October 31

Harry Smith (1874)

Cal Hubbard (1900)

Ken Keltner (1916)

Jim Donohue (1938)

Ed Stroud (1939)

Dave McNally (1942)

Mickey Rivers (1948)

Dave Trembley (1951)

Mike Gallego (1960)

Matt Nokes (1963)

Fred McGriff (1963)

Eddie Taubensee (1968)

Steve Trachsel (1970)

David Dellucci (1973)

Tim Byrdak (1973)

David Dellucci was drafted by Minnesota in the eleventh round in 1994, but did not sign.

Right-hander James Thomas Donohue made six appearances for the Twins in 1962. He was born in St. Louis, and the Cardinals signed the home town boy as a free agent in 1956. He pitched pretty well in the minors, especially when you consider that the Cardinals could never make up their mind whether he should be a starter or a reliever, using him in both roles every year. In June of 1960, St. Louis traded Donohue to the Dodgers for John Glenn. The Tigers took him in the Rule 5 draft the following off-season, and after pitching well for them in 14 appearances, he was traded to the Angels. He did fairly well for them out of the bullpen as well, getting five saves at a time when many teams did not have a closer as we know it today. In May of 1962, Donohue was traded to the Twins for Don Lee. He made six appearances with the Twins, starting once. He worked 10.1 innings, posting an ERA of 6.97, and then went back to the minors, never to return to the big leagues. He was in the Twins' system for two more years, but was out of baseball after 1964. There is a Jim Donohue who owns a wholesale sporting goods company in St. Louis; it could not be determined if he is "our" Jim Donohue, but even though he turns seventy-four today it does not seem all that farfetched to think it could be the same one.

October 30

Ed Delahanty (1867)

Buck Freeman (1871)

Charlie Deal (1891)

Clyde Manion (1896)

Bill Terry (1898)

Dave Barnhill (1914)

Leon Day (1916)

Bobby Bragan (1917)

Joe Adcock (1927)

Jim Perry (1935)

Bruce Gardner (1938)

Jim Ray Hart (1941)

Houston Jimenez (1957)

Dave Leeper (1959)

Dave Valle (1960)

Lee Tunnell (1960)

Gerald Perry (1960)

Scott Garrelts (1961)

Danny Tartabull (1962)

Mark Portugal (1962)

Marco Scutaro (1975)

Jason Bartlett (1979)

Laynce Nix (1980)

Dave Leeper was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1978, but did not sign.

Right-hander James Evan Perry played for the Twins from 1963-1972. He is probably best remembered today as Gaylord Perry's brother, but that's unfair, because Jim Perry was a fine pitcher in his own right, winning 215 games in 17 seasons. He won a Cy Young award and finished third another time, made the all-star team three times, finished in the top ten in MVP voting twice, and twice led the league in wins. Born and raised in Williamston, North Carolina, Jim Perry attended Campbell University and was signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 1956. He pitched 551 minor league innings in only three years. Perry made the Indians out of spring training in 1959 and never spent another day in the minors. He made an immediate impact. Perry appeared in 44 games, 13 of them starts, won 12 games with a 2.65 ERA, and finished second to Bob Allison for Rookie of the Year. The next year, Perry was put into the starting rotation and led the league with 18 wins. In 1961 and 1962, however, the wins went down and the ERA went up, although his other numbers were similar enough to make one believe it may have been a change in luck more than anything. The Indians didn't look at it that way, however, and when Perry got off to a slow start in 1963 they traded him to the Twins for Jack Kralick. Perry was primarily a "swing man" for the Twins through 1968, but was placed in the rotation in 1969, at age 33, and went on to have his best years. Perry pitched over 260 innings each of the next three seasons. He won 61 games over that period, including 24 in his Cy Young season of 1970. He also led the league in starts that year with 40. He won only 13 games in 1972, but still had a fine year, with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He was 37 years old, however, and the Twins were looking both to get younger and to save money, so in March of 1973 Perry was traded to Detroit for Dan Fife and cash. He had another solid year for the Tigers, but was traded to Cleveland as part of a three-team trade that also involved the Yankees. He had another strong year in 1974, winning 17 games with a 2.96 ERA and pitching 252 innings at age 38. That was to be his last good year, however; Perry struggled at the start of 1975, was traded to Oakland in May, was released in August, and retired. Jim Perry pitched for the Twins for nearly ten years, going 128-90 with a 3.15 ERA and 61 complete games.  He did some scouting for Oakland for a while, signing Terry Steinbach, among others.  He also worked for Dial-Net, a long-distance telephone service.  Perry sponsors the Jim Perry Legends Golf Classic to raise money for Alzheimer's and dementia care services. His son, Chris, is a golfer on the PGA tour. Perry lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Shortstop Alfonso (Gonzalez) “Houston” Jimenez played for the Twins in 1983 and 1984. He was born in Mexico City. He played in Class A in the Cubs organization in 1975, hitting only .217 as a 17-year-old but drawing 105 walks. He then apparently spent a few years in the Mexican League. He shows up in AA briefly in 1978, playing in 13 games for the White Sox' organization. The Twins signed him in October of 1980, but sold him to Reynosa of the Mexican League near the end of 1981 spring training. The Twins bought him back from Reynosa in July of 1982 and sent him to Toledo. Jimenez never hit much: in parts of seven minor league seasons, his batting average was .227 with little power. He was considered a very good defensive player, however, and came up to the Twins in June of 1983. He was the semi-regular shortstop for the Twins in 1984, but hit about like you'd expect someone with a .227 average in the minors to hit, and was sent back down for 1985. The Twins released him in April of 1986. He presumably went back to Mexico that year, but he was with the AAA team of Pittsburgh in 1987 and Cleveland in 1988, getting 27 more at-bats in the big leagues in those years. As a Twin, Houston Jimenez had 384 at-bats and hit .195/.231/.247. After his playing career ended, he turned to coaching and managing.  Most recently, he was manager of Minatitlan in the Mexican League in 2012.

Right-hander Byron Lee Tunnell made ten appearances for the Twins in 1989 at the end of a fairly respectable major league career. Born in Tyler, Texas, Tunnell attended Baylor and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round in 1981. He moved through the Pirates' system quickly; after going 12-9 with a 3.46 ERA for AAA Portland in 1982, he received a September call-up. He spent most of the next three years in Pittsburgh, with mixed results. After a solid year as a starter for the Pirates in 1983, in which he won 11 games and finished ninth in Rookie of the Year voting, Tunnell was moved to the bullpen for 1984, but did not do well there. He went back to the starting rotation in 1985 and pitched decently, but his record was 4-10, and that was apparently all Pittsburgh was interested in. The Pirates sent him down to AAA Hawaii for 1986, and after a poor year there they sold him to the Cardinals. He split 1987 between AAA and St. Louis, doing an adequate job out of the Cardinals bullpen. Returned to the starting rotation, he spent all of 1988 at AAA Louisville and was released after the season. The Twins signed him for 1989, and he pitched well for AAA Portland, spending about a month in the big leagues. Minnesota released him after the season, and he appeared in the minor leagues for Houston, Colorado, and Detroit and also spent three years pitching in Japan before calling it a career. As a Twin, Lee Tunnell pitched in 10 games, all in relief. He went 1-0 with an ERA of 6.00 in 12 innings. He always did fairly well as a starter; perhaps nothing would have changed, but one can't help but wonder how his career might have gone if the Pirates had just left him in their rotation in 1984. He got into coaching after his playing career ended.  He was the minor league pitching coordinator of the Milwaukee Brewers until late July of 2012, when he became the Brewers' bullpen coach. He also works with the OKC Ambassadors, an organization which lists as its goals helping baseball players develop as followers of Christ and helping those players be seen by major league and college scouts to advance their careers.

Right-hander Mark Steven Portugal began what turned into a substantial career with the Twins, pitching for them from 1985-1988. Born in Los Angeles, he went to high school in Norwalk, California and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1980. He did well throughout his minor league career, coming to the Twins in August of 1985. He was with the Twins for most of 1986 and did a decent job as a sometimes starter, sometimes reliever. 1987, however, was a disaster. Portugal started the season with the Twins, and went 1-3 with an ERA of 7.77. Sent to AAA Portland, he went 1-10 with an ERA of 6.00 the rest of the year. He got straightened out in 1988, and again was with the Twins most of the year, doing a decent job as a middle reliever. The Twins, however, apparently decided he was never going to develop, and traded him to Houston in December of 1988 for Todd McClure. The Twins were wrong. Portugal started 1989 with AAA Tucson, but reached Houston by June and stayed there for five years. Used mostly as a starter, Portugal won 52 games for the Astros, three times posting ERAs under 3.00. His best year in Houston was 1993, when he made 33 starts, won 18 games, and posted an ERA of 2.77. He finished sixth in the Cy Young voting that year. Portugal became a free agent after that season, and signed with the Giants. His ERA went up when he left Houston, but he pitched fairly well for a year and a half with San Francisco. He was then traded to Cincinnati, for whom he posted an ERA just under 4.00 for another year and a half. He became a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with Philadelphia. Portugal was injured much of 1997, but came back in 1998 to be an average starting pitcher. He moved on to Boston for 1999, but posted an ERA of 5.51 and was released. Cincinnati gave him another shot in 2000, but he failed to make the team and retired. As a Twin, Mark Portugal appeared in 72 games, 26 of them starts. He was 11-19 with a 5.13 ERA. For his career, however, he played in 15 seasons, won 109 games, had a 4.03 ERA and an ERA+ of 100, which is not too shabby. At last report, Mark Portugal was living in Barrington, Rhode Island where his son, Jacob, was a fine high school baseball player.

Shortstop Jason Alan Bartlett played for the Twins from 2004-2006. He was born in Mountain View, California, went to high school in Stockton, California, attended the University of Oklahoma, and was drafted by San Diego in the 13th round in 2001. He hit well at Class A in 2001, but after a slow start in 2002 he was traded to the Twins for Brian Buchanan. He worked his way up the system, hitting .296 at AA in 2003 and .331 at AAA in 2004. He spent about two weeks with the Twins in 2004, and was the regular shortstop for them for about six weeks in 2005. He hit only .240, however, and was returned to Rochester. After hitting .332 there, he was brought back to Minnesota late in the season and was the regular shortstop for the Twins the rest of the way. The Twins were still reluctant to trust him with the job, however, and come April of 2006, Bartlett was back in Rochester while Juan Castro played in Minnesota. After again hitting over .300, Bartlett was brought back to Minnesota, and this time did not return to the minors. He hit .309 the rest of the way, helping the Twins' improbable run into the playoffs. In 2007, however, he slumped to .265 and was traded that off-season, along with Eduardo Morlan and Matt Garza, to Tampa Bay for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, and Delmon Young. As a Twin, Jason Bartlett hit .272/.341/.362. He had three strong seasons for Tampa Bay, being named the MVP of the Devil Rays' World Series team in 2008 and making the all-star team in 2009. In 2010, however, his average fell to .254 and his OPS to .675.  Traded to San Diego in 2011, he fell even farther, hitting .245 with an OPS of .615. In 2012, he appeared in only 29 games, batting .133, and was released in August.  He turns 33 today, and one has to think his playing career may be over.

October 29

Charlie Ebbets (1859)

Solly Hofman (1882)

Pete Richert (1939)

Jim Bibby (1944)

Darrell Brown (1955)

Terry Felton (1957)

Jesse Barfield (1959)

R. A. Dickey (1974)

Karim Garcia (1975)

Scott Randall (1975)

Jose Mijares (1984)

Outfielder Darrell Wayne Brown played for the Twins in 1982 and 1983. He was born in Oklahoma City, went to high school in Los Angeles, and attended California State--Los Angeles. He was drafted by the Tigers in the third round in 1977. He had been drafted three times previously: by Houston (1st round, January 1975), San Francisco (1st round [secondary phase], June 1975), and Milwaukee (1st round [secondary phase], June 1976). Brown hit for a mediocre average with no power in the minors, but he was fast and a good defender. He got a cup of coffee with Detroit in 1981 and then was traded to Oakland. He spent most of 1982 in AAA, appeared in 8 games for the Athletics, and then was released. The Twins signed him and made him a semi-regular outfielder for 1983-84. He actually hit a little better in the majors than his minor-league record would have suggested, posting batting averages in the .270s, though with few walks and little power. Brown was released by the Twins in 1985 spring training. He went to the Detroit, Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle, and Texas organizations over the next two years, but never made it back to the big leagues. He made a comeback of sorts in the mid-90s, playing two years of independent ball, but then was gone for good. As a Twin, Darrell Brown hit .277/.303/.322. He was inducted into the Cal State—Los Angeles Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.  He apparently has done some scouting for major league teams, but it could not be determined whether he is still doing so now.

Right-hander Terry Lane Felton pitched for the Twins from 1979-1982. He was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, went to high school in Baker, Louisiana, and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1976. He spent most of four seasons, 1978-1981, in AAA Toledo, pitching in a total of seven games for the Twins over that span. He was with the Twins for all of 1982, making 48 appearances, six of them starts. He gave up substantially less than a hit per inning, but suffered from wildness and a tendency to give up the home run ball. Felton was 0-13 in 1982, which, coupled with an 0-3 in 1980, made him 0-16, the highest number of losses without a win ever to start a big-league career. Sadly, it would also be the highest number of losses without a win to finish a big-league career; Felton was returned to the minors in 1983 and never made it back to the big leagues. The record is as much bad luck as poor pitching. The Twins had an awful team in 1982, losing 102 games, and Felton became emblematic of that awfulness, but he was hardly the worst pitcher on the team. In fact, Felton had three saves that year. He had a poor year in 1983 with AAA Toledo, however, and after another poor year for the Dodgers' AA team in 1984 he was out of baseball. Terry Felton is currently a captain in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana sheriff's department.

Right-hander Robert Alan Dickey played for the Twins in 2009. Born and raised in Nashville, he attended the University of Tennessee. Dickey was drafted by the Rangers in the first round in 1996, but played for the U. S. Olympic team before signing in September. He advanced to AAA by 1999, but stalled there, spending over three years at Oklahoma (with the exception of a brief call-up in 2001) before getting to the big leagues in 2003. Dickey alternated between starting and relieving and was not particularly successful at either. Still, he was with Texas almost all of 2003 and 2004. He went back to the minors for most of 2005 and 2006; it was during this period that he began to work on the knuckleball. Dickey became a free agent after the 2006 season. He moved on to the Brewers' organization for 2007, but did not play in the big leagues with them. A free agent again after that season, he signed with the Twins as a free agent on November 29, but was taken by Seattle in the Rule 5 draft a week later. He was offered back to the Twins at the end of spring training of 2008, but was instead traded to the Mariners for Jair Fernandez. He spent most of 2008 with Seattle, but did not pitch well and was released. Once again signing with the Twins, he spent much of 2009 with them, but was sent to the minors in early August and later was removed from the forty-man roster. As a Twin, R. A. Dickey was 1-1 with a 4.62 ERA in 35 appearances, all but one in relief. Three years ago, this biography closed with “As a 35-year-old knuckleballer, it seems likely that the R. A. Dickey story is not quite over yet.” That sure turned out to be true. He signed with the Mets and went 11-9, 2.84, 1.19 WHIP in 2010. He was seventh in the league in ERA and was in contention for Comeback Player of the Year, an award he might have won except for the fact that he’d never really been anywhere in the first place before that season.  He turned in another fine season for the Mets in 2011, going 8-13, 3.28, 1.23 WHIP.  In 2012 he turned in the best season of his career, going 20-6, 2.73, 1.05 WHIP and leading the league in innings and strikeouts, making him a top contender for the Cy Young Award. He’s thirty-eight now.  One wonders how long he can continue doing this, but Hoyt Wilhelm pitched until he was forty-nine, so who knows?  R. A. Dickey may have several more good years left in him.

Right-hander Scott Philip Randall did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system twice. He was born in Fullerton, California, went to high school in Goleta, California, attended Santa Barbara City College, and was drafted by Colorado in the eleventh round in 1995. He was decent in the minors until he was promoted to AAA for nine starts in 1999, where he was pretty bad. After that season he was traded to Minnesota for Chris Latham. He made fourteen starts for AAA Salt Lake, did not do much, was placed on waivers, and was chosen by Texas. The Rangers released him in late March of 2001 and after a month he signed back with Colorado. He again flopped at AAA and was allowed to become a free agent after the season, signing with Minnesota for 2002. He made five starts at New Britain and fifteen at AAA Edmonton and had what was easily his best year, going a combined 14-0, 3.30, 1.20 WHIP. Surprisingly, that did not get him anywhere, and he was allowed to become a free agent again. Cincinnati signed him for 2003 and sent him to AAA, where he went back to being what he had been. Despite that, he was brought up to the majors in late August and stayed the rest of the season, going 2-5, 6.51 in fifteen appearances, two of them starts. He was back in AAA in 2004, then was released in early July. He signed with Montreal and was traded to Kansas City four days later, for whom he finished the season in AAA. In 2005 he signed with Colorado one more time, but it was his last hurrah; he was released on July 8 and his playing career came to an end. For whatever reason, 2002 was the only good season he had above AA. At last report, Scott Randall was living in the Colorado Springs area and was the owner of Pressed4Time, a dry cleaning and laundry service.

Left-handed reliever Jose Manuel Mijares pitched for the Twins from 2008-2011. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela and signed by the Twins as a free agent in 2002. He was used primarily as a reliever throughout his minor-league career. He has generally averaged more than a strikeout per inning, but has never pitched as many as seventy innings in a season. Called up to the Twins in September of 2008, he has stayed there ever since with the exception of five games at Rochester in 2009 and a rehab assignment there in 2010. He appeared ready to take a prominent bullpen role for the Twins in 2010, but was injured much of the season and when healthy was generally used as a LOOGY, appearing in 47 games but working only 32.2 innings.  He was given that prominent bullpen role at the start of the 2011 campaign but promptly gave it back, going 0-2, 4.59, 1.69 WHIP with 30 walks in 49 innings (58 appearances).  He became a free agent after the 2011 season and signed with Kansas City.  He pitched well as a LOOGY there, but was placed on waivers and claimed by San Francisco, where he continued to thrive in the LOOGY role and at this writing appears to be a good bet to pick up a World Series ring.  As a Twin, Mijares pitched 153.2 innings in 186 major league games. He had an ERA of 3.16 and a WHIP of 1.32.  He may never be the pitcher Twins fans hoped he'd be, but at age 28, he may have several years of major league pitching ahead of him.

October 28

Tommy Tucker (1863)

Frank Smith (1879)

Doc Lavan (1890)

Johnny Neun (1900)

Joe Page (1917)

Bob Veale (1935)

Sammy Stewart (1954)

Bob Melvin (1961)

Lenny Harris (1964)

Larry Casian (1965)

Juan Guzman (1966)

Braden Looper (1974)

Johnny Neun managed two major league teams, the Yankees in 1946 and Cincinnati from 1947-1948. Each time, he was replaced by someone who was nicknamed “Bucky”.

Left-hander Lawrence Paul Casian played for the Twins from 1990-1994. He was born in Lynwood, California, went to high school in Lakewood, California, attended Cal State-Fullerton, and was drafted by the Twins in the 6th round in 1987. He pitched very well in the low minors, but stumbled when promoted to AAA Portland in 1989. Switched to the bullpen in 1991, he began pitching significantly better. Casian got brief trials with the Twins from 1990-1992, but made the team for the full season in 1993. He had a good year out of the bullpen, appearing in 54 games and going 5-3 with a 3.02 ERA and an ERA+ of 144. Casian got off to a poor start in 1994, however, and the Twins placed him on waivers. He was selected by Cleveland, and finished the season with the Indians, but continued to pitch poorly and was released. The Cubs signed him, and Casian split the next two and a half years between Chicago and AAA Iowa. He pitched very well in both places in 1995 and 1996, but got off to a poor start again in 1997, and was placed on waivers again. He was chosen by the Royals, but was released again after two months. Casian signed with the White Sox for 1998, and was at AAA for most of the season, pitching only four innings in the majors. He signed with the Devil Rays for 1999, but was released in spring training and was out of baseball. As a Twin, he was 9-7, 4.73 with a 1.49 WHIP and an ERA+ of 94. He appeared in 113 games and pitched 144.2 innings. Larry Casian is currently the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of Portland.

October 27

Joe Mulvey (1858)

Patsy Dougherty (1867)

Shad Berry (1878)

Ralph Kiner (1922)

Del Rice (1922)

Pumpsie Green (1933)

Lee Stange (1936)

Mike Lum (1945)

Pete Vuckovich (1952)

U. L. Washington (1953)

Barry Bonnell (1953)

Tom Nieto (1960)

Bill Swift (1961)

Bip Roberts (1963)

Brad Radke (1972)

Jason Johnson (1973)

Kyle Waldrop (1985)

Right-hander Albert Lee Stange pitched for the Twins from 1961-1964. He was born in Chicago, attended Proviso Township High School in Maywood, Illinois and then attended Drake University. While in high school, he was on the football team with Ray Nitschke. He was also an excellent bowler, and later was offered a sponsorship to go on the professional bowlers' tour. Stange was small for a pitcher, standing at 5' 9". He was signed by the Washington Senators as a free agent in 1957. Stange twice pitched over 200 innings in a minor league season; his high was 251 in 1960 at Class B Wilson, where he won 20 games. He opened the 1961 season with the Twins and pitched well in two games of mopup relief, but then spent the season with AAA Syracuse, returning to Minnesota in September. The next year, with the exception of a brief stint at AAA in 1963, he was in the majors to stay. Stange was used mostly as a relief in 1962, but then became a "swing man", a role he filled most of his career. His best year as a Twin was 1962, when he went 12-5 in 32 appearances, 20 of them starts, with an ERA of 2.62 and an ERA+ of 140. In June of 1964, the Twins traded Stange and George Banks to Cleveland for Mudcat Grant. He pitched fairly well for Cleveland for two years, and then was traded to Boston. With the Red Sox, he was used more as a reliever, although he still made some starts. He continued to pitch well through 1969. In 1970, however, he got off to a poor start, was traded to the White Sox, continued to pitch poorly, and was released. As a Twin, Lee Stange was 20-14 with a 3.61 ERA in 97 games, 37 of them starts. He had an ERA+ of 105. After his playing career, Stange became a pitching coach in both the majors and the minors, serving as the Twins' pitching coach in 1975. At last report, Lee Stange was a coach for the Florida Tech Panthers in Melbourne, Florida. He also appears at Twins and Red Sox fantasy camps.

Catcher Thomas Andrew Nieto played for the Twins in 1987 and 1988. He was born in Downey, California and attended Oral Roberts University. He was drafted by St. Louis it the third round in 1981. He had been drafted twice previously: by Minnesota in the 31st round in June 1979, and by Pittsburgh in the third round of the secondary phase in January 1980. Nieto appears to have been only a part-time catcher even in the minors, as he only played 100 games or got 300 at-bats in a minor-league season once. He made his major league debut for the Cardinals in May of 1984, and was their reserve catcher the rest of the season. The following year, 1985, he set his career highs in games and at-bats, with 95 and 288, respectively. That was his only full season in the majors. Just prior to the 1986 season, Nieto was traded to Montreal. After one season there, he was traded to the Twins with Jeff Reardon for Al Cardwood, Neal Heaton, Yorkis Perez, and Jeff Reed. Nieto did nothing particularly remarkable for the Twins, and spent about half his time as a Twin in AAA Portland. After the 1988 season, the Twins traded him to Philadelphia with Eric Bullock and Tom Herr for Shane Rawley and cash. He split two seasons between the majors and AAA for the Phillies, spent 1991 with the Cardinals' AAA team, and then ended his playing career. As a Twin, Tom Nieto played 65 games and had 165 at-bats. His numbers were .152/.213/.224, with 1 home run and 12 runs batted in. He turned to managing and coaching after his playing career ended. Nieto has managed in the Cardinals and Yankees organization, and most recently has been with the Twins. He managed AA New Britain in 2009 and was promoted to manager of AAA Rochester from 2010-2011.  After his teams had consecutive poor seasons, however, Nieto was let go at the end of the 2011 campaign.  He was the manager of the GCL Yankees in 2012.

Right-hander Brad William Radke played for the Twins from 1995-2006. He was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, went to high school in Tampa, was drafted by the Twins in the 8th round in 1981, and never played with another organization. He posted decent numbers throughout his minor league career, but caught people's attention in 1994, when he was 12-9 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP for AA Nashville. He started 1995 with the Twins and never returned to the minors, with the exception of a couple of rehab stints. Radke was prone to the gopher ball, especially early in his career, when he twice led the league in home runs allowed. He was an extremely durable pitcher for most of his career, making over thirty starts and pitching over 200 innings six years in a row and nine out of ten. He finished ninth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1995, finished third in the Cy Young voting in 1997 (when he won twenty games for the only time), and made the all-star team in 1998. A control pitcher, Radke led the league in fewest walks per nine innings in 2001 and was in the top six every year of his career. For his career, Brad Radke was 148-139 with a 4.22 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a 112 ERA+. Brad Radke was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2009.  At last report, he was living in Florida.

Right-hander Steven Kyle Waldrop appeared in seven games for the Twins at the end of 2011.  Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, he was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2004.  He was initially a starter and did all right in that role, although he seemed to struggle when first promoted to a higher level.  He missed all of 2008 due to a shoulder injury, and when he came back in 2009, he was a relief pitcher, a role in which he has done pretty well.  He reached AAA in 2010 and has been there for two seasons, going 10-8, 3.19, 1.27 WHIP with 104 strikeouts in 166.2 innings (115 appearances).  He got a September call-up in 2011, going 1-0, 5.73, 1.46 WHIP in 11 innings (7 appearances).  In 2012, he spent most of the year in Rochester but came up to Minnesota in late August, going 0-1, 2.53, but with a 1.55 WHIP.  He turns 27 today and was removed from the Twins' forty-man roster the other day.  He will presumably still be pitching somewhere next year, but if Kyle Waldrop is going to have a substantial major league career, he'd better move forward pretty soon.

October 26

Frank Selee (1859)

Kid Gleason (1866)

Lee Tannehill (1880)

Dick Hoblitzel (1888)

Tommy Griffith (1889)

Snuffy Stirnweiss (1918)

Bud Byerly (1920)

Toby Harrah (1948)

Mike Hargrove (1949)

Steve Rogers (1949)

Dave Coleman (1950)

Harry Chappas (1957)

Gil Heredia (1965)

Mark Sweeney (1969)

Francisco Liriano (1983)

Outfielder David Lee Coleman did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1979. Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, he signed with Boston as a free agent in 1970. He was in Class A for three years, then began to advance up the minor league system. His numbers weren’t awful, but were not terribly impressive, either. He reached AAA for the first time in 1974, arriving to stay in 1975. He began 1977 in Boston as a reserve outfielder and stayed through the end of May, but appeared in only eleven games and started only two of them. He was used four times as a pinch-hitter, twice as a pinch runner, and three times as a defensive replacement. He went 0-for-12, drawing a walk and scoring once, then was sent back to AAA. His best AAA season came in 1978, when he hit .270 with 24 homers for AAA Pawtucket. By then, however, he was 27 and was no longer considered a prospect. In February of 1979 the Red Sox traded Coleman to Minnesota for Larry Wolfe. He spent the year in Toledo, cracking 20 home runs but hitting only .237. He moved on to the Yankees’ organization after the season, playing in AAA Columbus for two years. His playing career came to an end after the 1981 season; his 0-for-12 in 1977 would be his major league career record. No further information about Dave Coleman was readily available.

Left-hander Francisco Casillas Liriano has played for the Twins since 2005. Born and raised in San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic, he was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 2000. His early minor-league numbers don't seem that impressive until you realize that he was still a teenager posting ERAs in the threes in Class A. He was apparently injured in 2003, as he pitched in only five games. In November of 2003, Liriano was traded, along with Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan, to Minnesota for A. J. Pierzynski and cash, a trade some observers believe worked out well for Minnesota. The Twins moved him up slowly, but after a half-season in Rochester in which he went 9-2 with a 1.78 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP in 2005 he received a September call-up. He started 2006 in the bullpen, but was moved to the starting rotation in mid-May. He had a tremendous season, going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00, but then blew out his elbow. Liriano missed all of the 2007 season. He tried to start 2008 in Minnesota, but was ineffective and went back to Rochester. After three solid months there, he was back with the Twins in August and pitched fairly well, although not like his 2006 season. His 2009 season was not good, but he came back to throw the ever-living fire out of the ball in the Winter League that off-season. He came back strong in 2010, going 14-10, 3.62 with a WHIP of 1.26 and leading the league in fewest home runs per nine innings. He won the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2010.  Unfortunately, in 2011 he put himself in position to win that award again, as he stumbled to a 9-10, 5.09 campaign before being shut down toward the end of the season, although he did throw a no-hitter.  Twins fans were hoping for a resurgence in 2012, but it was not to be, and in late July Liriano was traded to the White Sox for Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Hernandez.  As a Twin, Francisco Liriano was 50-52 with a 4.33 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 97. He turns 29 today.  It's still possible that he'll turn things around, but the last two years make it seem unlikely.

October 25

Jack Doyle (1869)

Smoky Joe Wood (1889)

Jack Kent Cooke (1912)

Lee McPhail (1917)

Russ Meyer (1923)

Bobby Thomson (1923)

Bobby Brown (1924)

Roy Hartsfield (1925)

Chuck Schilling (1937)

Al Cowens (1951)

Roy Smalley (1952)

Rowland Office (1952)

Tito Landrum (1954)

Danny Darwin (1955)

Andy McGaffigan (1956)

Steve Decker (1965)

Keith Garagozzo (1969)

Pedro Martinez (1971)

Wilkin Ramirez (1985)

Second baseman Charles Thomas Schilling retired as a Twin, although he never played a game in their organization. He was born in Brooklyn, went to Manhattan College, and signed with Boston as a free agent in 1958. He advanced rapidly and justifiably so, hitting .314 with 30 doubles in AAA in 1960 at age 22. He was in the big leagues to stay the next season. He was the Red Sox’ starting second baseman from 1961-1963, leading the league in plate appearances in 1961. He hit .259 with 25 doubles in his rookie year and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. That was as good as it would get for Schilling, however; he injured his wrist early in 1962 and it bothered him for the rest of his career. After two years hitting in the .230s he became a reserve in 1964 and 1965. On April 6, 1966, he was traded to Minnesota with Russ Nixon for Dick Stigman and a player to be named later (Jose Calero). He traveled with the team for a couple of weeks, but did not play and then decided to retire. He returned to New York, becoming a high school math teacher on Long Island. He played competitive softball until age 69, when he retired. At last report, he was still living in the New York area.

Infielder Roy Frederick Smalley III is the son of infielder Roy Smalley, Jr. and the nephew of Gene Mauch. He was born in Los Angeles and attended USC. Smalley was drafted by Texas with the first pick of the 1974 draft. He had been drafted four times previously: by Montreal (35th round, June 1970), Boston (4th round, January 1971), St. Louis (2nd round, June 1971), and by Boston again (5th round, January 1972). Smalley spent very little time in the minors, reaching the Rangers in 1975 and playing semi-regularly for them. He hit only .228 that year and had a similar average for the first two months of 1976, when he was traded along with Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, and Bill Singer to the Twins for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. Other than a poor 1977, Smalley regularly posted averages in the .270s for the Twins. In 1978, he added some power, hitting 19 home runs that year and 24 the next. That next year, 1979, Smalley got off to a tremendous start, hitting over .400 on May 20 and still batting .373 at the end of June before regression to the mean caught up with him. Smalley made his only all-star team that year and finished 16th in the MVP voting. In April of 1982 the Twins sent Smalley to the Yankees for Paul Boris, Ron Davis, and Greg Gagne. He continued to play about as well as he had previously, but began to suffer from back problems. He was traded in June of 1984 to the White Sox. He finished the season with them, and in February of 1985 was traded back to the Twins for Ron Scheer and "not the" Randy Johnson. He was with the Twins for three more years as a DH/infielder. He was still producing offensively at close to the same rate he had, and probably could have played a couple more years, but retired after the Twins World Championship of 1987. As a Twin, he hit .262/.350/.401 in approximately nine seasons. Roy Smalley currently works as an analyst for FSN North. He also owns a restaurant near Target Field.

Left-hander Keith John Garagozzo made seven appearances for the Twins in 1994. He was born in Camden, New Jersey, attended the University of Delaware, and was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round in 1991. He had a good year and a half in Class A from 1992-1993. The Twins selected him in the rule 5 draft in November of 1993, and he started the season with them, despite the fact that he had pitched in only 17 games above class A. He appeared in seven games in April of 1994, pitching 9.1 innings and posting a 9.64 ERA, and then was returned to the Yankees. Switched to the bullpen, Garagozzo pitched ineffectively for AAA Columbus and then was released. He made a brief comeback in the Marlins organization in 1996, but then was done. After leaving baseball, Keith Garagozzo returned to New Jersey, and is now a financial advisor for the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Princeton, New Jersey.

Outfielder Wilkin Emilio (Arias) Ramirez has not yet played for the Twins, but he is currently in their minor league system.  Born and raised in Bani, Peravia, Dominican Republic, he signed with Detroit as a free agent in 2003.  He had a decent but unspectacular season in rookie ball, then missed all of 2004 due to injury.  Upon his return, his minor league numbers were fairly decent but unspectacular.  He reached AAA in 2008 and made his major league debut in 2009.  He appeared in fifteen games, nine of them as a pinch-runner, and went 4-for-11 with a triple and a home run.  He was traded to Atlanta on July 31, 2010 for a player to be named later or cash, which sounds similar to "future considerations".  He was mostly in AAA in 2011 but spent about six weeks in the majors.  He appeared in twenty games, ten as a pinch-hitter and three as a pinch-runner, and went 6-for-26 with two doubles.  A free agent after the 2011 season, he signed with Minnesota for 2012.  He started at AA but spent most of the season at AAA, where he hit .276/.316/.451 in 370 at-bats.  He turns 27 today.  It's hard to see him ever becoming a regular, but if he could get hot at the right time and catch someone's eye, he might stick for a while as a reserve outfielder for someone.

October 24

Ned Williamson (1857)

Bill Kuehne (1858)

Lou Sockalexis (1871)

Ossie Bluege (1900)

Jack Russell (1905)

Jim Brosnan (1929)

Rawly Eastwick (1950)

Omar Moreno (1952)

Gary Serum (1956)

Ron Gardenhire (1957)

Junior Ortiz (1959)

Danny Clay (1961)

Rafael Belliard (1961)

Gene Larkin (1962)

Arthur Rhodes (1969)

Rafael Furcal (1977)

Third baseman Ossie Bluege played for the franchise in Washington for eighteen years and remained in the organization for many years after that. He is credited as being the first third baseman to guard the lines in the late innings. He is also credited as the scout who discovered Harmon Killebrew.

Right-hander Gary Wayne Serum pitched for the Twins from 1977-1979. He was born in Fargo but mostly grew up in Minnesota, going to high school in Alexandria. He attended St. Cloud State and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1975 after attending a tryout camp. Serum was primarily a relief pitcher in the minors, although he started ten games in 1976. He came through the minors rapidly and reached the Twins by late July of 1977 at age 20. Serum pitched 22 innings for the Twins that year, but was in their starting rotation for much of 1978. He pitched quite well for a 21-year-old: 9-9, 4.10 ERA, 94 ERA+, 1.26 WHIP. That was to be as good as it got, however. Returned to the bullpen for most of 1979, he was used sporadically, and was ineffective when he did pitch. The Twins seemed to give up on him rather quickly. He had a fairly good year in the Toledo bullpen in 1980, but his reward was to be sent to AA in 1981. He was the Orlando closer that season, but had a poor year and was released. Serum pitched in the Yankees organization in 1982, but then was out of baseball. His entire major-league career was with the Twins. Gary Serum was 10-12 with a 4.72 ERA in 62 appearances, 28 of them starts. At last report, Gary Serum was co-owner of a restaurant called Serum's Good Time Emporium in Anoka, Minnesota. If any citizens live near Anoka, it might be fun to stop by today and see if you could wish him a happy birthday.

Infielder Ronald Clyde Gardenhire did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for a year and has been their manager since 2002. He was born in Butzbach, West Germany. He attended Okmulgee High School in Oklahoma, and then went to the University of Texas at Austin. Gardenhire was drafted by the Mets in the sixth round in 1977. He spent three years in the minors, advancing a level each year and reaching AAA in 1981. His numbers were not all that impressive, but he battled his tail off and received a September call-up in 1981. In 1982, he was the Mets' regular shortstop. A .240 average without walks, power, or stolen bases didn't cut it, however, and Gardenhire was back in the minors for most of 1983. He was a utility infielder for the Mets for most of 1984 and 1985, but went back to AAA in 1986 and did not return to the majors as a player. After the 1986 season, Gardenhire was traded to the Twins for Dominic Iasparro. He spent one year at AAA Portland and then turned to managing. He managed three years in the Twins' minor-league system and became a coach in the big leagues in 1991. Ron Gardenhire took over as the Minnesota manager in 2002, and remains the Twins manager at this time. During his time as manager, the Twins have won six division titles in eleven years, advancing to the league championship series once.

Catcher Adalberto (Colon) "Junior" Ortiz played for the Twins from 1990-1991. He was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico and was signed by the Pirates as a free agent in 1977. His minor league record is a mixed bag, with his best year clearly coming in 1980, when he hit .346 with 12 homers for AA Buffalo. He got a September call-up in 1982, and became the Pirates back-up catcher in 1983, a role he would keep the rest of his career. The vagaries of small sample size are evident in his career: he hit .336 in 1988 and .335 in 1990, but only .198 in 1984 and .209 in 1991. In June of 1983, the Pirates traded Ortiz to the Mets, but they got him back in the 1984 rule 5 draft. He stayed in Pittsburgh until just before the 1990 season, when he was traded to the Twins with Orlando Lind for Mike Pomeranz. While with the Twins, Ortiz was Scott Erickson's personal catcher, including catching him in the playoffs and World Series in 1991. He became a free agent after 1991 and spent the next two years with Cleveland. From there, he went to Texas in 1994 and the White Sox in 1995 before calling it a career. At last report, Junior Ortiz was living in Billings, Montana.

Right-hander Danny Bruce Clay never played for the Twins, but he was signed by them as a free agent in 1982. Born in Sun Valley, California, Clay attended Loyola Marymount. He spent more than four seasons in the Twins' organization. Clay pretty much topped out in Class A, although he did win 13 games for AA Orlando in 1985 (with a 4.48 ERA). On June 24, 1987, the Twins traded Clay along with Tom Schwarz for Dan Schatzeder and cash. The Phillies converted Clay to relief, and he got off to a tremendous start with AAA Maine in 1988, going 5-1 with an ERA of 0.99 and a WHIP of 0.95 in 45.1 innings. That earned him about 2 1/2 months in the big leagues. The hot start was an illusion, however. In 17 appearances for the Phillies, Clay went 0-1, 6.00 and was sent back to the minors. He did have a good year at AAA again in 1990, but this time no one was fooled and his career was over. No information about Danny Clay's life after that is readily available.

First baseman/outfielder/DH Eugene Thomas Larkin played for the Twins from 1987-1993. He was born in Flushing, New York, went to Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York, then attended Columbia University, where he broke many of Lou Gehrig's baseball records. He was drafted by the Twins in the 20th round in 1984. He progressed one level every year, batting over .300 at each stop. He also compiled 35 home runs in a little over three minor league seasons. He was promoted to the Twins in May of 1987 and stayed there for over six years. Larkin was a steady, solid contributor through the Twins during his time there. He regularly posted batting averages in the .260s, and when he was allowed to play regularly he hit 20-30 doubles and drew a pretty good number of walks. Larkin's career numbers were .266/.348/.374, with 32 homers, 131 doubles, and an OPS+ of 98. He is, of course, remembered for his game-winning hit in game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Larkin was injured for much of 1993, playing in only 56 games, although when healthy he continued to hit much as he had before. He went to spring training with the Twins in 1994, but did not make the team and his career was over. One suspects that he could have found a job with someone had he tried, but either his health was not up to it or he simply had no desire to go to another team. Larkin currently lives in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where he is the co-owner of Nevers Larkin Baseball Training. He also is a regular at the Twins' annual fantasy baseball camp.

October 23

William Hulbert (1832)

Mike Sullivan (1866)

Lena Blackburne (1886)

Rube Bressler (1894)

Billy Sullivan (1910)

Vern Stephens (1920)

Ewell Blackwell (1922)

Jim Bunning (1931)

Greg Thayer (1949)

John Castino (1954)

Dwight Lowry (1957)

Al Leiter (1965)

Todd Sears (1975)

David Riske (1976)

John Lackey (1978)

Bud Smith (1979)

Kyle Gibson (1987)

Infielder Lena Blackburne discovered and marketed the mud from the driver beds near the Delaware River in New Jersey that has been rubbed on every major league baseball used since the 1950s.

It is hoped that Kyle Gibson’s biography will be added eventually.

Right-hander Gregory Allen Thayer played for the Twins in 1978.. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he went to high school in St. Cloud, Minnesota, attended St. Cloud State, and was drafted by the Giants in the 32nd round in 1971. He was small for a professional pitcher, standing 5' 11" and weighing 182 pounds. Thayer spent two years in the low minors for San Francisco, pitching neither well nor terribly, but was released in April of 1973. He was out of baseball that season, but the Twins signed him in September. Thayer was in AA Orlando most of the next four seasons, compiling an ERA of around 3.00.  For some of that time, his roommate was Terry Ryan. He was only promoted above AA once in that span, in 1975, when he pitched 39 innings for AAA Tacoma. One suspects the main reason for that was control problems; he averaged about 5 walks per nine innings. Thayer made the Twins at the start of the 1978 season, pitching in a middle relief/mopup role. He did about as well as you would expect someone in that role to pitch, but still walked too many batters: he was 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in 20 appearances, giving up less than a hit per inning but walking 30 in 45 innings. He was sent back to the minors in late June. Thayer was in AAA Toledo through 1979, but continued walking people. He moved on to the Toronto organization in 1980, but his professional career was over after that. He did not give up baseball, however. In 1992, he pitched for the Sartell Muskies amateur team, helping them win the Class C state championship. He makes regular appearances at an annual Minnesota Twins alumni game hosted by the St. Cloud River Bats and is currently on the staff of the Starz of Tomorrow Baseball Academy of St. Cloud.

Infielder John Anthony Castino played for the Twins from 1979-1984. He was born in Evanston, Illinois and went to high school in Winnetka, Illinois. He then attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He was drafted by the Twins in the third round in 1976. In 1977, he hit .326 with 17 home runs at Class A Visalia. He continued to hit well the next year at AA Orlando, and was installed as the regular third baseman for the Twins in 1979. Castino hit .285 that year and shared the Rookie of the Year award with Alfredo Griffin. He hit .302 in 1980, but then began to decline, due partly to back problems. A move to second base in 1982 probably did not help matters, either. He bounced back with a solid 1983 campaign, hitting .277 with 11 homers, but after that his injuries became too much for him. He played eight games in 1984, and then his career was over. In just over five seasons, John Castino hit .277/.329/.398 for the Twins. After leaving baseball, he got an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently the senior vice president of Wealth Enhancement Group, a Minneapolis-based financial planning and advisory services firm. He works there with his cousin, NFL place-kicker Jay Feely.

Catcher Dwight Lowry had seven at-bats for the Twins in 1988. He was born in Lumberton, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina. He was drafted by the Tigers in the 11th round in 1980. He did not hit well in the minors; his best year was 1982, when he hit .277 in his second year at Class A Lakeland. He reached AA in 1983 and AAA in 1984, He was in the majors part of that year, serving as Lance Parrish's backup in April, May, and September for Detroit's World Championship team. Lowry was back in the minors in 1985, but spent most of 1986 with the Tigers, again as the backup catcher. He played sparingly in both AAA and the majors in 1987, but then was released by the Tigers. He actually had played about as well as you could expect a backup catcher to play: a .282 average with 5 homers in 220 at-bats. The Twins signed Lowry in October of 1987. He was with them coming out of spring training in 1988, but after going 0-for-7 was sent to the minors in late April, never to return. Out of baseball in 1989, Lowry came back in 1990, hitting .310 in 187 at-bats for the Expos' AAA team in Louisville. When that did him no good, however, he turned to coaching and managing in the Tigers' organization. He was the Tigers' Player Development Man of the Year in 1996. Sadly, while managing the Jamestown Jammers in 1997, Dwight Lowry died of a heart attack on July 10 at the age of 39. The Tigers named their player development award the Dwight Lowry award. Dwight Lowry was inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1998.

First baseman Todd Andrew Sears played for the Twins in 2002-2003. He was born in Des Moines, went to high school in Ankeny, Iowa, and then attended the University of Nebraska. He was drafted by the Rockies in the third round in 1977. He spent three years in Class A, putting up solid and steadily increasing numbers. He started 2000 in AA, and was traded in July to Minnesota for Butch Huskey and Todd Walker. He was promoted to AAA Edmonton in 2001, and hit over .300 there for two consecutive years. He also hit 33 home runs in that span, and got a September call-up to the Twins in 2002. He had two stints with the Twins in 2003, totalling about a month and a half, and was with Rochester the rest of the year. In September, Sears was traded to the Padres for Alex Garcia. He spent the rest of the season in San Diego, but would never play in the majors again. He was with the Padres' organization in 2004, went to the Marlins for 2005, started 2006 with the Mariners, was released in June, and went back to the Marlins for the rest of 2006 and all of 2007 before finally calling it a career. As a Twin, Todd Sears hit .260/.326/.390, with two home runs and 11 runs batted in. Sears went back to college after his pro career ended, receiving a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska in August of 2009. He appears to be working as an instructor at Pro Player Camps in Des Moines.

Left-hander Robert Allan “Bud” Smith did not play for the Twins, but made three appearances at AAA Rochester in 2005. He was born in Torrance, California, went to high school in Bellflower, California, attended Los Angeles Harbor Community College, and was drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round in 1998. He pitched very well in the minors and advanced rapidly, reaching the majors in June of 2001 at age 21. He made sixteen appearances for the Cardinals, fourteen of them starts, and went 6-3, 3.83 with a 1.22 WHIP and a no-hitter. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, and big things were expected. They didn’t happen. He developed shoulder problems. Smith underwent various surgeries over the years to repair the damage, but nothing really worked. He started 2002 in the Cardinals’ rotation and went 1-5, 6.94. He was sent to the minors and traded to Philadelphia in late July. He never got back to the big leagues. The shoulder continued to bother him; he stayed in the Phillies’ organization through 2004, but appeared in only 21 games. The Phillies let him go, and Smith signed with Minnesota as a free agent for 2005. He made three relief appearances in Rochester, going 1-0, 4.76 in 5.2 innings. He played for Long Beach in the Golden Baseball League in 2006-2007, then his playing career ended. At last report, Bud Smith was a pitching instructor at ProKids Baseball Academy in San Juan Capistrano, California.

October 22

Kid Carsey (1870)

Bill Carrigan (1883)

Johnny Morrison (1895)

Jumbo Elliott (1900)

Jimmie Foxx (1907)

Harry Walker (1916)

Wilbur Wood (1941)

Jamie Quirk (1954)

Frank DiPino (1956)

Keith Osik (1968)

Hector Carrasco (1969)

Ichiro Suzuki (1973)

Michael Barrett (1976)

Brad Thomas (1977)

Eli Whiteside (1979)

Robinson Cano (1982)

Right-hander Hector (Pacheco) Carrasco pitched for the Twins from 1998-2000 and again in 2001. Born and raised in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, he was signed by the Mets as a free agent in 1988. After four seasons in their minor-league system, three of them in rookie ball, Carrasco was released. He signed with Houston and had a good year for Class A Asheville in 1972. He was then traded to the Marlins, and after spending 1993 in Class A was traded to the Reds. After six years in the minors, three in rookie leagues and three in Class A, Cincinnati decided Carrasco was ready for the big leagues. He made the most of the opportunity. Pitching exclusively out of the bullpen, he pitched in 45 games, posting an ERA of 2.24, a WHIP of 1.28, and an ERA+ of 187. Carrasco would remain in the Cincinnati bullpen for three and a half years, performing well in a middle relief/setup role. In July of 1997, he was traded to the Royals. After the season, he was chosen by Arizona in the expansion draft, but was placed on waivers at the end of spring training. Carrasco was selected by the Twins and spent nearly three seasons in the Twins' bullpen. He remained in the middle relief/setup role, and did a decent job for the Twins over that time. In September of 2000, he was traded to Boston for Lew Ford. A free agent after the season, Carrasco signed with the Blue Jays, but was released near the end of spring training and returned to Minnesota. His pitching in 2001 was about the same as it had been. A free agent again after the season, he was signed by Texas, but did not play for them, and was out of baseball in 2002. He signed with Baltimore for 2003 and appeared in 40 games for the Orioles, but was let go after the season and again was out of baseball in 2004. The Nationals took a chance on him in 2005, and Carrasco turned in what may have been his best season at age 35: a 2.04 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 199 ERA+ in 64 games, 5 of them starts. Once again a free agent, he signed with the Angels, for whom he had a good season in 2006. He did not do well in a half season in 2007, however, and was released. Since then, he has pitched in the minors for Washington, Pittsburgh, the Cubs, and three teams in the Atlantic League.  He has been pitching in the Mexican League since 2011 and did well that year, but not so well in 2012.  He turns 43 today, so one assumes we’ve seen the last of him, at least in American baseball.  On the other hand, we’ve assumed that before.

Left-hander Bradley Richard Thomas pitched for the Twins in 2001 and again in 2003-2004. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, he was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995. The Dodgers quickly soured on him, releasing him in May of 1997 after only one year of rookie ball. Minnesota signed him three days later, and he slowly worked his way up the Twins' system. In 2001, at AA New Britain, Thomas went 10-3 with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He had a couple of brief trials with the Twins that year, making five starts. Thomas spent the next two years at AAA. He pitched poorly in 2002 and was hurt part of 2003, but did better when he came back. Thomas received a September call-up in 2003, working 4.2 innings over three games. He started 2004 in Minnesota, but after three ineffective relief appearances was sold to Boston. As a Twin, he appeared in 11 games, five of them starts, and went 0-3, 9.89 in 23.2 innings. He pitched briefly in AAA for the Red Sox and then went to Japan. He tried to come back to the United States in 2007, signing with the Mariners, but after a mediocre season in AAA he was released and it appeared his chances for a big league career had ended. He then went to Korea, where he became a star closer in the Korean league, setting a record for saves. He also pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for Australia. After the 2009 campaign, he signed with Detroit and surprisingly enough made the team in 2010. Even more surprisingly, he didn’t do too badly, going 6-2, 3.89 in 49 appearances, two of them starts. He was injured for most of 2011 and did not pitch well in the majors when he did pitch, although he did not do too badly in eight AAA appearances.  He was a free agent after the 2011 season and went unsigned.  It appears that he played in Taiwan in 2012, pitching for the Brother Elephants.  He’s 35 today, so the future does not look all that bright for him.  Still, he’s been written off at least twice before, and he’s left-handed, so who knows what may happen next for him?

Catcher Dustin Eli Whiteside never played for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for a time. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, he attended Delta State University, and then was drafted by the Orioles in the sixth round in 2001. Whiteside never hit much in the minors, although he did hit 18 homers with AA Bowie in 2004. He reached AAA in 2005, and played in nine games for the Orioles that year, going 3-for-12. He went back to the Orioles' minor-league system for the next two years, becoming a free agent after the 2007 season. The Twins signed him and sent him to Rochester for 2008, but he was released at the end of April. Signed by the Giants, he came back to the majors with them at the end of May, and was their reserve catcher the rest of the season. As such, he caught a no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez and hit his first major league home run, a grand slam. He has been with the Giants ever since, and in 2010 he played his first full season in the majors at age 30.  He slumped to .197 as a part-time catcher in 2011, however, and spent most of 2012 in AAA, appearing in only twelve major league games.  He is now 33.  The Giants seem to like him; one could easily see him playing in AAA a couple more years, then becoming a coach or manager someplace.

October 21

Bill Lee (1909)

Bill Bevens (1916)

Whitey Ford (1928)

Johnny Goryl (1933)

Ted Uhlaender (1940)

Bill Russell (1948)

Jerry Garvin (1955)

George Bell (1959)

Franklin Stubbs (1960)

John Flaherty (1967)

Steve Holm (1979)

Zack Greinke (1983)

Casey Fien (1983)

Infielder John Albert Goryl played for the Twins from 1962-1964 and managed them from 1980-1981. Born and raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island, he was signed by the Boston Braves in 1951. Primarily a third baseman, Goryl started out in Class D and slowly worked his way up the minor-league ladder. He was drafted by the Orioles in the 1954 minor-league draft, and by the Cubs in the 1955 minor-league draft. Following a good year in 1957 for AA Memphis, Goryl got his first shot at the big leagues through a September call-up. He spent all of 1958 with the Cubs, splitting time between third and second base and playing in about half the team's games. He was nothing special at the bat, however, and after about 2 1/2 months with the Cubs in 1959, he was sent back to the minors. In April of 1960, Goryl was traded to the Dodgers. He hit fairly well for them in two years at AAA, but never was brought to the majors. Now 28, he was left unprotected in the rule 5 draft, and was selected by the Twins in November 1961. Goryl was a little-used reserve in 1962; he got a little more playing time in 1963-64, but never had more than 150 at-bats in a season. He hit .297 with nine home runs in 1963, but dropped to .140 with no homers in 1964. He had a good year in AAA Denver in 1965, but was not called up to the majors. Goryl apparently saw the writing on the way, and turned to managing. He managed for eight seasons in the minors, seven of them in the Twins' organization, and was a coach in both the minors and the majors for several years. Goryl was named manager of the Twins in August of 1980, replacing Gene Mauch, but did not hold the job long, being replaced by Billy Gardner in May of 1981. His record as Twins manager was 34-38. As a player for the Twins, he had 290 at-bats, hitting .221/.291/.393. After leaving the Twins in 1981, Goryl joined the Cleveland Indians. At last report, he was a special advisor for player development for Cleveland. Johnny Goryl was inducted into the Kinston (NC) Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. His son, also named Johnny, played for the Indians rookie league team in Arizona in 2009.

Outfielder Theodore Otto Uhlaender played for the Twins from 1965-1969. He was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois and went to high school in McAllen, Texas. He attended Baylor and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1961. His early minor-league career, with the exception of a good year in Class D in 1962, was nothing special. In 1965, however, Uhlaender hit .340 for AAA Denver, earning a September call-up. He hit well in Denver again in 1966, and by late June he was in the majors to stay. He was the Twins' regular center fielder from then through 1969, putting up good averages when considered in the offensive context of the time. His best year was 1968, when he hit .283 and received a tenth-place vote for MVP. Uhlaender never drew many walks, and did not hit for much power, so his batting average was the bulk of his offensive contribution. He was reputed to be a good defender as well. In December of 1969, Uhlaender was traded to Cleveland with Dean Chance, Bob Miller and Graig Nettles for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. He spent two years in the Indians outfield, one in center and one in left, and continued to hit about as well as he had before. In 1972, however, he was traded to Cincinnati and immediately fell apart, batting only .159. He spent 1973 with AAA Iowa in the White Sox organization, and played briefly in the independent Gulf States League in 1976, where he was a manager, but he never returned to the majors. As a Twin, Uhlaender hit .262/.306/.354. Uhlaender went into business for a while, but returned to baseball in 1989, and was most recently a scout for the San Francisco Giants. His daughter, Katie, competed in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics in the skeleton event. Ted Uhlaender died of a heart attack at his ranch near Atwood, Kansas on February 12, 2009.

Left-hander Theodore Jered Garvin never played for the Twins, but he was drafted by them. He was born in Oakland, went to high school in Merced, California, and was chosen by the Twins in the first round of the secondary phase of the January draft in 1974. He spent three solid seasons in the Twins farm system, winning 46 games with a combined ERA of 3.27. He got as high as AAA for seven games in 1976. The Twins left him unprotected in the expansion draft, and he was chosen by Toronto. Only 21, Garvin pitched in the Blue Jays' rotation for two years without distinction, showing a tendency toward the gopher ball. He did have an excellent pickoff move, picking off 22 runners in 1977. He was apparently injured for much of 1979, and when he came back, it was as a relief pitcher. Garvin pitched well in that role in 1980 and 1981, posting a combined ERA of under 3.00. His success came to an abrupt halt in 1982, as he ballooned to a 7.25 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in 32 appearances. He was sold to the Cardinals that off-season, but failed to make the team and his career was suddenly over at age 27. At last report, Jerry Garvin was in the real estate business in the Sacramento area.

Catcher Stephen Robert Holm appeared in six games for the Twins in 2011.  Born and raised in Sacramento, California, he attended Oral Roberts University and was drafted by San Francisco in the seventeenth round in 2001.  He was never a high-average hitter (his highest was .273 with AAA Fresno in 2008), but he did show a little power and draw a fair number of walks.  He does not appear to have ever been a regular, even in the minors; his high in at-bats in a season is 305 for AA Connecticut in 2007.  Still, the Giants kept him around.  He was in Class A through 2006, with the exception of 11 games in AA in 2005.  He finally moved up to AA in 2007 and, surprisingly, made the Giants out of spring training in 2008.  He stayed almost the entire season and actually did pretty well in a limited role; appearin in 49 games, he had 84 at-bats and hit .262 with nine doubles and a home run.  He was in AAA in 2009 for all but about ten days, and was in AAA again in 2010.  A free agent after that season, he signed with Minnesota for 2011.  Holm was with the Twins for a couple of weeks in April, but spent most of the season with AAA Rochester.  As a Twin, he was 2-for-17 with a double and a walk, giving him numbers of .118/.167/.176.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado, but was released at the end of March.  He signed with Miami in early May, spent two months in New Orleans, but then was released in early July.  He apparently realized that was the end of the line, as he accepted a position as an assistant coach for Sacramento State two weeks later.

Right-hander Casey Michael Fien made his debut with Minnesota in 2012.  He was born in Santa Rosa, California, went to high school in La Palma, California, attended Cal Poly--San Luis Obispo, and was drafted by Detroit in the twentieth round in 2006.  A reliever throughout his minor league career, he pitched well and rose rapidly, reaching AAA in 2008 and making his major league debut in July of 2009.  His major league numbers that year look awful, but it was only 11.1 innings, and the numbers are skewed by a couple of bad outings.  It apparently was enough to sour the Tigers on him, though, because they put him on waivers and he was chosen by Toronto for 2010.  The Blue Jays released him in mid-March and he signed back with Detroit.  He had a very good year in AAA for the Tigers, but made only two appearances in the majors.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Houston for 2011.  He missed part of the season with injury, did not pitch well when he came back, and was released in early August.  The Twins signed him for 2012 and brought him to the majors in early July.  He pitched very well for them, going 2-1, 2.06 with a 0.97 WHIP in 35 appearances (35 innings).  He's old for a rookie, and there was obviously something about him other teams didn't like, but nothing in his minor league record suggests that his major league success was a fluke.  It's obviously not reasonable to think he'll have a career ERA of 2.07 or a career WHIP of 0.97, but it's perfectly reasonable to think he can be a good major league relief pitcher.

October 20

Jigger Statz (1897)

Judy Johnson (1900)

Bruce Campbell (1909)

Mickey Mantle (1931)

Juan Marichal (1937)

Dave Collins (1952)

Keith Hernandez (1953)

Jerry Meals (1961)

Rudy Seanez (1968)

Juan Gonzalez (1969)

It appears that no players associated with the Twins were born on this day.