Saturday, February 25, 2017

February 25

Bob Bescher (1884)
Al Hollingsworth (1908)
Roy Weatherly (1915)
Monte Irvin (1919)
Andy Pafko (1921)
Syd Thrift (1929)
Johnny Schaive (1934)
Jerry Reinsdorf (1936)
Denny Lemaster (1939)
Danny Cater (1940)
Ron Santo (1940)
Stump Merrill (1944)
Ken Szotkeiwicz (1947)
Cesar Cedeno (1951)
Bob Brenly (1954)
Ken Dayley (1959)
Paul O'Neill (1963)
Shannon Stewart (1974)
Syd Thrift was the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-88 and of the Baltimore Orioles from 2000-02.  He also held a variety of other front office positions, generally having to do with overseeing minor league player development.
Infielder Johnny Schaive was in the Washington organization from 1955-1960, reaching the majors for parts of the 1958-1960 seasons.  He was selected by the new Washington franchise as the 36th pick in the 1960 expansion draft.
Jerry Reinsdorf became part-owner of the Chicago White Sox in 1981.
Stump Merrill was the manager of the New York Yankees from 1990-91.  A catcher, he was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-third round in 1965, but did not sign.
Shortstop Ken Szotkiewicz was chosen by Minnesota with the third pick of the 1967 June Secondary draft, but did not sign.
Outfielder Shannon Harold Stewart played for Minnesota from mid-2003 through 2006.  He was born in Cincinnati but attended high school in Miami, Florida.  He was drafted by Toronto in the first round in 1992.  He started slowly in the minors, but got things going in 1994, hitting .324 for Class A Hagerstown.  He continued to hit well in the minors after that, earning September callups in 1995 and 1996.  In 1997, Stewart was hitting .346 in AAA Syracuse when he was called up to Toronto in mid-August and installed as the regular center fielder.  He moved to left in 1998 and remained the Blue Jays' regular left-fielder through July of 2003.  He hit .304 in 1999 and never hit under .300 in any year for Toronto after that.  Stewart also hit double-digit home runs for the Blue Jays every year from 1998 through the end of his stay in Toronto.  His best year as a Blue Jay was 2000:  he hit .319 with 21 homers and 43 doubles, and was 20-for-25 in stolen bases.  On July 16, Stewart was traded with a player to be named later (Dave Gassner) to Minnesota for Bobby Kielty.  He hit .322 with 22 doubles the rest of the way as the Twins won the division for the second consecutive year.  He continued to play well in 2004, but missed significant time due to injury.  Those injuries reduced his effectiveness, as his average fell below .300 and his power diminished.  Stewart became a free agent after the 2006 season and signed with Oakland.  He had somewhat of a resurgence there, hitting .290 with 12 homers, but it was his last good season.  A free agent again after the season, he went back to Toronto, but played in only 52 games, batting .240.  He was released August 11, ending his career.  As a Twin, Shannon Stewart hit .294/.354/.418 in 333 games.  At last report, Shannon Stewart was living in Miami.


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