January 17

Louis Santop (1890)

Hank Leiber (1911)

Lum Harris (1915)

Mayo Smith (1915)

Don Zimmer (1931)

Keith Lieppman (1949)

Antonio Munoz (1949)

Pete LaCock (1952)

Darrell Porter (1952)

Mark Littell (1953)

Jerry Turner (1954)

Doug Simunic (1956)

T. R. Bryden (1959)

Chili Davis (1960)

SBG (1965)

Tyler Houston (1971)

Rob Bell (1977)

Trevor Bauer (1991)

Randy Dobnak (1995)

Catcher Louis Santop was a star in the Negro Leagues, hitting .349 over fifteen seasons.

Keith Lieppman was Oakland's Director of Player Development from 1992-2021, when he became a special advisor for player development.

Antonio Munoz was a long-time star in Cuba, winning eight home run titles and becoming the all-time leader in walks.

Doug Simunic was the manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks from 1996-2017.

Right-hander Thomas Ray Bryden did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1988.  He was born in Moses Lake, Washington, went to high school in Enumclaw, Washington, and was signed by California as a free agent in 1981.  After two ineffective minor league years as a starter, he was moved to the bullpen in 1983.  He did substantially better there, reaching AA in 1984.  He worked mostly in AAA in 1985 and had a bad year, but pitched very well in spring training in 1986 and made the major league team.  Bryden made sixteen appearances with the Angels through early June, going 2-1, 6.55, 1.72 WHIP with 21 walks in 34.1 innings.  He was sent back to AAA after that and did well, but did not make it back to the major leagues.  In 1987, he was still in AAA, posting a record of 9-1 despite a 6.35 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 72.1 innings.  The Angels were not fooled by his won-lost record and released him after the season.  Bryden signed with Minnesota and spent 1988 in AAA Portland.  He made 30 appearances there, 13 of them starts, and went 8-8, 4.99, 1.56 WHIP in 113.2 innings.  That brought his playing career to an end.  At last report, T. R. Bryden was living in Clarkston, Washington.

Switch-hitting outfielder Charles Theodore "Chili" Davis was with Minnesota from 1991-1992 and was used almost exclusively as a designated hitter.  He was born in Kingston, Jamaica, one of four major league players to be born in Jamaica.  He attended high school in Los Angeles, and was drafted by San Francisco in the 11th round in 1977.  He hit well in three minor league seasons and made the Giants out of spring training in 1981, but was seldom used and was sent back to AAA in early May.  Davis had a huge year in AAA Phoenix, hitting .350 with 19 homers and an OPS over 1.000.  He was the regular center fielder for the Giants in 1982, and remained a big league regular for the rest of his long career.  He finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1982, hitting .261 with 19 homers.  His best year as a Giant was 1984, when he hit .315 with 21 home runs and an OPS of .875.  He made his first all-star team that year, making the team again in 1986.  Davis became a free agent after the 1987 season and signed with the California Angels.  He put in three solid seasons for the Angels from 1988-1990.  He received a few MVP votes in 1989, but there was nothing about that season that made it particularly better than his other Angel seasons, as they were all good.  A free agent again after the 1990 campaign, Davis signed with Minnesota.  He had started doing some DH-ing in 1990, and was the regular designated hitter for the Twins for two seasons.  He put up good numbers for the Twins in those two seasons:  he hit .282/.385/.476, with 41 home runs and 159 RBIs.  He finished 14th in MVP voting in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series.  Davis was once more a free agent after the 1992 season, and returned to the California Angels.  He was an Angel for four years this time, and after a disappointing 1993 went on to produce three of his best seasons, hitting over .300 and averaging 25 homers for those years.  He was traded to Kansas City for 1997, the only time in his career he was ever traded.  After a good year there, he became a Yankee for 1998, but was hurt early in the season and missed most of the year.  Healthy again in 1999, Davis had another solid season, hitting .269 with 19 homers at age 39.  He retired after that season.  He has been coaching for several years, three of them with the Australian national baseball team.  He was the batting coach for the Dodgers’ instructional league team in 2010, the batting coach for AAA Pawtucket in 2011, was the batting coach for the Oakland Athletics from 2012-2014, was the batting coach for the Boston Red Sox from 2015-2017, was the batting coach for the Chicago Cubs in 2018, and was the batting coach for the New York Mets from 2019--May, 2021.  He was rumored to be in line to be the Angels' batting coach in 2024, but he did not get the job.  At last report, Chili Davis was living in Oakland, California.

SBG made contact on the first pitch ever thrown to him in an organized baseball game as a seven year old, rolling out to shortstop off of a pitch from his 10 year old cousin. He played baseball for SBGville for 11 years with only moderate success. He was a left handed first baseman for most of those seasons, but making contact was always a problem. His last season was played for the same team that his cousin played for, as SBGville didn't field a team. Jim Kaat used to say that Chili Davis had a slider speed bat. After his baseball career was over, SBG discovered that he has a slowpitch softball speed bat. After not having hit a single homerun as a baseball player (his last at bat ended with a ground rule double), SBG displayed pretty good power, hitting well north of 100 home runs in about 12 years of softball. After his playing career ended, he lived and worked in the Twin Cities area for several years.  He continues to live there, working remotely at a job which is centered in beautiful downtown Fargo.

Right-hander Randy Dobnak came to the Twins in 2019.  He was born in South Park, Pennsylvania, attended Alderson-Broaddus College (the first major league player from that school), and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 2017.  He had a fine year in Cedar Rapids in 2018 and made a meteoric rise through the Twins' system in 2019.  He made four dominant starts in Fort Myers, continued to dominate in ten starts in Pensacola, was still excellent in seven starts in Rochester, and in August was in the major leagues.  He appeared in nine games for the Twins, pitching a total of 28.1 innings, and went 2-1, 1.59, 1.13 WHIP.  On the strength of that, and because they didn't have any better alternatives, he made a start in the playoffs, which did not go well.  He made ten starts for the Twins in 2020, pitching very well in the first six but poorly in three of the last four.  He was injured much of 2021 and did not pitch well when he could pitch.  He missed most of 2022 due to injury, appearing in just eight AAA games.  He spent 2023 in AAA and did not pitch very well.  2024 was similar, although he played in five major league games as well.  He turns thirty today and is still under contract for 2025, so he presumably will get some more chances.  He was a good story, and he appears to be a good guy, but he has yet to prove that he's a good major league pitcher, or even a good AAA pitcher.

January 16

Jimmy Macullar (1855)

Art Whitney (1858)

Jimmy Collins (1870)

Ferdie Schupp (1891)

Jim Williams (1906)

Buck Jordan (1907)

Dizzy Dean (1910)

Jim Owens (1934)

Ron Herbel (1938)

Joe Bonikowski (1941)

Tsuneo Horiuchi (1948)

Dave Stapleton (1954)

Steve Balboni (1957)

Marty Castillo (1957)

Dave Jauss (1957)

Jack McDowell (1966)

Ron Villone (1970)

Jack Cust (1979)

Albert Pujols (1980)

Matt Maloney (1984)

Jeff Manship (1985)

Mark Trumbo (1986)

Jimmy Macullar holds the career record for most games by a left-handed-throwing shortstop (325). Oddly, he batted right-handed.

Pitcher Tsuneo Horiuchi made nine all-star teams in Japan and won seven Gold Gloves.  On October 10, 1967 he pitched a no-hitter and also hit three home runs.

Dave Jauss is a long-time minor league manager, scout, and major league coach.

Marty Castillo was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1975, but did not sign.

Right-hander Ronald Samuel Herbel did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1972. He was born in Denver, went to high school in Brighton, Colorado, attended the University of Northern Colorado, and was signed as a free agent by San Francisco in 1958. He struggled early in his minor league career but hit his stride in 1960, going 15-4, 3.50 for AA Rio Grande Valley and following it up in 1961 with 16-5, 3.57 for AAA Tacoma. He was walking a lot of batters, though, so he did not get the call to the majors right away. In 1962 he got his control together, dropping his walks per nine innings to 2.0, and when he continued to do that in 1963 he finally got a September call-up. He was up to stay, starting 1964 with the Giants. He both started and relieved a significant number of games in his first four seasons, not producing eye-popping numbers but not pitching badly, either. He made a permanent switch to the bullpen in 1968. After the 1969 campaign, the Giants traded Herbel to San Diego, and he was traded again this time to the Mets, before the 1970 season ended. He led the league in appearances that year with 76, the only time he led the league in something. The Mets traded him to Atlanta before the 1971 season. He did not pitch well for the Braves, and was released after the season. He signed with Minnesota for 1972 and spent the year in AAA Tacoma. He both started and relieved, going 6-9, 4.41 with a 1.49 WHIP in 151 innings. His playing career ended after that. He holds the distinction of having the lowest career batting average for any player with more than a hundred at-bats (6-for-206—his slash line is .029/.065/.039). He remained in Tacoma after his career ended. He passed away in Tacoma on January 20, 2000.

Right-hander Joseph Peter Bonikowski pitched for Minnesota in 1962. He was born in Philadelphia and attended high school there. Bonikowski signed as a free agent with Washington in 1959. He had three solid minor league seasons, first in Class D, then in Class B, then in AAA. A starter in the minors, he began the 1962 season in the Twins' bullpen, but joined the rotation in mid-May, getting a complete game victory in his first major league start. He pitched very well for about a month, but throwing back-to-back complete games in early June seemed to take something out of him. He had a series of fair-to-poor starts, was removed from the rotation in early July, and sent to the minors in late July, coming back in September. He never returned to the majors after that, and never had a good minor league year again, finally retiring after the 1965 season. One wonders if he might have been a victim of over-use: in addition to throwing three complete games within a month as a 22-year old, he threw 159 innings at age 18 at Class D Sanford, 242 innings at age 19 at Class B Wilson, and 180 innings at age 20 at AAA Syracuse. As a Twin, Joe Bonikowski made 30 appearances, 13 of them starts. He was 5-7, 3.88 with a 1.33 WHIP. While it is unclear what happened to him after his playing days, it appears that he returned to Philadelphia and then retired to southern Florida.  At last report, he had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Left-hander Matthew Michael Maloney appeared in nine games for the Twins in 2012.  He was born in Sandusky, Ohio, went to high school in Huron, Ohio, attended the University of Mississippi, and was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round in 2005.  He was a starter throughout his minior league career.  He had a couple of good seasons in the low minors for the Phillies and was doing fairly well in AA in 2007 when he was traded to Cincinnati for ex-Twin Kyle Lohse.  He pitched well enough in AAA for the Reds in 2008 and very well there in 2009.  He made his major league debut in 2009, making three starts in June.  He pitched well in the first one, but not so well in the other two and was sent back to AAA, coming back to the majors at the end of August.  He had another very good AAA season in 2010 and made seven very good major league starts that season, going 3-2, 3.05, 1.21 WHIP.  That's as good as it got for Maloney.  He started 2011 in the Reds bullpen and made four appearances there, one disastrous but the other three pretty good.  He then made a poor start and was sent to AAA, where he again pitched well and earned a September call-up.  His major league numbers that year are 0-3, 9.16, but thirteen of the nineteen runs came in two appearances.  He was placed on waivers after the season and claimed by Minnesota, and even though he was twenty-eight it did not seem unreasonable to think he could help.  It didn't work out that way.  Maloney made nine appearances for the Twins and went 1-0, 8.18 in eleven innings, although again, half of the ten earned runs he allowed came in one really bad outing.  He was sent to the minors in early May, pitched poorly in eight appearances, then missed the rest of the season with injury.  He was allowed to become a free agent after the season and signed with Boston.  He was injured much of the season, pitching only fourteen not very good innings in AA.  He spent most of 2014 pitching well for Somerset in the Atlantic League, although he also made two starts in AAA for the Cincinnati organization.  He made only four starts for Sugar Land in the Atlantic League and did not pitch well, bringing his playing career to an end.  At last report, Matt Maloney was living in Granville, Ohio, and was a scout for the San Diego Padres.

Right-hander Jeffrey Michael Manship made 41 appearances for Minnesota from 2009-2012. He was born in San Antonio, attended high school there, went to Notre Dame, and was drafted by the Twins in the 14th round in 2006. He has never spent a full year with one team: 2006 was split between the GCL Twins and Ft. Myers, 2007 between Beloit and Ft. Myers, 2008 between Ft. Myers and New Britain, 2009 among New Britain, Rochester, and Minnesota, 2010-2012 between Rochester and Minnesota, and 2013 between Colorado Springs and Colorado. although all but five of his 2011 appearances were in Rochester. He pitched fairly well throughout his minor league career with the Twins other than 2010, but was injured much of 2011.  He pitched fairly well in AAA in 2012 and came up to the majors in late May, but did poorly pitching out of the bullpen and was sent back to AAA in mid-August.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado for 2013.  They sent him to AAA Colorado Springs.  He didn't do all that well there, but was still promoted to the Rockies in early August and placed in the rotation.  That didn't go very well, and things did not get better when, after four starts, he was placed in the bullpen.  He was again a free agent after the season and signed with Philadelphia.  He was in the big leagues for the first two months of 2014, got hurt, and got only four more major league appearances that season.  He wasn't very good when he was healthy.  He was a free agent again after the season and signed with Cleveland for 2015.  He was sent to AAA to start the season but came up to the Indians in mid-June and pitched extremely well out of the bullpen for them.  He went 1-0, 0.92, 0.76 WHIP in 32 appearances (39.2 innings).  In 2016, at age thirty-one, he spent his first full season in the majors and did all right, going 2-1, 3.12, although with a WHIP of 1.43.  It apparently was not enough to interest anyone, as went to Korea to play in 2017.  He did pretty well there, and signed with Cincinnati for 2018, but failed a physical.  There was no word about why, but he did not play anywhere in 2018 and his playing career came to an end.  As a Twin, he was 3-2, 6.20, 1.62 WHIP in 85.2 innings (41 games, 6 starts).  At last report Jeff Manship had returned to San Antonio and was a territory manager for Boston Scientific, which is "dedicated to transforming lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world."

January 15

Johnny Nee (1890)

Ray Chapman (1891)

Steve Gromek (1920)

Georges Maranda (1932)

Dr. Mike Marshall (1943)

Bobby Grich (1949)

Rance Mulliniks (1956)

Jerry Narron (1956)

Don Cooper (1956)

Delino DeShields (1969)

Ray King (1974)

Matt Holliday (1980)

Armando Galarraga (1982)

Mitch Garver (1991)

Johnny Nee was a long-time minor league manager and scout.

Right-handed pitcher Georges Henri Maranda is the only major league player ever named "Georges". He was with Minnesota for all of 1962. Born in Levis, Quebec, Canada, he was signed by the Boston Braves as a free agent in 1951. He spent the next five years pitching in Class C leagues, spending three years in Quebec and two years in Eau Claire. He bounced back and forth between starting and relieving in those years: his best was 1954, when he went 18-6, 3.16 in 228 innings. Finally, in 1956, Maranda was promoted to AA Austin, where he spent most of the next three seasons. He posted decent numbers there, too, although nothing particularly eye-popping. Then, in 1959, he was promoted to AAA Louisville, where he went 18-6, 2.48. He was just about to turn 28, however, and was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. San Francisco selected him, and he was in the majors for 1960. He was used sparingly, making four starts and thirteen relief appearances, and while he was not terrible he was not particularly good, either. Back in the minors in 1961, he had another good year at AAA, but again was left unprotected, and again was chosen in the Rule 5 draft, this time by Minnesota. Maranda again made four starts, but made 28 relief appearances. He was actually fairly decent as a reliever, posting a 3.48 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in that role. His four starts were not good, however, and his total stats as a Twin are 1-3, 4.46 with a 1.43 WHIP in 72.2 innings. After the season, Maranda was sent to Cleveland as the player to be named later in a trade that also sent Jackie Collum and cash to the Indians for Ruben Gomez. He pitched in AAA in 1963, and then his career was over. He went on to do some minor league managing in Canada. The baseball stadium in Levis is named for him, and he was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. Georges Maranda passed away on July 14, 2000, in his home town of Levis, Quebec.

Right-handed reliever Michael Grant Marshall played for the Twins from 1978-1980 and was the Twins' closer for a little over two seasons. He was born in Adrian, Michigan and attended high school there. He was signed as a free agent by Philadelphia in 1960. He was drafted as a shortstop, and played four minor league seasons at that position, rising as high as AA. You really can't say he washed out at that position, because in his last season as a regular shortstop, 1964, he hit .275 as a 21-year-old in AA Chattanooga. Still, he became a pitcher in 1965, and remained one the rest of his career, with the exception of 12 games at shortstop in 1966 and an emergency appearance in the outfield in 1969. He was successful almost immediately, beginning the year as a reliever in Class A but being promoted to AA in 1965. At the start of the 1966 season, he was sold to Detroit and made his major league debut as a Tiger in 1967. He pitched extremely well, posting a 1.98 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 59 innings. Detroit then decided to make Marshall a starter, and sent him to AAA for 1968. He pitched extremely well again, going 15-9 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, but these were the 1968 Tigers, with Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, Earl Wilson, and Joe Sparma in the rotation and Pat Dobson and John Hiller to make spot starts, so there simply was no room for Marshall. As a result, despite his record, Marshall was left unprotected, and was chosen by Seattle in the expansion draft. Still a starter, he got off to a strong start but then struggled, was removed from the rotation in mid-June, and was sent to the minors in early July. He was sold to Houston after the 1969 season and then traded to Montreal in June. The Expos returned him to the bullpen, made him the bullpen ace, and that's when he became a star. In three and a half years with Montreal, Marshall led the league in games finished three times, in appearances twice, and in saves once. He finished in the top four in Cy Young voting twice and in the top ten in the MVP voting twice. In 1973, Marshall appeared in 92 games and pitched 179 relief innings, incredible numbers. That off-season, he was traded to the Dodgers, and proceeded to top those incredible numbers. In 1974, Mike Marshall appeared in 106 games and pitched 208.1 relief innings, records that will probably stand for quite some time. He won the Cy Young Award that year, made the all-star team for the first time, and finished third in MVP voting. Marshall again made the all-star team in 1975, but then it appeared that the workload had caught up to him. He struggled through two mediocre seasons, was traded to Atlanta in June of 1976, sold to Texas in April of 1977, and became a free agent after the 1977 campaign. He went unsigned until May 15, 1978, when the Twins took a chance on him. He immediately became their closer, although the term "closer" is misleading in Marshall's case, as all through his career he was brought into tie games and games when his team was behind, and he was frequently brought in earlier than the ninth inning. He posted ERAs in the mid-twos in 1978 and 1979, setting an American League record in 1979 by appearing in 90 games and pitching 142.2 relief innings. Marshall finished in the top seven in Cy Young voting in both years and finished 11th in the MVP voting in 1979. Marshall got off to a poor start in 1980 and was released in June. He was out of baseball until August of 1981, when he signed with the Mets. He pitched well for them in 20 appearances and ended his career after that. As a Twin, Mike Marshall was 21-30 with 54 saves and a 2.99 ERA. He made 162 appearances and pitched 274 innings. After his playing career ended, Mike Marshall received a Ph. D in kinesiology from Michigan State. He coached young pitchers in proper pitching techniques.  He also had a website, drmikemarshall.com, where you could watch free instructional videos and email him pitching questions for free.  Mike Marshall passed away on May 31, 2021 at his home in Zephyrhills, Florida.

Right-handed pitcher Donald James Cooper was with the Twins in the early 1980s. Born in New York, he attended the New York Institute of Technology, one of four major league players that school has produced. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 17th round in 1978. His early minor league record was unimpressive, but he had a big year in 1980, going 12-7 with a 1.93 ERA mostly as a reliever in a season split between AA and AAA. He was left unprotected, however, and was chosen by Minnesota in that year's Rule 5 draft. He was with the Twins all of the 1981 season, was used rather sparingly, and was, well, not totally awful, but not particularly good, either. Sent back to AAA for 1982 and converted to a starter, he was not all that good again, but still got a September call-up. After that season, the Twins traded Cooper to Toronto for Dave Baker. The Blue Jays sent Cooper to AAA and returned him to the bullpen, where he had a good year in Syracuse and got another September callup. He was traded in spring training of 1984 to the Yankees, who again sent him to AAA. He had two very good years in the Columbus bullpen, but only pitched seven games for the big club, all in 1985. Released by the Yankees after the 1985 campaign, he signed with Oakland, moved on to the Toronto organization for 1986, and to the Baltimore chain for 1987, pitching well in AAA both years but not getting a shot in the majors. After the 1987 season, Cooper gave up and called it a career, although he did play in the seniors league in 1989-1990. As a Twin, Don Cooper made 33 appearances, three of them starts. In seventy innings, he was 1-6, 5.14. After his playing career ended, Cooper went into coaching in the White Sox' organization, worked his way up through the minor league system until he became the major league pitching coach in 2002.  He has remained the White Sox pitching coach through 2020, but was let go after that season.  At last report, he was appearing as a guest instructor for various baseball camps and made his home in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Catcher Mitchell Lyn Garver played for the Twins from 2017-2021.  Born and raised in Albuquerque, he attended the University of New Mexico and was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round in 2013.  He was kind of up and down in his minor league career, not doing a lot for Elizabethton in 2013, having a good year in Cedar Rapids in 2014, not doing so much for Fort Myers in 2015, but having a good year in Chattanooga in 2016 and doing even better when promoted to Rochester that season.  He did even better in Rochester in 2017, batting .291/.387/.541 and being called up to Minnesota in mid-August.  He got very little playing time that year and was slated to be the Twins' reserve catcher in 2018, but an early-season injury to Jason Castro gave Garver his chance.  He did fairly well with that chance, batting .268/.335/.414 in 302 at-bats.  He was reputed to be a poor defensive catcher, but seemed to improve as the season went on.  Castro came back in 2019, but Garver was still a semi-regular and did very well, hitting 31 home runs in just 359 plate appearances and posting an OPS of .995.  In 2020, however, he fell on his face, missing a month of the two-month season and batting poorly when he did play.  He bounced back nicely in 2021, but again missed substantial time due to injury.  The Twins traded him in March of 2022 for Ronny Henriquez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.   Garver had a down year in 2022 and again missed half the season due to injury.  He again bounced back in 2023, having his best year since 2019, although he again missed time due to injury.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Seattle for 2024.  It didn't work, as he returned to his 2020 level of play.  He is still under contract with the Mariners, so he presumably will be given a chance to bounce back yet again.  As a Twin, Mitch Garver hit .256/.341/.494.  He turns thirty-four today.  What we said a year ago still applies:  he's been up and down during his career, and has battled injuries, so it's really anybody's guess what he'll do this season.

January 14

Billy Meyer (1892)
Smead Jolley (1902)
Phil Piton (1903)
Chet Brewer (1907)
Sonny Siebert (1937)
Dave Campbell (1942)
Ron Clark (1943)
Derrel Thomas (1951)
Terry Forster (1952)
Wayne Gross (1952)
Erick Aybar (1984)
Mike Pelfrey (1984)
Logan Forsythe (1987)
J. R. Graham (1990)

Billy Meyer won 1,604 games as a minor league manager, mostly in the Yankees organization.

Phil Piton was president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1964-1971.

Chet Brewer was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues known for his mastery of throwing scuffed baseballs.

Infielder Ronald Bruce Clark was with Minnesota from 1966-1969. He was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, and attended high school in White Settlement, Texas. In his youth, he competed in rodeo and in the Golden Gloves. He signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1961. After a poor year with Class C Bakersfield he was sent to the Angels in what was described as an "unknown transaction". He did somewhat better at Class C San Jose, but came to Minnesota after the 1962 season in another unknown transaction. Clark had a good year at Class A Wilson in 1963, had two undistinguished years in AA, but then hit .294 with 16 homers in 1966 for AAA Denver. He briefly held the regular third base job in 1967, but did not hit and then was injured for about half the season. Clark was used as a utility player in 1968, but again did not hit. He started 1969 in Minnesota, but was sent back to AAA in April and was sold to Seattle in July. After that season, he was traded to Oakland. Clark was in AAA for the Athletics all of 1970 and 1971 with the exception of two games in Oakland in April of 1971. He started 1972 in AAA, came up to the majors in mid-May, and was traded to Milwaukee in mid-June. He was with the Brewers for about a month and was traded to the Angels, who sent him to AAA. He was traded again in June of 1973, going to San Diego, and at the end of the season was traded one more time, this time to Philadelphia. He was with the Phillies organization for two years, getting one last at-bat in the majors in 1975 before his career ended. As a Twin, Ron Clark hit .182/.238/.253 in 296 at-bats. He became a minor-league manager and major league coach, last managing the Iowa Cubs in 1996.  He then became a scout for the Kansas City Royals until his retirement in 2014.  At last report, Ron Clark was living in Florida.

Left-handed reliever Terry Jay Forster did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1987. He was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, went to high school in Santee, California, and was drafted by the White Sox in the second round in 1970. He made ten excellent appearances in Class A that year and jumped from there all the way to the majors at the start of the 1971 season. He did well in limited duty, making 45 appearances but pitching only 49.2 innings. He was a solid reliever for the White Sox through 1975, leading the league in saves with 24 in 1974. In 1976, he was converted to starting, and the results were not good: he went 2-12, 4.37, 1.50 WHIP. After the season, Forster was traded to Pittsburgh with Rich Gossage for Richie Zisk. He stayed with the Pirates only one season, becoming a free agent and signing with the Dodgers for 1978. He had an excellent year for the Dodgers that season, posting a 1.93 ERA and saving 22 games. He started suffering injuries after that, pitching less than 60 innings in the next three seasons combined. He came back to have a fine season in 1982, just in time to become a free agent again. Atlanta signed him, and while he continued to battle injuries he pitched very well when healthy. He also battled weight problems and gained some fame when David Letterman termed him a "fat tub of goo." The Braves released him on April 1, 1986 and he signed with the Angels, for whom he posted a good ERA but a very high WHIP. A free agent once more after the season, he was out of baseball until June 15, when the Twins signed him. He made thirteen appearances for AAA Portland, went 0-1, 7.27, and his playing career was over. Overall, he made 614 major league appearances, pitched 1,105.2 innings, had a 3.23 ERA and 127 saves. He was a special assignment scout for the Angels and did some coaching for the University of Ottawa.  However, no information about what Terry Forster is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Michael Alan Pelfrey was with the Twins from 2013-2015. Born on Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, he went to high school in Wichita, Kansas, attended Wichita State, and was drafted by the Mets with the ninth pick of the 2005 draft. He did not make his professional debut until 2006, but he shot through the Mets system, making four starts at Class A, twelve at AA, two in AAA, and four in the major leagues. He went back and forth between AAA and the majors in 2007 before coming to the majors for good in 2008. He was rather inconsistent as a major league pitcher. He had a Bret Saberhagen kind of thing going for a while, doing fairly well in even-numbered years (2008 and 2010) but not so well in odd-numbered years (2009 and 2011). He was off to a good start in 2012, but was injured after only three starts and missed the rest of the season. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota. In 2013 he was, well, not very good, going 5-13, 5.19, 1.55 WHIP. He started poorly, did better in the summer months, then fell apart at the end of the season. He was a free agent after the season but re-signed with the Twins for 2014. He made only five starts, none of them very good, before missing the rest of the season with groin and elbow injuries. He was healthy in 2015, making thirty starts, but still wasn't very good. A free agent after the season, he signed with Detroit, for whom he again pitched poorly in 2016.  He signed with the White Sox for 2017 and turned in another poor season.  That, finally, brought an end to his playing career.  As a Twin, he was 11-27, 4.49, 1.55 WHIP.   Mike Pelfrey was the pitching coach for Newman University in 2018, then became the pitching coach for Wichita State, a position he held through 2023.  He then became the head baseball coach at Kapaun Mt. Carmel high school in Wichita, a position he held at last report.  He is a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.

Infielder John Logan Forsythe was with the Twins for the last two months of 2018.  Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, he attended the University of Arkansas and was drafted by San Diego in the first round in 2008.  He reached AA in 2009 and started 2011 in AAA, but after he batted .326 over the first month he was promoted to the big leagues.  With the exception of rehab assignments, he has been there ever since.  It took him a long time to become a full-time player, though.  He shared second base with Alexi Amarista in 2012 and with Jedd Gyorko in 2013.  He was then traded to Tampa Bay for the 2014 season, where he shared second base with Ben Zobrist.  Finally becoming a regular in 2015, he had his best season to date, batting .281 with seventeen home runs and an OPS of .804.  His numbers (other than the home runs) went down slightly in 2016, but he still had a fine season.  He was traded to the Dodgers for the 2017 season, for Jose DeLeon, a traded that helped neither club.  DeLeon has made only one appearace for the Rays to date and Forsythe flopped as a Dodger.  He batted just .232 in 2017 and was batting .207 at the end of July when he was traded to Minnesota with Luke Raley and Devin Smeltzer for Brian Dozier.  In two months as a Twin his batting average rebounded some, but he showed none of the power he'd had in Tampa Bay.  As a Twin, Logan Forsythe batted .258/.356/.292 in fifty games (178 at-bats).  He signed with Texas for 2019 and was a utility infielder for them, playing in 101 games but not doing much with the bat.  He signed with Philadelphia for 2020, was released shortly before the season started, and signed with Miami in early August.  He appeared in twelve games, batting .118, and was again a free agent after the season.  He signed with Milwaukee for 2021 but was released after playing seventeen games in AAA.  That brought his playing career to an end.   At last report, Logan Forsythe was an analyst for the Razorback Sports Network in Arkansas.

Right-hander Johnathan Ryan Graham pitched for the Twins from 2015-2016. Born and raised in Livermore, California, he attended Santa Clara University and was drafted by Atlanta in the fourth round in 2011. He pitched well in his first couple of seasons in the minors, but then made only eight starts in 2013 before getting injured. He had a poor 2014 in AA and was claimed by the Twins in the rule five draft after the season. He was with the Twins for the entire 2015 season, and while he had a few good outings he was not very good overall. He had been almost exclusively a starter in the Atlanta organization, but pitched in relief after that. He was in AAA at the start of 2016, did not pitch well, made one poor appearance with Minnesota, and was traded to the Yankees in mid-May for a player to be named, which eventually just turned into an exchange for cash. As a Twin, he was 1-1, 5.10, 1.50 WHIP in 65.1 innings. He pitched well for AA Trenton and made two good appearances in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  In 2017, he made five good appearances in Trenton but eighteen bad ones in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  Well, probably all eighteen weren't bad, but he had an ERA of 6.44, so a lot of them must have been.  Those twenty-three games were all he pitched in, so he may have been injured.  The Yankees released him in January of 2018 and his playing career came to an end.  At last report, J. R. Graham was the baseball coach and substitute teacher at Brentwood High School in the Nashville area.

January 13

Ernie Calbert (1887)

Fred Schulte (1901)

Alonzo Boone (1908)

Ron Brand (1940)

Makoto Matsubara (1944)

Mike Tyson (1950)

Bob Forsch (1950)

Odell Jones (1953)

Gene Roof (1958)

Kevin Mitchell (1962)

Kevin McClatchy (1963)

Elmer Dessens (1971)

Oliver Drake (1987)

Heath Hembree (1989)

Ernie Calbert won six minor league home run titles.  He also once pitched a minor league no-hitter.

Makoto Matsubara was an eleven-time all-star in Japan.

Kevin McClatchy was the CEO of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1996-2007.

When Elmer Dessens made his major league debut in 1996, he was the first big leaguer in thirty-five years to have the first name "Elmer".  There have been none since.

Gene Roof is the brother of ex-Twin Phil Roof.

Right-hander Oliver Gardner Drake appeared in nineteen games for the Twins at the end of the 2018 season.  He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, went to high school in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and was drafted by Baltimore in the forty-third round in 2008.  According to b-r.com, "Drake had attended a year of prep school before the Naval Academy, making him draft eligible after his sophomore year, and he wouldn't have to fulfill his military requirement if he didn't return for his junior year."  He pitched very well as a reliever in rookie ball and low A in 2008.  The Orioles then spent three seasons trying to make him a starter, a plan which did not work.  The only success he had as a starter was a half-season in 2011, when he was a twenty-four-year-old in Class A.  He missed most of 2012 due to shoulder surgery and when he returned he was back in the bullpen, where he remained.  He made nineteen appearances in AA in 2013 and did well, but was made to repeat it in 2014.  He finally was moved up to AAA in 2015 and dominated the International League, but got only two weeks in the majors before getting September call-up.  He was the second midshipman to make his debut that season (Mitch Harris), but before that there had not been one since Nemo Gaines in 1921.  He posted an ERA of 2.87 in 15.2 innings, but 2016 saw him back in AAA, again getting only about two weeks in the majors before a September call-up.  He began 2017 with the Orioles but made just three appearances before being traded to Milwaukee for a player to be named later or cash.  Drake pitched the rest of the season for the Brewers, going 3-5, 4.44 as a Brewer.  Then life got really interesting for him.  He started 2018 with Milwaukee, but was sold to Cleveland on May 3.  The Indians waived him, and he was claimed by the Angels on May 31.  The Angels waived him, and he was claimed by Toronto on July 26.  The Blue Jays waived him, and he was claimed by Minnesota on August 3.  He actually pitched very well for the Twins, going 0-0, 2.21, 0.93 WHIP in 20.1 innings (19 games).  The Twins waived him after the season, however, and he was claimed by Tampa Bay on November 1.  Tampa Bay waived him, and he was claimed by Toronto on November 26.  Toronto then sold him back to Tampa Bay on January 4.  If you're keeping score at home, that's seven transfers in one calendar year.  He may have thought that attending the Naval Academy would help him see the world, but I doubt he envisioned it happening this way.  He stayed with the Rays for the 2019 season and had easily the best year of his career.  He was still with them in 2020, but was injured much of the season and appeared in just eleven games, pitching eleven innings.  His ERA doesn't look good, but one bad appearance skewed it.  He was still with the Rays in 2021 but missed the entire season due to injury.  He was released after the season and his playing career came to an end.  Baseball-reference.com says his nickname was "Bucko", although I don't remember ever hearing him called that.  No information about what Oliver Drake has been doing since then was readily available.

January 12

Henry Larkin (1860)

Tom Kinslow (1866)

George Browne (1876)

Joe Hauser (1899)

Lee Allen (1915)

Alfredo Ortiz (1944)

Ron Polk (1944)

Paul Reuschel (1947)

Randy Jones (1950)

Bill Madlock (1951)

Terry Whitfield (1953)

Tim Hulett (1960)

Mike Marshall (1960)

Casey Candaele (1961)

Andy Fox (1971)

Luis Ayala (1978)

Dontrelle Willis (1982)

Ivan Nova (1987)

Alex Wood (1991)

Joe Hauser twice hit over 60 home runs in a season in AAA.

Historian and writer Lee Allen contributed much to the Hall of Fame and to the first edition of the Baseball Encyclopedia.

Alfredo Ortiz won 287 games in the minor leagues, mostly in the Mexican League, and 104 more in the Mexican Winter League.

Ron Polk was a very successful college baseball coach, most notably at Mississippi State.

The Mike Marshall listed above is the outfielder/first baseman who played mostly for the Dodgers.

Infielder Andrew Junipero Fox did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2005. Born and raised in Sacramento, he was drafted by the Yankees in the second round in 1989. He started very slowly, hitting a combined .231 in four seasons of rookie and Class A ball. He had a better year in AA in 1993, hitting .275, but slumped to .222 in AA the following season. Finally, in 1995, he got things going, batting .296 with 14 homers in a year spent mostly at AAA. In 1996, he got his first full season for the big leagues, but batted just .196 as a reserve infielder for the Yankees and found himself back in the minors in 1997. A solid season in AAA earned him a September call-up, but he was traded to Arizona the following March. He was a regular in the batting order for the Diamondbacks in 1998 but had no regular position, starting games at each outfield position and each infield position except shortstop. He responded with his best major league season, hitting .277 with an OPS of .751. Oddly, shortstop became his primary position in 1999, as he was a semi-regular there and hit .255. He was traded to Florida in June of 2000. He stayed there through 2003, filling a reserve role each season but 2002, when he was the regular shortstop. Once again, he did better as a regular than as a reserve, but not enough better that a team would want to keep using him as a regular. A free agent after 2003, he signed with Texas, but was left unprotected and was chosen by Montreal in the Rule 5 draft. He was with the Expos through mid-July, was released, and finished the season with Texas. A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2005, but was released in late March. He signed with the Angels on April 1, but retired four weeks later, ending his playing career. He stayed in baseball as a manager and coach both in the majors and minors.  Andy Fox was the major league field coordinator for the Boston Red Sox for a few seasons and was their first base coach in 2024, but was let go after the season.  No information about what he might do in 2025 was readily available.

Right-handed reliever Luis Ignacio Ayala played for Minnesota for about half of the 2009 season. He was born in Los Mochis, New Mexico, and attended high school there. He was playing in the Mexican League when he was purchased by the Colorado Rockies in October of 1999. He played in the Colorado minor league system, but failed to impress and was sold back to Saltillo in the Mexican League in May of 2001. He was purchased by Montreal in August of 2002 and pitched well in his brief time in AAA that year, but became a free agent after the season and was signed by Arizona. Left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, the Expos drafted him, and he was a valuable member of their bullpen for the next three years. Injured in 2006, he came back to have another fine year for the team, by then playing in Washington, in 2007. For a while, it looked like that might be the last good year Ayala had. He pitched poorly in 2008 for Washington, was traded to the Mets in mid-August, and continued to pitch poorly. Signed by Minnesota for 2009, he did better, but nothing that great--he was 1-2, 4.18 with a WHIP of 1.42 in 32.1 innings--and when he complained about how he was used, Ayala was released in early July. Florida signed him, and he pitched ten scoreless innings in AAA before being brought up to the Marlins, where he gave up ten earned runs in 7.2 innings. He was apparently the subject of an attempted kidnapping over the winter of 2009-2010. He was in AAA for the Dodgers, Arizona, and Colorado in 2010, not pitching very well for any of them. It appeared that his career might be over, but the Yankees signed him for 2011.  Surprisingly, he made the team of out of spring training and stayed almost the entire season.  Even more surprisingly, he had a very good year, going 2-2, 2.09, 1.27 WHIP in 56 innings (52 appearances).  A free agent after the season, he signed with Baltimore for 2012 and turned in another very good year.  He started 2013 with the Orioles, but in early April he was traded to Atlanta, for whom he had a rather high walk total (in only 31 innings) but otherwise pitched well.   That turned out to be his swan song, though.  He signed with Washington for 2014 but was released half-way through spring training.  He signed with Baltimore, spent a couple of months pitching poorly in AAA, and was released again.  He signed with Toronto, again pitched poorly in AAA, and was released again.  He also made eight appearances for Tabasco in the Mexican League and did well there.  He has continued to pitch in the Mexican League through 2018, but then his playing career came to an end.  No information about what Luis Ayala has done since then was readily available.

January 11

George Pinkney (1859)

Silver King (1868)

Elmer Flick (1876)

Max Carey (1890)

George Trautman (1890)

General Crowder (1899)

Schoolboy Rowe (1910)

Don Mossi (1929)

Gene Cook (1932)

Jim McAndrew (1944)

Jack Zduriencik (1951)

Rocket Wheeler (1955)

Lloyd McClendon (1959)

Donn Pall (1962)

Warren Morris (1974)

George Trautman was the president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs from 1947 until his death in 1963.

Gene Cook was the general manager of the Toledo Mud Hens from 1978-1998.  He is credited with convincing Jamie Farr to wear a Mud Hens cap on M*A*S*H.

Jack Zduriencik was the general manager of the Seattle Mariners from 2008-2015.

Rocket Wheeler was a manager in the low minors for about thirty years.  He was the manager of the Amarillo Sod Squad, a summer collegiate league team, in 2021--we have not been able to find out if he has remained in baseball since then.

Second baseman Warren Randall Morris was with Minnesota for about a week at the beginning of the 2002 season. Born in Alexandria, Louisiana, he attended high school there and then went to LSU. To the extent he is remembered, it is for a walkoff home run he hit to win the 1996 College World Series. Morris was drafted by Texas in the fifth round in 1996. He played for the U. S. Olympic team that year, and so did not begin his professional career until 1997. He hit over .300 with double-digit home runs in each of his first two minor league seasons, but was traded to the Pittsburgh organization midway through the second one, in 1998. In 1999, Morris won the starting second baseman job for the Pirates, and would hold it for two years. He had a strong rookie year, hitting .288 with 15 homers and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. In 2000, however, he slumped to .259 with three home runs, and in 2001 he lost the second base job to Pat Meares. Morris spent part of that 2001 season in AAA, where he again hit well, but was released before the 2002 season. Minnesota signed him and gave him seven at-bats in the majors (he went 0-for-7) before sending him to AAA Edmonton. In mid-June, the Twins traded him to the Cardinals organization for a player to be named later (Seth Davidson), and in mid-July he was selected off waivers by the Red Sox' chain. A free agent again after the 2002 campaign, he went to the Tigers, starting in AAA but coming to the majors in early June. He was the Tigers' regular second baseman for most of the second half of the year, and responded by hitting .272. He lost the job in 2004 to Omar Infante, and spent the season in AAA Toledo. He was with the Brewers' organization for much of 2005 and finished the year in AA with Cleveland. He had minor league offers to play in 2006, but decided to call it a career. At last report, Warren Morris was a vice president with Red River Bank in Alexandria, Louisiana. He also was working with a variety of Christian-oriented sports organizations.