November 19

Billy Sunday (1862)

Everett Scott (1892)

Roosevelt Davis (1904)

Roy Campanella (1921)

Joe Morgan (1930)

Manny Jimenez (1938)

Larry Haney (1942)

Bobby Tolan (1945)

Bob Boone (1947)

Dickie Noles (1956)

Mike Winters (1958)

Gary Disarcina (1967)

Mario Valdez (1974)

Clay Condrey (1975)

Ryan Howard (1979)

Jeff Gray (1981)

Jonathan Sanchez (1982)

Bryan Holaday (1987)

Michael Tonkin (1989)

Joey Gallo (1993)

Ian Gibaut (1993)

Lewin Diaz (1996)

The Joe Morgan listed above is not Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. The Joe Morgan born today is the Joe Morgan who once managed the Red Sox.

Larry Haney is the cousin of ex-Twin Mike Cubbage.

Mike Winters was a major league umpire from 1990-2019.

First baseman/outfielder Mario Ayelar Valdez did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for about four months in 2000. He was born in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, went to high school in Hialeah, Florida, and was drafted by the White Sox in the forty-eighth round in 1993. He had some fine seasons in the minors, hitting .330 with 13 homers in a 1996 split between A and AA and .330 with 20 homers in Calgary in 1998. He was in the majors for a little less than half of 1997, allowing Frank Thomas to spend time at the DH spot. He got 115 at-bats, hitting .243/.350/.330. Despite his 1998 AAA season, he never got another chance with Chicago and was allowed to become a free agent after the 1999 campaign. The Twins signed him and sent him to AAA Salt Lake, where he hit .366 with 18 homers through the end of July, at which point he was traded to Oakland for Danny Ardoin. He got a September call-up with the Athletics in 2000 and started 2001 in Oakland. He was used largely as a pinch-hitter and hit .278 in 54 at-bats, but was sent back to AAA in June and never got back to the majors. He stayed in the Athletics’ organization through 2002, played in AAA for San Diego in 2003, went to Japan in 2004, then went to Mexico, where he continued to hit well.  He played sparingly in 2013 and 2014, played in winter ball in 2014-15, and then his playing career came to an end. There were surely reasons he didn’t play more in the majors, but it seems like he could have helped somebody if he’d been given a chance.  At last report, Mario Valdez was living in Sonora, Mexico.

Right-handed reliever Clayton Lee Condrey did not play for the Twins, but was on their disabled list in 2010. He was born in Beaumont, Texas, went to high school in Navasosta, Texas, and then attended McNeese State, the same college attended by ex-Twin Danny Ardoin, and was drafted in the ninety-fourth round by the Yankees in 1996.  He apparently did not sign with them, however, as he did not make his minor league debut until 1998 in the San Diego system.  He was strictly a relief pitcher through 2001, pitching well in the low minors but not so well above Class A. He never pitched as many as ninety innings in a season in those years, averaging around 55 innings. He became a starter in 2002 and did well, going 10-4, 3.50, 1.26 WHIP for AAA Portland. He made his major league debut in late August and continued to do well, posting an ERA of 1.69 and a WHIP of 1.05 in 26.2 innings. Condrey began 2003 as the Padres’ fifth starter, but flopped and was sent back to AAA in May. In late March of 2004, Condrey was sent to Philadelphia as part of a “conditional deal.” He had a couple of mediocre years at AAA for the Phillies, but they did not give up on him, instead shifting him back to the bullpen for 2006. Now 30, he suddenly flourished there, spending nearly half of 2006 and almost all of 2007 in the majors. He had two full seasons in the majors in 2008 and 2009 and did very well, posting a combined ERA of 3.16 in 111 innings. A free agent after the 2009 campaign, he signed with Minnesota but was injured in spring training, missing the entire season except for 9.1 innings on an aborted minor league rehab assignment.  That brought his playing career to an end.  He holds the distinction of being the latest-drafted player to make the majors, and as there are no longer ninety-four rounds in the draft, that's a record that probably won't be broken.  He apparently is now giving private pitching instruction to young players through OOSinker Pitching Lessons in College Station, Texas.

Right-handed reliever Jeffrey Michael Gray pitched for the Twins in 2012.  He was born in Texas City, Texas, went to high school in Wildwood, Missouri, attended Missouri State University, and was drafted by Oakland in the thirty-second round in 2004.  He became a reliever for good in 2006 and was rather up and down in his minor league career.  He first reached the majors as a September call-up in 2008 and got over two months in the majors in 2009.  He did pretty well in 2009, but was traded to the Cubs after the season.  He started the year in Chicago but was in AAA by early May and spent the rest of the year there.  He got his first full season in the majors in 2011, but with two different teams:  the White Sox had signed him as a free agent in November of 2010, waived him in mid-May, and he was claimed by Seattle.  He did not have a very good year, was waived again, and was claimed by Minnesota for 2012.  He appeared in 49 games and was 6-1, which is the good news.  The bad news is that he posted an ERA of 5.71 and a WHIP of 1.54.  He was again a free agent after the season, signed with the White Sox, went to AAA, and was released in mid-July, bringing his playing career to an end.  It may not have been a great career, but he appeared in 115 games over five big league seasons, which is not bad for a thirty-second round draft choice.  He got into coaching after his playing career was over.  He was a minor league pitching coach for a time, then became the high school baseball coach of Freedom High School in Orlando, Florida until his retirement in 2023.  He was still living in Orlando at last report.

Right-handed reliever Michael Harvey Tonkin pitched for the Twins from 2013-2017 and again in 2024.  He was born in Glendale, California, went to high school in Palmdale, California, and was drafted by Minnesota in the thirtieth round in 2008.  He was primarily a starter through 2010 and did not do badly in that role, but became a relief pitcher in 2011.  He did not reach AA until 2013, but was promoted to AAA that same season and ended the year in the majors.  He pitched very well for the Twins in 11.1 innings, going 0-0, 0.79, 1.06 WHIP with three walks and ten strikeouts.  He started 2014 in the majors and pitched very well in April, but stumbled in May and was sent to AAA. returning as a September call-up.  He split 2015 pretty evenly between AAA and the majors, pitching extremely well in AAA and not badly in Minnesota.  He was with the Twins for all of 2016 and started the season quite well, but ultimately did not have a good season, although he did strikeout quite a few batters.  At that time, we said, "He has a good chance to be in the Twins' bullpen at the start of 2017, but he's probably going to have to pitch better than last year if he wants to stay there."  Well, he was in the Twins' bullpen at the start of 2017, but he didn't pitch better and he didn't stay there, regardless of how much he may have wanted to.  He was with the Twins for about five weeks and then went back to Rochester, where he pitched very well and earned a spot as a September call-up.  The Twins released him after the season, however.  He went to Japan for 2018 and had a solid season in the Nippon Ham Fighters bullpen.  At that time, we said, "He would probably get at least a minor league contract if he came back", and that turned out to be true, as he signed with Texas for 2019.  He was released in spring training, signed with Milwaukee and went to AAA, was released again in late May, pitched very well for independent Long Island, and signed with Arizona in mid-August for the rest of the season.  He did not play anywhere in 2020, but there were not nearly as many opportunities to play in 2020 as there usually are.  In 2021 he played for Long Island in the Atlantic League and for Tijuana in the Mexican League, pitching well in both places.  He signed with Atlanta for 2022 and had an excellent season in AAA.  He was back in the majors in 2023, and while he was hurt by the long ball he had a decent season overall.  He had an interesting 2024--signed with the Mets as a free agent, sold to the Twins in early April, waived and claimed by the Mets about a week later, waived and claimed by the Yankees about a week after that, and waived and claimed by the Twins in late August.   Through it all, he had a pretty decent season again.  He turns thirty-five today.  As a Twin, he is 3-3, 4.37, 1.44 WHIP in 154 games (162.2 innings).  It seems likely that he'll go to spring training with someone in 2025.

Outfielder/first baseman Joseph Nicholas Gallo played for the Twins in 2023.  He was born in Henderson, Nevada, went to high school in Las Vegas, and was drafted by Texas in the first round in 2012,  He showed lots of power in the minors, blasting forty home runs in a 2013 split between rookie ball and Class A and forty-two in a 2014 split between high-A and AA.  He made his major league debut in 2015, spending about two months there and batting .204/.301/.417 in 108 at-bats.  Not bad for a twenty-one year old, you might say, but he spent most of 2016 having a good year in AAA, playing just seventeen games in the majors.  He stuck in the majors after that, though.  In 2017 and 2018 he batted just over .200, but hit forty or more homers each season.  He was on the way to the best year of his career in 2019, batting .253 with 22 homers in the first half, but was injured shortly after the all-star break and missed the rest of the season.  He had a poor 2020 but bounced back some in 2021, batting just .199 but hitting 38 home runs and leading the league in walks.  He was traded to the Yankees at the July deadline that year, though, and hasn't done much since.  He struggled with the Yankees in 2022, batting just .159, and didn't do much better when he was traded to the Dodgers in early August.  The Twins signed him as a free agent in 2023 and he did about what he should've been expected to do, batting .177/.301/.440 with 21 homers in 282 at-bats.  He signed with Washington for 2024 and did even worse.  He's basically Miguel Sano with better defense--Sano appears on both the list of "Similar Batters" and "Similar Batters through age 30".  He turns thirty-one today and is a free agent.  He may sign with someone for 2025, but at this point any team that signs him should know what it's getting.

Right-handed reliever Ian Philip Gibaut appeared in three games for the Twins in 2021.  He was born in Houston, attended Tulane (where he had an excellent career), and was drafted by Tampa Bay in the eleventh round in 2015.  He pitched very well in the minors, posting ERAs below three at every stop through 2018.  It appears that he dealt with injuries in 2019 and the Rays abruptly gave up on him, sending him to Texas for a player to be named or cash.  He made his major league debut that season, appearing in one game for the Rays before the trade and nine for Texas afterward.  He was with the Rangers for about half of the shortened 2020 season, appearing in fourteen games and posting an ERA of 6.57.  He became a free agent and signed with Minnesota in 2021.  He had a poor year in AAA St. Paul, although he pitched well in three games for the Twins.  As a Twin, he was 0-0, 2.70, 1.35 WHIP in 6.2 innings. A free agent after the season, he signed with Cleveland for 2022.  He was having a good year in AAA, but was still waived in late June.  The Dodgers claimed him, but waived him again five days later and he was claimed by Cincinnati.  The Reds brought him back to the majors, and while he was not particularly good in 2022 he was in 2023, going 8-4, 3.33 with three saves and a 1,28 WHIP.  He was injured much of 2024, making only two major league appearances.  He turns thirty-one today.  One assumes he'll be back with the Reds in 2025 if he's healthy.

First baseman Lewin Jose Diaz did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2014-2019.  He was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic and signed as a free agent with the Twins in July of 2013.  He was in rookie ball from 2014-2016, which isn't as bad as it sounds since he was still a teenager in all those seasons.  He batted .310/.353/.575 with Elizabethton in 2016, which attracted attention.  He was okay, but nothing special, in Cedar Rapids in 2017 and had a poor year in Fort Myers in 2018.  He rebounded in 2019, however, doing well first in Fort Myers and then in AA Pensacola.  In late July, however, he was traded to Miami for Chris Vallimont, Sergio Romo, and a player to be named later (who apparently still has not been named and perhaps never will be).  He didn't do much the rest of that season, but he was put on the sixty-man roster for 2020 and spent about three weeks with the Marlins.  He didn't do much then, either, batting just .154 in 41 plate appearances.  He had a solid year in AAA Jacksonville in 2021 and spent about two months with the big club, batting .205 but with 8 homers in 122 at-bats.  He was back in AAA in the first half of 2022, but was given the first base job with Miami in the second half of the season.  He gave it back, batting just .169 with five home runs. He then had an interesting off-season.  He was waived by the Marlins in November and claimed by Pittsburgh, waived again ten days later and claimed by Baltimore, traded to Atlanta three weeks later for "unknown compensation", and waived again two weeks later and claimed by Baltimore again.  After all that, he had a solid year in AAA for the Orioles in 2023 but did not get a call to the majors.  He signed with Washington for 2025 but was released in spring training.  He spent the season playing in Korea and Mexico and hit well in both places.  His AAA numbers are good, but in the majors he has batted .181/.227/.340 in 321 at-bats.  He turns twenty-eight today.  It's possible that someone will take a chance on him, but it seems more likely that he'll have to play in Mexico, Korea, or somewhere else for at least a while yet.

November 18

Deacon McGuire (1863)

Jack Coombs (1882)

Les Mann (1892)

Gene Mauch (1925)

Roy Sievers (1926)

Danny McDevitt (1932)

Cal Koonce (1940)

Jim Shellenback (1943)

Steve Henderson (1952)

Luis Pujols (1955)

Mike Felder (1961)

Jamie Moyer (1962)

Dante Bichette (1963)

Ron Coomer (1966)

Tom Gordon (1967)

Gary Sheffield (1968)

Shawn Camp (1975)

David Ortiz (1975)

Steve Bechler (1979)

C. J. Wilson (1980)

Roy Sievers was a star for the franchise when it was in Washington in the 1950s.

There are eighty-three current and former major league players born on this day. I'm pretty sure that's the most on any day.

Gene William Mauch managed the Twins from 1976-1980. He became much more famous as a manager than he had ever been as a player. Born in Salina, Kansas, he attended Fremont High School in Los Angeles and was signed as a free agent by Brooklyn in 1943. An infielder, he had a very good year for Class B Durham in 1943, and started 1944 with the Dodgers. After five games, Mauch went briefly to AA Montreal, and then went into the military. Upon his return in 1946, he was sent to AAA St. Paul. Mauch was traded to Pittsburgh in 1947. He began that year in AAA as well, but after hitting .300 there in 58 games, he was promoted to the Pirates. He stayed in the big leagues through 1950, spending time with Brooklyn, the Cubs, and the Boston Braves. Mauch was apparently injured for some of 1951, as he played only 19 games for Boston and 37 games at AAA. Most of the rest of his career was spent in the minors, with the exception of 1957, when he played in 65 games for the Red Sox. Mauch posted a lifetime batting line of .239/.333/.312, with an OPS+ of 75. His playing career ended with two years as the player-manager of AAA Minneapolis in 1958-59. He became a major league manager in 1960, when he was hired to manage the Philadelphia Phillies. He remained their manager through 1968, most famously in 1964, when his team lost a 6 1/2 game lead with 12 games to play. He became manager of the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969, holding that job through 1975. Mauch became the manager of the Twins in 1976, replacing Frank Quilici. With the Twins, Mauch did his best to make a lot out of a little, twice keeping the Twins in contention for much of the season despite limited talent. By 1980, however, the loss through free agency of pretty much every good player on the team became too much for him, and he resigned in August. Mauch moved on to twice manage the California Angels, from 1981-82 and from 1985-87. In 1982 and 1986 Mauch had the Angels within one game of the World Series, but never was able to win that one game. As a manager, Mauch was known for emphasizing fundamentals and small ball and using the entire roster. He was criticized for not getting to the World Series, but many times he got his team closer to it than it had any right to be.  As Bill James once said, Mauch's problem was that he took over too many challenges and not enough ball clubs. Gene Mauch passed away from lung cancer on August 8, 2005.

Left-hander Daniel Eugene McDevitt appeared in sixteen games for the Twins in 1961, near the end of his major league career. Born in New York, he attended St. Bonaventure University and was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1951. He spent two years in the low minors, posting a 2.35 ERA for Class C Greenwood in 1952, and then missed two years due to service in the United States Army. Upon his return in 1955, he struggled for a couple of years, but put things together in 1957, posting a 2.30 ERA in 94 innings of AAA before being promoted to Brooklyn, where he went 7-4 with a 3.25 ERA the rest of the way. McDevitt was the starting pitcher for the last Dodgers home game in Brooklyn, winning 2-0. He started 1958 with the Dodgers, now moved to Los Angeles, but struggled early and was sent back to AAA. He came back to the majors in 1959, and this time stayed there for three years. He had a couple of decent seasons for the Dodgers as a sometime starter, sometime reliever. After the 1960 season, McDevitt was sold to the Yankees, and after he got off to a poor start in New York, he was traded to Minnesota in mid-June of 1961 for Billy Gardner. He did not suffer from overwork, pitching only 26 innings in 16 appearances the rest of the way. He did well for the Twins when given the chance, posting a 2.36 ERA. Control trouble, however, was a problem throughout his career, and it showed up in Minnesota as well, as McDevitt walked 19 batters.  Arm injuries contributed to his problems as well. He was sold to Kansas City the following off-season. He made 33 appearances for the Athletics in 1962, was in AAA in 1963, and then his playing career ended.  He did not immediately leave baseball, however, embarking on a career as a minor league umpire.  Danny McDevitt passed away in Covington, Georgia on November 20, 2010, two days after his 78th birthday.

Left-hander James Philip Shellenback appeared for the Twins in five games in 1977, at the end of his playing career. He was born in Riverside, California, attended Ramona High School in Riverside, and was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1962. After his first minor-league season, Shellenback was drafted by Pittsburgh in the 1962 first-year draft. He pitched very well in the Pirates' minor-league system, but someone must have decided he couldn't pitch in the bigs: in almost four full seasons of AAA, from 1965-1968, Shellenback posted an ERA of 3.08, but he got only 8 games and 26 innings in the big leagues in that period. In May of 1969, he was traded to Washington, and finally was given a shot in the majors. He spent four years with Washington/Texas from 1969-1972 as a swing man, and did a decent job, consistently posting ERAs in the mid-threes. In 1974, however, he found himself back in AAA, which is where he remained for most of the rest of his career. After the 1975 season, he was sold to San Diego, but never got a shot at the big leagues there. The Padres released him in before the 1977 season, and he was out of baseball until Minnesota signed him in August. He started at AA Orlando, but got a September call-up with the Twins. He pitched only 5.2 innings, giving up five earned runs for a 7.94 ERA. The Twins released him after the season, and his playing career was over. He appears to be another player who might have been better had he been given more of a chance. After he quit playing, Jim Shellenback then went into coaching, and was for several years the pitching coach for the Elizabethton Twins until his retirement after the 2011 season.  At last report, he was enjoying retirement in Parker, Arizona.

Corner infielder Ronald Bryan Coomer played for the Twins from 1995-2000. Born in Crest Hill, Illinois, he attended high school in Lockport Township, Illinois. He attended Taft College in Taft, California, and was drafted by Oakland in the 14th round in 1987. He was in Class A for three years, hitting over .300 in two of them, but struggled when promoted to AA in 1990, and was released by Oakland in August of that year. He was signed by the White Sox and had a couple of nondescript seasons in their minor league system, but came alive in 1993, hitting .319 in a season split between AA and AAA. Coomer was traded to the Dodgers after that season. He hit .338 at AAA Albuquerque in 1994, and was hitting .322 there in 1995 when he was finally called up to the big leagues. It wasn't with the Dodgers, however; on July 31, he was traded to the Twins, along with Greg Hansell, Jose Parra, and Chris Latham, for Mark Guthrie and Kevin Tapani. A third baseman throughout his minor league career, Coomer played first base and outfield his first couple of years with the Twins, was the regular third baseman in 1997-98, and played mostly first base in 1999-2000. He hit in the .290s with double-digit homers in 1996 and 1997 before dropping to the .270s for the remainder of his time with the Twins. He did not draw very many walks--his career high was 36 in 2000. As a Twin, Ron Coomer posted a line of .278/.315/.431 with one all-star appearance, in 1999. He became a free agent after the 2000 season, and began bouncing around: he was with the Cubs in 2001, the Yankees in 2002, and the Dodgers in 2003. His playing time diminished, as did his effectiveness, and after 2003, he called it a career. He then went into broadcasting.  He was an analyst for Fox Sports North for several seasons before becoming a radio broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs in 2014.

Designated hitter/first baseman David Americo (Arias) Ortiz was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, went to high school in Haina, Dominican Republic, and was originally known as David Arias. Ironically, he would go on to become a player to be named later. He was signed by Seattle as a free agent in 1992. He hit .332 in rookie ball in 1995, and followed it up by hitting .322 with 18 home runs in the Midwest League in 1996. In September, he came to Minnesota as the PTBNL in a trade that sent Dave Hollins to Seattle. He had a big year in 1997, split between A and AA, and made his big-league debut as a September call-up that season. He made the Twins out of spring training in 1998, and got off to a good start, but got hurt in early May, missing two months. He did not do as well upon his return, but for the season he hit .277 with an .817 OPS as a 22-year-old, and appeared ready to move forward. Instead, he went backward. After a poor spring training in 1999, Ortiz was sent to AAA and stayed there the whole season despite hitting .315 with 30 homers and despite the fact that Doug Mientkiewicz was posting a .229 average as the Twins' first baseman. Back in Minnesota in 2000, he stayed there through 2002. Ortiz was better with the Twins than some would have us believe: he hit .266/.348/.461 with a 107 OPS+. Still, the Twins soured on him and gave him his release after the 2002 season. Teams were not falling all over themselves to sign him, either; he was unemployed for over a month before signing with Boston on January 22, 2003. Given regular playing time in Boston, he exploded: from 2003-2007, Ortiz averaged 42 homers and 128 RBIs, finishing in the top five in MVP voting each year. He had a couple of down (though still productive) years from 2008-2009, but bounced back in 2010 and remained a good batter for the rest of his career.  In fact, his final season, 2016, at age forty, was one of his best, as he batted .315 with 38 homers and led the league in doubles, slugging percentage, and OPS.  He has been on Fox Sports pre-game and post-game shows since 2017, where he makes some good points when he's not busy playing the buffoon.   David Ortiz was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2022.

November 17

George Stallings (1867)

Mike Garcia (1923)

Orlando Pena (1933)

Gary Bell (1936)

Tom Seaver (1944)

Brad Havens (1959)

Mitch Williams (1964)

Paul Sorrento (1965)

Jeff Nelson (1966)

Eli Marrero (1973)

Darnell McDonald (1978)

Ryan Braun (1983)

Nick Markakis (1983)

Shane Greene (1988)

Elias Diaz (1990)

 George Stallings managed in the major leagues for thirteen years.  He is best remembered as the manager of the 1914 Miracle Braves.

Right-hander Bradley David Havens pitched for the Twins from 2001-2003 at the beginning of what turned out to be a semi-respectable major league career. Born in Highland Park, Michigan, he attended Kimball High School in Royal Oak, Michigan. He was drafted by California in the eighth round in 1977. He did not make his debut until 1978, pitching well at Class A Quad Cities. The following February, Havens was traded to Minnesota along with Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, and Ken Landreaux for Rod Carew. He had a poor 1979, but pitched well for Class A Visalia in 1980 and was off to a good start at Orlando in 1981 when he was called up to the Twins in June. He was in the Twins starting rotation most of the rest of that season and all of 1982, doing a fairly solid job considering how awful those teams were. In 1983, however, things fell apart on him. He pitched poorly in twelve starts and was sent to AAA in mid-June. He pitched well there, but did not do better in Minnesota when brought back in mid-July. Havens had a very good year in AAA in 1984, but never made it back to the Twins and was traded in February, 1985 to Baltimore for Mark Brown. He did not do all that well in 1985, but was in the Orioles bullpen for all of 1986, pitching adequately enough in middle relief. He was traded to the Dodgers in May of 1987 and did decently, but got off to a poor start in 1988 and was released. He moved on to the Indians until May of 1989, finished that year with Detroit, and then was out of baseball. As a Twin, Brad Havens was 18-28 with an ERA of 5.00 in 63 games, 58 of them starts. He played in parts of eight major league seasons, appearing in over 200 major league games, which is not so bad, really.  At last report, he was living in Brighton, Michigan. He at one time had a business called Brad Havens Baseball Clinics, Inc. in Michigan, but the corporation has been dissolved.  At last report, he was the owner of Major League Gutter & Window Cleaning in Royal Oak, Michigan.

First baseman Paul Anthony Sorrento was a Twin from 1989-1991 at the beginning of his 11-year major league career. Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, Sorrento attended Florida State and was drafted by California in the fourth round in 1986. He spent three years in Class A for the Angels, having a good season in 1986, a poor one in 1987, and a good one in 1988, when he began to develop power. In November 0f 1988, Sorrento was traded to the Twins with Rob Wassenaar and Mike Cook for Kevin Trudeau and Bert Blyleven. He hit 27 homers for AA Orlando in 1989, earning a September call-up, and batted .302 with 19 homers in 1990 with AAA Portland, when he was with Minnesota for a little over two months. He had another good year in Portland in 1991, and got another month and a half with the Twins. He was blocked at first base by Kent Hrbek and at DH by Chili Davis, so in late March, 1992 the Twins traded Sorrento to Cleveland for Curt Leskanic and Oscar Munoz. He never developed as well for Cleveland as expected, but it could be that people over-expected: in four years for the Indians, he hit .261 and averaged 19 homers a year. A free agent after the 1995 season, Sorrento moved on to Seattle, where he had his best years, batting .279 and hitting 54 home runs over two seasons. A free agent again after the 1997 campaign, Sorrento signed with Tampa Bay and promptly collapsed. In two seasons with the Devil Rays, he hit .229 with only 28 home runs. A free agent once more after 1999, he signed with Oakland, and spent 2000 with the Athletics’ AAA team in Sacramento. He was decent, but not outstanding, and his career came to a close after that season. After leaving baseball, he moved to Bellevue, Washington, where he coached youth baseball.  In 2012, Paul Sorrento was the batting coach for the Inland Empire 66ers, the Angels’ affiliate in the California League.  In 2013, he was the roving batting instructor for the Angels, and in 2014 he became their interim batting coach while Don Baylor was sidelined by surgery.  He was the Angels assistant hitting coach from 2016-2018 and was promoted to hitting coach in 2019.  In 2020, however, Jeremy Reed took over as hitting coach and Sorrento’s title was changed to “hitting instructor”, a position he held through 2023.  At that point, he became the "player development staff coach" for the Angels, a position he continued to hold at last report.

Outfielder Darnell Tyrone McDonald played in four games for the Twins in 2007. He was born in Ft. Collins, Colorado, went to Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colorado, and was drafted by Baltimore in the first round in 1997. He showed an ability to draw walks early on, and once he started to hit, he posted some good on-base percentages. He hit just under .300 at AAA Rochester in 2002 and 2003, but slumped to .234 in 2004. McDonald got a few cups of coffee with the Orioles in 2004 as well, used mostly as a defensive replacement. A free agent after that season, he signed with Cleveland, was released in early June, and signed with Tampa Bay. He stuck in the Devil Rays’ organization through 2006, again hitting a little under .300 at AAA. McDonald signed with Washington for 2007, but was traded to the Twins on June 24 for Levale Speigner. His numbers at Rochester were a little lower, but he still hit around .270 in a year and a half with the Red Wings. He was with Minnesota for about a week in June of 2007, starting three games and going 1-for-10. McDonald was released after 2008 and signed with Cincinnati. He split the year between AAA Louisville and the Reds. He really did not do a bad job as a reserve outfielder for Cincinnati, batting .267 with 2 home runs in 105 at-bats.  A free agent after the 2009 season, he signed with Boston and remained there through the first half of 2012.  He was a decent reserve in his first season there, but his average dropped to .236 in 2011 and to .214 when he was waived in early July of 2012.  The Yankees claimed him and played him in four games, then sent him to AAA, where he stayed the rest of the year. He signed with the Cubs for 2013, got about seven weeks in the majors, and did quite well as a pinch-hitter/defensive replacement, batting .302 in 53 at-bats.  At that time, we wrote “it seems like someone will at least take him to spring training, and it’s entirely possible we’ll see him in a big league uniform again in 2014.”  Well, we were half right.  He signed with the Cubs, and they took him to spring training, but he was released in early April and became a baseball operations assistant with the Cubs.  He is still employed by the Cubs and was their Mental Skills Coordinator through 2018.  Ex-Twin Bob Tewksbury took over that job in 2019, and McDonald was a coach with the AZL Cubs that season.  He left/was not retained in that position, and founded SVA Sport, which is “your antidote to anxiety, doubt, and restlessness.”

November 16

Mike McGeary (1850)

Joe Quest (1852)

Cristobal Torriente (1893)

Henry Spearman (1909)

Paul Foytack (1930)

Frank Bolling (1931)

Harry Chiti (1932)

Don Hahn (1948)

Herb Washington (1951)

Glenn Burke (1952)

Curt Wardle (1960)

Dwight Gooden (1964)

Chris Haney (1968)

Pete Rose (1969)

Julio Lugo (1975)

Juan Centeno (1989)

I don't know whether Joe Quest had a relative named Jonny.

Sprinter Herb Washington played for Oakland for two seasons as a pinch-runner.  He appeared in 105 games but did not play in the field and did not bat.  He stole 31 bases in 48 attempts and scored 33 runs.

Left-hander Curtis Ray Wardle pitched for the Twins in 1984 and 1985. He was born in Downey, California, went to high school in Norco, California, attended San Bernardino Valley College and Cal-Riverside, and was drafted by the Twins in the third round in 1981. He alternated between starting and relieving for his first two seasons, but then went to the bullpen full time in 1983. He had very good years in 1983 and 1984 as a reliever, the former with Class A Visalia and the latter with AA Orlando. Wardle pitched in two games for the Twins at the end of August, 1984, and was in the big leagues for all of 1985. He did not pitch particularly well for the Twins, and on August 1 he was traded to Cleveland with Jay Bell, Jim Weaver, and Rich Yett for Bert Blyleven. As a Twin, Wardle was 1-3 with a 5.43 ERA in 37 appearances and 53 innings. Placed in the starting rotation for the Indians, he did not do any better, going 7-6, but with a 6.68 ERA. He was known as a slow worker, and given his numbers, that may be understandable. Wardle had an unspectacular year at AAA in 1986, and was traded to Oakland in 1987 spring training. The Athletics sent him to AA Huntsville, he pitched poorly there in six starts, and then his career was over. At last report, Curt Wardle was living in Moreno Valley, California.

Catcher Juan Carlos Centeno was with the Twins for most of the 2016 season.  Born and raised in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, he was drafted by the Mets in the thirty-second round in 2007.  His minor league record is rather mixed, but he started young and did much better when he repeated a level.  He has never had much power or drawn very many walks, so most of his offensive contribution can be found in his batting average.  He hit .305 in AAA in 2013, which got him four games with the Mets as a September call-up.  He hit .291 in AAA in 2014, which got him ten more games, six in May and four in September.  He was waived after the season and was chosen by Milwaukee, for whom he hit .295 in AAA.  It got him ten more games in the majors, all but one in May.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota.  This time he hit only .245 in AAA, but he came up to the Twins in early May and stayed the rest of the season, backing up Kurt Suzuki.  He didn’t do a bad job as a backup, batting .261/.312/.392.  He became a free agent and signed with Houston for 2017.  He spent much of the season in the minors, but played in a couple of games in the majors in May and came up for the rest of the season in early August.  He did about what you’d expect him to do, batting .231 with an OPS of .632 in 52 at-bats.  The Astros waived him after the season and he was claimed by Texas.  He again spent much of the season in the minors, but did get ten games in the majors.  He signed with Boston for 2019 and it was pretty much the same story:  mostly in the minors but with seven big-league games.  He was with the Red Sox for all of 2020 but did not play for them.  He signed with Detroit for 2021 and spent the summer in AAA Toledo.  He signed with Arizona for 2022 and hit very well in AA and AAA, but did not get another shot at the majors.  He was back in AA for Arizona in 2023 and had another good season there.  He was a free agent after the season, did not sign with anyone, and so had an excellent year in the Mexican League.  He turns thirty-five today. Teams are always looking for catchers, so it's possible he could get a spring training invitation from someone.  If not, he can probably play in the Mexican League for a while yet if he wants to.  And if he never gets back to the majors, well, parts of seven seasons in the majors is still pretty good for a thirty-second round draft choice.

November 15

Tom Loftus (1856)

Pat Ragan (1883)

Mickey Livingston (1914)

Gus Bell (1928)

Randy Niemann (1955)

Pedro Borbon (1967)

Dylan Bundy (1992)

Tom Loftus managed Cincinnati, Chicago, and Washington around the turn of the (twentieth) century.

Left-hander Randal Harold Niemann appeared in six games for the Twins in 1987, at the end of his major league career. Born in Scotia, California, he was drafted by the Yankees in the second round of the secondary phase of the 1975 June draft. He appears to have pretty much topped out at AA, although he had a couple of small sample size years where he was decent in the majors. In June of 1977, Niemann was traded to Houston. He had a fine year at AA for the Astros in 1978, going 9-5 with a 2.05 ERA as a part-time starter and part-time reliever. That and a decent start at AAA in 1979 got him promoted to the majors, where he spent most of the year as a seldom-used reliever and occasional spot starter. His numbers were decent that year, and 1980 found him starting the year in a similar role. He struggled in 1980, possibly due in part to a lack of consistent work, and landed back in the minors in July. He may have been injured the next year, as he made only 10 appearances, all of them starts for AAA Tucson. After the season, Niemann was traded to Pittsburgh. He spent most of 1982 in Pittsburgh and most of 1983 at AAA Hawaii, but was not particularly impressive either place. He moved on to the White Sox in 1984 and the Mets in 1985, playing most of both seasons in AAA. 1985 was the seventh consecutive season he had spent at least part of at AAA, and he apparently started to figure out how to get AAA hitters out, as he went 11-6 with a 2.76 ERA that year in 30 appearances, 19 of them starts. He was with the Mets for most of 1986, and pitched well for them in short relief, though he only threw 35.2 innings. A free agent at the end of the season, Niemann signed with the Twins for 1987. He spent a little over two weeks with the Twins in June, pitching 5.1 innings over six appearances. He was 1-0 in that span with an 8.44 ERA. Most of his season was spent at AAA Portland, where he was decent, but nothing to get too excited about. The Twins apparently weren’t too excited, anyway–they let him go at the end of the season. He made nine appearances for AAA Tidewater in the Mets organization in 1988, then called it a career.  Randy Niemann then went into coaching, and was the bullpen coach for the New York Mets from 2009-2010.  He was the team’s pitching rehab coordinator in 2011, working closely with Johan Santana.  He moved on to the Boston organization in 2012, becoming that team’s pitching coach on August 20, but was replaced after the season.  Randy Niemann was the pitching coach of AA Springfield in 2013 and 2014 and was the pitching coach Class A Palm Beach since 2015-2017.  Both teams are in the Cardinals’ organization.  He became the Cardinals’ minor league pitching coordinator in 2018 and became a minor league pitching instructor for the team from 2019-2021.  He was not retained after the 2021 season.  No information is readily available about what Randy Niemann has done since then--our guess is that he is retired.

Right-handed starter Dylan Matthew Bundy pitched for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Tulsa, went to high school in Owasso, Oklahoma, and was drafted by Baltimore with the fourth pick of the 2011 draft.  He pitched well in the low minors, but missed all of 2013 and some of 2014 and 2015 due to injury.  He started 2016 in the majors, however, and spent four years as a decent but unspectacular starting pitcher for the Orioles, posting an ERA of 4.67 and a WHIP of 1.33.  He was traded to the Angels after the 2019 season and in the abbreviated 2020 season had the best year of his career, going 6-3, 3.29, 1.04 WHIP in eleven starts and finishing ninth in Cy Young voting.  In 2021, however, he went 2-9, 6.06, 1.36 WHIP and was allowed to become a free agent.  The Twins signed him and he posted numbers very similar to his career numbers:  8-8, 4.89, 1.28 WHIP.  He made twenty-nine starts, pitching one hundred forty innings.  Many Twins fans seem to have considered him a disappointment, but really, the Twins got about what they should’ve expected out of him.  He signed with the Mets for 2023, made six poor starts in AAA, was released in late July, and did not sign with anyone.  He announced his retirement in May of 2024, which brings to mind the statement of Bill James that players like this don't "retire", they just can't find anyone who'll let them play anymore.  At last report, Dylan Bundy was a land professional for Ary Land Company in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

November 14

Harry Howell (1876)

Jim Piersall (1929)

Jim Brewer (1937)

Willie Hernandez (1954)

Curt Schilling (1966)

Kent Bottenfield (1968)

Ruben Rivera (1973)

Xavier Nady (1978)

Clete Thomas (1983)

Freddy Galvis (1989)

Francisco Lindor (1993)

Outfielder Michael Clete Thomas played for the Twins in 2012 and 2013.  He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, went to high school in Lynn Haven Florida, attended Auburn University, and was drafted by Detroit in the fifth round in 2005.  His minor league numbers aren’t awful, but there’s nothing at all impressive about them, either.  In 2007, he hit .280 with a .764 OPS in the Eastern League, and on the strength of that he found himself on the Detroit Tigers’ opening day roster in 2008.  He actually played pretty well, batting .295 in late April when he sent down.  He came back in late May and stayed with the Tigers until the all-star break, when despite the fact that he was still hitting .284 he was sent down again.  That was as good as it would ever get for Clete Thomas with the Tigers, though.  He was back with them for most of 2009 and played in over a hundred games, but hit only .240.  He was hurt for most of 2010, played in AAA and didn’t do much in 2011.  He started 2012 in Detroit, but appeared in only three games before being placed on waivers in mid-April.  Minnesota chose him and immediately made him their starting right fielder, a decision they stuck with for all of seven games.  Thomas was in Rochester by early May and stayed there the rest of the season.  He batted .232 there with an OPS of .686.  He began 2013 in Rochester and did very well, leading to a promotion to the majors in early June.  He started over half the Twins’ games the rest of the way, most of them in center field, and was–not good. He drew a good number of walks and was a decent defensive player, but that’s about all he had going for him.  In 104 games as a Twin, he hit .214/.290/.307 in 351 at-bats.  A free agent after the 2013 season, he signed with Philadelphia, didn’t do much in AAA, and was released in mid-August.  In the old days, when teams carried more position players on the bench, he might’ve had a shot as a fifth outfielder/pinch-runner.  In the days in which we live, however, there was no place for him.  After baseball, Clete Thomas was a commercial insurance agent at Adcock-Adcock Insurance Agency in Tampa, Florida for a few years.  At least report, he had gone back to Auburn and was majoring in communication, although as old as that report is it seems like he should be done by now.  He also was an instructor with Dugout Sports Training in Panama City, Florida, which is partially owned by ex-Twin Kevin Tolar.

November 13

Johnny Kling (1875)

Buck O'Neill (1911)

Jackie Price (1912)

Ted Wilks (1915)

Jim Delsing (1925)

Steve Bilko (1928)

Wes Parker (1939)

Mel Stottlemyre (1941)

Gene Garber (1947)

John Sutton (1952)

Dan Petry (1958)

Pat Hentgen (1968)

Jason Simontacchi (1973)

Gerald Laird (1979)

Asdrubal Cabrera (1985)

Wade Miley (1986)

Luke Bard (1990)

Jackie Price played one season in the major leagues, but was better known as a baseball entertainer.  He is sometimes called a “baseball clown”, but that’s not really accurate, because he really performed tricks more than actually clowning.

Right-hander Johnny Ike Sutton played for Minnesota in the second half of 1978. Born in Dallas, he attended the University of Plano (a school which no longer exists) and was chosen by Texas in the third round of the January draft of 1974. He was a starting pitcher his first year in the minors, but switched almost exclusively to the bullpen after that. He did well his first two minor league seasons but after a poor 1976 season at AAA he was traded to St. Louis for Mike Wallace. He pitched the first and last months of 1977 for the Cardinals, and did fairly well, although in only 24.1 innings: he had an ERA of 2.59 and a WHIP of 1.52. He had a good year for AAA New Orleans as well, but was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and claimed by Minnesota. The Twins apparently worked something out with St. Louis, because Sutton started the season in AAA. He did a decent job in Toledo, and was called up to the majors in early July. He did a decent job in Minnesota, too, posting a 3.45 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. The highlight of his time there was a game on August 7 in Seattle, when he pitched nine shutout innings of relief, giving up only five hits, in what turned out to be a 14-inning loss to the Mariners. The Twins apparently let him go after the season, however; in 1979 he was in AAA for San Diego and Oakland. He had a poor year, and was out of baseball in 1981. He tried to come back, pitching three games in the Philadelphia system in 1982 and working in the Mariners’ organization in 1983, but it was not to be.  No current information about John Sutton was readily available.

Right-hander Jason William Simontacchi did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system in 2001. He was born in Mountain View, California, went to high school in Sunnyvale, California, attended Albertson College and San Jose State, and was drafted by Kansas City in the twenty-first round in 1996. He pitched poorly in Class A with the Royals and was released on July 30, 1997. He pitched for Springfield in the independent Pioneer League in 1998, had an excellent year there, and signed with Pittsburgh for 1999. He did all right in Class A that year, but was still released after the season. Simontacchi pitched in Italy in 2000, signing with the Twins on September 27 of that year. The Twins sent him to AAA Edmonton, where he went 7-13, 5.34, 1.50 WHIP in 143.1 innings. He became a free agent after the 2001 season and signed with St. Louis. He got off to a hot start at AAA Memphis, going 5-1, 2.34 in six starts, and amazingly, by May 4, found himself in the Cardinals’ starting rotation. Even more amazingly, he did pretty well, going 11-5, 4.02, 1.31 WHIP in 143.1 innings (24 starts). He got his only full season in the majors in 2003 but could not sustain his success, being dropped from the starting rotation at mid-season and seeing his ERA go to 5.56 and his WHIP to 1.54. He went back and forth between AAA and the majors in 2004, doing decently at AAA but not well in the majors. He was released by St. Louis after the season and has been in and out of baseball ever since. He missed 2005 with a torn labrum. He pitched for independent Bridgeport in 2006, made it back to the majors for thirteen not-very-good starts for Washington in 2007, went to independent Long Island in 2008, and to independent Lancaster in 2010 before finally ending his playing career.  According to howmanyofme.com, there is only one Jason Simontacchi living in the United States.  He was a part-time baseball analyst on St. Louis sports talk radio, then became the pitching coach of the Peoria Chiefs in 2013, then moved up to the Springfield Cardinals from 2015-2017.  He was the Kansas City Royals assistant pitching coordinator in 2018-2019 and became the head pitching coordinator in 2020.  He was let go in September of 2022, however, and no information about what Jason Simontacchi has been doing since that time was readily available.

Right-hander Luke Francis Bard did not play for the Twins, but he was in the farm system (mostly) from 2012-2018.  Born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, he was drafted by  Minnesota in the first round in 2012.  He pitched very little through 2014 due to injuries.  Finally healthy in 2015, he went 7-1, 2.58, 1.15 WHIP out of the bullpen in Cedar Rapids.  He was not that good in high-A in 2016, but was still fairly decent.  He went 4-3, 2.58, 1.34 WHIP in AA in 2017.  He was turning twenty-seven by then, however, so the Twins left him unprotected and the Angels claimed him in the Rule 5 draft.  He made eight appearances (11.2 innings) out of the Angels bullpen, going 0-0, 5.40, but with a 1.29 WHIP and thirteen strikeouts.  He gave up four home runs, which accounts for the high ERA.  At any rate, the Angels were not impressed and sent him back to the Twins at the end of April.  He went to Rochester and did not do well.  He became a free agent and returned to the Angels for 2019.  He made the big club out of spring training and was with them most of the season.  He pitched well at times and again had a low WHIP, but he was 3-3 with a 4.78 ERA.  He appeared in six games for the Angels in 2020 and did not get much accomplished.  He was still in their organization in 2021, but did not pitch due to injury and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Tampa Bay.  He went to AAA, came up to the majors for two stints that added up to a month, and actually pitched pretty well.  Still, he was waived in early August and claimed by the Yankees.  He was at AAA for them but did make one successful appearance in the majors in late August.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Toronto for 2023, but pitched poorly and was released in June and did not sign with anyone.  That brought his playing career to an end.  No information about what Luke Bard has been doing since then was readily available.