andy Fox was the major league field coordinator for the Boston Red Sox for a few seasons and was their first base coach in 2024, but was let go after the season.  He became manager of the Altoona Curve in the Pittsburgh organization in 2025, a position he continues to hold.

Right-handed reliever Luis Ignacio Ayala played for Minnesota for about half of the 2009 season. He was born in Los Mochis, New Mexico, and attended high school there. He was playing in the Mexican League when he was purchased by the Colorado Rockies in October of 1999. He played in the Colorado minor league system, but failed to impress and was sold back to Saltillo in the Mexican League in May of 2001. He was purchased by Montreal in August of 2002 and pitched well in his brief time in AAA that year, but became a free agent after the season and was signed by Arizona. Left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, the Expos drafted him, and he was a valuable member of their bullpen for the next three years. Injured in 2006, he came back to have another fine year for the team, by then playing in Washington, in 2007. For a while, it looked like that might be the last good year Ayala had. He pitched poorly in 2008 for Washington, was traded to the Mets in mid-August, and continued to pitch poorly. Signed by Minnesota for 2009, he did better, but nothing that great--he was 1-2, 4.18 with a WHIP of 1.42 in 32.1 innings--and when he complained about how he was used, Ayala was released in early July. Florida signed him, and he pitched ten scoreless innings in AAA before being brought up to the Marlins, where he gave up ten earned runs in 7.2 innings. He was apparently the subject of an attempted kidnapping over the winter of 2009-2010. He was in AAA for the Dodgers, Arizona, and Colorado in 2010, not pitching very well for any of them. It appeared that his career might be over, but the Yankees signed him for 2011.  Surprisingly, he made the team of out of spring training and stayed almost the entire season.  Even more surprisingly, he had a very good year, going 2-2, 2.09, 1.27 WHIP in 56 innings (52 appearances).  A free agent after the season, he signed with Baltimore for 2012 and turned in another very good year.  He started 2013 with the Orioles, but in early April he was traded to Atlanta, for whom he had a rather high walk total (in only 31 innings) but otherwise pitched well.   That turned out to be his swan song, though.  He signed with Washington for 2014 but was released half-way through spring training.  He signed with Baltimore, spent a couple of months pitching poorly in AAA, and was released again.  He signed with Toronto, again pitched poorly in AAA, and was released again.  He also made eight appearances for Tabasco in the Mexican League and did well there.  He has continued to pitch in the Mexican League through 2018, but then his playing career came to an end.  No information about what Luis Ayala has done since then was readily available.

January 11

George Pinkney (1859)

Silver King (1868)

Elmer Flick (1876)

Max Carey (1890)

George Trautman (1890)

General Crowder (1899)

Schoolboy Rowe (1910)

Don Mossi (1929)

Gene Cook (1932)

Jim McAndrew (1944)

Jack Zduriencik (1951)

Rocket Wheeler (1955)

Lloyd McClendon (1959)

Donn Pall (1962)

Warren Morris (1974)

George Trautman was the president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs from 1947 until his death in 1963.

Gene Cook was the general manager of the Toledo Mud Hens from 1978-1998.  He is credited with convincing Jamie Farr to wear a Mud Hens cap on M*A*S*H.

Jack Zduriencik was the general manager of the Seattle Mariners from 2008-2015.

Rocket Wheeler was a manager in the low minors for about thirty years.  He was the manager of the Amarillo Sod Squad, a summer collegiate league team, in 2021--we have not been able to find out if he has remained in baseball since then.  We assume he probably retired.

Second baseman Warren Randall Morris was with Minnesota for about a week at the beginning of the 2002 season. Born in Alexandria, Louisiana, he attended high school there and then went to LSU. To the extent he is remembered, it is for a walkoff home run he hit to win the 1996 College World Series. Morris was drafted by Texas in the fifth round in 1996. He played for the U. S. Olympic team that year, and so did not begin his professional career until 1997. He hit over .300 with double-digit home runs in each of his first two minor league seasons, but was traded to the Pittsburgh organization midway through the second one, in 1998. In 1999, Morris won the starting second baseman job for the Pirates, and would hold it for two years. He had a strong rookie year, hitting .288 with 15 homers and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. In 2000, however, he slumped to .259 with three home runs, and in 2001 he lost the second base job to Pat Meares. Morris spent part of that 2001 season in AAA, where he again hit well, but was released before the 2002 season. Minnesota signed him and gave him seven at-bats in the majors (he went 0-for-7) before sending him to AAA Edmonton. In mid-June, the Twins traded him to the Cardinals organization for a player to be named later (Seth Davidson), and in mid-July he was selected off waivers by the Red Sox' chain. A free agent again after the 2002 campaign, he went to the Tigers, starting in AAA but coming to the majors in early June. He was the Tigers' regular second baseman for most of the second half of the year, and responded by hitting .272. He lost the job in 2004 to Omar Infante, and spent the season in AAA Toledo. He was with the Brewers' organization for much of 2005 and finished the year in AA with Cleveland. He had minor league offers to play in 2006, but decided to call it a career. At last report, Warren Morris was a vice president with Red River Bank in Alexandria, Louisiana. He also was working with a variety of Christian-oriented sports organizations.

January 10

Harry Wright (1835)

Chick Stahl (1873)

Del Pratt (1888)

Ziggy Sears (1892)

Fats Jenkins (1898)

John Beckwith (1900)

Max Patkin (1920)

George Strickland (1926)

Jim O'Toole (1937)

Willie McCovey (1938)

Chuck Dobson (1944)

Wilfredo Sanchez (1948)

Richard Dotson (1959)

Kelvin Torve (1960)

Wally Bell (1965)

Kevin Baez (1967)

Gary Rath (1973)

Adam Kennedy (1976)

 Outfielder Ziggy Sears played in the minors for sixteen years, mostly in the Texas League.  He once drove in eleven runs in a game.  He was a National League umpire from 1934-1945.

Max Patkin was a well-known baseball clown from 1944-1995.

Wilfredo Sanchez was a star in Cuba from 1968-1986, winning five batting titles.

Wally Bell was a major league umpire from 1992-2013, when he passed away from a heart attack.

First baseman Kelvin Curtis Torve was with the Twins for about a month in 1988. Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, Torve attended Oral Roberts University, then was drafted by San Francisco in the second round in 1981. He had some solid years in the Giants' minor-league system, but appeared to top out at AA and was traded to Baltimore after the 1984 season. He again did well in AA in 1985, but less well when placed in AAA for 1986 and 1987. Torve became a minor league free agent after the 1987 campaign, and was signed by Minnesota. He hit .301 for AAA Portland in 1988 and was promoted to Minnesota in late June as a pinch-hitter and reserve first baseman. He batted only 16 times, hitting .188 with one home run (hit off Stu Cliburn) before being sent back to Portland in late July. Torve had another good year in Portland in 1989, but became a free agent after the season, signing with the Mets. He hit well for AAA Tidewater in 1990 and 1991, getting brief appearances in the majors both years. He is the last player to wear the number 24 for the Mets, having been accidentally given the number briefly after it had been unoffically retired in honor of Willie Mays. He was released by the Mets after the 1991 season, went to Japan for two seasons, and then called it a career. When asked about his hitting ability, Torve said, "I hit well enough to be employed for thirteen years." Kelvin Torve moved back to Rapid City and became the head coach of the Post 22 American Legion baseball team in 2018.  If you're not from around here, it's hard to explain to you what a big deal that team is in Rapid City.

Shortstop Kevin Richard Baez did not play in Minnesota, but was in the Twins' minor-league system for a year. A native of Brooklyn, he attended high school there and then went to Dominican College of Orangeburg, New Jersey, one of two major league players that school has produced (Frank Cimorelli). He was drafted by the Mets in the seventh round in 1988. Baez had an undistinguished minor league career, but kept getting promoted a level every season and reached AAA in 1991. He actually made his major league debut before that, getting 12 at-bats with the Mets in 1990. He made another brief major league appearance in 1992, and in 1993 was brought up in mid-June to spend the rest of the season with New York as a reserve infielder. He never hit, and should not have been expected to, as he did not hit well in the minors. In the big leagues, Kevin Baez compiled an average of .179 in 151 major league at-bats. He kept plugging away in the minors for several more years. After the 1993 season, he was traded to Baltimore. A free agent after the season, he moved to the Tigers organization for 1995-1996, and then signed with the Twins for 1997. He actually had a pretty good year in AAA Salt Lake, hitting .274. He moved back to the Tigers for 1998, but was traded to Cincinnati before the season started. He went back to the Mets' organization early in 1999, staying there through 2001. He then played independent ball through 2005, going back to the Reds organization briefly in 2003. Kevin Baez was the manager of the Long Island Ducks from 2011-2018 and was the manager of the Rockland Boulders in the Frontier League from 2019-2020.  At last report he was working at the Play Like a Pro baseball facility in Hauppage, Long Island.

Left-hander Alfred Gary Rath made five appearances, one of them a start, for Minnesota in 1999. He was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and went to high school in Long Beach Mississippi. Rath then attended Mississippi State and was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round in 1994. He basically topped out at AA; he never had an ERA under four at any level higher than that. In 1998, after three not very good years at AAA, Rath made his major league debut with the Dodgers, pitching 3.1 innings over three games and giving up four earned runs. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota. He was having another poor year at AAA in 1999 when the Twins brought him up for a start in late May. He gave up five runs in three innings, taking the loss. Rath then made four relief appearances before being sent back to Salt Lake. As a Twin, he was 0-1, 11.57 in 4.2 innings. He finished out the year in Salt Lake and then again became a free agent. He appeared briefly in the Boston and Arizona organizations in 2000 and also pitched some independent ball. He then began pitching overseas, pitching in South Korea in 2001-2002, 2004, and 2008; in Japan in 2003 and 2005; in Venezuela in 2006; and in Taiwan in 2007. In 2009, Gary Rath became the head baseball coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, a position he held until resigning in May of 2014.  At last report, Gary Rath was an insurance agent with State Farm in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

January 9

Bill Thomas (1905)

Jonas Gaines (1915)

Johnny Washington (1916)

John Kibler (1928)

Julio Navarro (1936)

Ralph Terry (1936)

Masaaki Mori (1937)

Al Clark (1948)

Joe Wallis (1952)

Ivan DeJesus (1953)

Otis Nixon (1959)

Stan Javier (1964)

Jay Powell (1972)

Gabriel Moya (1995)

Bill Thomas pitched in the minors from 1924-1952. He set records for games pitched (1,016), wins (383), losses (347), innings (5,995), hits allowed (6,721), and runs allowed (3,098).

Outfielder/first baseman Johnny Washington played in the Negro Leagues for nearly twenty years.

John Kibler was a National League umpire from 1963-1989.

Masaaki Mori was involved with twenty-seven pennant winners in Japan, sixteen as a player, three as a coach, and eight as a manager.

Al Clark was a long-time American League umpire.

Outfielder Otis Junior Nixon was with Minnesota in 1998, near the end of his long career. A native of Columbus County, North Carolina, Nixon was chosen by the Yankees with the third pick of the 1979 draft. His minor league career showed what Nixon would become at his best--he had no power whatsoever, but hit for a high average, drew a lot of walks, and stole a lot of bases. His best year in the minors was 1982, a year which he split between AA Nashville and AAA Columbus. Combined, he hit .282, drew 108 walks, and stole 107 bases. He remained in the minors for 1983, however (with the exception of 14 big league at-bats), and that off-season was traded to Cleveland. Nixon made the Indians out of spring training in 1984, but hit only .154 and found himself back in the minors by mid-June. He was a seldom-used reserve outfielder in 1985 and 1986, was back in the minors much of 1987, and then became a free agent, signing with Montreal. The Expos finally gave him a chance to play, making him a semi-regular, but he didn't do much; he hit only .237 in three years with Montreal, although he did steal 133 bases. In April of 1991, the now 32-year-old Nixon was traded to Atlanta. His lifetime batting average at that point, in over eleven hundred at-bats, was .228. There was certainly no reason to think that he would suddenly learn to hit, but he did, batting over .290 in each of his first two seasons with the Braves. Nixon was a Brave for three seasons, stealing 160 bases in that time. A free agent after the 1993 season, he signed with the Red Sox. He had a good year in Boston in 1994, but was traded to Texas after the season in a deal involving Jose Canseco. He was with the Rangers for 1995, went to Toronto in 1996, and was traded by the Blue Jays to Los Angeles in August of 1997. A free agent again after that season, he signed with Minnesota for 1998. Now 39, Nixon did everything the Twins could have expected him to do that season, hitting .297/.361/.344 with 37 stolen bases despite missing a month with a broken jaw. He signed with Atlanta for 1999, but hit only .205, and his career was over. After hitting .228 through age 31, Nixon batted .284 from ages 32-39. His career spanned 17 seasons, and he stole 620 bases, stealing more bases in the 1990s than anyone else. He is tied for the major league record with six stolen bases in a game.  His brother, Donell, also played in the major leagues. Otis Nixon was the CEO of On-Track Promotions, working with several communities to provide baseball camps with a Christian emphasis throughout the southeast United States.  He also started the Otis Nixon Foundation, assisting formerly incarcerated and homeless individuals to re-assimilate into society.  His book "Keeping It Real", was released in October of 2009.  Unfortunately, Nixon had trouble keeping it real.  He was implicated in a fraud scheme in 2013 in which he allegedly promised that he could help prisoners get early parole for a fee.  He also was arrested in May of 2013 for possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.  The results of those legal troubles could not be found, but he apparently was arrested for violating probation in January of 2014, was arrested again on drug charges in September of 2014, and was arrested again for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and permitting an unlicensed person to drive in November of 2015.  He was reported as missing in April of 2017, but was found a few days later with no explanation made public for where he had been.  At last report, Otis Nixon was living in Woodstock, Georgia, and was working as a life coach and motivational speaker.

Left-hander Gabriel Jose (Barrios) Moya played for the Twins in 2017-2018.  He was born in Cabimas, Venezuela and signed with Arizona as a free agent in March of 2012.  He has been a reliever throughout his minor league career except for 2014, when he was a starter.  That was the only bad year of his minor league career, so the powers that be put him back in the bullpen.  He was promoted to Class A in 2016, soon proved himself to be too good for the Midwest League, and spent most of the year in high-A.  He was in AA most of 2017, although he was clearly too good for that league, too, going 6-1, 0.77, 24 saves, 0.77 WHIP with 87 strikeouts in 57.1 innings.  Arizona traded him to the Twins at the trade deadline in 2017 for John Ryan Murphy.  The Twins gave him a September call-up and he did well other than giving up a couple of home runs. He started 2018 in the majors but again was hurt by the gopher ball and was sent to Rochester after just five appearances.  He dominated in AAA and came back to the Twins in July, where he did much better.  At that time, we said, "One expects that he will be in the Twins' bullpen at the start of the 2019 season."  If one expected that, one was wrong--he was injured in spring training, went on the disabled list, and had an awful year in Rochester.  He became a free agent after the season and did not pitch in 2020.  He played for Lancaster in the Atlantic League in 2021 and had an outstanding year.  In 2022, however, playing for Kentucky in the Atlantic League, he was awful, and his playing career came to an end.   As a Twin (and for his career) he is 3-1, 4.64, 1.29 WHIP.  No information about what Gabriel Moya is doing now was readily available.

January 8

Bob Clarke (1903)

Walker Cooper (1915)

Jim Busby (1927)

Gene Freese (1934)

Reno Bertoia (1935)

Bruce Sutter (1953)

Ramon Romero (1959)

Randy Ready (1960)

Brian Boehringer (1969)

Jason Giambi (1971)

Mike Cameron (1973)

Carl Pavano (1976)

Jeff Francis (1981)

Jeff Francoeur (1984)

Jeff Hoffman (1993)

Chris Paddack (1996)

Jhoan Duran (1998)

Three players named Jeff were born on this day.

One of the original Twins, infielder Reno Peter Bertoia was with Minnesota for about two months at the beginning of the 1961 season. He was born in St. Vito Udine, Italy, the most successful of six Italian-born major league players. When he was 22 months old, his family moved to Windsor, Ontario, which is where Bertoia grew up. He attended Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts and was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1953 as a "bonus baby", meaning he had to spend two years in the majors, rather than going to the minor leagues. In fact, he did not see the minors until mid-May of 1956. This was probably a negative for his career, as he was seldom used--he had only 171 at-bats in the majors through the 1956 season. He played well at AAA Charleston in 1956, which moved him up to semi-regular status with the Tigers for 1957 and 1958. 1957 was probably his best year in the majors, as he hit .275 with 16 doubles in 295 at-bats. After the 1958 season, he was traded to Washington with Jim Delsing and Ron Samford for Rocky Bridges, Neil Chrisley, and Eddie Yost. He remained a semi-regular in 1959, but was given the regular third base job in 1960, his only year as a regular in the big leagues. He had one of his best years, hitting .265 with 17 doubles and 7 triples. He remained the regular when the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, but slumped early, hitting only .212 in 104 at-bats. On June 1, he was traded to Kansas City with Paul Giel and cash in exchange for Bill Tuttle and a player to be named later (the player to be named later turned out to be Paul Giel, meaning Bertoia was essentially traded with cash for Tuttle). He did a little better for the Athletics, but not a lot, and was traded back to Detroit in early August. He played a little for the Tigers at the start of 1962, mostly as a pinch-runner, and then went to the minors. He also spent time in the Senators and Mets organizations that year. He was back in AAA with Detroit in 1963 and hit .322 in 121 at-bats for Syracuse, but it did not get him back to the majors. He played in Japan in 1964, then returned to Windsor, where he became a college teacher and scout.  He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.  Reno Bertoia passed away from lymphoma in Windsor on April 15, 2011.

Left-hander Ramon (De Los Santos) Romero did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1986. He was tall and thin, standing 6’4” but weighing only 170 pounds. He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and signed with Cleveland in 1976. He was primarily a relief pitcher in the minors, although he made a few starts almost every year. He struggled early on, partly with his control and partly with being too hittable. The control always remained an issue, but he became less hittable, having his first good year in 1980 at Class A Waterloo. His wildness meant he rose through the minors very slowly, not reaching AAA until 1984. He got a September call-up that year and made one appearance, pitching three perfect innings with three strikeouts against Seattle. He spent about half the 1985 season with the Indians, with two months of that time spent in the starting rotation. It did not go well: he went 2-3, 6.58 in 64.1 innings. While his control continued to be a problem, his main trouble in the majors was the home-run ball, as he allowed 13 round trippers. That off-season, Cleveland traded Romero to Minnesota along with Roy Smith for Bryan Oelkers and Ken Schrom. He went 8-4, but with a 6.25 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP in a season mostly spent in AA. His playing career came to an end after that. He moved to the New York area and died from a fall on October 13, 1988 at the young age of twenty-nine.

Right-hander Carl Anthony Pavano pitched for the Twins in 2009-2012. Born in New Britain, Connecticut, he went to high school in Southington, Connecticut. He was drafted by Boston in the 13th round in 1994. Pavano pitched quite well throughout his minor league career, but after the 1997 season was traded to Montreal as part of a deal for Pedro Martinez. He was rather up-and-down as an Expo, with his best year coming in 2000, when he was 8-4, 3.06 in 15 starts. He had injury problems that year, as would happen often in his career. In July of 2002, Pavano was traded to Florida as part of a multi-player trade. He had some fine years with the Marlins, due partly to the fact that he was able to stay healthy. The best one was 2004, when he was 18-8, 3.00 with a 1.17 WHIP. He made the all-star team for the only time that year and finished sixth in Cy Young voting. A free agent after that season, he signed with the Yankees. As is well known, that did not go well. Pavano was injured for much of his time as a Yankee, and did not pitch very well when he could pitch. He was a free agent again after the 2008 season and signed with Cleveland. On August 7, 2009, the Indians traded Pavano to Minnesota for a player to be named later (Yohan Pino).  He pitched well in 2010, but less well in 2011, although he pitched over 200 innings for the second consecutive year.  He missed much of 2012 due to injury, however, and did poorly when he tried to pitch. As a Twin, he went 33-33, 4.32, 1.30 WHIP in 579.2 innings (88 starts).  In February of 2013, he ruptured his spleen while shoveling snow and nearly died.  He had hoped to come back, but could never get healthy enough to do so, and retired in February of 2014.  At last report, Carl Pavano was living in Vermont.  He has founded the Pitch In Foundation, which has the goal of improving the lives of families and creating hope for children in need.

Right-handed starter Christopher Joseph Paddack pitched for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Austin, Texas, went to high school Cedar Park, Texas, and was drafted by Miami in the eighth round in 2015.  He was excellent in the low minors but missed all of 2017 due to injury.  He came back to be excellent again in a 2018 season split between Class A and AA.  He started 2019 in the majors and was there to stay.  It was not with the Marlins, however--at the end of June in 2016 he was traded to San Diego for future Twin Fernando Rodney.  He had a fine debut season in 2019, going 9-7, 3.33, 0.98 WHIP in 26 starts.  He struggled in the COVID season of 2020 and did not do well in 2021, going 7-7, 5.07.  He did, however, have a WHIP of 1.27 and a FIP of 3.78, indicating he may have had some bad luck.  Just before the 2022 season he was traded to Minnesota with Emilio Pagan and a player to be named later (Brayan Medina) for Taylor Rogers, Brent Rooker, and cash.  Unfortunately, he was able to make only five starts before being injured and missing the rest of the season.  He remained injured in 2023, making just two appearances  He started 2024 in the Twins' rotation, but was injured again and missed the second half of the season.  He was in the Twins' rotation for 2025, wasn't particularly good, and was traded to Detroit at the deadline with Randy Dobnak for Enrique Jimenez.  He wasn't particularly good for Detroit, either.  He became a free agent and is currently unsigned.  As a Twin, he was 10-14, 4.88, 1.32 WHIP in 226.2 innings (45 games, 43 starts).  He turns thirty today.  At this point, he is what he is, an average-at-best starting pitcher.  Teams are desperate for pitching, though, so we assume someone will give him a shot in 2026.

Right-handed reliever Jhoan Manuel Duran has played for the Twins since 2022.  He was born in Esperanza, Dominican Republic, and signed as a free agent with Arizona in 2014 at age sixteen.  His numbers in the Diamondbacks system are unimpressive, but he was always very young for his league.  His strikeout numbers were nothing to shout about early on, but took a big jump in 2018.  He was traded in late July of 2018 with Ernie De La Trinidad and Gabriel Maciel for Eduardo Escobar.  He had not been beyond Class A at this point, and had always been a starter.  The Twins started him in Class A as well, and kept him starting.  He pitched well in six starts for low-A Cedar Rapids in 2018 and again pitched well at the start of 2019 for high-A Fort Myers.  He missed the 2020 COVID season and also missed most of 2021 due to injury.  Despite that, the Twins started him in the majors in 2022, switching him to the bullpen, and it paid off bigly.  He became the Twins' closer in 2023 and did a solid job in that role through the trade deadline of 2025, when he was traded to Philadelphia for Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel.  He continued to pitch well there.  As a Twin, he was 17-23, 74 saves, 2.47, 1.10 WHIP with 292 strikeouts in 233.2 innings.  He turns twenty-eight today, and will presumably be the Phillies' closer in 2026.