April 30

Dave Eggler (1849)

Charley Jones (1850)

Jack Sheridan (1862)

Jumbo Brown (1907)

Chet Laabs (1912)

Ernie Tyler (1924)

Ken Retzer (1934)

Ray Miller (1945)

Phil Garner (1949)

Tracy Ringolsby (1951)

Jeff Reboulet (1964)

Jack Sheridan was the first home plate umpire to crouch behind the catcher in the style that umpires do today.

Ernie Tyler was the umpires’ assistant for Baltimore Orioles home games from 1960 through 2010.  He went from opening day of 1960 through July 27, 2007 without missing a game, a streak of 3,769 games.  He missed two games that weekend to go to Cooperstown for the induction of Cal Ripken, Jr. into the Hall of Fame.

Ray Miller was the manager of the Twins in 1985 and 1986, replacing Billy Gardner and being replaced by Tom Kelly.

Tracy Ringolsby has been a baseball writer since 1976 and was given the Spink Award in 2005.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Rhubarb_Runner's brother.

Catcher Kenneth Leo Retzer did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1965.  He was born in Wood River, Illinois and signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1954.  He began in Class D and rose very slowly.  He hit for good averages most years, but with very little power.  He reached Class A in 1956, but then missed 1957 due to military service.  When he came back in 1958, he was once again in Class A.  He got to AAA in 1959, went to the Philadelphia organization in mid-season of 1960, and was in the White Sox’ chain in 1961.  He appears, however, to have remained the property of the Indians all that time, as he was traded in early September of 1961 by Cleveland to Washington.  He was in the majors the rest of the season, batting .340 in 57 at-bats.  He stayed with the Senators through 1963 and was their main catcher for those years, although he only caught 80-100 games each season.  His average dropped each season, and when he got off to a poor start in 1964 he was sent to the minors in early May.  After the 1964 season Washington traded Retzer to Minnesota for Joe McCabe.  He spent 1965 at AAA Denver, hitting .270/.361/.357.  He went to spring training with the Twins in 1966, but was traded to Houston shortly before the season started for Walt Bond.  He remained in AAA for the rest of his career, playing in the Houston organization in 1966 and in the Baltimore and Cleveland systems in 1967.  For his career, Ken Retzer hit .264/.316/.367 in 690 at-bats.  He apparently is active in the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and is reputed to be a very nice man.

Infielder Jeffrey Allen Reboulet played for the Twins from 1992-1996, taking over the utility infielder role from Al Newman.  He was born in Dayton, Ohio, went to LSU, and was drafted by Minnesota in the tenth round in 1986.  He was a shortstop for most of his minor league career.  His highest minor league average was .287 in Class A in 1986; he never topped .260 in a full minor league season after that.  He also had no power:  his highest home run total in the minors was four.  Still, he came up to the majors in May of 1992 and stayed for ten years.  He was always a reserve:  the Twins used him primarily at shortstop, but he also played quite a bit of second and third as well as outfield.  In his years with the Twins, he played every position except pitcher.  His best year as a Twin was 1995, when he hit .292 in 216 at-bats.  As a Twin, Jeff Reboulet hit .248/.335/.342 in 450 games with just over a thousand at-bats.  He became a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with Baltimore, where he stayed for three years.  After his worst year in the majors, when he hit .162 in 154 at-bats in 1999, he was sent to Kansas City.  He had one year as a Royal, then moved to the Dodgers for two years.  He was sent back to the minors for a month in 2002 and was released late in spring training of 2003, signing with Pittsburgh in April.  Reboulet began 2003 in AAA, but came up to the majors in mid-May and got the most at-bats he’d ever had in a season, 261.  He was pretty much the same hitter he’d always been, however, and after that season his playing career came to an end.  After his retirement, Jeff Reboulet went back to Dayton and is a co-founder of Horizon Wealth Management, LLC, a full service financial planning and investment advisory firm.  He is also the president of REB Sports Academy of Kettering, Ohio, an indoor sports training facility.

April 29

Frank Hankinson (1856)

Ernie Johnson (1888)

Steve Ridzik (1929)

Mickey McDermott (1929)

Ed Charles (1933)
Luis Aparicio (1934)
Akira Ohgi (1935)
Tom House (1947)
Rick Burleson (1951)
Ron Washington (1952)
Bob McClure (1952)
Steve Crawford (1958)
John Vander Wal (1966)
Sterling Hitchcock (1971)
Rafael Betancourt (1975)
Tony Armas (1978)

Akiri Ohgi was a long-time manager in Japan, winning nearly a thousand games.

Rick Burleson was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 1969, but did not sign.

Infielder Ronald Washington was with the Twins from 1981-1986.  Born and raised in New Orleans, Washington signed with Kansas City as a free agent in 1970.  He was in the Royals’ system for six years, only one of them higher than Class A, and did nothing of any particular note apart from play several positions; he was used as a catcher, outfielder, shortstop, and second baseman.  Washington was traded to the Dodgers after the 1976 season.  He thrived in AAA Albuquerque, hitting .348 in about a year there.  He got a September callup in 1977, but was apparently injured much of 1978.  He was in the Mets’ organization in 1979, and was traded to Minnesota in late March of 1980 for Wayne Caughey.  In 1981, Washington hit .289 with 15 homers in AAA Toledo and got a September call-up.  He was the semi-regular shorstop for the Twins in 1982-1984, sharing the position with Lenny Faedo and Houston Jimenez, among others.  He hit for a decent average, but rarely walked and had little power.  He also was not considered a particularly good defensive shortstop.  Washington was put into more of a utility role in 1985, spent time in the minors in 1986, and was released in late March of 1987.  As a Twin, Ron Washington hit .265/.294/.373 in 1,258 at-bats.  Baltimore picked him up and sent him to AAA Rochester, bringing him back to the majors for the second half of the season.  He moved on to Cleveland for 1988, getting one more full season in the majors as a reserve shortstop.  He moved on to AAA for Houston for 1989, getting about three weeks in the majors, then to Texas’ AAA team for 1990 before ending his playing career.  Ron Washington remained in baseball after that, serving as a minor league coach and manager for the Mets from 1991-1995, and coaching at the major league level for Oakland from 1996-2006. He was been the manager of the Texas Rangers from 2007-2014, reaching the World Series in 2010 and 2011, but resigned as a result of an extra-marital affair.  At last report, Ron Washington was working as a volunteer coach for the University of New Orleans and was hoping to get back into professional baseball in some capacity.

April 28

Red Lucas (1902)

Charlie Metro (1918)

Tom Sturdivant (1930)

Jackie Brandt (1934)
Pedro Ramos (1935)
Tom Browning (1960)
John Cerutti (1960)
Luis Quinones (1962)
Russ Morman (1962)
Barry Larkin (1964)
Jim Poole (1966)
Jorge Sosa (1978)
Sean Douglass (1979)
Yoslan Herrera (1981)
David Freese (1983)
John Gaub (1985)

John Gaub was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-fifth round in 2003, but did not sign.

Right-hander Pedro (Guerra) Ramos played for the Twins in 1961 and was the starting pitcher in the first game the Minnesota Twins ever played.  He was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and signed with Washington as a free agent in 1953.  He had a fine year in 1954, split between Class C and Class B ball, and started 1955 in the major leagues, pitching mostly out of the Washington bullpen.  He split 1956 between starting and relieving, and joined the starting rotation permanently in 1957.  He led the league in losses the last three years the team was in Washington, but did not pitch that badly.  His ERA for those three years was 3.93 and his WHIP was around 1.30.  In two of those years he led the league in starts and batters faced, in one of them he led the league in innings, and he made the all-star team in 1959.  When he came to Minnesota, he continued along that same path:  Ramos was 11-20, 3.95 with a WHIP of 1.30.  Just before the 1962 season, the Twins traded him to Cleveland for Vic Power and Dick Stigman.  He had another sub-.500 year with a sub-four ERA, going 10-12, 3.71 in 201 innings, the sixth consecutive season he had thrown more than 200 innings.  A fast runner, he was sometimes used to pinch-run on days he wasn’t pitching.  He pitched well for the Indians again in 1963 but had a bad year in 1964 and was traded to the Yankees in September.  The Yankees put him in the bullpen and he took over as their closer, saving eight games in 13 appearances to help the Yankees get to the World Series.   He had two more fine years in the Yankees bullpen as well.  He was traded to Philadelphia during Spring training of 1967, but after pitching eight poor innings he was surprisingly released.  The Phillies turned out to be right, however.  Ramos signed with Pittsburgh in 1968, but pitched poorly in AAA.  He pitched briefly with the Pirates in 1969, but was released again in early June.  Cincinnati picked him up and kept him in their bullpen the rest of the season, but things did not go well there, either.  Ramos signed with Washington late in spring training of 1970, but could do no better and was released at the end of April, ending his playing career.  He did a variety of things after that.  He scouted in Latin America, opened a cigar business in Miami, and spent some time in prison on drug and weapons charges.  He was a part-time pitching coach for Miami Dade Community College in the 1990s.  At last report, Pedro Ramos was the owner of a cigar manufacturing business in Nicaragua.

Infielder Luis Raul (Torruellas) Quinones played in three games for the Twins in 1992.  Born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Quinones was signed by San Diego as a free agent in 1980.  He was somewhat up and down in his minor league career, but was mostly pretty average at bat; his best year prior to making the majors was 1982, when he hit .288 with 16 homers in a season spent mostly at AA Amarillo.  Oakland took him in the Rule 5 draft after that season and obviously worked something out to keep him, because he spent most of the season in the minors before getting his first taste of big league life with 45 plate appearances.  Oakland moved him on to Cleveland after the 1983 campaign.  He was in the minors for the Indians for a little over a year, getting traded to San Francisco in May of 1985.  He was in the big leagues with the Giants for most of 1986, getting called up in early May.  He was used almost exclusively as a reserve, playing in 71 games but making only 22 starts.  The Giants released him after the season.  He signed with Oakland, but eight days later was traded to the Cubs for Ron Cey.  He was with the Cubs the second half of 1987, but was on the move again before the next season, traded to Cincinnati.  He was in AAA most of 1988 but came up to the Reds in May of 1989 and stayed there through 1991.  He never hit; his best year was 1989, when he hit .244 with 12 home runs.  The Reds released him after 1991 and he signed with Minnesota.  Quinones started the 1992 campaign with the Twins but played in only three games, going 1-for-4 with an RBI, before being sent to AAA.  He did not have a particularly good year at AAA Portland, and was allowed to become a free agent after the season.  He signed with Houston and started the 1993 season in AAA with the Astros, was released, signed with the Mariners, and stayed in AAA with the through the 1994 campaign.  He was apparently out of baseball for a few years, although he may have been playing in Mexico or something, and then played for independent Atlantic City in 1998-1999 before ending his playing career.  Luis Quinones has been a manager and coach in the low minors for a while now, and is currently the batting coach of the Greensboro Grasshoppers in the Marlins organization.

Right-hander Sean Reed Douglass did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them in 2004.  Born and raised in Lancaster, California, he was drafted by Baltimore in the second round in 1997.  His minor league record is not particularly exceptional but is fairly solid; he would generally post an ERA in the low-to-mid-threes and a WHIP in the 1.30-1.40 range.  He was up with the Orioles for parts of three seasons, bouncing back and forth between Baltimore and AAA from 2001-2003.  His time in the majors was not successful, and the Orioles put him on waivers after the 2003 season.  Minnesota signed him and took him to spring training in 2004, but they placed him on waivers near the end of the exhibition season.  Toronto signed him and he started the season in the majors, but after three scoreless innings he was sent back to AAA.  He came back to the Blue Jays in late July, but was not particularly successful.  A free agent after the season, he moved on to Detroit and got the most playing time of his career, making sixteen starts for the Tigers.  He did not do much with them, though, and was waived after the season.  Cleveland selected him, but apparently thought better of it and released him less than two months later.  He played for a few years in Japan, but then his playing career came to an end.  For his major league career, Sean Douglass was 7-13, 6.11, 1.61 WHIP in 207.2 innings.  He appeared in 54 games, 31 of them starts.  His last season in Japan appears to have been 2008.  He appears to have returned to his home town of Lancaster; at any rate, there's a Sean Douglass who's playing in an amateur baseball league there, so it seems reasonable to think that it's the same one.

Right-hander Yoslan (Betancourt) Herrera did not pitch for the Twins, but he made six starts for AAA Rochester in 2010.  He was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba.  He was a member of the Cuban National Youth team from 1999-2000 and pitched for Pinar del Rio in the Cuban National League.  He was left off the Cuban Olympic team in 2004 due to injury.  In 2005, he defected and settled in the Dominican Republic.  Herrera signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 2007.  He was in the Pirates’ system for three seasons, spent mostly in AA.  He struggled in his first year but pitched pretty well there in 2008-2009.  The Pirates seemed reluctant to give him a chance at a higher level, however; despite going 17-10, 3.35 in his last 212 innings of AA, he got only five appearances at AAA.  He did make five major league starts in 2008, going 1-1, 9.82 in 18.1 innings.  The Pirates let him go after the 2009 season and he signed with Minnesota for 2010.  His first three starts there were pretty good, but his last three were awful and he was released with a record of 0-3, 6.08 in 26.2 innings.  What he did for the next couple of years is unclear, but he spent 2013 playing for Lancaster in the Atlantic League.   Two years ago, we closed with:  "He's 32 today and has nothing to recommend him as a prospect.  On the other hand, teams are always looking for pitching.  As the great philosopher Joaquin Andujar told us, you can sum up baseball in one word:  youneverknow."  That turned out to be true.  He did well enough in Lancaster to catch the attention of the Angels, who signed him for 2014.  He began in AAA, but after four solid relief appearances there he came back to the major leagues after a six-year absence, appearing in twenty games and posting an ERA of 2.70.  He signed with the Angels again for 2015 but was released before spring training and does not appear to have signed with anyone.  It seems likely that his playing career is over, but we've thought that before.

April 27

Hi Myers (1889)

Allan Sothoron (1893)
Rogers Hornsby (1896)
Horace Stoneham (1903)
Enos Slaughter (1916)
John Rice (1918)
Greg Kosc (1949)
Willie Upshaw (1957)
Patrick Lennon (1968)
Frank Catalanotto (1974)
Benj Sampson (1975)
Chris Carpenter (1975)
Pedro Feliz (1975)
Luis Perdomo (1984)

Horace Stoneham was the owner of the Giants from 1936-1976.

John Rice was an American League umpire from 1955-1973.

Greg Kosc was an American League umpire from 1976-1999.

Outfielder Patrick Orlando Lennon was in the Twins’ minor league system for a couple of months in 1995.  Born and raised in Whiteville, North Carolina, he was named North Carolina High School Athlete of the Year in 1986 and was drafted by Seattle with the eighth pick of the 1986 draft.  His early minor league numbers were fairly pedestrian, but in 1991 he hit .329 with 15 homers at AAA Calgary, earning him a September call-up.  Lennon was apparently injured much of 1992, as he had only 48 at-bats in AAA and two in the majors.  He became a free agent after 1992 and signed with Colorado.  He was released in April, signed and was out of baseball until July, when he signed with Cleveland.  A free agent again after the season, he went to Boston for 1994, was released in July of 1995, and signed with the Twins.  He hit .400 in 115 at-bats, but the Twins still let him go after the season.  He spent a month in the big leagues in with Kansas City in 1996 and was released at the end of April.  Lennon signed with Oakland and finished the season in their minor league system.  He started the 1997 in AAA with the Atheletics, but was called up in mid-May and spent most of the rest of the season in the majors, the most big-league playing time he ever got (116 at-bats in 56 games).  Lennon signed with Anaheim for 1998, was released in spring training, and went to Toronto, where he got 33 major league at-bats over two seasons before being released in June of 1999.  He finished the season for the Tigers’ AAA team, was in AAA for Montreal in 2000, split 2001 between the Yankees’ AAA team and the Mexican League, split 2002 and 2003 between AAA and independent Long Island, and was a Long Island Duck in 2004 and 2005 before his playing career finally came to an end.  He played in the minors for twenty seasons, hitting .295 in nearly six thousand at-bats, but got only 189 at-bats in the big leagues.  At last report, Patrick Lennon was an instructor for Play Like A Pro Baseball in Hauppauge, New York.

Left-hander Benjamin Damon Sampson pitched for the Twins for parts of two season from 1998-1999.  He was born in Des Moines and went to high school in Ankeny, Iowa.  Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round in 1993.  He pitched well in the low minors, but less well as he went up the ladder.  In parts of four AAA seasons, totally nearly three hundred innings, he never had an ERA below five.  Despite that, he got two shots with the Twins, which is probably more of a statement about the Twins’ pitching in the late 1990s than anything else.  He got a September call-up in 1998 following his best AAA season, when he went 10-7, 5.14 with a WHIP of 1.55 for Salt Lake.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1999 and was their fifth starter.  That lasted for three starts, by which time Sampson had an ERA of 15.00.  He stayed in the majors most of the season, pitching out of the bullpen except for one start in early August.  He did not pitch well in either role, and was sent to the minors on August 19.  He was in the organization three more years, pitching well in Ft. Myers in 2001 and in New Britain in 2002, but flopped again when promoted to AAA Edmonton later in 2002.  The Twins finally let him go after that season and he signed with Colorado, for whom   he had a good  year at AA Tulsa.  He then went to Taiwan for 2004 and to Italy for 2005 before retiring as a professional player.  Benj Sampson’s big-league numbers, all with Minnesota, are 4-2, 6.83 with a WHIP of 1.78 in 88.1 innings.  He appeared in 35 games, six of them starts.  After retirement, he went into the business world.  From 2006 to 2008, he was an account manager for USA ScoreTables, working with high schools in Texas to install scrolling media into gymnasiums, arenas, and stadiums.  At last report, Benj Sampson was the national accounts consultant for Learning Through Sports, Inc., which is a leading publisher of digital game-based learning programs for K-12, as well as being a key figure in the company’s STAR mentors program.

Right-hander Luis M. Perdomo made his debut for the Twins in 2012.  He was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, and was signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 2003.  He apparently spent a couple of years in the Dominican Summer League, as b-r doesn’t give any stats for him until 2006.  A reliever his entire career, his numbers in the low minors are pretty good.  Still, he did not make AA until mid-way through the 2008 season and was traded to St. Louis in late July.  He was left unprotected that off-season and was chosen by San Francisco in the Rule 5 draft.  The Giants kept him, but put him on waivers in early April before he had played a game for them.  San Diego claimed him and kept him in the majors almost the entire season.  He did not pitch particularly well, however, going 1-0, 4.80, 1.52 WHIP in 35 appearances (60 innings).  He did pitch well in AAA in 2010, but did not pitch well when sent there again in 2011 and was allowed to become a free agent.  Minnesota signed him and sent him to New Britain.  He pitched very well there, continued to pitch well when promoted to Rochester, and spent nearly two months in the majors, where he did okay in seventeen innings.  In 2013, however, his luck ran out.  He did very poorly in Rochester and was released in late August.  He is still pitching, however, going to the Mexican League in 2014 and to Bridgeport of the Atlantic League in 2015.  As a Twin, Luis Perdomo was 0-0, 3.18, 1.59 WHIP in fifteen appearances.  He’s 31 today, and the chances are we won't see him again.  Still, he’s had some success in the minors, did not do badly in his time with the Twins, and with relief pitchers it can be hard to tell.  Even though he's not left-handed, it’s still possible, though unlikely, that Luis Perdomo might get another shot at the big leagues.

April 26

Jack Barry (1887)

Ray Caldwell (1888)
Hack Wilson (1900)
Bernard Malamud (1914)
Virgil Trucks (1917)
Sal Maglie (1917)
Ron Northey (1920)
Granny Hamner (1927)
Amos Otis (1947)
Tom Norton (1950)
Mike Scott (1955)
Steve Lombardozzi (1960)
Curtis Wilkerson (1961)
Brian Anderson (1972)
Geoff Blum (1973)
Kosuke Fukudome (1977)
Joe Crede (1978)
Alejandro Machado (1982)

Bernard Malamud, of course, wrote the book "The Natural".  He probably wrote some other books as well.

Right-handed reliever Thomas John Norton made 21 appearances for the Twins in 1972.  Born in Elyria, Ohio, he attended St. Clair County Community College of Port Huron, Michigan.  Norton signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1969.  He was somewhat up and down in his minor league career.  After a decent but unspectacular season in AA Charlotte in 1971, Norton played the full 1972 season for the Twins.  He was apparently injured part of that time, as he went two months without appearing in a game.  For an undrafted 22-year-old who had never pitched above AA, he was pretty good:  0-1, 2.78 with a WHIP of 1.39 in 32.1 innings.  Those would be his career numbers, though, as he never pitched in the big leagues again.  He pitched well for AA Orlando from 1973-1975, but flopped whenever he was promoted to AAA.  Minnesota gave up on him after the 1975 season.  He made three starts for AA Knoxville in the White Sox organization in 1976 (he was a starter most of his minor-league career), but then his playing career came to an end at age 26.  It was a brief career, but he got to spend a full season as a major league player, and there is probably not a huge number of pitchers with over 20 appearances who have lower career ERAs.  No information about Tom Norton’s life after playing baseball was readily available.

Second baseman Stephen Paul Lombardozzi was with the Twins from 1985-1988.  Born in Malden, Massachusetts, he attended the University of Florida and then was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round in 1981.  He hit quite well in the low minors, but less well as he went up the ladder.  Still, he hit .264 with 14 homers in AAA Toledo in 1985, which was good enough to get him a September call-up in which he hit .370 in 54 at-bats.  He became the starting second baseman the next year and would hold the job for two seasons.  Lombo never hit anywhere near as well again, but he was an excellent defensive player.  He helped the Twins win the championship in 1987, but early in 1988 the Twins decided they could no longer live with his lack of offense and traded for Tom Herr.  Due to Herr’s injuries, Lombardozzi still started about half the games, but in spring training of 1989 he was traded to Houston for two players to be named later (Ramon Cedeno and Gordon Farmer).  Lombo never got much of a chance in Houston, spending most of his time in the minors, and was released in May of 1990.  Detroit picked him up and sent him to AAA the rest of the season, after which his career came to an end.  As a Twin, Steve Lombardozzi hit .233/.307/.345.  After his playing career ended he ran a small business for a while, but then decided he wanted to get back into baseball.  He was a minor league infield instructor for the Pittsburgh Pirates for a while.  He was the head baseball coach at Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland beginning in 2012, but it is unclear whether he still holds that position.  His son, also named Steve Lombardozzi, is an infielder in the PIttsburgh organization.

Third baseman Joseph Crede played for the Twins in 2009.  A cousin of major league pitcher Dennis Higgins, Crede was born in Jefferson City, Missouri and attended high school in Westphalia, Missouri.  The White Sox drafted him in the first round in 1996.  Crede had some fine years in the minors; his best was probably 2002, when he hit .312 with 24 home runs for AAA Charlotte.  Those numbers were for less than a full season, because after having been given cups of coffee in the majors in 2000 and 2001, Crede was brought up for good in late July of 2002.  He immediately became the starting third baseman for the White Sox, a job he held through the 2008 season.  He was a very durable player early in his career and had some fine seasons for the Southsiders.  His best year was 2006, when he hit .283 with 30 home runs and won a Silver Slugger award.  The next year, however, injuries started to bother him, and he was never the same player again.  He inexplicably made his lone all-star team in 2008, when he hit only .248 with 17 homers.  He became a free agent after that season and signed with Minnesota.  Crede was the Twins’ regular third baseman when healthy, but unfortunately “when healthy” was only about half the team’s games.  As a Twin, he hit .225/.289/.414, with 15 home runs in 333 at-bats.  He was out of baseball in 2010, signed a contract with Colorado for 2011, but did not report to spring training, deciding instead to retire.  At last report he was living on a farm near Westphalia, Missouri.  He was recently inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

Infielder Alejandro Jose Machado did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2008-2009.  Born in Caracas, Venezuela, he signed with Atlanta as a free agent in 1998.  He had some fine years in Class A, but struggled for a while when placed above that, which is understandable given his age.  He played for several different organizations in the minors.  The Braves traded him to Kansas City in July of 2001, the Royals sent him to Milwaukee in July of 2003, Milwaukee essentially gave him to Montreal in March of 2004, and the now Nationals traded him to Boston in January of 2005.  He was gradually getting better as he went along, and in 2005 Machado hit .300 at AAA Pawtucket.  That got him a September call-up, in which he went 1-for-5 with a walk and scored four runs.  At present, those are his career numbers, as he has not made it back to the majors since.  He dropped to .260 at Pawtucket in 2006, became a free agent, signed with Washington, and was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, when he was selected by Minnesota.  He was not able to stay healthy after that.  Machado missed the entire 2007 season with injuries, but was in the Twins’ system the next two years.  He was still injured part of the 2008 season, but hit .338 in 195 at-bats.   Injuries again plagued him in 2009, when he hit .253 in 150 at-bats spread over four minor league teams.  He became a free agent again after the 2009 season and signed with Florida.  He was sent to AAA, released in mid-May, and finished the season in AA with Atlanta.  He became a free agent after the season but did not sign with anyone, ending his playing career  At last report, Alejandro Machado was an instructor with Elev/8 Crush It Baseball of Delray Beach, Florida.

April 25

John Henry “Pop” Lloyd (1884)

George Fiall (1900)

Bill Grieve (1900)

Roy Parmelee (1907)

Bobby Estalella (1911)

Red Flaherty (1917)

Ed Vargo (1930)

Lew Krausse (1943)

Kerry Taylor (1950)
Greg Wells (1954)
Larry Pashnick (1956)
Tony Phillips (1959)
Darren Holmes (1966)
Joe Buck (1969)
Brad Clontz (1971)
Jacque Jones (1975)
Garrett Mock (1983)
J. P. Howell (1983)

Shortstop Pop Lloyd was called the Black Honus Wagner.

A member of the basketball hall of fame as part of the “Renaissance Five” team, shortstop George Fiall played in the Negro Leagues from 1918-1931.

Bill Grieve was an American League umpire from 1938-1955.

Red Flaherty was an American League umpire from 1953-1973.

Ed Vargo was a National League umpire from 1960-1983 and was an umpire supervisor from 1984-1997.

Kerry Taylor played for the GCL Twins in 1968.  He then went into the Army and was killed in the Vietnam War.

The son of Hall of Famer Jack Buck, some sources say that Joe Buck is also a professional baseball broadcaster.

Garrett Mock was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 2002, but did not sign.

The original Boomer Wells, first baseman Gregory De Wayne Wells had 54 at-bats with the Twins in 1982.  Born in McIntosh, Alabama, he went to Albany State University (where he also played football and was drafted by the Jets in the sixteenth round) and signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1976.  He signed with the Pirates on March 26 and was released on April 7, making one wonder why Pittsburgh bothered in the first place.  He played for independent Beeville in the Gulf States League that year, and was signed by Cleveland on February 14, 1977.  The Indians released him on March 27; apparently teams liked the idea of signing Wells a lot more than they liked actually having him around.  In mid-June, he signed with Toronto and finally got a chance to play for a major league organization.  He was dominant in the low minors, but was simply fairly good when he was jumped from Class A to AAA.  In 1981, though, he hit .292 with 20 homers at Syracuse and was called up to the majors once the strike ended.  He spent the rest of the season in Toronto.  After the season ended, he was traded to Minnesota as the player to be named later in a deal that sent Hosken Powell to the Blue Jays.  The Twins sent him to AAA Toledo, where he had his best minor league season, hitting .336 with 28 home runs.  He got a September call-up and was used in fifteen games as a first baseman and DH, but hit only .204 with no home runs.  The Twins released him after the season and he went to Japan, where he played for ten years.  He became a star in Japan, making the all-star team five times and becoming the first American to win the triple crown.  He was inducted into the Albany State University Hall of Fame in 2003.  At last report, Greg "Boomer" Wells was living in Cartersville, Georgia and helping care for his elderly mother.

Right-hander Larry John Pashnick appeared in 13 games for the Twins in 1984.  He was born in Lincoln Park, Michigan, attended Michigan State, and was signed by Detroit as a free agent in 1979.  He did fairly well at every stop in the minors and reached the majors in 1982, beginning that season with the Tigers.  He was in the big leagues for most of the season, was used both as a starter and in relief, and did reasonably well in both roles, going 4-4, 4.01 in 94.1 innings.  He began 1983 in AAA, but had two stints in the majors totalling about two months.  He did not do as well this time and was traded to Minnesota after the season for Rusty Kuntz.  He started 1984 with the Twins and actually did pretty well, going 2-1, 3.52 with a 1.28 WHIP in 38.1 innings.  Still, the Twins sent him out in late June, and he never made it back to the major leagues.  In fact, 1984 was his last year, as his playing career ended after that.  Not that he would have been a superstar, but it seems odd, given his record, that he did not get more of a chance.  At last report, Larry Pashnick was living in Livonia, Michigan was the owner of Pashnick Sales LLC.  He was active in Detroit Tigers’ alumni events and also in various charitable events.

Outfielder Jacque Dewayne Jones played for the Twins from 1999-2005.  Born and raised in San Diego, he attended Kennesaw State University of Kennesaw, Georgia, one of five major league players the school has produced.  He was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1996.  Jones played for the U. S. Olympic team that year, so his professional career did not really get going until 1997.  He hit well, showing double-digit home run power and narrowly missing .300 in both 1997 and 1998.  He started 1999 in AAA, but was in the majors by early June and didn’t look back.  He played center field in 1999, played both center and left in 2000, was in left field from 2001-2003, and moved to right for 2004-2005.  Jones was a solid big-league outfielder throughout his tenure with the Twins.  His best season was 2002, when he hit .300 with 27 home runs and 37 doubles.  His numbers dropped in his last two years in Minnesota, and Jones became a free agent after the 2005 season.  He had a fine season for the Cubs in 2006, but in 2007 his power disappeared:  he still hit .285, but had only five home runs.  The Cubs traded Jones to Detroit after the season, and he collapsed.  He hit only .165 in 79 at-bats for the Tigers in 2008 and was released in mid-May.  He signed with Florida and was with the Marlins for a month, but continued not hitting and was released again.  Jones spent 2009 with the independent Newark Bears, and was signed by Minnesota for 2010.  He had a fine spring training, but was sent to AAA Rochester, where he hit .280 but with few walks and little power.   He became a free agent after the season and was not signed, ending his playing career. It was a pretty good career, though.  As a Twin, he hit .279/.327/.455, numbers which are pretty much the same as his career numbers.  Jacque Jones was he batting coach for the AAA El Paso Chihuahaus in the San Diego organization at the start of 2014, but quit in mid-June for personal reasons.  No information on what he has been doing since then was readily available.

April 24

Bob Ewing (1873)

Howard Ehmke (1894)

Harry Harper (1895)
Andy Cooper (1896)
Ed Musial (1922)
Frank Lucchesi (1927)
Lou DiMuro (1931)
Terry Tata (1940)
Ivan Murrell (1943)
Bill Singer (1944)
Pat Zachry (1952)
Bill Krueger (1958)
Mike Blowers (1965)
Omar Vizquel (1967)
Todd Jones (1968)
Chipper Jones (1972)
John Barnes (1976)
Carlos Beltran (1977)

Andy Cooper pitched in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1939.  He managed the Kansas City Monarchs to four consecutive Negro American League Championships from 1937-1940.  He also holds the Negro Leagues career record for saves with 29.

The brother of Stan Musial, Ed Musial played in the minors in 1941 and from 1946-1950.

Frank Lucchesi managed in the minors for twenty-three seasons and in the majors for seven seasons.

Lou DiMuro was an American League umpire from 1963-1982.

Terry Tata was a National League umpire from 1973-1999.

Right-hander William Robert Singer was with the Twins for four months in 1976.  He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Pomona, California, and signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1961.  He advanced rapidly through the minors, reaching AAA in 1964 at age 20.  He averaged over 200 innings per season in three years at AAA Spokane.  His numbers weren’t that great, but it was the Pacific Coast League, and the Dodgers thought enough of him to give him a cup of coffee each of those three seasons.  Singer made the team in 1967 and was in the majors for good.  He was part of some fine pitching staffs with the Dodgers, and while he was never the ace he certainly contributed well.  His best year as a Dodger was 1969, when he was 20-12 with a 2.34 ERA and pitched 315.2 innings.  He was injured part of 1970, but remained in the Dodgers’ rotation through 1972.  That off-season, the Dodgers traded Singer to the Angels, where he played for three years.  His first season was there was his best; he went 20-14, 3.22 and again pitched 315.2 innings.  He was again injured the following season, but remained in the Angels’ rotation through 1975.  The Angels traded him to Texas after that season, and in June of 1976 he was traded to Minnesota along with Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, Roy Smalley, and $250,000 for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson.  He finished the season with the Twins and pitched fairly well, going 9-9, 3.77 in 172 innings.  He was left unprotected in the expansion draft, however, and Singer was selected by Toronto.  He was the starting pitcher in the Blue Jays’ inaugural game, but he did not pitch well, was injured a couple of times, and was done by mid-July.  He remained in baseball after his playing career ended, working in the front office for Florida, Arizona, and Pittsburgh.  Bill Singer is currently the Director of International Scouting and Special Assistant to the President of Baseball Operations and General Manager for the Washington Nationals.

Left-hander William Culp Krueger was with the Twins for five months in 1992.  He was born in Waukegan, Illinois, but attended high school in McMinnville, Oregon.  He attended the University of Portland and signed with Oakland as a free agent in 1980.  He rose rapidly through the Oakland system and made his debut with the Athletics in 1983, jumping from AA to start the season in the majors.  He pitched pretty well but was injured in early August, missing the rest of the season.  He was a mediocre starter for Oakland in 1984 and 1985 and was injured much of 1986.  He continued to pitch poorly 1987 and was traded to the Dodgers in June.  Krueger spent much of 1987 and 1988 in AAA, but after a strong 1988 in Albuquerque he was traded to Pittsburgh.  The Pirates released him in spring training and he signed with Milwaukee.  He pitched well in the Brewers’ bullpen in 1989, having his first good season in six years, and by mid-June of 1990 he was placed in the starting rotation, where he continued to pitch well.  After the 1990 season, Krueger became a free agent and signed with Seattle, where he had another good year.  He was a free agent again after 1991 and signed with Minnesota.  He made 27 starts as a Twin, going 10-6, 4.30 with a 1.31 WHIP.  In late August, the Twins traded Krueger to Montreal for Darren Reed.  Once more a free agent after the 1992 season, he signed with Detroit.  He made four starts at the beginning of the season and three at the end, pitching out of the bullpen the rest of the time, and did pretty well.  It was to be his last good season, however.  He got off to a poor start in 1994, was released in June, signing with San Diego ten days later.  He remained with the Padres until May of 1995, was released again, and signed with Seattle in mid-June.  He spent most of his time with the Mariners in AAA, coming up to make five starts.  His playing career came to an end after that.  Bill Krueger is the Strategic Relationship Officer for Northwest Center, a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities.  He is also a broadcaster for Root Sports Northwest.

Right-handed reliever Todd Barton Givin Jones made 24 appearances for the Twins in 2001.  Born and raised in Marietta, Georgia, he went to Jacksonville State and was drafted in the first round by Houston in 1989.  He was a starter for his first three years in the minors, then shifted to the bullpen in 1992.  His minor league numbers are pretty underwhelming, but he was called up to the majors in July of 1993 and had immediate success.  His role in the bullpen gradually increased in importance, as did his save total:  in his four years with Houston, his save numbers are 2, 5, 15, 17.  Despite the saves, 1996 was his worst year as an Astro:  an ERA of 4.40 and a WHIP of 1.62.  After that season, he was traded to Detroit as part of a nine-player swap.  His first year as a Tiger was a good one, but after that had a fairly high ERA and a fairly high WHIP.  By this time, however, he was an established closer, and he remained in that role through 2000, when he led the league with 42 saves.  In 2001, however, he lost the closer role and then was traded to Minnesota at the end of July for Mark Redman.  Jones appeared in 24 games for the Twins, going 1-0, 3.26 with a WHIP of 1.76 in 19.1 innings.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado.  He stayed with the Rockies for a year and a half, but did not pitch well and was released at the end of June of 2003.  He made one start as a Rockie in 2003, giving him the record for most appearances prior to his first start (632).  He finished the year with Boston, continuing to not pitch well.  He moved on to Tampa Bay for 2004, was released in spring training, signed with Cincinnati, and was traded to Philadelphia in July.  He signed with Florida for 2005 and had his first good season in many years, posting a 2.10 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in 73 innings.  He had 40 saves that year.  He was once again a free agent after that season and went back to Detroit.  He was the Tigers closer for three years and did about what he had done in his previous stint, posting high ERAs and high WHIPs but getting a good number of saves.  He finally lost the closer role in 2008 and retired after the season.  He is probably the worst closer to compile 300 saves, but he still has the saves, and they put him in some pretty good company.  At last report, Todd Jones was living in Pell City, Alabama.  He coaches local youth baseball teams and is very active in a number of charities.

Outfielder John Delbert Barnes played in 20 games for the Twins from 2000-2001.  He was born in San Diego and went to high school in El Cajon, California.  He then attended Grossmont College in El Cajon and was drafted by Boston in the fourth round in 1996.  He put up decent but unspectacular numbers in the minors for two and a half years for the Red Sox, rising as high as AA, and then was traded to Minnesota along with Joe Thomas and Matt Kinney for Orlando Merced and Greg Swindell.  He was okay, but no more, for New Britain.  Then, in 2000, Barnes hit .365 with 13 homers at AAA Salt Lake.  He got a September call-up and hit .351 in 37 at-bats.  He fell to .293 in 2001 at AAA Edmonton, but got another two weeks with the Twins.  The Twins put him on waivers in September, however, and he was chosen by Colorado.  As a Twin, John Barnes hit .241/.313/.310 in 58 at-bats.  He played in AAA for the Rockies in 2002, then was let go.  He moved on to Pittsburgh for 2003 and hit .323 with 13 homers in AAA, but was not brought up to the majors.  In 2004, he hit .348 in AAA with the Dodgers, but it again did him no good.  He moved on to the Braves’ AAA team in 2005.  He then signed with Boston and tried, at age 30, to become a knuckleball pitcher.  He had some success, rising as high as AAA, but not enough to convince the Red Sox to bring him to the majors, and he called it quits after the 2007 season.  At last report, John Barnes was the patient care coordinator for Pacific Pulmonary Services in Modesto, California.  He also was the owner of Baseball Lessons, offering private hitting lessons and group clinics.

April 23

Harry Coveleski (1886)
Elam Vangilder (1896)
Sunny Jim Bottomley (1900)
Dolph Camilli (1907)
Warren Spahn (1921)
Rheal Cormier (1967)
Jason Tyner (1977)
Andruw Jones (1977)
Carlos Silva (1979)
Sean Henn (1981)

Outfielder Jason Reynt Tyner was with the Twins from 2005-2007.  He was born in Bedford, Texas, went to high school in Beaumont, Texas, and was drafted by the Mets in the first round in 1998.  He hit over .300 almost every year in the minors and stole a good number of bases, although even in the minors he did not hit a home run until 2004.  He made his debut with the Mets in June of 2000, staying for about a month.  Tyner was traded to Tampa Bay at the end of July that season.  He started 2001 in the minors but was called up in mid-May and was a mostly-regular outfielder for the Devil Rays, hitting .280 with 31 stolen bases.  That would be his only season with double digit steals.  He split the next two years between AAA and the majors, slumping to .214 in 2002 but bouncing back to .278 in 2003 in 90 at-bats.  He became a free agent in 2004 and signed with Texas, but was released a week into the season.  He went to AAA with Atlanta, was released in late July, and signed with Cleveland, finishing the season with their AAA team.  A free agent again after the 2004 campaign, Tyner signed with Minnesota.  He hit .286 at AAA in 2005 and got a September call-up.  Tyner was hitting .329 at AAA in 2006 when he was called up to the Twins in mid-July.  2007 was Tyner’s only full season in the majors:  he hit .286 with his only major league home run that year.  Tyner once again became a free agent after the 2007 season and signed with Cleveland.  He was released in July and finished out the year in AAA with the White Sox.  He signed with Houston for 2009, was released in spring training, and split the season between the Detroit and Milwaukee systems, where he hit only .153 in AAA in 85 at-bats.  That brought his playing career to an end.  As a Twin, Jason Tyner hit .299/.340/.356 in 578 at-bats.  At last report, he was co-manager of the Southeast Texas Baseball Academy in Beaumont, Texas, which runs baseball programs for 8-12 year olds.

Right-hander Carlos Silva was with the Twins from 2004-2007.  Born and raised in Bolivar, Venezuela, he signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1996.  He started slowly, but things started to come together in 1999, when in his fourth year of pro ball he had a good season at Class A Piedmont.  He continued to do well, reaching AA in 2001.  He was jumped to the majors in 2002 and was placed in the Philadelphia bullpen.  He pitched well for the Phillies in 2002, but not as well in 2003.  After that season, Silva was traded to Minnesota with Nick Punto and a player to be named later (Bobby Korecky) for Eric Milton.  The Twins put him in the starting rotation, where he remained for four seasons.  He pitched between 180-203 innings every year.  Other than that, he was rather up and down; he had a fine year in 2005, decent seasons in 2004 and 2007, and was dreadful in 2006.  A control pitcher, Silva walked only nine batters in 188.1 innings in 2005.  He became a free agent after the 2007 season; as a Twin, Carlos Silva was 47-45, 4.42 in 773.2 innings.  He appeared in 129 games, 123 of them starts.  He signed with Seattle for 2008 and was awful.  He struggled with injuries in 2009 and remained awful.  Silva was traded to the Cubs for 2010, and was not awful, going 10-6, 4.22, 1.27 WHIP in 113 innings.  He got into squabbles with other players and with management, however, and was released late in spring training of 2011.  The Yankees signed him to a minor league contract a couple of weeks later but released him in early July.  Silva signed with Boston for 2012 but was released in mid-March and his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Carlos Silva was living in Medina, Minnesota.

Left-hander Sean Michael Henn made 14 appearances for the Twins in 2009.  He was born in Ft. Worth and went to high school in Aledo, Texas.  Henn attended McClennan Community College in Texas and was drafted by the Yankees in the 26th round in 2000.  He pitched well in nine appearances in 2001, but missed all of 2002 with injury.  He came back to have a good season at Class A in 2003.  Henn reached AAA in 2005.  He made his major league debut that year as well, making three starts for the Yankees.  He made four more appearances in the majors in 2006, but did not spend substantial time there until 2007, when he started the season in New York and spent all but about six weeks there.  He was not used very often (29 appearances, 36.2 innings), and did not pitch very well when he was used.  Henn started 2008 back in the minors, was placed on waivers in early May, and was selected by San Diego.  He was in the big leagues for about two weeks in May, but appears to have been injured part of the season.  Minnesota signed him for 2009 and he pitched very well in the Rochester bullpen.  He came to the Twins for about six weeks in mid-May to the end of June and posted a 7.15 ERA in 14 appearances totaling 11.1 innings.  The Twins sent him to Baltimore in September “as part of a conditional deal” and he finished the season with the Orioles.  The Orioles placed Henn on waivers after the season, and he signed with Toronto.  He spent the season in AAA and did not pitch all that well, but the Blue Jays saw enough to send him back there for 2011, when he pitched quite well.  A free agent after the 2011 season, he signed with Seattle for 2012 and was sent to AAA Tacoma, but did not do particularly well and was released in early June.  He's kept at it, though.  He signed with Boston for 2013, was released in late March, and signed with the Mets on April 10.  After spending the season in AAA Las Vegas, he got a September call-up and was with the Mets for four games, pitching 2.2 innings.  He became a free agent again and went unsigned, ending his playing career.  At last report, Sean Henn was an instructor with Strike Baseball Strength Conditioning in the Dallas area.

April 22

Bob Smith (1895)

Taylor Douthit (1901)

Ray Benge (1902)

Lew Riggs (1910)

Mickey Vernon (1918)

John Orsino (1938)

Steve Jones (1941)

David Clyde (1955)

Moose Haas (1956)

Dave Schmidt (1957)

Terry Francona (1959)

Jimmy Key (1961)

Jack Savage (1964)

Mickey Morandini (1966)

George Williams (1969)

Left-hander Steven Howell Jones did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 1962-1963.  He was born in Huntington Park, California, attended high school in Bell, California, went to Whittier College, and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1962.  He was in the Twins’ organization for two years, one at Class D Erie and the other at Class A Wilson, and was nothing special.  The White Sox apparently saw something in him, though, as they chose him in the minor league draft following the 1963 season.  They promoted him to AA, where he was nothing special for two more years.  In 1966, however, Jones had a pretty good year in AA.  He had another good year in 1967 at AAA Indianapolis, and was in the majors by mid-August.  He did okay in 25.2 innings, but was sent to Washington before the 1968 campaign as part of a multi-player deal.  He had a fine season at AAA Buffalo and sent about two weeks in the majors with the Senators.  Jones was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by Kansas City.  He began the season with the Royals, lasting two and a half months and not pitching all that badly before he was sent down.  He got a September call-up that same year, but then his major league career was over.  He was in the minors for two more years, playing in AAA for the Kansas City, Baltimore, and Cleveland organizations before his playing career came to an end after the 1971 season.  His brother, Gary, also played in the major leagues, pitching for the Yankees in 1970-1971.  He is a member of the Whittier College Hall of Fame.  There are, of course, about eleventy billion people in the world named "Steve Jones".  At last report, it appeared that our Steve Jones was living in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was helping coach youth baseball.

Right-hander John Joseph Savage made 17 appearances with the Twins in 1990.  He was born in Louisville and attended the University of Kentucky before being drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round in 1985.  A reliever for nearly all of his career, Savage had an excellent year in rookie-level Great Falls in 1985.  He stumbled at Class A in 1986, but had another good year in AA in 1987.  Savage got a September call-up that season, making three appearances for the Dodgers.  After the season, however, he was sent to the Mets in a three-team trade that also included Kevin Tapani and Jesse Orosco.  He had two solid years for AAA Tidewater, but did not get a chance in the majors.  After the 1989 campaign, Savage was sent to Minnesota as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, and David West to the Twins for Frank Viola.  He threw twenty solid innings out of the Portland bullpen and was promoted to Minnesota in late June.  Savage was seldom used and did not pitch well when he was used–he gave up at least one run in 13 of his 17 appearances.  As a Twin, Jack Savage went 0-2, 8.31 in 26 innings.  He spent one more season in the Twins’ minor league system and then his playing career ended.   It's a pity that someone with a great name like "Jack Savage" didn't have more major league success, but such is life. At last report, Jack Savage had returned to his home town of Louisville and was apparently working for the Louisville Slugger company.

Catcher George Erik Williams did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for most of 1999.  He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, attended the University of Texas—Pan American, and was drafted by Oakland in the twenty-fourth round in 1991.  He had some solid years in the minors, averaging around .300 with double-digit homers from 1992-1995.  He was called up to the majors in mid-July of 1995 and spent the next year and a half backing up Terry Steinbach.  He shared the catching position with Brent Mayne in 1997 and hit .289, but that was as good as it got for him.  He missed nearly all of 1998 with an injury, was allowed to become a free agent, and signed with Minnesota for 1999.  He was sent to AAA Salt Lake and did well there, hitting .303/.424/.467, but was traded to Houston in early August for Josh Dimmick.  He finished out the season in AAA for the Astros, became a free agent again, and signed with San Diego for 2000.  He got back to the majors in mid-August, but that would be his swan song.  He played briefly in AAA for Boston in 2001 and then his career was over.  In the majors, he hit .243/.362/.367 in 428 at-bats over four seasons.  He coached at the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse from 2002-2004.  However, there are almost as many people names George Williams as there are Steve Jones, so no further information about George Williams was readily available.

April 21

Hardy Richardson (1855)

Ken Strong (1906)

Gary Peters (1937)

Dick Green (1941)

Al Bumbry (1947)

Jesse Orosco (1957)

Les Lancaster (1962)

Ken Caminiti (1963)

Kip Wells (1977)

Terry Tiffee (1979)

A member of the pro football Hall of Fame, Ken Strong played minor league baseball from 1929-1931 and played very well.  He hit 41 home runs and had 130 RBIs in 1930 in what is now the Eastern League and hit .340 in 1931 in the International League.

Left-hander Jesse Russell Orosco pitched the final eight games out of 1,252 in his career with the Twins in 2003.  Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Orosco was drafted by Minnesota in the second round of the January draft in 1978.  He had an outstanding year at Elizabethton in 1978, posting a 1.12 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 40 innings.  That off-season he became the player to be named later in a deal that also sent Greg Field to the New York Mets for Jerry Koosman.  Orosco made the big leagues at the beginning of the following year, at age 22.  He lasted until mid-June, posting an ERA of 4.89 and making two starts, which would be half of his major league total.  Orosco then returned to the minors, where he would remain until September of 1981.  He did some starting in the minors, and made two more starts in the majors in 1982, but then was strictly a reliever.  Orosco became the Mets’ closer in 1983, a job he held through 1987.  His best year was 1983, when he went 13-7 with seventeen saves, a 1.47 ERA and a WHIP of 1.04 in 110 innings.  He pitched extremely well for his first four years in New York, but he had a down year in 1987 and was traded to the Dodgers after the season.  He was with the Dodgers only one season before becoming a free agent, signing with Cleveland.  He pitched well for the Indians for three seasons, appearing in 171 games, but was sent to Milwaukee “as part of a conditional deal”.  Orosco continued to pitch well for the Brewers for two years, but had an off year in 1994 at age 37.  He became a free agent and signed with Baltimore, where he stayed for five seasons.  He pitched well for four years, but again, as soon as he had a bad season, this time in 1999, he was sent on his way again, this time traded to the Mets.  Before the 2000 campaign began, however, he was sent to St. Louis, where he played for one season.  Orosco moved on to the Dodgers for 2001 and 2002.  He signed with San Diego as a free agent for 2003, was traded to the Yankees at mid-season, and was traded to Minnesota at the end of August for a player to be named later (Juan Padilla).  He pitched in eight September games for the Twins, totalling 4.2 innings and giving up three runs on four hits.  Orosco signed with Arizona for 2004, but did not make the team and his career came to an end at age 46.  Rarely a star (he made only two all-star teams) and only a closer near the beginning of his career, Orosco was a valuable member of numerous teams.  He holds the record for most games pitched and most games pitched in relief.  At last report, Jesse Orosco is the owner of Home Field, "The first app to allow real time sports training, physical therapy, and more, anywhere you are from your mobile device." His daughter, Natalie, played softball for Santa Barbara City College in 2012 and 2013.

Third baseman Terry R. Tiffee was with the Twins for parts of three seasons, 2004-2006.  He was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, went to high school in Sherwood, Arkansas, and was drafted by Minnesota in the 26th round in 1999.  He hit for a solid average with moderate power throughout his minor league career.  His best minor league season was 2003, when he hit .315 with 14 home runs at AA New Britain.  His next three seasons were split between AAA Rochester and Minnesota.  He got a September call-up in 2004, was with the Twins for most of 2005, and was back for about two months in 2006.  As a Twin, he hit .226/.273/.351 in 239 at-bats.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Baltimore.  He was in AAA all of 2007, then signed with the Dodgers.  He got two weeks in the majors in 2008, but again spent the rest of the year in AAA, hitting .378.  He also played for the U. S. Olympic team that year.  He was in AAA with Philadelphia in 2009.  Tiffee became a free agent after the season and signed with Bridgeport of the Atlantic League.  He started in the Atlantic League in 2011, playing for the Lancaster Barnstormers, but was signed by the Yankees in June and hit .345 in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  Despite that, the Yankees released him in late August.  He signed with Miami for 2012 but was apparently released.  He played for Lancaster of the Atlantic League for a while, then signed with Atlanta, for whom he continued to hit well in AAA.  He played in the Mexican League that off-season, but did not sign with anyone for 2013 and his playing career came to an end.  He then went into sales, working for a silver company and an automobile dealership.  At last report, Terry Tiffee was a sales representative for Medsurg, selling medical devices.  He was also the owner of TK Fulfillment, L.L.C., an online boutique.

April 20

Tommy Dowd (1869)

Charlie Hemphill (1876)

Charlie Smith (1880)

Mike Mowrey (1884)
Dave Bancroft (1891)
Roy Hofheinz (1912)
Preston Gomez (1923)
Tom Hutton (1946)
Milt Wilcox (1950)
Doug Clarey (1954)
Floyd Chiffer (1956)
Don Mattingly (1961)
Greg Brummett (1967)
Dan Smith (1969)
Todd Hollandsworth (1973)

Judge Roy Hofheinz was the leader of a group that brought an expansion team to Houston.

Dan Smith was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-second round in 1987, but did not sign.

Second baseman Douglas William Clarey was drafted by the Twins, although he never played for them.  Born in Los Angeles, Minnesota selected Clarey in the sixth round of the 1972 draft.  He was in the Twins’ organization for three years, never rising higher than Class A and never hitting more than .237.  After the 1974 season, Clarey was chosen by St. Louis in the minor league draft.  He didn’t hit much in the Cardinals’ organization, either, but in 1976 he was brought up to the majors twice, totalling a little over three weeks.  He made his major league debut on his birthday, one of thirty-six players to have done so.  He never started a game, going 1-for-4 in nine games as a reserve.  His hit, though, was a game-winning pinch-hit sixteenth-inning homer.  Late in spring training of 1977, he was traded to the Mets for Benny Ayala.  He split that season between the Mets and Brewers organizations, and in 1978 he was in AA for Baltimore.  He hit 19 home runs that season and was still only 24, but apparently that did not make much of an impression on anyone, because his playing career came to an end after that season.  At last report, Doug Clarey was living in Los Angeles.  He went into real estate for a while, then opened a gourmet pizza restaurant , Cheech's Pizza, which is located less than three miles from Dodger Stadium.

Right-hander Floyd John Chiffer did not play for the Twins, but he was in their minor league system in 1985.  He was born in Glen Cove, New York, went to high school in Lakewood, California, attended UCLA, and was drafted by San Diego in the fifth round in 1978.  He was a starter his first season in the minors, then switched to the bullpen.  He struggled until 1980, when he went 4-5, 2.18, 1.11 WHIP with nine saves in 62 innings (39 appearances) for AA Amarillo.  He followed that up with a strong 1981 in AAA Hawaii and was in the big leagues the following season.  He had a solid 1982, going 4-3, 2.95, 1.35 WHIP with four saves in 79.1 innings (51 appearances).  He started 1983 in the majors and does not seem to have been pitching that badly, but he apparently got into the doghouse, because he was sent back to AAA in mid-May, not returning until September.  He got about two more months in the majors in 1984, then was traded to Minnesota for Ray Smith after the season.  He went 9-7, 2.49 with a 1.28 WHIP in Rochester, pitching 79.2 innings (51 appearances), but despite the fact that the Twins were using people like Curt Wardle and Rick Lysander in their bullpen, he never got a call to the majors.  He started 1986 in AAA for Montreal but soon went to the Braves’ organization, where he stayed through 1987.  His playing career ended after that season.  For his major league career, he was 5-5, 4.02, 1.48 WHIP in 130 innings (81 appearances).  After that, Floyd Chiffer went into the pharmaceuticals industry as a salesman.  At last report, he was the surgical account manager for Abbott Medical Optics of Seal Beach, California.

Right-hander Gregory Scott Brummett made five starts for the Twins in 1993.  He was born in Wichita and attended Wichita State, where his team won the College World Series and he was named tournament MVP in 1989.  San Francisco drafted him in the eleventh round in 1989.  He pitched well in the low minors and in 1993 was jumped from Class A to AAA.  He pitched well in AAA, too, and had two stints with the Giants that year, totalling a little over a month.  On September 1 of that season, Brummett became the player who was named later in a trade that also brought Andres Duncan and Aaron Fultz to Minnesota for Jim DeShaies.  The Twins gave Brummett five September starts, in which he went 2-1, 5.74 with a WHIP of 1.65.  He began 1994 in AAA Salt Lake, but did not pitch very well and moved on to Boston’s AAA team at mid-season.  He pitched for Tyler in the independent Texas-Louisiana League in 1996 and also played in the Mexican League that season, but then his playing career came to an end.  Greg Brummett was inducted into the Wichita State Hall of Fame in 1995 and was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.  After his playing career ended he went into coaching, spending four years as the pitching coach of North Carolina-Charlotte and one year coaching at the Air Force Academy.  At last report, Greg Brummett was head baseball coach at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas.

April 19

Bucky Walters (1909)

Hector Maestri (1935)

Rick Miller (1948)
Ed Hodge (1958)
R. J. Reynolds (1959)
Frank Viola (1960)
Spike Owen (1961)
Scott Kamieniecki (1964)
Brent Mayne (1968)
Jose Cruz (1974)
Joe Beimel (1977)
George Sherrill (1977)
Dennys Reyes (1977)
Joe Mauer (1983)
Zach Duke (1983)
Alberto Callaspo (1983)

Right-hander Hector Maestri was with the Washington franchise in 1960, making one appearance in the majors.  Before the 1961 season started, however, he was selected in the expansion draft by the new Washington franchise, for whom he made one more appearance in 1961.

Left-hander Ed Oliver Hodge made 25 appearances for the Twins in 1984. Born in Bellflower, California, Hodge was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round of the January draft in 1979. There is nothing in his minor league record that suggests he would be a major league pitcher, but the 1984 Twins were desperate for a fifth starter, so after he had three good starts at AAA Toledo, going 2-0, 2.01 with a 0.90 WHIP, Ed Hodge found himself in the big league rotation. He did quite a bit better than could have been expected, going 3-2, 4.12 through mid-June, but then was injured, missing a month and a half. He came back on August 1, made five fair-to-middling starts, then spent the rest of the year in the bullpen.  For the season, he was 4-3, 4.77.  He pitched in 25 games, 15 of them starts, and pitched exactly 100 innings.  Those would also be his career numbers; he was back in Toledo in 1985, had another not-to-good season, and was released after the season.  He pitched for the Braves’ AAA team in 1986, and then his playing career came to an end.  More recently, he has done some coaching, serving as the pitching coach for the Sarasota Reds in 2006 and for Lakewood in the Phillies’ organization in 2007.  He was a batting practice pitcher/coach for Houston from 2011-2012, and was hired to do a similar job for Detroit in 2013.  He still held that job at last report.

Left-hander Frank John Viola pitched for the Twins for most of the 1980s.  He was born in Hempstead, New York and went to high school in East Meadow, New York.  He then attended St. John’s (where he was involved in an epic pitcher’s duel with Yale’s Ron Darling that is still talked about occasionally), and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1981.  He pitched reasonably well at AA Orlando in 1981, and after eight starts in AAA Toledo in 1982 he was in the Minnesota rotation at age 22.  He was clearly not ready, posting ERAs over five and WHIPs over 1.5 in his first two seasons.  When things clicked in, though, they did so in style.  In 1984, Viola went 18-12, 3.21 with a WHIP of 1.16 and finished sixth in the Cy Young voting.  He slipped a little in 1985 and 1986, although he was still a solid rotation starter, but in 1987 and 1988 he had his two best seasons.  He went 41-17 in those two years, with an ERA of 2.77.  He won the Cy Young award in 1988, when he won 24 of those games.  Viola also finished tenth in MVP voting that year.  He pitched over 245 innings  each season for the Twins from 1984-1988.  He was still pitching well at the end of July, 1989 when he was traded to the Mets for Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, David West, and a player to be named later (Jack Savage).  He continued to pitch Well for the Mets, winning 20 games in 1990 and finishing third in Cy Young voting that season.  He also continued to pitch well over 200 innings each season.  A free agent after the 1991 campaign, Viola signed with Boston and had two more very good years.  After that, however, he struggled through injuries, had Tommy John surgery, and was never an effective pitcher again.  He pitched briefly with Cincinnati in 1995 and Toronto in 1996 before bringing his playing career to an end.  As a Twin, Frank Viola was 112-93, 3.86 in 260 appearances, 259 of them starts.  Since his retirement, Viola has done some high-school and college coaching and has also done some broadcasting with the New England Sports Network.  In 2011 he was the pitching coach for the Brooklyn Cyclones in the New York-Penn League and from 2012-2013 he was the pitching coach of the Savannah Sand Gnats in the South Atlantic League.  He was going to be pitching coach of the AAA Las Vegas 51s in 2014, but open-heart surgery put that move on hold.  The surgery was successful and he was able to assume pitching coach duties for the 51s in 2015.  Frank Viola is a member of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame.

Left-handed reliever Joseph Ronald Beimel made three appearances for the Twins in 2004.  Born and raised in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania, he attended Duquesne University and was drafted by Pittsburgh in the eighteenth round in 1998.  He started for much of his minor league career.  He had not pitched effectively above Class A when he suddenly made the Pirates out of spring training in 2001.  He was with Pittsburgh for three full seasons despite not pitching very well:  his ERA was exactly five and his WHIP was 1.58.  He made some starts in his first two years, but was moved exclusively to the bullpen in 2003.  The Pirates released Beimel at the end of March, 2004, and the Twins signed him a couple of weeks later.  He had a poor year in Rochester, despite which he was given a September call-up.  Beimel pitched 1.2 innings in three games, giving up eight runs on eight hits and two walks.  He became a free agent for 2005 and signed with Tampa Bay.  He didn’t pitch particularly well in AAA for them, either, but got to the big leagues for about a month and did well in seven appearances.  He signed with the Dodgers for 2006, pitched well in ten appearances at AAA, and came up to the majors, where at age 29 he finally found big-league success.  He was with Los Angeles for three years, appeared in 216 games, and had an ERA of 3.04.  Beimel was a free agent after the 2008 season and took a long time to sign, finally signing with Washington in mid-March.  He pitched well there, was traded to Colorado in mid-season, and continued to pitch fairly well through 2010.  He was a free agent after that season and signed with Pittsburgh.  He was injured much of the year but made 35 appearances for the Pirates, working 25.1 innings.  Unfortunately, he did not pitch well and was released at the end of August.  He signed with Texas for 2012 but was released in late March.  He underwent Tommy John surgery on May 1 of 2012.  A year ago, we wrote,  "As he's 36 today, one assumes his playing career is over, but he's alive and left-handed, so maybe not."  Maybe not turned out to be accurate.  He signed with Atlanta in mid-May of 2013 and pitched for AAA Gwinnett the rest of the season.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Seattle and made it back to the majors for the first time since 2011.  He actually had a fine year for the Mariners.  He signed with Texas for 2015, was released in spring training, and was re-signed by Seattle a couple of weeks ago, although he has not appeared in a game yet. The message here is that if your kid is interested in baseball, teach him to throw left-handed.  He may be able to play for a long time.

Left-handed reliever Dennys (Valarde) Reyes pitched for the Twins from 2006-2008.  Born and raised in Higuera de Zaragosa, Mexico, Reyes was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 1993.  He was a starter in his minor league career and was somewhat up-and-down, but pitched well in a month and a half stint with the Dodgers in 1997.  At mid-season of 1998, the Dodgers traded Reyes to Cincinnati, where he stayed through 2001.  He was not terrible in those years, although not particularly good, either.  He split 2002 between Colorado and Texas, not doing much for either team.  Reyes signed with Pittsburgh for 2003, was let go in May, and finished the season with Arizona, spending most of his time there in the minors.  Reyes moved to Kansas City in 2004 and San Diego in 2005, doing nothing to attract anyone’s attention.  The Padres released Reyes in July of 2005, and he was out of baseball until February of 2006, when Minnesota signed him.  Reyes then went out and had one of the best seasons a LOOGY ever had.  He appeared in 66 games, but pitched only 50.2 innings.  In those innings, he went 5-0, 0.89 with a WHIP of 0.99.  His ERA+ was 507.  He did not repeat those numbers, but remained a valuable LOOGY for two more seasons.  As a Twin, Dennys Reyes appeared in 191 games and pitched 126.1 innings.  He was 10-1, 2.14 with a WHIP of 1.27.  He became a free agent after the 2008 season and signed with St. Louis.  He pitched well for the Cardinals in 2009-2010, then became a free agent again and signed with Boston.  He made four appearances for the Red Sox and was made the fall guy for their poor start, getting sent outright to AAA.  He then missed most of the season and was released in late September.  He signed with Baltimore for 2012 but was released in early March.  He did not play in 2012, but he has pitched in Mexico since 2013.  If Joe Beimel's career teaches us anything, it's that you never know. One assumes his playing career is about over, but he's alive and left-handed, so maybe not.

There’s very little to be said about catcher/first baseman Joseph Patrick Mauer that anyone reading this does not already know.  He was born and raised in St. Paul and was taken by Minnesota with the first pick of the 2001 draft.  His lowest average in the minors was .302, with Class A Quad Cities in 2002.  He showed very little power in the minors, never hitting more than five home runs in a season, although he hit 30 doubles in a 2003 split between Fort Myers and New Britain.  He started 2004 with Minnesota but was injured most of the season, getting only 107 at-bats (in which he hit .308 with six home runs).  His first full season came in 2005, when he hit .294 as a 22-year-old.  In 2006, Mauer won his first batting title, the first American League catcher ever to win one.  He has won two more since, including his highest average to date in 2009, .365.  In 2009, when he won the MVP, Mauer also led the league in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.  In 2010, in what some considered an “off year”, he hit .326/.402/.469, won the silver slugger and the gold glove, and finished eighth in MVP voting.  He had an injury-plagued 2011 and took a lot of criticism, but still hit .287 in just under 300 at-bats.  He spent substantial time at first base and DH in 2012, but stayed healthy and came back with a fine season, batting .319 and leading the league in on-base percentage.  His 2013 season was similar, as he hit .324 and had a fine on-base percentage again.  He again was hampered by injuries in 2014.  He played in 120 games but had the worst season of his career, although he still hit .277 with an OBP of .361.  So far, he has made the all-star team six times, has finished in the top eight in MVP voting four times, has won three gold gloves, and has won five silver slugger awards.  His top ten in similarity scores includes six Hall of Famers,  Joe Mauer turns thirty-two today and is now a first baseman, although he presumably could still catch in an emergency.  It's a shame more people don't appreciate what they have in him, because they may not have it too many years longer.