February 29

Dickey Pearce (1836)
Pepper Martin (1904)
Al Rosen (1924)
Steve Mingori (1944)
Terrence Long (1976)

Predictably, there are fewer major league players born on this day than any other (14).  The only active player born on this day is Stefan Crichton, a reliever for the Diamondbacks.  No players with connections to the Minnesota Twins were born on this day.

February 28

Terry Turner (1881)
Jud Wilson (1897)
Bob Howsam (1918)
George Maloney (1928)
Frank Malzone (1930)
Bill Haller (1935)
Marty Perez (1946)
Mark Wiley (1948)
Tom Gamboa (1948)
Jim Wohlford (1951)
Mike Milchin (1968)
Trent Oeltjen (1983)
Aaron Thompson (1987)
Aroldis Chapman (1988)
Niko Goodrum (1992)

Jud Wilson played in the Negro Leagues from 1922-1945 and had a lifetime batting average of .351.

Bob Howsam was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds and helped put together the Big Red Machine.

George Maloney was an American League umpire from 1969-1983.

Bill Haller is the older brother of Tom Haller and was an American League umpire from 1963-1982.

Tom Gamboa was a minor league manager who won league championships twice and reached the playoffs four other times in a ten year career.  Unfortunately, he is best known as the Kansas City Royals coach attacked by two White Sox "fans" in Comiskey Park in 2002.

Right-hander Mark Eugene Wiley appeared in fifteen games for the Twins in 1975.  He was born in National City, California, went to high school in La Mesa, California, and attended Cal Poly-Pomona.  He was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1970.  He pitched very well in the lower minors but struggled when promoted to higher levels.  Wiley had been a starter in the minors, but was moved to the bullpen in 1974.  He both started and relieved in 1975 and had a big year, going 9-1, 2.15 in 92 innings.  Wiley came up to the Twins in mid-June and did not do well, going 1-3, 6.05 in 38.2 innings.  He went back to starting in Tacoma in 1976 and had a fairly good year, but the Twins released him in March of 1977.  San Diego signed him and sent him to AAA Hawaii, where he had a couple of unspectacular seasons.  He made four appearances with the Padres in 1978, and two for Toronto that same year (he was traded there in September).  He was in the minors for the Blue Jays in 1979 and was released in March of 1980.  While pitched for the Orioles' AAA affiliate in Rochester that year, and then his playing career came to an end.  Wiley went into managing and coaching.  He has been the pitching coach for Baltimore (1987, 2001-2004), Cleveland (1988-1991, 1995-1998), Kansas City (1999), and Florida (2005, 2008-2009).  After the 2009 season, Mark Wiley became a special assistant to the front office and a scout, positions he held through 2012.  In 2013, he moved to Colorado, where he is the Director of Pitching Operations for the Rockies.

Left-hander Michael Wayne Milchin was with the Twins for about three months in 1996.  He was born in Knoxville and attended Clemson.  Milchin was drafted by St. Louis in the second round in 1989.  He pitched well at the lower levels of the minors, but struggled when he reached AAA in 1991.  His third year of AAA, 1993, was not too bad, but by then the Cardinals had given up on him and placed him on waivers.  Milchin was claimed by the Dodgers.  He missed all of 1994 due to reconstructive elbow surgery, and was rather mediocre at AAA Albuquerque in 1995.  He became a minor league free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 1996.  He was adequate, but no more, in the Salt Lake bullpen, but was still called up to the Twins in mid-May.  Milchin made 26 appearances for Minnesota, all in relief, and went 2-1, 8.31 with a 1.99 WHIP in 21.2 innings.  He was waived in early August and taken by Baltimore, for whom he finished the season.  He was let go after that and his career was over.  Since then he became a player agent, and at last report was the managing partner of SFX Baseball Group.  At last report, he was living in Windermere, Florida.

Outfielder Trent Carl Wayne Oeltjen did not play for Minnesota, but he was in their farm system for several years.  He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 2001.  He posted some solid batting averages in the minors, but with little power and not a lot of walks.  When he reached AAA, the batting average went away, too:  he hit only .238 at Rochester in 2007, and the Twins allowed him to become a minor league free agent.  Arizona signed him, and the move was good for Oeltjen.  He hit over .300 in consecutive years at Albuquerque and also improved his power numbers a little.  Oeltjen was called up to the majors in early August in 2009.  In 70 at-bats, he hit .243/.250/.457.  He was again allowed to become a free agent after the season, and signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee for 2010.  He hit .301 in AAA for the Brewers, but was still released in early July.  He signed with the Dodgers a few days later and finished the season in Albuquerque, where he hit .347 and earned a September call-up.  He began 2011 in Albuquerque, but came up to the Dodgers in mid-June after hitting .339 there.  He appeared in 61 games, the most of his career, but all but thirteen of those appearances were as a substitute.  Not surprisingly, his numbers suffered, as he hit only .197 in 71 at-bats.  He had another good year in AAA in 2012, batting .294 with an OPS of .831, but did not get called back to the Dodgers.  A free agent after the season, he became a free agent and signed with the Angels.  It was the same story:  a good year in AAA, but no call-up.  He became a free agent and signed with Arizona for 2014, but played little and was released in mid-May, finishing the season in the Mexican League.  He announced his retirement after that season, but played a couple of games of independent ball in 2016, played in the Australian League this off-season, and it appears may be playing for Australia in the World Baseball Classic.  In 747 games of AAA he hit .294/.358/.479, but never really got a chance in the majors.  No one ever promised that either baseball or life would be fair.  At last report, Trent Oeltjen was the owner, along with Ryan Rowland-Smith of NxtGen Baseball Camps, which operates in both the United States and Australia.

Left-hander Aaron Mitchell Thompson has played for the Twins since 2014.  He was born in Beaumont, Texas, went to high school in Houston, and was drafted by Florida in the first round in 2005.  He pitched well in rookie ball and in Class A, but has had no real success above that.  His best season above Class A was probably 2009, when we went a combined 5-12, 3.93 for the AA teams of Florida and Washington.  He struck out 102 in 146.2 innings, but posted a WHIP of 1.41.  He was traded to the Nationals' system at the trade deadline of 2009 for Nick Johnson.  He stayed there through the end of 2010, when he was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh.  Despite having made only six career appearances in AAA (five starts), he was called up in late August of 2011 and appeared in four games, his only major league time to date.  He did about as well as one would expect, allowing six runs on thirteen hits and six walks in 7.2 innings for an ERA of 7.04.  The Twins signed him as a free agent in December of 2011.  He spent 2012 in New Britain but didn't get much accomplished, going 3-8, 5.23, 1.59 WHIP.  He moved to the bullpen in 2013, doing very well in 11 appearances in New Britain and not badly in 31 appearances in Rochester.  He spent 2014 pitching out of the Rochester bullpen and did not do anything noteworthy, but he got a September call-up anyway and did okay, posting a 2.45 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 7.1 innings.  He spent the first half of 2015 with the Twins.  He did okay for the first month or two, but ultimately went 1-3, 5.01, 1.33 WHIP in 32.1 innings (41 appearances) and finished the year in Rochester.  He was released at the end of spring training of 2016 and spent the summer pitching for Sugar Land in the Atlantic League, but was nothing special there.  His totals with the Twins are 1-3, 4.54, 1.34 WHIP in 39.2 innings (48 appearances).  He did not play anywhere in 2017, so his playing career is presumably over.  At last report, Aaron Thompson was the owner of Infinity Health and Wellness in the Phoenix area.

Infielder/outfielder Cartier Niko Goodrum appeared in eleven games for the Twins in 2017.  Born and raised in Fayetteville, Georgia, he was drafted in the second round by Minnesota in 2010.  When one looks at his career, one has to conclude he simply didn't develop the way the Twins hoped he would when they drafted him in the second round.  He spent three years in rookie ball, and by 2012 still only had an OPS of .768--not bad, but not what you'd want, either.  From there, he went to Cedar Rapids in 2014, to Fort Myers in 2015, and to Chattanooga in 2016, batting around .250 and posting an OPS each season somewhere in the vicinity of .700.  Not terrible, really, but not numbers that suggest we're dealing with a big-league prospect here.  He went to Rochester in 2017 and had a similar season, batting .265/.309/.425, a better year than he'd been having but not outstanding by any means.  He got a September call-up and played in eleven games, three as a pinch-hitter and two as a pinch-runner.  He went 1-for-17 with a walk, giving him a stat line of .059/.111/.059.  It appears those will be his final numbers as a Twin, He became a free agent after the season and signed with Detroit for 2018.  Two years ago, we said, "It's still possible that he'll figure something out--it would be unusual at this point, but not unprecedented."  And it looks like he did, at least to an extent.  Playing six different positions, he batted .245/.315/.432 with 16 home runs in 492 plate appearances.  He played seven positions for the Tigers in 2019 and put up similar numbers.  He turns twenty-eight today and one assumes he will have a similar role with the Tigers in 2020.

February 27

Walter Briggs (1877)

Cy Perkins (1896)
Hilton Smith (1907)
Bill Capps (1919)
Buck Elliott (1919)
Johnny Pesky (1919)
Connie Ryan (1920)
John Wockenfuss (1949)
Ron Hassey (1953)
Greg Cadaret (1962)
Pete Smith (1966)
Matt Stairs (1968)
Willie Banks (1969)
Craig Monroe (1977)
Anibal Sanchez (1984)
Denard Span (1984)
Yovani Gallardo (1986)

Walter Briggs was involved in the ownership of the Detroit Tigers from 1920-1952, becoming sole owner in 1935.

Hilton Smith was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues from 1931-1950.  Some observers considered him the equal of, if not better than, Satchel Paige.

Bill Capps was a third baseman who played in the minors for twenty years, fifteen of them at Class A or below.

Buck Elliott was an outfielder who played in the minors for fourteen years, all but one of them at Class A or below.

Right-hander Willie Anthony Banks pitched for the Twins in the early 1990s.  He was born in Jersey City and attended high school there.  He was drafted by Minnesota with the third pick of the 1987 draft.  Banks was up and down in the minors.  He was very wild in his first two seasons, walking 169 batters in 190 innings.  He pitched well for Class A Visalia in 1989, but less well for AA Orlando in 1990 and AAA Portland in 1991.  Banks made his big league debut in 1991, making three not-very-good starts in August.  In 1992, however, he seemed to be putting things together:  he went 6-1, 1.92 in eleven starts in Portland, and was called up to the majors and placed in the Twins' starting rotation in early June.  He lasted two months there, going 4-4, 4.62 before being sent to the bullpen for the rest of the season.  Banks was in the starting rotation for all of 1993, his first full season in the majors.  He went 11-12, 4.04, but with a WHIP of 1.54.  After the season, he was traded to the Cubs for Dave Stevens and Matt Walbeck.  Banks was in the Cubs' rotation in 1994 until he got hurt in August, but did not pitch particularly well.  Moved to the bullpen for 1995, he pitched quite badly and was traded to the Dodgers in July.  He made six starts for the Dodgers, was placed on waivers, and was chosen by the Marlins.  He made nine starts for Florida, was waived again after the season, and was chosen by Philadelphia.  The Phillies released him in March of 1996, and he did not play baseball that season.  He signed with the Yankees for 1997 and pitched well in AAA, getting a September call-up.  He got off to a poor start in 1998 and was traded to Arizona.  He pitched pretty well out of the bullpen for the expansion Diamondbacks, but he was allowed to become a free agent after the season.  Banks went to Japan for 1999, but in 2000 came back to play in the Mets' organization.  He returned to the Diamondbacks' organization for 2001, was released in August, and was picked up by Boston.  He actually pitched quite well out of the Red Sox' bullpen, going 2-1, 2.72 with a WHIP of 1.11 for the rest of 2001 and all of 2002 (49.2 innings).  Boston let him go after 2002, however; he was in AAA with the Yankees and Cubs in 2003, and was in independent ball in 2004 and 2005.  Banks’ mother passed away in 2006, which plunged him into a severe depression and contemplating suicide.  Instead, however, he returned to baseball, reaching out to his friend Tim Raines, manager of the Newark Bears.  Raines offered him a job as a pitcher/pitching coach, jobs he held through 2012.  At last report, Willie Banks was a coach and instructor at the Toms River Baseball Academy in Toms River, New Jersey.

Outfielder Craig Keystone Monroe played for the Twins in 2008.  Born in Texarkana, Texas, he attended high school there, then was drafted by Texas in the eight round in 1995.  His minor league numbers were unimpressive until he started to develop power in 1998:  he hit 17 homers in each of 1998 and 1999 and hit 20 homers in each of 2000 and 2001.  Monroe made his major league debut in 2001, getting called up to the Rangers in late July and staying the rest of the season.  He batted only 52 times in the majors, hitting .212, and was placed on waivers after the season.  He was selected by Detroit and hit .321 in AAA Toledo in 2002, although with only ten homers.  He also got 25 at-bats in the majors, hitting .120.  Monroe started 2003 in the minors, but was called up within a few weeks and came to stay.  He was the regular left-fielder and hit 23 homers, although he hit only .240.  He remained a regular outfielder for the Tigers until he was traded in August of 2007.  His best average as a Tiger was .293 in 2004; the most home runs he hit was 28 in 2006.  That was as good as it would get.  Monroe was having a poor year in 2007 when he was traded to the Cubs.  The change of scenery did not help him, and he was sent to Minnesota after the season "as part of a conditional deal."  Used mostly as a designated hitter/pinch hitter, Monroe hit only .202/.274/.405 in 163 at-bats in 2008 and was released in August.  He signed with Pittsburgh for 2009 but was used sparingly and again did not hit.  He was released in July, bringing his playing career to an end.  Monroe is a cousin of Chicago Bears defensive back Nathan Vasher.  Monroe's mother's first name is Marilyn.  At last report, Craig Monroe was a baseball analyst for Fox Sports Detroit.

Right-hander Anibal Alejandro Sanchez did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them for a couple of weeks in 2018.  Born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela, he signed with Boston in 2001.  He did pretty well in the minors, reaching AA in 2005 at age 21.  After that season he was traded to Florida in a deal that involved Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, and Mike Lowell.  He started 2006 in AA but was jumped to the majors in late June and was tremendous, going 10-3, 2.83, 1.19 WHIP in 17 starts.  He then struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness for the next three seasons.  He came back in 2010 to have a fine year and was a solid major league pitcher through 2014.  He was traded to Detroit in July of 2012 and had no problems in switching leagues.  In fact, in 2013 he had the best season of his career, going 14-8, 2.57 and leading the league in ERA and FIP and finishing fourth in Cy Young voting.  He struggled from 2015-2017, going 20-30, 5.67.  He signed with the Twins on February 20, 2018, but was released two and a half weeks later and signed with Atlanta.  There was no real reason to think he'd be an effective pitcher again but he was, 7-6, 2.83, 1.08 WHIP.   He was a free agent after the season and signed with Washington for 2019, for whom he didn't match those totals but still had another fine season.  He turns thirty-six today.  It's possible that he could lose it again as quickly as he found it, but it's also possible that he'll remain an effective pitcher for at least a couple more years.

Outfielder Keiunta Denard Span played for the Twins from 2008-2012.  He was born in Tampa and went to high school there.  The Twins drafted him in the first round in 2002.  His minor league record is okay, but not spectacular--he never really had a bad year, but he never really had an outstanding year, either, although he did attract attention when he hit .339 in 186 at-bats in Ft. Myers in 2005.  He started 2008 with Minnesota, but was sent down in late April when he was hitting .258 with no extra-base hits.  He hit .340 in 156 at-bats in Rochester, and was back in Minnesota by the end of June.  He became the regular right fielder in the absence of Michael Cuddyer and ended the season hitting .294.  In 2009, playing primarily in center but all over the outfield to some extent, Span hit .311 and led the league in triples with 10.  The trade of Carlos Gomez made Span the regular center fielder in 2010, but he did not respond well; while he again hit ten triples, he hit only .264 with an OBP of .331.  2011 was no better; he again hit .264 with an OBP of .328 in a concussion-plagued season.  He bounced back somewhat in 2012, batting .283 with an OBP of .342.  After the season, he was traded to Washington for Alex Meyer.  He led the league with eleven triples in 2013, but otherwise had a season that fits in with the rest of his career.  In 2014, however, he had his best season since 2009, leading the league in hits and batting over .300.  He was on his way to another fine season in 2015 but missed nearly half the season with back and abdominal injuries.  A free agent after the season, he signed with San Francisco for 2016 and was their regular center fielder through 2017, doing okay but nothing special.  He was traded to Tampa Bay after the 2017 season with three other players for Evan Longoria.  He was their left fielder through late May, then was traded to Seattle, where he had another okay season.  As a Twin, Denard Span hit .284/.357/.389, with his first two seasons being easily his best.  He became a free agent after the season, and did not sign with anyone, so it appears that his playing career is over.  He may have lost a step, but at the plate he appears to be pretty much the same player he's been for several years.  If you need an outfielder, you could do worse.  He's married to Olympic hockey player Anne Schleper, and as started the Denard Span foundation to aid single parent families.

February 26

Grover Alexander (1887)

Rip Collins (1896)

Preacher Roe (1916)

Johnny Blanchard (1933)
Don Lee (1934)
Hiromitsu Kadota (1948)
Jack Brohamer (1950)
Rick Wieters (1955)
Kelly Gruber (1962)
Scott Service (1967)
J. T. Snow (1968)
Mark DeRosa (1975)

Hiromitsu Kadota is third on the Japanese professional baseball home run list with 567.

The father of Matt Wieters, Rick Wieters pitched in the minor leagues for five years, reaching AA.

Right-hander Donald Edward Lee pitched for Minnesota in 1961 and the first part of 1962.  His father, Thornton Lee, was also a major league pitcher (both Lees surrendered home runs to Ted Williams, the only time a player has hit a home run against a father and son).  Don Lee was born in Globe, Arizona, attended the University of Arizona, and signed with Detroit as a free agent in 1956.  He pitched very well in the Sally League that year, and was in Detroit in April of 1957.  He started the season in the starting rotation, but lost his spot in mid-May, was used sporadically, and then sent back to the minors.  Lee was in AAA Charleston the next two years and pitched very well, winning 14 games each year and posting an ERA of 3.20 in 420 innings.  After the 1959 season, Lee was traded to Milwaukee, but the Braves left him unprotected and he was chosen by Washington in the Rule 5 draft.  He pitched well for Washington, working mostly in relief until late July, when he entered the rotation.  In 1961, Lee came to Minnesota with the team and was used mostly as a "swing man", with ten starts scattered throughout the season.  In both years he pitched well, posting ERAs in the mid-threes.  He started 1962 in the Twins' rotation, but started poorly, and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in mid-May for Jim Donohue.  As a Twin, he was 14-16, 3.63, 1.29 WHIP.  He was an Angel until June 1 of 1965.  He was used both as a starter and a reliever, and pitched well through 1964.  He was pitching out of the bullpen in 1965, and was off to a poor start, when he was traded to Houston.  Much of Lee's time with Houston was spent in the minors; he made seven appearances in the big leagues in 1965 and nine in 1966.  He was sold to the Cubs in June of 1966, did poorly in sixteen appearances, and was sent to the minors.  He made seven minor league appearances in 1967, pitching in the Cubs and Giants organizations, and then his career was over.  At last report, Don Lee was living in Tucson, Arizona.

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.

February 24

Honus Wagner (1874)

Wilbur Cooper (1892)

Del Wilber (1919)

Bubba Phillips (1928)
Jim Rantz (1938)
Wayne Hattaway (1940)
Dave Edwards (1954)
Eddie Murray (1956)
Nick Esasky (1960)
Mike Lowell (1974)
Randy Keisler (1976)
Bronson Arroyo (1977)
Dewayne Wise (1978)
Rob Bowen (1981)
Nick Blackburn (1982)
J. D. Durbin (1982)
Chris Parmelee (1988)

Jim Rantz was in the Twins' organization in some capacity from the birth of the team until his retirement in 2012, serving as farm director from 1986-2012.  He was also the winning pitcher in the deciding game of the 1960 College World Series.

Wayne Hattaway joined the Twins organization in 1963 and has been employed by the team as an equipment manager, trainer, or clubhouse attendant, either in the majors or the minors, ever since.

Outfielder David Leonard Edwards played for the Twins from 1978-1980.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in 1971.  He was only seventeen, and as a result he spent a long time in rookie and Class A ball.  He was up and down in those years, hitting as low as .198 and as high as .306.  The .306 came in his last year at Class A, 1975.  He was in AA in 1976 and reached AAA in 1977.  He gradually developed some power, hitting 16 homers in Toledo in 1978.  He got a September call-up that year and then was with the Twins for two full seasons, 1979 and 1980.  He was used as a utility outfielder, starting 114 games over two seasons.  In 640 at-bats as a Twin, he hit .249/.317/.366.  After the 1980 season he was traded to San Diego for Chuck Baker in a trade involving two incredibly common names.  He filled a similar role with the Padres for two seasons and then was released, ending his playing career.  Two of his brothers, Mike Edwards and Marshall Edwards, also were major league players.  No information about what Dave Edwards has been doing since his playing career ended was readily available.

Left-hander Randy Dean Keisler did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them.  He was born in Richardson, Texas and went to high school in Palmer, Texas.  He was drafted by the Yankees in the second round in 1998.  He pitched very well in the minors in 1999 and 2000, getting a September call-up in the latter season.  Keisler made two starts for the Yankees in April of 2001, was sent to the minors, came back in mid-June and was back in the rotation for eight starts, and then went back to the minors again.  He did not pitch well either place.  Things got worse in 2002, when he missed the entire season due to injury.  The Yankees let him go in February of 2003, and Keisler signed with San Diego.  He made two starts for the Padres, was sent to the minors, was released in June and signed with Texas, was released by the Rangers in July and signed with Houston, where he finished the season.  He went to the Mets for 2004, but never got to the majors with them, and was released after the season.   He went to Cincinnati for 2005 and was in the majors for much of the season, but was mostly used out of the bullpen.  Released again, he moved on to Oakland for 2006, appearing in 11 major league games.  He signed with St. Louis for 2007 and returned to starting, making three major league starts.  Keisler went to spring training with the Twins in 2008, was released in March, signed with the Cubs in April, was released and signed by Baltimore on the same day, and became a free agent again after the season.  Keisler was in an independent league in 2009.  He pitched well in Mexico in 2010 and managed to turn that into a minor league contract with the Dodgers in 2011.  He did not pitch particularly well in AAA, although he did stay there all season.  He had a good year for Long Island in the Atlantic League in 2012.  He pitched in Taiwan in 2013 and then pitched in winter ball.  After that, he apparently decided it was time to move to the next phase of his life.  At last report, Randy Keisler was an account manager and was involved in business development for Norman Smith Equipment in the Houston area.  He also had started the Randy Keisler Baseball Club, a youth baseball club in the Houston area.

Switch-hitting catcher Robert McClure Bowen had 37 at-bats for the Twins in 2003-2004.  He was born in Bedford, Texas, but went to high school in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  He was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1999.  He did not hit a lot in the minors, although he did have his moments, hitting .255 with 18 homers in Class A in 2001 and hitting .285 in a 2003 season split between AA and AAA.  He got a September call-up in 2003, going 1-for-10.  He started 2004 with the Twins and spent a total of about two months with them that year, going 3-for-27 in limited use.  When in the minors, he had a poor year in AA, hitting .197.  He did better in 2005, batting .267 in Rochester, but the Twins placed him on waivers in late March of 2006.  He was chosen by Detroit, but was waived again less than a week later and claimed by San Diego.  Bowen was in the majors all year, backing up Mike Piazza and Josh Bard.  He was traded to the Cubs in June of 2007, moved on to Oakland in July of that year, and was with the Athletics for a year and a half as a seldom-used backup to Jason Kendall and Kurt Suzuki.  Bowen was released in March of 2009 and was not picked up by anyone.  After leaving baseball, Rob Bowen founded Opulent Professional Services, which provides transportation, security, and other services to athletes, entertainers, and other high net worth individuals.   He also is the founder of Red Alert Baseball, an instructional school focusing on the mental side of baseball.  He was also a police officer for the Henry County Police Department in McDonough, Georgia from April of 2010 through July 2012, was director of security for Holiday Inn & Suites in Atlanta in the second half of 2012, and at last report was a deputy sheriff and K9 handler for the Dooly County Sheriff's Office in the Macon, Georgia area.

Right-hander Robert Nicholas Blackburn currently pitches for the Twins.  He was born in Ada, Oklahoma, went to high school in Oklahoma City, and was drafted by Minnesota in the 29th round in 2001.  He was up and down in the minors, starting slowly, pitching well at Class A Quad Cities in 2004 and at Ft. Myers in 2005, then stumbling a little at New Britain in 2006.  In 2007 he made a big move forward, posting a 3.08 ERA in 38 AA innings and a 2.11 ERA in 110 AAA innings.  That got him a September call-up.  He did not pitch well in six appearances out of the bullpen, but he started 2008 in the starting rotation and, with the exception of a few weeks in Rochester in 2010, has been there every since.  His numbers for 2008 and 2009 were remarkably similar:  11-11 each year, an ERA just over 4.00, 33 starts each year, about 200 innings pitched, a WHIP of about 1.36, about 10.5 hits per nine innings, exactly 1.1 homers per nine innings, exactly 1.8 walks per nine innings, about 4.4 strikeouts per nine innings.  In 2010, his record was nearly the same (10-12), but many of the other numbers were significantly worse.  In 2011, his record dropped a little more, and while his ERA came back some, he did not really pitch any better than he had in 2010.  In 2012 he pitched very well in seven starts in Rochester, but not very well in nineteen starts in Minnesota.  He was injured for most of 2013, making only six minor league appearances.  He became a free agent after the 2013 season and underwent knee surgery, forcing him to miss all of 2014.  He decided not to try a comeback, and coached high school baseball in his native Oklahoma for three seasons, resigning after the 2017 season.  For his career, he was 43-55, 4.85, 1.47 WHIP.  He made 145 appearances, 137 of them starts.  No information about what Nick Blackburn is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Joseph Adam Durbin made four appearances for the Twins in 2004.  He was born in Portland, Oregon and attended high school in Scottsdale, Arizona.  He was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2000.  He pitched very well through AA, regularly posting ERAs in the low threes or below.  He reached AAA in mid-2004 and struggled some, putting up a 4.54 ERA in seven starts.  The Twins still gave him a September callup that year.  He made one start and three relief appearances, going 0-1, 7.36 in 7.1 innings.  Those would turn out to be Durbin's career numbers with the Twins.  He had another mediocre year in AAA in 2005.  He was pitching well at Rochester in 2006, but then was injured and missed the rest of the season.  He was put on waivers in late March of 2007 and claimed by Arizona.  Durbin made one appearances as a Diamondback, giving up seven runs on seven hits in two-thirds of an inning, and was waived again, this time to be claimed by Boston.  He made zero appearances as a member of the Red Sox, as he was waived one more time four days later and claimed by Philadelphia.  He did very little in the minors, but was called up by the Phillies in late July anyway.  He made 18 appearances for Philadelphia, ten of them starts, and pitched poorly.  He spent 2008 in the minors and was released after the season.  Durbin was in the Dodgers organization in 2009, then went to Japan for 2010.  He made a few appearances in Mexico in 2011, but pitched for Lancaster in the Atlantic League most of the season and did not do particularly well there.  He returned to Lancaster in 2012 and did somewhat better, but not a lot.  He signed with Boston for 2013 but was released in late March and went back overseas, pitching in Taiwan and not doing particularly well.  He made three appearances in the Mexican League in 2014, finally bringing his playing career to and end.  No information about what J. D. Durbin is doing now was readily available.

First baseman Christopher Edward Parmelee played for the Twins from 2011-2014.  He was born in Long Beach, California, went to high school in Chino Hills, California, and was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2006.  Early in his minor league career he put up good power numbers, but they were accompanied by high strikeout totals and low batting averages.  Through 2009, he was still in Class A, and had put up a career batting average of .250.  His OBP was in the .340s, but he had also struck out in just over thirty percent of his at-bats.  He appeared to change his approach in 2010, hitting .338 in 22 games at Ft. Myers and hitting .275 the rest of the season at AA New Britain.  The increase batting average came at the expense of power, however, as he hit only eight home runs combined after averaging fifteen in the previous three seasons.  Returning to New Britain for 2011, his power returned, as he hit thirteen homers while batting .287.  This earned him a September call-up to Minnesota, and while he did not play enough to prove anything, he certainly did not hurt himself, batting .355/.443/.592 with four home runs in 76 at-bats.  He began 2012 in Minnesota, but when he did not immediately knock the fences down he was sent to Rochester.  He spent most of the rest of the season going back and forth between Rochester and Minnesota, tearing up the International League but being given sporadic playing time with the Twins.  He was finally recalled in late August and was allowed to play regularly, and while he still didn't set the league on fire he did significantly better, hitting .262/.295/.452 over that stretch.   He started 2013 as the regular right fielder, but did not do particularly well and was sent back to AAA at the all-star break, coming back to the majors as a September call-up.  He started 2014 in AAA but came up to the Twins in early May and stayed the rest of the season, playing sporadically and not particularly well.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Baltimore.  He again split the season between AAA and the majors, hitting well in AAA but not well in about six weeks in the majors.  He went to the Yankees for 2016, spending all but a week of the season in AAA.  He signed with Oakland for 2017, but did not hit in AAA and was released in June.  He signed with Miami in July, finished up the season there, and was released.  He did not play in 2018 but tried to come back in 2019, spending the season in AA for the Dodgers.  He turns thirty-two today.  One wonders what he might have done if he'd simply been placed in the lineup and allowed to play, but it didn't happen.  It seems likely that his playing career is over, and we wish him well in whatever the future holds for him.

February 23

Barney Dreyfuss (1865)

Paul Cobb (1888)

Roy Johnson (1903)
Ray Brown (1908)
Mike Tresh (1914)
Elston Howard (1929)
Ron Hunt (1941)
Ken Boswell (1946)
Juan Agosto (1958)
John Shelby (1958)
Bobby Bonilla (1963)
Rondell White (1972)
Scott Elarton (1976)
Edgar Gonzalez (1983)

Barney Dreyfuss was the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900-1932.

The brother of Ty Cobb, John Paul Cobb (known by his middle name), played in over a thousand minor league games over ten years, batting .283.

Ray Brown was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues from 1931-1945.

Reliever Juan Roberto (Gonzalez) Agosto was a member of the Twins for a couple of months in 1986.  Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, he attended high school there and signed as a free agent with the Red Sox at age 16.  He was in the low minors for them for four years, and did not pitch well.  He had serious control problems, walking 111 in 119 innings in 1977 and 89 in 120 innings in 1978.  The Red Sox gave up on him, releasing him after the 1978 season.  In 1979 he played for Puerto Rico in something called the Inter-American League, and he signed with the White Sox in 1980.  He still was not exactly a control pitcher, but he did manage to bring his walks down from about seven or eight per nine innings to three or four.  He made brief appearances with Chicago in 1981 and 1982 and came up to stay awhile when in June of 1983, when he was still only 25.  He had been primarily a starter throughout his early minor league career, but shifted to the bullpen in 1981.  That was the role he filled as a big leaguer.  He pitched pretty well for the White Sox from 1983 through 1985, but got off to a poor start in 1986 and was sold to Minnesota at the end of April.  He split the rest of the year between Minnesota and AAA Toledo.  Agosto pitched 20.1 innings in 17 appearances as a Twin; oddly, more than a quarter of those innings came in his first appearance, when he pitched 5.2 scoreless innings of relief in a 7-4 victory over the Yankees.  The rest of his time in Minnesota did not go so well:  as a Twin, he was 1-2, 8.85 with a WHIP of 2.80.  Agosto was released after the season and signed with Houston.  He put things together with the Astros:  he pitched extremely well in AAA, came up to Houston on the first of August, and posted ERAs under three for three consecutive years (1987-1989).  He led the league in appearances in 1990.  A free agent after the 1990 season, Agosto signed with St. Louis, but apparently left his magic behind.  He had a poor year in 1991 and was again pitching poorly in 1992 when he was released in mid-June.  He finished the season in Seattle, became a free agent again, and signed with San Diego for 1993.  The Padres sent him to AAA and released him in May.  He re-signed with Houston but made only six appearances before being sent back to AAA again.  After the season, he went to Mexico to pitch, and then tried for a comeback with Pittsburgh in 1996.  He made 24 appearances for AAA Calgary and did not pitch badly, but was not brought back to the big leagues.  His playing career ended after that.  More recently, Juan Agosto was living in Sarasota, Florida and was the director of Royal Palm Ranch, Inc., but it appears that this corporation is no longer active.  At last report, Juan Agosto was living in the Dominican Republic.

Outfielder Rondell Bernard White was a member of the Twins from 2006-2007.  He was at the end of his career, an end which has obscured the fact that he was actually a fine ballplayer for a long period of time.  He was born in Millegeville, Georgia and went to high school in Gray, Georgia.  He was drafted by Montreal in the first round in 1990.  He hit well throughout the minors, capped by a 1993 season when he hit .343 with 19 homers between AA and AAA.  That got him a September call-up, and White was with Montreal for most of 1994, although he had difficulty finding playing time in an outfield that featured Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom, and Larry Walker, all of whom were 27 years old that season.  Grissom was traded to Atlanta that off-season, opening center field for White, and he responded by hitting .295 with an OPS of .820.  He remained a regular outfielder for the Expos for the rest of the decade, shifting to left in 1999.  That was probably his best season as an Expo:  he hit .312 with 22 homers that year.  He was having another fine season in 2000 when he was traded to the Cubs on July 31, 2000.  He stayed with the Cubs for 2001 and continued to play well, although he missed a couple of months due to injury, something that had happened in prior seasons as well.  A free agent after that season, he signed with the Yankees for 2002, was traded to San Diego in March of 2003, was traded to Kansas City in August of that year, and became a free agent again after the season.  He signed with the Tigers and stayed there for two years, continuing to hit well but continuing to battle injuries.  A free agent again, after the 2005 season, he signed with Minnesota.  Unfortunately, the combination of injuries and age was too much for him to overcome.  As a Twin, Rondell White hit .229/.266/.354 in 446 at-bats.  In December of 2007, he was mentioned in the Mitchell Report in connection to steroids.  At last report, Rondell White had gone back to Gray, Georgia.  He is the son-in-law of Jerry Manuel.

February 22

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Bill Klem (1874)
Clarence Mitchell (1891)
Roy Spencer (1900)
Charles O. Finley (1918)
Stubby Greer (1920)
Ryne Duren (1929)
Sparky Anderson (1934)
Steve Barber (1938)
Tom Griffin (1948)
Gerry Davis (1953)
John Halama (1972)
J. J. Putz (1977)
Kelly Johnson (1982)
Brian Duensing (1983)
Casey Kotchman (1983)

Bill Klem was a National League umpire from 1905-1941.  He was the first umpire to indicate his calls with arm signals, and was also the first umpire to wear an inside chest protector.  He umpired in eighteen World Series and also umpired the first all-star game.

Charles O. Finley was the owner of the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics from 1960-81.

Stubby Greer played in the minors from 1940-1958 with a career batting average of .330.  He never played in the major leagues.

Sparky Anderson was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota.

Gerry Davis has been a major league umpire since 1982.

J. J. Putz was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 1998, but did not sign.

Left-hander Brian Matthew Duensing pitched for the Twins from 2009-2015.  He was born in Marysville, Kansas, went to high school in Omaha, and attended the University of Nebraska.  He was drafted by the Twins in 2005.  He pitched well in his first few years in the minors and had a fine season in 2007, when he went a combined 15-6, 3.07 with a WHIP of 1.19 in nine starts at AA New Britain and 19 starts in AAA Rochester.  He pitched for the U. S. Olympic team in Beijing in 2008.    He also pitched in Rochester in 2008 and 2009 and seemed to be getting worse, posting higher ERAs and WHIPs each season.  Despite that, however, he made his major league debut in 2009, making one start in April and then being brought up in early July and staying the rest of the season.  He pitched better than one might have expected, going 5-2, 3.64 with a WHIP of 1.37 in 84 innings.  He made twenty-four appearances, nine of them starts.  He started 2010 in the Twins bullpen but again ended it as a starter, moving into the rotation in late July.  In 2011 he was in the rotation all season (other than when injured), and it did not go well.  In 2012 he appeared in 55 games, 11 of them starts, and did no better.  Moved to the bullpen in 2013, he was better, but it would be a stretch to say that he actually pitched well, a fact that did not prevent him from appearing in 73 games.  He continued to improve in 2014, posting his best numbers since 2010.  In 2015, however, he took a step backward, as his ERA, WHIP, and walks per nine innings all went up substantially while his strikeout rate declined. As a Twin, Brian Duensing was 41-37, 4.13, 1.38 WHIP in 649.1 innings.  He made 354 appearances, 61 of them starts.  He was significantly better as a reliever and was also significantly better against left-handed batters.  He signed with Kansas City for 2016, was released in late March, re-signed with the Royals a few days later, went to AAA, and was released again in mid-May.  He signed with Baltimore a couple weeks later, was with the Orioles for about three weeks in June, and came back as a September call-up, not doing badly in fourteen appearances.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with the Cubs.  Somewhat surprisingly, he turned in a fine season, posting a 2.74 ERA and a WHIP of 1.22 in 68 appearances (62.1 innings).  He started 2018 very well, but had shoulder problems in June and appears to have never been healthy after that, pitching sporadically and ineffectively the rest of the season.  He turns thirty-six today, but if he's healthy he certainly could be an effective pitcher again.

February 21

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Jouett Meekin (1867)

Dummy Taylor (1875)

John Titus (1876)
Tom Yawkey (1903)
Mark Scott (1915)
Joe Foy (1943)
Jack Billingham (1943)
Tom Shopay (1945)
Charley Walters (1947)
Rick Lysander (1953)
Alan Trammell (1958)
Franklin Gutierrez (1983)

Tom Yawkey was the owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1933 until his death in 1978.

Mark Scott was the host of “Home Run Derby”.

Third baseman Joseph Anthony Foy did not play for the Twins, but was originally signed by them.  He was born in New York and went to high school in the Bronx.  He signed with the Twins in 1962.  He hit .285 in Class D Erie, drawing 109 walks in 490 plate appearances.  He was chosen by Boston in the 1962 minor league draft.  Foy hit pretty well throughout the minors; his best year was probably 1965, when he hit .302 with 14 home runs for AAA Toronto.  He was the regular third baseman for the Red Sox the next season, a position he held for three years.  He could not duplicate his minor league success in the majors, although his numbers look better when viewed in the low-offense context of the late 1960s.  He hit .246 in his years with Boston, but he continued to draw walks--his OBP in those years was .344.  He also hit double-digit home runs each season.  Foy was taken by Kansas City in the expansion draft and was the Royals' third baseman in 1969.  He hit .262 with an OBP of .354 and 11 homers for the expansion team.  After the season, however, Foy was traded to the Mets in the deal that brought Amos Otis to Kansas City.  He had a down year and was left unprotected after the season.  Washington chose him in the Rule 5 draft, but Foy was released mid-way through the 1971 season, ending his career.  Even in his last years, when he was hitting in the .230s, he was still drawing walks, posting OBPs around .370.  After his career ended, Joy Foy returned to the Bronx.  He passed away from a heart attack on October 12, 1989 at the age of 46.

Right-hander Charles Leonard Walters pitched in six games for the Twins in 1969.  He was born in Minneapolis and went to high school there.  Walters signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1966 after attending a tryout camp.  He pitched very well in the low minors, and was jumped to the majors from Class A at the start of the 1969 season.  He had both started and relieved in the minors, but was placed in the bullpen with the Twins.  Walters was unscored upon in his first five appearances, giving up only three hits in 5.1 innings.  In his sixth appearances, however, he gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in 1.1 innings.  He was sent back to the minors after that and never made it back to the big leagues.  He did not pitch particularly well in AA Charlotte, and in March of 1970 was traded to Washington with Joe Grzenda for Brant Alyea.  He did not pitch badly in 1970 or 1971 in the minors, but had a down year in 1972 in AA which ended his career.  Charley Walters has for many years been a sports columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  The nickname "Shooter" was given to him by Bob Allison.

Right-hander Richard Eugene Lysander pitched for the Twins from 1983-1985.  He was born in Huntington Park, California, attended California State--Los Angeles, and was drafted by Oakland in the 19th round in 1974.  He was used as a starter in the low minors, but shifted to relief on his promotion to AAA midway through the 1976 season.  He struggled in AAA in that role, was sent back to AA a couple of times, and returned to starting in 1981.  He made his major league debut in 1980, pitching in five games for the Athletics without success.  Lysander was traded to Houston after the 1981 season, pitched in AAA for the Astros in 1982, and was traded to the Twins in January of 1983 for Bob Veselic.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1983 and was with them for all of that year and parts of two others.  He was used mostly out of the bullpen, although one of his five starts was a memorable complete-game, eleven-hit shutout of California.  He pitched fairly well for them in 1983, then started 1984 in the minors but came up in late June and pitched fairly well again.  He did not pitch well in 1985, again spent some time in the minors, and was released after the season.  That pretty much ended his career, but he pitched in the seniors league in 1989 and made a brief, unsuccessful comeback in 1990, pitching ten games in AAA for Toronto.  Lysander's son, Brent, pitched in the Oakland organization in 2007 and 2008 and was in independent ball in 2009.  His daughter, Kelsey, was a star soccer player at Notre Dame.  At last report, Rick Lysander was living in La Jolla, California and was involved with youth baseball there.  He also was taking part in various instructional camps and charitable events.

February 20

Sam Rice (1890)

John Wesley Donaldson (1892)

Muddy Ruel (1896)

Pete Monahan (1902)

Tommy Henrich (1913)

Frankie Gustine (1920)

Jim Wilson (1922)

Roy Face (1928)

Shigeo Nagashima (1936)

Clyde Wright (1941)

Bill Gullickson (1959)

Shane Spencer (1972)
Livan Hernandez (1975)
Ryan Langerhans (1980)
Justin Verlander (1983)
Jose Morales (1983)
Brian McCann (1984)
Johnny Field (1992)

John Wesley Donaldson pitched in the Negro Leagues and averaged nearly twenty strikeouts per game for the All Nations team in the 1910s.  He pitched three consecutive no-hitters in 1913.

Pete Monahan played in the minors from 1921-1940, batting .301 and collecting 2,462 hits, but never played in the major leagues.

Third baseman Shigeo Nagashima played for the Yomiuri Giants from 1958-1974 and is considered by some to be the greatest player in the history of Japanese baseball.

Right-hander Eisler Livan Hernandez was with the Twins for roughly four months in 2008.  The half-brother of Orlando Hernandez, he is a native of Villa Clara, Cuba, which is where he went to high school.  He was signed by Florida as a free agent in 1996.  He struggled some in his first year in organized baseball, a season he split between AA and AAA as a 21-year-old, but he pitched fairly well in AAA in 1997 and reached the Marlins in mid-June.  He did very well, going 9-3, 3.18, helping lead the Marlins to the World Championship, and finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting.  Hernandez was not as good for the rest of his career with the Marlins, posting ERAs in the mid-fours through late July of 1999, when he was traded to San Francisco.  He finished that year and pitched the next three for the Giants.  His best year in San Francisco was 2000, when he went 17-11, 3.75.  In March of 2003, Hernandez was traded to Montreal and was and Expo/National until August of 2006.  He posted an ERA under four each year from 2003 through 2005 and made the all-star team twice.  In 2006, however, he was having a poor year when he was traded to Arizona.  He stayed with the Diamondbacks through 2007, when he became a free agent.  He signed with Minnesota for 2008.  He got off to a decent start, but deteriorated as the season went along:  as a Twin, he was 10-8, 5.48 with a WHIP of 1.63.  He was placed on waivers in August and claimed by Colorado, for whom he finished the season.  He signed with the Mets for 2009, was released in late August, and signed with Washington, for whom he finished the season.  He remained with Washington through 2011 and actually pitched fairly well for them.  He pitched 200 or more innings every season from 1998 through 2007, and pitched 175 innings or more every season from 1998 through 2011.  A free agent after the 2011 season, Livan Hernandez signed with Houston for 2012 but was released at the end of spring training.  He signed with Atlanta, pitched poorly in relief, was released in June, signed with Milwaukee a few days later, and continued to pitch poorly in relief.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign with anyone, bringing his playing career to an end. It was a long and pretty decent career, though.  In 2014 he was said to have started a boxing management company, Team Knockout, based in Miami, but it is uncertain whether anything ever came of the venture.  At last report, Livan Hernandez was employed by the Washington Nationals as a batting practice pitcher and was also doing public relations work for the team.

Catcher Jose Guillermo Morales is the second of two players named Jose Morales to have played for the Twins.  This one was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and attended high school there.  He was drafted by the Twins in the third round in 2001.  He was in rookie ball for two years, hitting .309 the second season.  He then was in A ball for two years and AA for two more years before reaching AAA Rochester in 2007.  Something seemed to click for him at AAA, because he hit over .300 three years in a row there.  Only one of those years was a full season--he was injured part of 2008 and was called up to the majors for much of 2009.  He hit over .300 in the majors in 2009, too, hitting .311 in 119 at-bats.  He was back in Rochester in 2010 but had a down year, batting .264.  He still got about six weeks in the majors, but hit just .194 in 36 at-bats.  As a Twin, he hit .297/.370/.354 in 158 at-bats.  Morales did not show power in the minors (his highest home run total was four) nor did he draw very many walks (his combined walk total in 2010, 42, was the highest of his career), and his defense was considered suspect, so he needed to hit for a high average to have much value.  The Twins apparently did not think it would happen, as they traded him to Colorado for Paul Bargas in December of 2010.  Morales was injured much of 2011, playing in only twenty-two games.  He became a free agent after the season, signed with Pittsburgh for 2012, and continued to have injury trouble, playing in only 58 AAA games.  He does not appear to have played anywhere in 2013, although he did play winter ball.  He played for Camden in the Atlantic League in 2014 and for Long Island in the same league in 2015, but then his playing career was over.  No information about what Jose Morales has done since 2015 was readily available.

Outfielder John David Field played for the Twins in the last two months of the 2018 season.  Born and raised in Las Vegas, he attended the University of Arizona and was drafted in the fifth round by Tampa Bay in 2013.  He did quite well in Class A in 2014, did okay in AA in 2015, and was fairly good in AAA in 2016.  That's about as good as it got for him.  He had a very average year in AAA in 2017, but still found himself in the majors for most of the 2018 season.  He was a reserve outfielder for the Rays, batting .213/.253/.373 in 179 plate appearances.  He was waived on July 24 and claimed by Cleveland.  He played in five games for AAA Columbus and was waived again on August 3.  This time the Twins claimed him and after sending him to Rochester for one game brought him to the majors.  He appeared in twenty-one games and made 54 plate appearances, batting .250/.259/.500 with three home runs and four doubles.  The Twins waived him after the season and he was claimed by the Cubs, for whom he played in AAA in 2019.  He became a free agent after the season and does not appear to have signed with anyone.  He turns twenty-eight today.  We wish him well, and if he can get a job with someone more power to him, but it may be time for Johnny Field to move on to the next phase of his life.

February 19

John Morrill (1855)

Dick Siebert (1912)

Hub Kittle (1917)
Russ Nixon (1935)
Dave Niehaus (1935)
Jackie Moore (1939)
Walt Jocketty (1951)
Dave Stewart (1957)
Keith Atherton (1959)
Alvaro Espinoza (1962)
Miguel Batista (1971)
Juan Diaz (1974)
Chris Stewart (1982)

Hub Kittle’s baseball career spanned 68 years.  In 1980, he became the oldest player to appear in organized baseball, pitching a perfect inning for AAA Springfield on August 27 at age 63½.

Jackie Moore is a long-time major league coach and minor league manager.  He also was the manager of the Oakland Athletics from 1984-86,

Walt Jocketty was the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1995-2007 and was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 2008-2015, when he became president of baseball operations.

Catcher Russell Eugene Nixon played for the Twins from 1966-1967.  His twin brother, Roy, was a minor league infielder from 1953-1957.  They were born in Cleves, Ohio, went to high school in Cincinnati, and Russ was signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 1953.  He hit for very high averages in the minors:  .336 at Class D Green Bay in 1953; .387 at Class D Jacksonville Beach in 1954; .385 at Class B Keokuk in 1955; and .319 at AAA Indianapolis in 1956.  In 1957, he got a well-earned promotion to the Indians, backing up Jim Hegan.  The following year, 1958, Nixon got the most playing time of his career--113 games and 376 at-bats.  Used almost exclusively against right-handed pitching, he hit .301, the only time in his career that he would bat over .300.  In 1959, he fell to .240, and he was hitting in the .240s again in June of 1960 when he was traded to the Red Sox.  His batting came back in Boston--Nixon hit .298 the rest of the season, and provided solid offense in a part-time role for the most of the next five years.  In April of 1966, Nixon was traded to Minnesota with Chuck Schilling for Dick Stigman and a player to be named later (Jose Calero).  Nixon joined Jerry Zimmerman in the job of backing up Earl Battey in 1966 and again provided solid offense in that role.  In 1967, however, when Battey was injured, the Twins gave the bulk of the playing time to Zimmerman rather than Nixon, and in April of 1968, Nixon was released.  As a Twin, he hit .244/.307/.301 in 266 at-bats.  Boston re-signed Nixon for 1968 but gave him only 85 at-bats, in which he hit .153.  The White Sox chose him in the Rule 5 draft, but released him in April of 1969, and his playing career was over.  He immediately went in to managing and coaching in the Cincinnati organization, and was the Reds' major league manager for part of 1982 and all of 1983.  After that, he moved to the Montreal organization, and then to Atlanta, where he managed the Braves from 1988-1990.  He returned to minor league managing after that, including managing the Twins' AAA affiliate in Portland in 1991.  He continued to manage in the minors through 2005, then became a roving instructor for Houston.  He became a roving catching instructor for the Texas Rangers in 2008, a position he held until his retirement.  Russ Nixon passed away in his home town of Cleves, Ohio on November 8, 2016.

Right-handed reliever Keith Rowe Atherton pitched for the Twins from 1986-1988.  Born in Newport News, Virginia, he attended high school in Mathews, Virginia, and then was drafted by Oakland in the second round in 1978.  He was a starter in the minors, and rose slowly, spending most of two years in Class A, a little over two years in AA, and a year and a half in AAA before making his debut with Oakland in July of 1983.  Moved to the bullpen upon going to the big leagues, Atherton had a fine half-year for the Athletics and was a steady if unspectacular contributor to the team through 1985.  He got off to a poor start in 1986, however, and was traded to Minnesota on May 20 for a player to be named later (Eric Broersma).  He became the chair of the Twins' closer by committee that year, leading the team in saves with ten.  The acquisition of Jeff Reardon moved Atherton back into a set-up role after the 1986 season, a role in which he performed quite creditably.  In March of 1989, however, the Twins traded Atherton to Cleveland for Carmelo Castillo.  Atherton did not do particularly well for the Indians and was released in August.  He signed with the Tigers and pitched well in six appearances at AAA, but did not get back to the major leagues.  He signed with Montreal for 1990, but was released in spring training, bringing his playing career to an end.  At last report, Keith Atherton was living in Mathews, Virginia.

Infielder Alvaro Alberto (Ramirez) Espinoza got 99 at-bats with the Twins from 1984-1986.  A native of Valencia, Venezuela, he attended high school there and signed with Houston as a free agent in 1978.  He spent two seasons in rookie ball for the Astros, did not hit, and was released in September of 1980.  It is unclear where Espinoza played in 1981, but the Twins signed him in March of 1982.  He was in Class A for the Twins in 1982 and 1983, hitting .316 in the latter year.  He was promoted to AAA in 1984 and struggled offensively for the next two years.  Despite that, he got a September callup in 1984 and came up in mid-August in 1985.  He was having a better year at AAA in 1986 when he was called up in mid-July.  He was in AAA all of 1987 and hit .275, but did not make it back to the majors with the Twins and was released after the season.  As a Twin, Espinoza hit .242/.265/.273.  The Yankees signed him for 1988.  They kept him in AAA almost all of that year, but he was the Yankees' regular shortstop from 1989-1991.  He provided good defense, but as should have been expected, did not hit--even in his one "good" year, 1989, when he hit .282, he had an OPS of only .633.  The Yankees released Espinoza in March of 1992 and he signed with Cleveland.  Espinoza was in AAA in 1992, but became a semi-regular from 1993 through mid-1996, continuing to provide good defense and not hit.  In July of 1996, he was traded to the Mets and had probably the best two months of his career, hitting .306 with four home runs.  The Mets weren't fooled, however, and released him in March of 1997.  He signed with Seattle, was released in July, and his career was over.  In 1998, he became a minor league instructor, first with Montreal, then the Dodgers, then Pittsburgh, then the Yankees, then Cleveland.  He was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.  At last report, Alvaro Espinoza was living in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and was an instructor with Espy Hitting Lessons, operated by former major league Cecil Espy.

First baseman Juan Carlos Diaz did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2004.  He was born in San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba.  B-r.com says went to high school in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, which seems unlikely given that he was signed out of Cuba.  Anyway, he signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1996.  He hit 30 homers and batted .281 in 1998 in a season split between A and AA.  He was having another strong season at AA San Antonio in 1999 when his contract was voided by major league baseball due to a rules violation (he had reached an agreement with the Dodgers while still living in Cuba). He signed with Boston and hit 20 homers in consecutive years at AAA Pawtucket (2001-2002).  He was in the big leagues for about two weeks in 2002, going 2-for-7 with a walk and a home run.  The Red Sox let him go after that season; he moved on to the Baltimore organization for 2003, playing in AA, and signed with the Twins for 2004.  They sent him to Rochester, where he hit .270/.346/.547 with 11 homers in just 137 at-bats.  A free agent after the season, he spent two years in the St. Louis organization.  He was in the Northern League from 2007-2010 and also had a stint in the Mexican League in 2008.  He retired in the spring of 2011, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family.  He got started with his career pretty late, and it’s doubtful that he could have been a star, but he hit over 250 minor league home runs.  It seems like he might have been able to help someone if he’d been given the chance.  No information about what Juan Diaz has done since his retirement from baseball was readily available.

February 18

Ray Ryan (1883)

George Mogridge (1889)

Sherry Smith (1891)

Jake Kline (1895)

Huck Betts (1897)
Joe Gordon (1915)
Herm Wehmeier (1927)
Frank House (1930)
Manny Mota (1938)
Dal Maxvill (1939)
Bob Miller (1939)
Jerry Morales (1949)
John Mayberry (1949)
Bruce Kison (1950)
Marc Hill (1952)
Rafael Ramirez (1958)
Kevin Tapani (1964)
John Valentin (1967)
Shawn Estes (1973)
Jamey Carroll (1974)
Chad Moeller (1975)
Alex Rios (1981)

Ray Ryan was involved in minor league baseball for six decades.  He had one baseball card, a part of the T206 tobacco series.  This is the series that produced the famous Honus Wagner card.

Jake Kline was the baseball coach at Notre Dame from 1934-1975.

Born Robert Lane Gemeinweiser, right-hander Bob Miller played for the Twins in 1968-1969.  He was born in St. Louis and went to high school there.  Miller was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals in June of 1957 under the "bonus baby" rules, which required him to be on the major league roster the remainder of the 1957 season.  He appeared in only five games, pitching mop-up relief, before really getting his professional career started in 1958.  He was used primarily as a starter in the minors and pitched quite well, getting a major league call-up in August of 1959.  By 1960, he was in the majors to stay.  Miller was used mostly out of the Cardinals bullpen through 1961, doing a decent but unexceptional job.  He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by the New York Mets.  He was with the Mets for one season, was used mostly as a starter, and did not do well, going 1-12, 4.89.  After the season, Miller was traded to the Dodgers, where he stayed for five years.  He started 23 games in 1963, but was used primarily as a reliever the rest of his time in Los Angeles.  He did a fine job for them, posting ERAs under three for four consecutive years (1963-1966) and leading the league in appearances in 1964.  He had a down year in 1967 and was traded to Minnesota with Ron Perranoski and Johnny Roseboro for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles.  Miller was used exclusively as a reliever in 1968 and primarily as a reliever in 1969 (he started 11 games).  He once again pitched very well:  as a Twin, Bob Miller was 5-8, 2.91 with a WHIP of 1.25 and an ERA+ of 120.  After the 1969 season, though, Minnesota traded Miller to Cleveland with Dean Chance, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.  Miller started bouncing around after that:  traded to the White Sox in June of 1970, sold to the Cubs in September of the same year, released by the Cubs in May of 1971, signed by San Diego the next day, traded to Pittsburgh in August, released in March of 1973, signed by San Diego again in April, selected off waivers by Detroit in June, sold to the Mets in September, and finally released by the Mets in October of 1974, ending time in the majors.  Other than 1970, he pitched pretty well in those years; even in his last major league year, he went 2-2, 3.58.  In 1975 he signed once again with San Diego and spent the year pitching for AAA Hawaii before ending his career.  He stayed in baseball after his playing career ended:  he managed in the minors in 1976, was the first pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977-1979, and later was a coach for the San Francisco Giants in 1985.  Miller was a scout for the Giants when he was killed in an automobile accident on August 6, 1993 in Rancho Bernardo, California.

Right-hander Kevin Ray Tapani had the best years of his career as a member of the Minnesota Twins from 1989-1995.  Born in Des Moines, he went to high school in Escanaba, Michigan, then attended Central Michigan University.  He was drafted by Oakland in the second round in 1986.  He pitched pretty well in Class A for two years, but was traded to the Mets after the 1987 in a three-team deal (the Dodgers were also included) which included Bob Welch, Alfredo Griffin, and Jesse Orosco.  With the Mets, he had a good year in AA in 1988 and another in AAA in 1989.  He was called up to the Mets for about two weeks in 1989, and pitched well in three relief appearances.  At the end of July of 1989, Tapani was traded to the Twins along with Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, David West, and a player to be named later (Jack Savage) for Frank Viola.  The Twins started Tapani at AAA, but called him up in September and immediately put him in their starting rotation.  He would not leave it until July of 1995.  In between, Tapani put together some fine years.  He was fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1990 and finished seventh in the Cy Young balloting in 1991, when he won 16 games and posted an ERA of 2.99.  Tapani never quite equaled that 1991 season; while he didn't become awful, he started a slow decline, with his ERA and WHIP both going up, gradually but noticeably.  On July 31, 1995, Tapani was traded to the Dodgers with Mark Guthrie for Ron Coomer, Greg Hansell, Jose Parra, and a player to be named later (Chris Latham).  He finished out 1995 with the Dodgers, then became a free agent.  He played for the White Sox in 1996, had a decent but unspectacular year, and then became a free agent again, signing with the Cubs.  Tapani was a Cub for five years, and while he was not a star he was a solid contributor to their rotation.  He became a free agent after the 2001 season and decided to retire.  As a Twin, Kevin Tapani was 75-63, 4.06 with a WHIP of 1.27 in 180 starts (1,171 innings).  He is a member of the Central Michigan University Athletics Hall of Fame.  At last report, Kevin Tapani was the head baseball coach at Providence Academy in Plymouth, Minnesota.  His son, Ryan Tapani, has pitched in the low minors for Washington since 2018.

Infielder Jamey Blake Carroll played for the Twins in 2012-13.  He was born in Evansville, Indiana, went to high school in Newburgh, Indiana, attended the University of Evansville, and was drafted by Montreal in the fourteenth round in 1996.  He was always fairly good in the minors, but never had the kind of numbers that would really get anyone’s attention.  He never hit .300 in the minors, nor did he ever hit double-digit home runs.  His best year in the minors was probably 1999, when he hit .292 for AA Harrisburg at age 25.  He made his major league debut as a September call-up in 2002, had his first full season in the majors in 2003, and with the exception of a rehab assignment in 2009 he has never been back to the minors.  His numbers in the majors have been similar to his numbers in the minors:  fairly good, but nothing that really gets anyone’s attention.  His career numbers are .276/.354/.344 and he has averaged 119 games and 337 at-bats per season.  He has generally either been a utility player or a semi-regular.  He has started over a hundred games in a season only three times (2006, 2011, and 2012) and has only once started over a hundred games in a season at one position (second base in 2006).  He was with Montreal until it moved to Washington, was a National for one season, then was sold to Colorado in February of 2006.  He was with the Rockies for two seasons, then was traded to Cleveland in December of 2007.  After two seasons there, he became a free agent and signed with the Dodgers.  He was there for two more seasons, became a free agent again, and signed with Minnesota for 2012.  He saw regular playing time, but at three positions, playing 66 games at second, 44 at third, and 37 at shortstop.   He was used less in 2013, appearing in only 59 games, and was sold to Kansas City in mid-August.  As a Twin, he hit .257/.327/.301 in 661 at-bats.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Washington for 2014 but was released in spring training, ending his playing career.  At last report, Jamey Carroll was a special assistant to the baseball operations staff of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Catcher Chad Edward Moeller started his rather lengthy major league career as a member of the Minnesota Twins in 2000.  He was born in Upland, California, went to high school there, and then went to USC.  He was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round in 1996.  He had a couple of good years at Class A, stumbled some when promoted to AA, but was having a pretty good year in AAA in 2000 when he made his major league debut for the Twins in mid-June.  He was part of the revolving door the Twins had at catcher that year, along with Danny Ardoin, Marcus Jensen, Matthew LeCroy, and A. J. Pierzynski.  Other than Pierzynski, none of them stood out that year, and five catchers was a bit much even for the Twins, so they traded Moeller in March of 2001 to Arizona for Hanley Frias.  He was with the Diamondbacks for three years, splitting the first two between AAA and the majors before getting his first full major league season in 2003.  After the 2003 season, Moeller was traded to Milwaukee, where he was a part-time catcher for all of 2004 and 2005.  He didn't hit, was sent to the minors for part of 2006, and then became a free agent.  He bounced around a lot after that:  he signed with Cincinnati for 2007, was sold to the Dodgers in August, signed as a free agent with Washington for 2008, was released during spring training, signed with the Yankees, was released after the season, and was with Baltimore for 2009.  All of those years were split between AAA and the majors, with Moeller averaging about 80 major league at-bats each year.  As a Twin, Moeller hit .211/.261/.273 in 128 at-bats.  Chad Moeller signed a minor league contract with Baltimore for 2010, was released at the end of spring training, and signed with the Yankees again, appearing in nine major league games in two stints with the big club.  A free agent again after the 2010 season, he signed with Colorado for 2011 but was released in spring training and his playing career came to an end.  He is now living in Scottsdale, Arizona and operates Chad Moeller Baseball, which conducts clinics and offers baseball instructional videos, and Scottsdale Batting Cages, at which he offers individual and group instruction.