July 5

Jack Farrell (1857)
Robert Brown (1876)
Charles Stoneham (1876)
Bump Hadley (1904)
Jack Krol (1936)
Curt Blefary (1943)
Gary Matthews (1950)
Rich Gossage (1951)
Dave Eiland (1966)
Tim Worrell (1967)
Bo Porter (1972)
Jesse Crain (1981)
Marco Estrada (1983)
Nick Anderson (1990)
Jorge Polanco (1993)
Shohei Ohtani (1994)

 Robert Brown owned various teams in Vancouver from 1910-45.  He was also president of the Western International League in 1953.  He is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Charles Stoneham owned the New York Giants from 1919 until his death in 1936.

Jack Krol was a long-time minor league manager and major league coach. coaching for St. Louis from 1977-80 and San Diego from 1981-86.

Right-handed reliever Jesse Alan Crain played for the Twins from 2004-2010.  He was born in Toronto, went to high school in Boulder, Colorado, and then attended the University of Houston.  He was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 2002.  A reliever throughout his career, he had some tremendous seasons in the minors, posting a minor league career ERA of 2.00 and a WHIP of 0.94 in 180 minor league innings.  He was called up to the Twins in August of 2004, and with a brief exception was there through 2010.  He was very good through 2006, although his ERA and his WHIP went up every year.  In 2007, he started poorly, was injured, missed most of the season, and was not been as good after that.  He was decent, but no more, in 2008, but had a bad year in 2009, going back to AAA Rochester for a little over a month.  The demotion may have done him some good, as he pitched much better when he was brought back.  He got off to a rough start in 2010, but eventually righted the ship and had a pretty good season.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the White Sox, for whom he pitched very well for two and a half seasons.  He was named to the all-star team in 2013, but was injured in late June and has not pitched since.  He became a free agent and signed with Houston, but spent all of 2014 on the disabled list.  A free agent again, he signed with the White Sox and pitched briefly for their rookie league team in Arizona in 2015, but that was all.  He became a free agent after the season and went unsigned, ending his playing career.  As a Twin, Jesse Crain was  33-21, 3.42, with a 1.26 WHIP and three saves.  He appeared in 376 games, pitching 382 innings.  At last report, he was living in Arizona.  He has started the Crain Family Foundation, which assists families and children who are in financial hardship due to unforeseen life events.  He is also a special advisor to the Glacier Range Riders, who are based in Kalispell, Montana and play in the Pioneer League.

Right-handed reliever Nick Paul Anderson did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for three seasons.  He was born in Crosby, Minnesota, went to high school in Brainerd, Minnesota, attended Mayville State University (the only major league player that school has so far produced), and was drafted by Milwaukee in the thirty-second round in 2012.  He did not sign, however, and instead spent the summer of 2012 and 2013 pitching for Rockford in the Frontier League.  He did not play in 2014, but he went back to the Frontier League in 2015, pitched very well, and in August of 2015 the Twins signed him.  He was dominant in Cedar Rapids for the rest of that season and the start of 2016, did fairly well in Fort Myers the rest of 2016, dominated both in Fort Myers and in Chattanooga in 2017, and pitched well in Rochester in 2018.  He was then traded to Miami that off-season for Brian Schales.  He made the team out of spring training in 2019 and did fairly well, but was traded to Tampa Bay at the July deadline.  He then began to dominate, going 5-1, 1.43, 0.96 WHIP in 42 games (37.2 innings) after the trade.  Unfortunately, he tore a ligament in his elbow during 2021 spring training.  He did not pitch for much of 2021 and did not do particularly well either in AAA or in a September call-up when he did pitch.  He had elbow surgery after the season and missed all of 2022.  He signed with Atlanta for 2023 and pitched quite well for them, but missed the second half of the season with a strained right shoulder.  He was sold to Kansas City after the season and was having a down year, though not awful, when he was released in mid-July.  He signed with the Dodgers, was released in late August, and finished the season in AAA with Baltimore.  He signed with the Cardinals for 2025, went to AAA, was released in late May, and signed with Colorado, for whom he is currently in AAA.  Staying healthy has been his biggest issue, but when he has been healthy he has been a good relief pitcher.  The question is whether he can get and stay healthy.

Infielder Jorge Luis (Pacheco) Polanco has been was with the Twins from 2014-2023.  He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 2009.  As he was only sixteen, it took a little while for his offense to develop.  In 2012, however, he hit .313 with an OPS of .903 at Elizabethton and followed that up by hitting .308 with an OPS of .813 at Cedar Rapids in 2013.  He began 2014 at Fort Myers, was called up to Minnesota in late June due to injuries to infielders, and then went back to Fort Myers, eventually being promoted to AA.  He started 2015 in AA, was promoted to AAA, and appeared in four more games in the majors.  He split 2016 between Rochester and Minnesota, struggling in his first appearance with the Twins but doing well upon his return in late July.  He was the Twins starting shortstop for 2017.  He had a miserable first four months, but saved his job, and possibly his career, by batting .373 with an OPS of 1.099 in August.  He then was suspended for the first half of the 2018 season for using performance enhancing drugs, but came back to have a fine second half.  He did even better the first half of 2019 and made his first all-star team.  He fell off in the second half but still had a fine season, batting .295 with 22 homers and an OPS of .841.  He was not able to match those numbers in 2020, posting an OPS of just .658.  Moved to second base for 2021, he bounced back to hit thirty-three home runs with an OPS of .826.  He trended down again in 2022, although his numbers remained decent.  He missed nearly half of 2023 due to injuries, but had a solid season when he could play.  The Twins traded him to Seattle after the 2023 season for Darren Bowen, Gabriel Gonzalez, Anthony DeSclafani, and Justin Topa.  He did not hit in 2024, but is doing better in 2025, though not up to his Twins standard.  As a Twin, Polanco batted .269/.334/.437 in 3341 at-bats.  He turns thirty-two today.  He should be in the majors at least a few more seasons.

July 4

Mickey Welch (1859)
George Mullin (1880)
Abe Saperstein (1903)
Chuck Tanner (1928)
Bill Tuttle (1929)
Peter Angelos (1929)
George Steinbrenner (1930)
John Sterling (1938)
Hal Lanier (1942)
Ed Armbrister (1948)
Wayne Nordhagen (1948)
Jim Beattie (1954)
Jose Oquendo (1963)
Vinny Castilla (1967)
Brendan Donnelly (1971)
Jay Canizaro (1973)
Jeff Harris (1974)
Jared Hughes (1985)

Best remembered as the founder of the Harlem Globetrotters, Abe Saperstein was a long-time executive in what were then known as the Negro Leagues.

Peter Angelos was the owner of the Baltimore Orioles from 1993 until his death in 2024.

George Steinbrenner was the owner of the New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010.

John Sterling broadcast New York Yankees games from 1989-2024.

The staff of Happy Birthday would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day.

Outfielder Bill Tuttle played for the Twins from 1961-1963. He was born in Elmwood, Illinois, attended Bradley University, and signed with Detroit as a free agent in 1951. He was fairly mediocre in his first season, but had a big year in 1952 with three different clubs, earning a September call-up. He continued to play well in the minors in 1953, and by 1954 he was in the majors to stay. He became the Tigers’ starting center fielder, a job he held for four years. His numbers are fairly pedestrian; his best year in Detroit was 1955, when he hit .279 with 14 homers and an OPS of .757. After the 1957 season, he was sent to the Kansas City Athletics as part of a thirteen-player trade (it might have been easier for the owners to just swap franchises). He was the starting center fielder there for three seasons; for the most part he did about the same as he had done in Detroit, but in 1959 he hit .300, the only time he came close to that figure and the only time he got a vote for Most Valuable Player. On June 1, the Athletics traded him to Minnesota with a player to be named later for cash, Reno Bertoia, and Paul Giel (the player to be named later turned out to be Giel, who was returned to the Twins). Minnesota moved Tuttle to third base to replace Bertoia (he had played some shortstop in the minors). He was a reserve outfielder in 1962, used mostly as a defensive replacement, and was released on May 21, 1963, ending his career. As a Twin, he hit .236/.319/.321 in 496 at-bats. He continued to play for several years after that, toiling in AAA for the Boston, Detroit, and Yankees organizations through 1967, but never got back to the big leagues. He later contracted oral cancer, attributed to his use of chewing tobacco, and underwent several surgeries. As a result, he became an outspoken advocate against chewing tobacco. Bill Tuttle passed away in Anoka, Minnesota on July 27, 1998.

Infielder Jason Kyle ”Jay” Canizaro played for the Twins in 2000 and 2002. He was born in Beaumont, Texas, went to high school in Orange, Texas, and attended Oklahoma State. He was drafted by San Francisco in the fourth round in 1993. He was primarily a second baseman in the minors, although he played a fair amount of shortstop as well. He was a rather indifferent hitter throughout much of his minor-league career, although he did hit .293 in AA in 1995. He made his major league debut in 1996, spending about two months in San Francisco as a part-time second baseman. He didn’t make it back until 1999, when he got a September call-up after hitting .280 at AAA Fresno. The Giants released him at the end of spring training in 2000, and Minnesota signed him the next day. The Twins sent him to AAA Salt Lake, but when he hit .356 in the first month of the season they brought him to the big leagues. He shared the second base job with Denny Hocking and did better than might have been expected, hitting .269 with an OPS of .714 in 346 at-bats. He missed all of 2001 with a knee injury. He started 2002 with the Twins, but was sent back to AAA after two months of hitting .214, losing the second base job to Luis Rivas. Canizaro played in AAA for Tampa Bay in 2003, but then his playing career was over. At last report, Jay Canizaro was a vice president of sales for Casey Equipment Pipe, LLC in Spring, Texas.

Right-hander Jeff Harris did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them. He was born in Alameda, California, went to the University of San Francisco, and was drafted by Minnesota in the 28th round in 1995. He was a reliever throughout his career in the Twins’ farm system. He did well as high as AA, but flopped in two trials at AAA Salt Lake that totaled 80.2 innings. The Twins released him after the 2000 season and he moved to independent ball, where he became a starter. Harris played for Chico in the Western League from 2001-2002, tried to make a team in Taiwan, failed, signed to play for a team in China, left because of the SARS epidemic, finally played for Quebec in the Can-Am League in 2003, for Aguascalientes in the Mexican League in 2004, and back to Quebec also in 2004. Seattle bought him from Quebec in June of 2004. He both started and relieved that season at AAA and was not particularly impressive, but he got off to a strong start in 2005, posting WHIPs below 1.00 at both AA (34.1 innings) and AAA (68 innings). He called up in early August and was the fifth starter for the Mariners the rest of the season, going 2-5, 4.19 with a WHIP of 1.27. He began 2006 in the Seattle bullpen, but was sent down after only 3.1 innings. He didn’t do a lot in AAA and was released after the season. He went to Cleveland, for whom he spent two years at AAA Buffalo before his career came to an end after the 2008 season. Still, he got 57 innings in the big leagues, which isn’t bad for a 28th round draft choice who spent over three years in independent ball. After his playing career, Jeff Harris was a pitching coach in the Indians’ organization from 2009-2016 was a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2016-2020, was a scout for the Washington Nationals from 2021-2023, and is currently a scout for the Cincinnati Reds. He is living in Chico, California.

July 3

Nig Cuppy (1869)
Curt Walker (1896)
Buddy Rosar (1914)
Art Fowler (1922)
Ed Roebuck (1931)
Cesar Tovar (1940)
John Verhoeven (1952)
Frank Tanana (1953)
Matt Keough (1955)
Danny Heep (1957)
Warren Newson (1964)
Greg Vaughn (1965)
Moises Alou (1966)
Brian Cashman (1967)
Juan Rivera (1978)
Edinson Volquez (1983)
Tommy Hunter (1986)
Yangervis Solarte (1987)

Brian Cashman has been the general manager of the New York Yankees since 1998.

Right-hander Art Fowler did not play for the Twins, but was their pitching coach in 1969.  He was born in Converse, South Carolina, went to high school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and signed with the New York Giants as a free agent in 1944.  He spent ten years in the minors before getting a shot at the big leagues.  He pitched well for two years in the low minors, but flopped in 1946 when jumped from Class C to AAA.  Dropped back to Class A for 1947, he pitched well for a couple more years, then moved to the Boston Braves’ organization.  He was in their system for five years, pitching well except for a down year in 1951.  He pitched a lot in the minors, topping 200 innings six times, generally by quite a bit.  In 1953, Fowler made 31 starts and also made 25 relief appearances, for a total of 261 innings for AA Atlanta.  He was traded to Cincinnati before the 1954 season, which proved to be his big break.  He made the Reds at the start of the year and stayed thererelieve:  in his first three seasons with the Reds, he averaged 24 starts and 17 relief appearances, working an average of 200 innings.  He had a poor year in 1957, started in 1958 in the minors, and was traded at mid-season to the Dodgers in a trade that involved future Twin Johnny Klippstein.  He remained in the minors the rest of 1958, was with the Dodgers for much of 1959 but pitched poorly, had a strong year in AAA St. Paul in 1960, started in 1961 in the minors, and was sold to the Angels in late May of that year.  Once again a trade was a good thing for Fowler, as he was immediately placed in the Angels’ bullpen.  He stayed there for three very good years.  When he got off to a bad start in 1964, though, he was released in mid-May.  That brought his major league career to an end at age 41, but he kept pitching.  He was in the Twins’ minor league system for four years, toiling for AAA Denver, and did well as a reliever.  When Billy Martin became manager of the Twins in 1969, he named Fowler as his pitching coach, beginning an association which would last for many years.  When Martin was fired after the season, Fowler went back to Denver and resumed pitching, working sixty-eight innings (45 games) for AA Denver, now a Washington farm team.  At age 47, he posted an ERA of 1.59 with a WHIP of 1.22.  He then embarked on a long career as a pitching coach with Billy Martin, working for Detroit (1971-1973), Texas (1973-1975), the Yankees (1977-1979), Oakland (1980-1982), and the Yankees again (1983, 1988).  He retired after that and returned to his home town of Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he passed away on January 29, 2007.

Infielder/outfielder Cesar Tovar played for the Twins from 1965-1972.  He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, went to high school in Roosevelt, Venezuela, and signed with Cincinnati as a free agent in 1959.  He did quite well in the minors, hitting around .300 with surprising power for a man who’s listed at 5′ 9″, 155 pounds.  He played second base early in his minor league career.  He apparently was loaned to the Twins organization in 1963, playing for AAA Dallas, but was back with the Reds chain in 1964.  In those years he played mostly shortstop and outfield, with some time at third base as well.  After the 1964 season, Tovar was traded to Minnesota for Gerry Arrigo.  He started 1965 with the Twins but played sparingly, and was sent back to AAA for most of the season, coming back in September.  He made the team in 1966 and was a regular player for them through 1972, but was often a regular without a regular position.  In 1967 and 1968 he started games at six different positions, and in 1966 and 1969-1971 he started games at five different positions.  In 1966 he started more games at second base than any other position; in 1967 it was center field; in 1968, third base; in 1969-1970 it was center field again, in 1971 it was left field; and in 1972, right field.  Famously, he played all nine positions in a game in 1968.  Through all the position changes, he posted solid batting averages and on-base percentages and stole a good number of bases.  The power he had shown in the minors did not follow him to the big leagues, although he led the league in doubles and triples in 1970 and also hit ten home runs.  He received votes for Most Valuable Player five consecutive years, 1967-1971, finishing as high as seventh in 1967.  After a down year in 1972 Tovar was traded to Philadelphia for Joe Lis, Ken Reynolds, and Ken Sanders, a trade that infuriated then-manager Frank Quilici.  He was used as a utility player by the Phillies in 1973, again playing five different positions, and was sold to Texas after the season.  Playing primarily center and left, he bounced back to hit .292 as a regular again.  He went down in 1975, was sold to Oakland in late August, was released in August of 1976, finished the season with the Yankees, and then ended his playing career.  As a Twin, Cesar Tovar hit .281/.337/.377 in 1,090 games.  He was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.  Cesar Tovar passed away in Caracas, Venezuela from pancreatic cancer on July 14, 1994.

Right-handed reliever John Verhoeven pitched for the Twins in 1980 and 1981.  He was born in Long Beach, California, went to the University of La Verne and Westmont College of Santa Barbara, California, one of two major league players to have attended that school (Jerry DaVanon).  He was drafted by California in the twelfth round in 1974.  A reliever from the beginning, he pitched well throughout his minor league career and was called up to the Angels in early July of 1976.  He was used sparingly but did well when called upon, posting a 3.38 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in 37.1 innings.  He started 1977 in the majors but was sent down after only three appearances and then traded to the White Sox in mid-June.  He got a September call-up with the Pale Hose and again did well, but would not return to the big leagues for three years.  He had a medicore 1978 at AAA Iowa, then was sold to Minnesota.  He had a strong year in Toledo in 1979, pitching a hundred relief innings, and made the Twins at the start of 1980, staying for two full seasons.  He did a decent job for them:  as a Twin, he was 3-4, 3.98 with a WHIP of 1.38.  He appeared in 69 games and pitched 151.2 innings.  The Twins sold him to Boston after the season, and he never pitched in the majors again.  He pitched poorly in AAA for the Red Sox, did no better in AAA for Toronto, and was out of baseball after the 1982 season.  Some guys get long chances, other guys don’t.  He has stayed in baseball since his playing days.  Verhoeven operated the Grand Slam Baseball Academy in Anaheim from 1984-1990, was a college pitching coach at Cal State–Dominguez Hills (1991-1994), Pepperdine (1996), and Loyola Marymount (1997).  He then became the head baseball coach at Biola University of La Mirada, California, a position he held until he decided to quit after the 2013 college season.  He took the university to the NAIA World Series three times, in 2001, 2003, and 2005.   He then became the pitching coach of Azusa Pacific University for a few seasons before retiring.  At last report, John Verhoeven was living in Yorba Linda, California.

Infielder Yangervis Alfredo Solarte did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2006-2011.  Born and raised in Valencia, Venezuela, he signed as a free agent with Minnesota in 2005.  He spent two years in rookie ball before reaching Class A in 2008.  He apparently was injured much of 2009.  There was not a whole lot to recommend him at that point, but he hit well in winter ball that year and came back to hit .320 in a half-season in Fort Myers.  He followed that up with a .329 average in a full season at New Britain.  He was only twenty-three at that point, but the Twins allowed him to become a minor league free agent and he signed with Texas.  He did fairly well for two years in AAA for the Rangers but did not get a call to the big leagues.  He became a free agent again and signed with the Yankees for 2014.  He became the Yankees' regular third baseman and did okay for them, but was traded to San Diego in late July.  He had a solid year for the Padres in 2015, batting .270 with fourteen homers.  He would probably be considered a utility player, in that he saw time at third, first, and second, but he started over a hundred of his team's games and played in all but ten of them.  He missed six weeks early in 2016 with injuries, but when healthy he did even better, batting around .286 with an OBP of .341 and fifteen home runs.  He played mostly third base in 2016 but was been mostly used at second in 2017.  His numbers went down but were not terrible and he actually hit more home runs (eighteen).  He was traded to Toronto before the 2018 season and went back to mostly third.  His numbers continued to go down and he became a free agent after the season.  He signed with San Francisco but did poorly in a utility role and was released in May.  He signed with Miami about a month later but was released again in early July and finished out the season with Hanshin in Japan.  He signed with Atlanta for 2020 and was in their sixty-man player pool, but did not play for them and was released in late August.  He had a fine season in the Mexican League in 2021 and did well there again in 2022.  He did not play anywhere in 2023, but he played winter ball that year and every year since and has played in the Mexican League since 2024.  He turns thirty-eight today.  It's quite unlikely that we will seem him in the majors again, but he can probably continue to play in the Mexican League for a little while yet if he wants to.

July 2

Grover Hartley (1888)
Cliff Bell (1896)
Hal Wagner (1915)
Dick Greco (1925)
Red Rush (1927)
Chuck Stobbs (1929)
Mike Reilly (1949)
Tony Armas (1953)
Jose Canseco (1964)
Joe Magrane (1964)
Sean Casey (1974)
Greg Dobbs (1978)
Angel Pagan (1982)
Samuel Deduno (1983)
Brett Cecil (1986)
Rene Tosoni (1986)

Grover Hartley is one of ten players named "Grover" to play in the major leagues. There has been only three since the 1930s and none since the 1960s.  I guess nobody names their kid "Grover" anymore.

Dick Greco played twelve seasons in the minors, hitting 328 home runs, but never got a chance in the majors.

Red Rush was a radio broadcaster for the White Sox, the Athletics, and the Cardinals.

Mike Reilly was a major league umpire from 1977-2010.

Left-hander Chuck Stobbs was an original Twin, appearing in twenty-four games for them in 1961.  He was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, went to high school in Norfolk, Virginia, and signed with Boston as a free agent in 1947.  He pitched very well that season for Class B Lynn, going 9-2, 1.72, got a September call-up at age 18, and never went back to the minors again.  He may have been injured in 1948, as he appeared in only six games, but after that he was a regular major league pitcher until the end of his playing career.  He was primarily a starting pitcher with Boston, and frankly was not a very good won despite decent won-lost records.  His ERA with Boston was 4.70 and his WHIP was 1.49, but he was 33-23.  He changed his socks from Red to White after the 1951 season, as he was traded to Chicago.  He was there only one year, both starting and relieving, and was traded to Washington for Mike Fornieles.  He had his best season in the majors in 1953, going 11-8, 3.29 with a 1.24 WHIP in 27 appearances, 20 of them starts.  During that year, he gave up what is generally considered to be the longest home run in major league history, a shot by Mickey Mantle that went completely out of Griffith Stadium and traveled an estimated 565 feet.  He had another good year in 1956, going 15-15, 3.60 in 37appearances, 33 of them starts.  Other than that, however, he did not do a lot for Washington.  He remained in their rotation for the most part, however, until he was placed on waivers in July of 1958.  He was claimed by St. Louis, which moved him into the bullpen.  He did quite well there in 39.2 innings, but the Cardinals released him during the off-season, and he signed back with Washington for 1959.  Now primarily a relief pitcher, he had two good years for them before the team moved to Minnesota.  He came with the team in 1961 but did not pitch well, posting a 7.46 ERA in 44.2 innings.  The Twins released him after the season, ending his playing career at age 32.  He became an insurance salesman for a while, and was a coach at George Washington University.  He moved to Florida in 1971, working at a baseball academy operated by the Kansas City Royals.  He then worked as a minor league instructor for the Cleveland Indians from 1980-1984.  He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.  Chuck Stobbs passed away after a long battle with throat cancer on July 11, 2008.

Right-hander Samuel (Lake) Deduno played for the Twins from 2012-2014.  He was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic and signed with Colorado as a free agent in 2003.  A starter for most of his minor league career, he climbed a level a season (if you call A and high-A different levels) despite there being no good reason why he should have done so.  From 2005-2007, his lowest ERA was 4.80 and his lowest WHIP was 1.46.  He did not play in 2008, presumably due to injury, and when he came back in 2009 he was a much better pitcher.  He had a fine season in AA in 2009, and despite being injured much of 2010 pitched very well in six AAA starts.  He made his major league debut that season, appearing in four games for the Rockies in a late-season call-up.  By then, however, he was twenty-seven.  The Rockies no longer considered him a prospect and put him on waivers.  He was claimed by San Diego and actually started the season with the Padres, but was sent to AAA after only two appearances.  He did not do badly at AAA, but was allowed to become a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 2012.  Sent to Rochester, he pitched well in nine starts and came up to Minnesota in July.  He finished the season in the rotation and wasn't awful, although he walked far too many batters.  He had control problems for most of his career, averaging five walks per nine innings in the minors.  He also struck out about nine and a half batters per nine innings, though, so he did well when he put the ball in the strike zone.  In 2013 he made three starts in Rochester before coming up to the Twins, and stayed in the rotation until he was injured at the end of August.  He actually did fairly well, going 8-8, 3.83 with a 1.35 WHIP.  He was able to significantly cut down on his walks while still throwing his primary pitch, the magical zoomball, which was described by catcher Ryan Doumit as being like catching a ninety-two mile an hour knuckleball.  He was with Minnesota for most of 2014, starting the season in the bullpen, moving to the starting rotation, and then moving back to the bullpen, but was waived at the end of August and claimed by Houston.  He finished 2014 and started 2015 in the majors, but was seldom used and was sent down in mid-May, then missed most of the rest of the season due to a hip injury.  His big league numbers in 2015 look awful, but are skewed by one appearance in which he was allowed to give up ten runs in 4.2 innings.  He became a free agent in 2016 and signed with Baltimore, but apparently was still injured, as his only appearances with the Orioles were in the Gulf Coast League.  That's the last we saw of him in the summer, but he pitched in winter ball through 2019 and did pretty well in relief.  As a Twin, he was 16-18, 4.26, 1.44 WHIP in 279 innings.  He then became a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies organization.  He is currently the pitching coach for the DSL Rockies, where he is presumably teaching young pitchers how to throw the magical zoomball.

Outfielder Rene Michael Tosoni played for the Twins in 2011.  He was born in Toronto and drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-sixth round in 2005.  After spending some time in the Gulf Coast League, he hit .300 in a 2007 split between Elizabethton and Beloit and hit .300 again in Ft. Myers in 2008.  He then spent two years in New Britain and had solid seasons both times, although he missed much of 2010 with injuries.  He was the Most Valuable Player of the Futures Game in 2009, leading some to think he was better than he really was.  His numbers in Rochester in 2011  were not very good, but due to injuries and lack of depth, Tosoni made his major league debut with the Twins in late April and was up and down the rest of the season.  He did little for the Twins in sporadic playing time, which is about what one would expect.  He battled injuries again in 2012, did not play well in Rochester, was sent back to New Britain, did not do well there either, and finished the season on the disabled list.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Milwaukee for 2013 and had an undistinguished season in AA.  He was again a free agent and played with Sioux City, Sugarland, and Perth in 2014.  He was back with Sioux City in 2015 and was back with Sugarland in 2016, but that ended his playing career.  As a Twin, Rene Tosoni hit .203/.275/.343 in 172 at-bats.  He was the batting coach of the Class A Florida Fire Frogs in the Atlanta organization in 2018, but has apparently moved back to his native Canada and is the manager of the Coquitlam Reds, a premier youth baseball team in Vancouver, British Columbia.  He also is a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays and works as a pipelayer for Tybo Contracting in the Vancouver area.

July 1

Roger Connor (1857)
John Clarkson (1861)
Jack Quinn (1883)
Ben Taylor (1888)
Bob Prince (1916)
Frank Baumann (1933)
Brian Sabean (1956)
Jamie Walker (1971)
Nelson Cruz (1980)
Matt Carson (1981)
Justin Huber (1982)
Charlie Blackmon (1986)
Michael Wacha (1991)
Aaron Sanchez (1992)
Jaylin Davis (1994)
Jair Camargo (1999)

First baseman Ben Taylor was a star in the Negro Leagues, batting over .300 in fifteen of his sixteen seasons.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Prince is best remembered for his years with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1948-1975.

Brian Sabean was the general manager of the San Francisco Giants from 1997-2014 and has been their executive vice president of baseball operations since that time.

Outfielder/DH Nelson Ramon Cruz came to the Twins in 2019.  He was born in Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic, went to high school in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, and signed with the Mets as a free agent in 1998.  While he was still in rookie ball, the Mets traded him to Oakland in August of 2000.  He became a professional when he was still quite young, so it understandably took him a while to get started.  He hit twenty homers in Class A in 2003, had an outstanding 2004 split between high-A and AA.  That off-season, however, Oakland traded him to Milwaukee.  He split 2005 between AA and AAA and earned a September call-up that year.  He was tearing up AAA in 2006 when the Brewers traded him to Texas at mid-season.  He spent the rest of 2006 and the start of 2007 in the majors, but struggled to make the transition.  He continued to tear up AAA, and was in danger of being labelled a AAAA player.  In 2009, however, he finally broke through, hitting thirty-three home runs and making his first all-star team.  His best year as a Ranger was actually 2010--he hit just twenty-two homers, but batted .318 and had a OPS of .950.  He became a free agent after the 2013 season and signed with Baltimore.  He led the league in homers in 2014 with forty, but was again a free agent and signed with Seattle.  He gave the Mariners four fine seasons, leading the league in RBIs in 2017, and posting an OPS of over ,900 in three of the four years.  A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota and has continued to put up excellent numbers, batting .304/.386/.598 as a Twin with 76 home runs in 2 1/2 seasons.  He was traded to Tampa Bay in late July of 2021 with Calvin Faucher for Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman.  He hit thirteen home runs for the Rays, but otherwise did little.  He signed with Washington for 2022 and did not have a very good season.  He signed with San Diego for 2023 and did better, but nowhere near what he used to do.  He played a few games of winter ball, then called it a career.  It's was a darn good career, though.  He made seven all-star teams, had four silver slugger awards, and has finished in the top ten in MVP voting five times.  He probably won't make the Hall of Fame, but he certainly had a career to be proud of.  At last report, Nelson Cruz was a special advisor to major league baseball for Latin American issues.

Outfielder Matthew Reese Carson played in twenty-six games for the Twins in 2012.  He was born in Newport Beach, California, went to high school in Yucaipa, California, attended Brigham Young University, and was drafted by the Yankees in the fifth round in 2002.  He went back and forth between A and AA from 2004-06 before finally playing a full year of AA in 2007.  He reached AAA in 2008 and did well there, batting .285 with an OPS of .825, but by then he was twenty-six years old.  He became a minor league free agent and signed with Oakland for 2009.  He hit twenty-five homers with AAA Sacramento that season, which got him a September call-up.  He split 2010 between AAA in the majors.  He hit very well in Sacramento but played sporadically with the Athletics and did not do well when he did play, batting .177 in 79 at-bats.  He was having another fine season for Sacramento in 2011 when he was sold to Tampa Bay on August 1.  The Rays did not bring him to the majors, he became a free agent again, and signed with Minnesota.  He had a fine year for Rochester in 2012 and was called up to the Twins in mid-August.  He got only sixty-six at-bats, however, batting .227/.246/.242.  He signed with Cleveland for 2013 and again spent most of his summer in AAA, getting a call-up in late August but getting just eleven at-bats.  He stayed in AAA with the Indians for 2014, signed with the Dodgers for 2015, was sold to Oakland on May 8, and was released on June 20.  No information about what Matt Carson has done since then was readily available.

First baseman/outfielder Justin Huber had two at-bats with the Twins in 2009.  He was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and was signed by the Mets in 2000.  He hit well throughout his early minor league career, reaching AAA briefly in 2004.  He was then traded to Kansas City, for whom he reached the majors for a week in June and then received a September call-up in 2005.  He had been a catcher in the Mets’ system, but was moved to first base by the Royals.  He hit well in AAA for Kansas City, but got only brief trials with the big club, batting only 98 times in three seasons.  He was sold to San Diego late in spring training of 2008 but did not get much of a chance there, getting 61 at-bats in 33 games.  Huber became a free agent after the 2008 season and the Twins signed him.  He hit .273 with 22 homers in Rochester in 2009, earning a September call-up.  Unfortunately, he got only two at-bats, going 1-for-2, before being injured for the rest of the season.  Minnesota released him after the season, and he signed to play for the Hiroshima Carp in Japan.  He came back to the United States and signed with Minnesota for 2011, but was released during spring training.  He played for Somerset in the Atlantic League, then went back to his native Melbourne to play in the Australian League.  He has since retired and at last report was the general manager of the Melbourne Aces.  He probably could never have been a star, but he was a guy with some pop in his bat who could play first, corner outfield, and catch.  It seems like that would have been a valuable bench player, but no one wanted to give him the chance to do it.

Right-hander Aaron Jacob Sanchez appeared in eight games for the Twins in 2022.  Born and raised in Barstow, California, he was drafted by Toronto in the first round in 2010.  He reached Class A in 2012, high-A in 2013, and in 2014 went through AA, AAA, and then the majors in late July.  With the exception of some rehab assignments, he stayed there through 2019.  He was a reliever in 2014, started 2015 in the starting rotation, then moved back to the bullpen following an injury.  He returned to the starting rotation in 2016 and had the best season of his career, going 15-2, leading the league in ERA at 3.00, and making the all-star team.  He missed much of 2017 due to injury and was not the same pitcher after that.  The Blue Jays were very patient with him, but finally traded him to Houston at the July deadline in 2019.  He pitched better for them in four starts, but became a free agent after the season.  He missed all of 2020 but signed with San Francisco in 2021.  He pitched well for them when he could pitch, but that was only nine games.  A free agent again, he signed with Washington for 2022, was awful in seven starts, and was released in late May.  The Twins signed him a week later and sent him to AAA.  He did fairly well there and came up to the Twins in August.  He was--not awful, but not particularly good, either.  He was in St. Paul in 2023, did not pitch well, and was released in July.  He signed with Arizona and a couple weeks later and was released again at the end of August.  He signed with Toronto for 2024, again did not pitch well in AAA, and was released again in August.  It appears that Aaron Sanchez is now offering baseball training.

Outfielder Jaylin Malik Davis did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for about three and a half years.  He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, attended Appalachian State, and was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-fourth round in 2015.  He was not a big power hitter in college, hitting just ten home runs in three seasons, but he hit sixteen homers in his first professional season in 2016.  He struggled when promoted to high-A in 2017 and was okay, but nothing special in a 2018 season split between high-A and AA.  In 2019, however, he hit .331 with 15 homers and an OPS of 1.112 in forty-one games at AAA Rochester.  At the end of July, however, he was traded to San Francisco along with Prelander Berroa and Kai-Wei Teng for Sam Dyson.  He continued to hit at about that same pace in AAA for the Giants and got a September call-up, batting .167/.255/.238 with one home run in 42 at-bats.  He got twelve more at bats with San Francisco in 2020 and went 2-for-12.  He got nine more at-bats in 2021 and went 1-for-9.  The Giants waived him in late April of 2022 and Boston claimed him.  He spent about two weeks in the majors and went 8-for-24, but spent the bulk of the season in AAA and did not do well there.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Mets and was okay in AAA, but nothing special.  He has played in independent ball since then, and is currently playing for York in the Atlantic League.  He turns thirty-one today.  He has had eighty-seven major league at-bats, batting .207/.274/.299, numbers which are unlikely to change.  We've said many times that we're all for someone playing as long as someone will let them play, so we wish Jaylin Davis well in his career in independent ball.

Catcher Jair David Camargo appeared in five games for the Twins in 2024.  He was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, and signed as a free agent with the Dodgers in 2015.  He was not a particularly strong batter in the minors, but he was also always pretty young for his league.  He was in rookie ball through 2018, reaching Class A in 2019.  He was then traded to the Twins with Kenta Maeda for Brusdar Graterol, Luke Raley, and future considerations.  He missed the COVID season of 2020.  He went to high-A in 2021, to AA in 2022, and to AAA in 2023.  He had the best season of his career in 2023, batting .259/.323/.503 with twenty-one home runs.  He was not able to repeat that in 2024, but was still called up to the Twins briefly in April and July.  He appeared in five games, starting two of them, and went 0-for-6 with a walk and a run.  He is back in St. Paul in 2025 and is not batting well.  He turns twenty-five today.  He presumably is a good defensive catcher, and there are no-hit catchers who have had long careers in the majors.  But he'd have a lot better chance to have a long career if he would learn to hit better.

June 30

Davy Jones (1880)
Ed Rile (1900)
Ron Swoboda (1944)
Chuck Meriwether (1956)
Bud Black (1957)
Al Newman (1960)
Tony Fernandez (1962)
Mark Grudzielanek (1970)
Garret Anderson (1972)
Chan Ho Park (1973)
Pat Venditte (1985)
Blake Treinen (1988)
Jesus Aguilar (1990)
Trea Turner (1993)

Chuck Meriwether was a major league umpire from 1993-2010.

Infielder Albert Dwayne Newman played for the Minnesota Twins from 1987-1991.  He was born in Kansas City, attended San Diego State, and was drafted by Montreal in the first round of the June Secondary draft in 1981.  He was not much of a hitter in the minors, although he did draw a pretty fair number of walks.  After the 1983 season, he was traded to San Diego as part of a three-team deal, but in July of 1984 he was traded back to Montreal.  He hit .282 at AAA in 1985, which got him about two months in the majors as a reserve infielder.  He began 1986 with the Expos, and was in the majors to stay.  He hit a home run that season, his only home run in the majors.  After the 1986 season, however, he was traded to Minnesota for Mike Shade.  His best role was always as a utility player.  He was considered a good glove man who could play three infield positions well.  On the other hand, his bat left much to be desired.  His best year at bat was 1989, which was also the year he got the most playing time, but even then, he hit only .253 with an OPS of .643 (although with an OBP of .341).  In 1991 he slumped to .191 with an OPS of .471, and he was allowed to become a free agent after the season.  Despite his numbers, many fans were upset that the popular Newman was let go, especially coming off a World Championship season.  As GM Andy McPhail explained, however, “Any way you look at it, .191 is still .191.”  It turned out to be a wise decision; Newman played only one more season, with Texas in 1992, and then was done as a player.  As a Twin, he hit .231/.306/.275 in 1,647 at bats.  He remained in baseball after his playing career ended.  Newman was a minor league manager for the Twins from 1995-1997 and 1999-2001 and was a coach for them from 2002-2005.  He  became an advance scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006.  He was the manager of the Alexandria Blue Anchors of the Northwoods League from 2013-15, was a coach for the St. Cloud Rox of the same league from 2016-17, and managed the Rox in 2018.  At last report, Al Newman was working with various youth baseball programs in Minnesota.

Infielder Mark Grudzielanek did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for about three weeks in 2009.  He was born in Milwaukee, went to high school in El Paso, and was drafted by Montreal in the eleventh round in 1991.  He started slowly in the minors, but hit .322 at AA in 1994 and followed that up with .298 in AAA in 1995, which got him to the majors for a little over half the season.  He became the Expos’ starting shortstop the next year.  It was his best season as an Expo:  he hit .306 and made the all-star team.  He remained the Expos’ starting shortstop, posting solid batting averages but doing little else offensively, until the end of July, 1998, when he was traded to the Dodgers.  He had a fine 1999, hitting .326, but then went back to being the player he had been with the Expos, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great, either.  He shifted to second base in 2000, which is where he would play the rest of his career.  Grudzielanek was traded to the Cubs after the 2002 season.  He had a couple of good years as a Cub, hitting over .300 in both of his seasons for them.  He signed with the Cardinals for 2005, hitting .294, then moved on to Kansas City.  He was a Royal for three years, hitting .300, but could not find a job after the 2008 season.  The Twins picked him up in mid-July of 2009 and sent him to the minors for about three weeks, then released him.  He was quoted as saying the Twins had wasted his time, although the feeling appears to have been mutual.  Grudzielanek signed with Cleveland for 2010.  He hit .273 as a part-time player and was released June 10, ending his playing career, although he did not officially retire until February 23, 2011.  Mark Grudzielanek was the manager of the Kane County Cougars in 2015, was the assistant player development coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016, and has been the manager of the AAA Charlotte Knights in the White Sox organization from 2017-2019.  That appears to have been his last baseball job.  It appears that he is now Rancho Sante Fe, California.  Mark Grudzielanek was inducted into the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.  His son, Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, is an infielder for USC, and presumably needs a very large shirt for that name to be printed on.

June 29

Wilbert Robinson (1863)

Harry Frazee (1880)

Bobby Veach (1888)

Ollie Carnegie (1899)

Ken Blackman (1911)

Dizzy Trout (1915)

Cal Drummond (1917)

Bob Shaw (1933)

Katsuya Nomura (1935)

Harmon Killebrew (1936)

John Boccabella (1941)

Larry Stahl (1941)

Bruce Kimm (1951)

Rick Honeycutt (1954)

Pedro Guerrero (1956)

John Wehner (1967)

Trey Hodges (1978)

Dusty Hughes (1982)

Brooks Raley (1988)

Jose Miranda (1998)

Harry Frazee was the owner of the Red Sox from 1916-1923 and is best remembered for selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

Ollie Carnegie is the all-time home run king of the International League with 258.  He started his minor league career at age 32.

Ken Blackman was a minor league player, college coach, minor league executive, and major league scout.

Cal Drummond was an American League umpire from 1960-1969.

Katsuya Nomura hit 657 home runs in Japan during his twenty-five-year career.

An original Twin, Harmon Clayton Killebrew was with the Twins through the 1974 season.  Born and raised in Payette, Idaho, he was signed by Washington in 1954 under the “bonus baby” rules, which required him to be on the major league roster for two full years.  While he obviously overcame it, one has to think that slowed his development, as he got only 93 at bats in his first two major league seasons.  He got 34 more at bats through June of 1956, then his two years finally expired and he got regular playing time in the minors, coming back as a September call-up.  He hit around .280 in the minors in 1957 and 1958, hitting a total of 48 home runs, and got brief time in the majors both years.  Finally, in 1959, Killebrew reached the majors to stay.  He had been exclusively a third baseman in the minors, and he was the regular third baseman for Washington in 1959.  He responded by hitting 42 home runs, driving in 105 runs, making his first of eleven all-star teams, and finished fifteenth in MVP voting.  He played both first and third in 1960, had another fine year, and came to Minnesota with the team in 1961 as its first star player.  He played mostly first base in 1961, then moved to the outfield for 1962-1964.  He kept hitting, belting between 45 and 49 homers each season, posting an OPS over .900 every year, finishing in the top eleven in MVP voting, and making the all-star team every year except 1962 (an odd omission, since he led the league in homers and RBI that year).  He was injured part of 1965, when he was moved back to the infield, but still finished fifteenth in MVP balloting as he helped lead the Twins to the World Series.  He bounced back to play in every game in 1966 and 1967, playing primarily at third in 1966 and almost exclusively at first in 1967.  He hit a total of 83 homers with 234 walks in those seasons and finishing in the top four in MVP voting each year.  In 1968, Killebrew was having a bad year when he was famously injured in the all-star game, not coming back until September.  It was a bad year for Harmon, but he came back to play in every game in 1969, mostly at third but a substantial number at first, and leading the league in homers, RBIs, walks, and OBP and winning his only MVP award.  He remained at third in 1970 and had another fine year.  Shifted to first in 1971, Killebrew continued to play well, but signs of decline began to show; his OPS that season was the lowest of his career to that point other than in 1968.  He slipped a little more in 1972 and became a part-time player after that.  Killebrew became a free agent after the 1974 season.  The Twins thought he was finished, but he thought he wasn’t, so he signed with Kansas City.  Unfortunately, the Twins were right:  Killebrew hit only .199 with fourteen homers as a Royal, and his playing career came to an end.  It was a tremendous career, though.  As a Twin/Senator, he hit .258/.278/.514, with 559 homers, giving him a total of 573 home runs for his career.  He made eleven all-star teams, including nine in a row from 1963-1971.  He was in the top ten in MVP voting seven times and in the top fifteen ten times.  Harmon Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984, the first Twin to be so honored.  Despite denials from major league baseball, Killebrew is widely thought to be the model for the MLB logo.  He was a television broadcaster for the Twins from 1976-1978, with Oakland from 1979-1982, with California in 1983, and back with the Twins from 1984-1988.  Harmon Killebrew retired to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was the chair of the Harmon Killebrew Foundation, which is dedicated to enriching the quality of life by promoting positive and healthy participation in sports.  He also founded the Danny Thompson memorial golf tournament, which has raised millions of dollars for leukemia research.  Sadly, Harmon Killebrew passed away from esophageal cancer on May 17, 2011.

Right-hander Trey Allen Hodges did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for a month in 2005.  He was born in Houston, went to high school in Spring, Texas, attended LSU, and was drafted by Atlanta in the seventeenth round in 2000.  He had an outstanding year in 2001 in Class A, followed that with a fine season in AAA in 2002, and reached the majors as a September call-up in 2002.  He was with the Braves for all of 2003, his only full season in the majors.  A starter in the minors, he was used out of the bullpen that season and struggled with his control, something that had not been a problem for him in the minor leagues, and had a mediocre year, going 3-3, 4.66, 1.52 WHIP.  He was back in AAA in 2004 and having another mediocre year when he was released in late June, finishing the season in Japan.  He signed with the Twins for 2005 and was sent to Rochester, where he went 0-0, 5.62, 1.69 WHIP in nine relief appearances (16 innings).  The Braves re-signed him a couple weeks later, but he continued to not pitch well and was released again a month later.  Hodges was out of baseball in 2006 but decided to give it another try in 2007.  Atlanta gave him another chance, and he stayed in AAA all season, but he really was no better than he had been before.  He moved to the Texas AAA team in 2008 and played for independent Lancaster in 2009, then his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Trey Hodges was a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Left-hander Dustin Robert Hughes appeared in fifteen games for the Twins in 2011.  He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, went to high school in Horn Lake, Mississippi, attended Delta State University, and was drafted by Kansas City in the eleventh round in 2003.  He pitched very well in the low minors through 2004, then had a terrible year in 2005 at Class A.  This may have been due to injury; he missed all of the 2006 season.  He pitched well in AA in 2007 and 2008, but less well when promoted to AAA in 2008.  He moved to the bullpen in 2009 and did well in AAA Omaha, earning a September call-up.  He was with the Royals for all of 2010, going 1-3, 3.83, but with a WHIP of 1.47 in 57 appearances (56.1 innings).  Kansas City wasn’t fooled and placed him on waivers.  The Twins claimed him and he started the season in Minnesota.  He was mostly bad; in 15 appearances (12.2 innings) he went 1-0, 9.95, 2.13 WHIP, giving up 19 hits and 8 walks.  Sent back to AAA, he was better, but not particularly good.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Atlanta for 2012 and was fairly mediocre in AAA for them as well.  He re-signed with Atlanta for 2013 but was released on May 10 and later announced his retirement.  At last report, Dusty Hughes was an assistant baseball coach at Center Hill High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi.  He was also the owner of the Royal Baseball Training Academy in the Memphis area.

Left-hander Brooks Lee Raley did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for about a month in 2014.  He was born in San Antonio, went to high school in Uvalde, Texas, attended Texas A&M, and was drafted by the Cubs in the sixth round in 2009.  There's really nothing particularly impressive about his minor league career.  He sometimes had some decent ERAs, but it was generally with a high WHIP.  He was a starter throughout his minor league career with the Cubs, reaching AA in 2011 and AAA in 2012.  He made five big-league starts with the Cubs in August of 2012, going 1-2 but with an ERA of 8.14.  He got a September callup in 2013 and did better pitching out of the bullpen, but still was not very good, posting an ERA of 5.14.  The Cubs put him on waivers after the season and he was selected by the Twins.  He made eight appearances in Rochester, pitching 14.2 innings.  He was 0-1, 3.68, but with a WHIP of 1.91.  The Twins waived him in early May of 2014 and he was selected by the Angels.  They sent him to AAA, where he pitched poorly again.  He moved on to Korea for 2015 and  pitched there through 2019.  He did fairly well there, with 2017 being his best season.  He signed with Cincinnati for 2020, but was traded to Houston in August.  He stayed there through 2021, then moved on to Tampa Bay for 2022, where he had an astonishingly good season.  Coming in with an ERA well over five, he posted a 2.68 ERA with a 0.97 WHIP in 53.2 innings (60 games).  He had another fine season in 2023, proving it wasn't a fluke, and was off to a good start in 2024 when he went out in April due to Tommy John surgery.  He is currently on a rehab assignment in Class A St. Lucie.  He turns thirty-seven today.  He's proven he can pitch--the only question is whether injury plus age will prevent him from doing it again.

Corner infielder Jose Francisco Miranda came up to the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Manati, Puerto Rico, went to high school in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2016.  His minor league record is somewhat mixed, but it should be pointed out that he was generally young for his league.  He reached high-A in 2018, AA in 2019, did not play in 2020, and then had an awesome year in 2021, batting .344/.401/.572 with thirty home runs in a year split between AA and AAA.  There was no noticeable drop when he came up to AAA, either.  He began 2022 in AAA, but came up to the majors in early May.  He got off to a horrible start, batting just .094 through fourteen games and .176 in the month of May.  He turned it around in June, however, and for the season batted .268 with 15 home runs and an OPS of .751.  He was the starting third baseman for the Twins at the start of 2023 but again struggled early.  It turned out he had an injured shoulder, which kept him performing well.  Healthy in 2024, he took advantage of an injury to Royce Lewis and re-established himself in the majors.  With the return of Lewis in 2025, Miranda appeared to be slated for first base, but the Twins decided that rather have Ty France there and sent him back to AAA in mid-April.  He has done little in AAA, although injuries may have played a part in that.  He turns twenty-seven today and appears to be at a cross-road.  Jose Miranda is going to have to start hitting again if he's going to have much more of a major league career.