January 5

Ban Johnson (1864)

Bob Carruthers (1864)

Bill Dahlen (1870)

Jack Norworth (1879)

Art Fletcher (1885)

Rube Foster (1888)

Riggs Stephenson (1898)

Luke Sewell (1901)

Jack Kramer (1918)

Earl Battey (1935)

Bud Bloomfield (1936)

Charlie Hough (1948)

Jim Gantner (1953)

Bob Dernier (1957)

Ron Kittle (1958)

Milt Thompson (1959)

Henry Cotto (1961)

John Russell (1961)

Danny Jackson (1962)

Jeff Fassero (1963)

Brian Runge (1970)

Fred Rath (1973)

Mark Redman (1974)

Eduardo Escobar (1989)

C. J. Cron (1990)

Jose Iglesias (1990)

Danny Ortiz (1990)

Ban Johnson was one of the founders of and the first president of the American League.

Jack Norworth wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

Rube Foster was a player, manager, and owner in the Negro Leagues, eventually becoming president of the Negro National League.

Brian Runge was a major league umpire from 1999-2012.  He is the son of major league umpire Paul Runge and the grandson of major league umpire Ed Runge.

Oddly, there are three players born on this day who go by their initials:  J. P. Arencibia, C. J. Cron, and A. J. Cole.

Earl Jesse Battey played for the Twins from 1961-1967 and was the best catcher the Twins ever had until Joe Mauer came along. He was born in Los Angeles and attended high school in Watts, California. Battey was signed as a free agent by the White Sox in 1953. A fine defensive player, he did not hit all that well in the minors. Still, he got brief major league time in both 1955 and 1956, was with the White Sox most of 1957, and made the majors to stay in 1958. Battey never got much of a chance with the White Sox, mainly because they had perennial all-star Sherm Lollar behind the plate at the time. Just before the 1960 season, Battey was traded to Washington with Don Mincher for Roy Sievers. Given the starting catcher job in Washington, Battey blossomed immediately, hitting .270 with 15 homers, winning the Gold Glove, and finishing eighth in MVP voting. He came to Minnesota with the team the following year and remained their starting catcher until 1967, when injuries slowed him down and eventually forced his retirement.  He then worked for Consolidated Edison in New York in public relations until his retirement. As a Twin, Battey made the all-star team four times, won two more Gold Gloves, and twice finished in the top ten in MVP voting. He hit .300 once, in 1961, and hit over 20 homers once, belting 26 in 1963. His career numbers for the franchise (including his year in Washington) are .277/.354/.412 with 91 homers. Earl Battey died of cancer in Ocala, Florida on November 15, 2003.

Clyde Stalcup "Bud" Bloomfield was an infielder who played in seven games for the Twins in 1964. He was born in Oklahoma City and attended the University of Arkansas and the University of Tulsa (not at the same time) before signing with St. Louis as a free agent in 1957. He rose slowly through the minors, spending two years at Class D and two more at Class B. His best year in the minors came in 1962 with AA Tulsa, when he hit .287. He repeated AA in 1963 and hit .260, but got a September call-up, appearing in one game for the Cardinals as a defensive replacement but not coming to bat. He was chosen by Minnesota that off-season in the minor league draft. Placed in AAA, he hit only .217. The Twins saved him from Moonlight Graham status by calling him up for a handful of games in May and June. As a Twin, he was 1-for-7 with a run scored. Bloomfield was released after the season, and his playing career was over. He then moved back to Benton County, Arkansas, where his family had moved when he was 14. He owned a restaurant in Rogers, Arkansas from 1977-2000 and then retired there.  Bud Bloomfield passed away in Huntsville, Arkansas on December 21, 2011.

Right-hander Frederick Helsher Rath, Jr. was drafted by the Twins, but never played for them. He was born in Dallas, went to high school in Tampa, Florida, and attended the University of South Florida. Minnesota signed him as a free agent in 1995. A reliever throughout his minor league career, Rath pitched extremely well for three minor league seasons, compiling a 2.02 ERA in 187 minor-league innings, although only 61 of those innings were higher than Class A. The Twins apparently had no faith in him, because when he was promoted to AAA in 1998 and struggled, they quickly placed him on waivers in June, where he was claimed by Colorado. He got a brief call-up to the majors, pitching 5.1 innings in two games. Rath finished 1998 with Colorado and then came back to the Twins, pitching in AAA Salt Lake in 1999. He had a fairly good year, but never made it back to the majors. He started 2000 in Salt Lake and pitched well in 12 games, but was let go, moving to Pittsburgh and then St. Louis. He was in the Cardinals organization again in 2001, but then his career was over. His two games for the Rockies in 1991, in which he gave up only one run, were the sum and substance of his major league career. We'll never know, but given his record, it seems like he might have been able to help someone if he'd been given the chance. Since leaving baseball, Fred Rath has returned to Tampa and works for Rath/Harper Associates, a real estate development firm founded by his father, who is also named Fred Rath and who was also a major league baseball player.

Left-hander Mark Allen Redman began what turned into a fairly substantial major league career with Minnesota. Born in San Diego, he attended high school in Escondido, California, and then went to the University of Oklahoma. Redman was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 1995. He pitched well in the low minors, but appeared to be topping out at AA, as he struggled with AAA in 1997, 1998, and 1999. Despite that, he got a couple of brief trials with the Twins in 1999 and was with them for the entire season in 2000. He did not do too badly, winning 12 games with an ERA of 4.76, a performance which allowed him to finish sixth in Rookie of the Year voting. Redman was pitching better in 2001, but was traded at the end of July to Detroit for Todd Jones. He pitched fairly well for the Tigers through 2002, then was traded to Florida for the 2003 season. 2003 was to be Redman's best season--he went 14-9 with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. After that Redman, who had already bounced around quite a bit in his young career, really started moving. He was traded to Oakland for 2004, was traded to Pittsburgh for 2005, and traded to Kansas City for 2006. In none of those years did he come close to matching his 2003 campaign, and instead got slowly but surely worse every year. Incredibly, he made the all-star team for the only time in 2006, with an ERA over five. A free agent after 2006, Redman signed with Atlanta for 2007, but was released in late May. He signed with Texas, pitched poorly for their AAA team, and was released again in mid-July. He went to the Toronto organization for a couple of weeks, was released a third time, and signed with Colorado, where he pitched fairly well in a few appearances. Redman opened 2008 with the Rockies, but was quickly sent back to the minors, and was released after the season, ending his playing career.  At last report, Mark Redman was living in Tulsa and was the owner of the Triple Play Express Car Wash.

Infielder Eduardo Jose Escobar played for the Twins from 2012-2018.  He was born in Villa de Cura, Venezuela, and signed with the White Sox in 2006 at age seventeen.  He spent two years in foreign summer leagues.  He reached AA in 2010 and AAA in 2011.  He got a September call-up in 2011 after hitting .266 at AAA and played in nine major league games, never starting one and going 2-for-7.  He made the White Sox as an extra infielder in 2012 and was hitting .207 on July 28 when he was traded to Minnesota along with Pedro Hernandez for Francisco Liriano.  The Twins initially sent him to AAA Rochester, but gave him a September call-up.  He posted some half-way decent batting averages in the minors, generally hitting in the .260s, but did not draw very many walks and had very little power.  He mostly played shortstop in the minors, although he has also played some second base and a little third base.  He started the 2013 season in Minnesota but predictably did not hit well in part-time duty and was sent to Rochester in mid-July.  He hit surprisingly well there, batting .307/.380/.500 in 166 at-bats.  He got a September call-up and hit .324/.343/.412 in 34 at-bats.  He started 2014 as a reserve for the Twins but gradually took over the starting shortstop job and showed he could handle it, hitting .275 with 35 doubles.  The Twins tried to make Danny Santana the starting shortstop in 2015, making Escobar a utility player, but Escobar was back as the starting shortstop by late July and again showed that he could handle the position.  Escobar kept the shortstop job at the start of 2016, but was injured in May, lost the job to Eduardo Nunez, and went back to being a utility player again.  He was slated to be a utility player again in 2017, but ended up starting at third base for about half the season due to an injury to Miguel Sano.  He replaced Sano again at third base for much of the 2018 season and did well there, batting .300 as late as June 20.  In late July, with the Twins out of the pennant race, he was traded to Arizona for Ernie De La Trinidad, Jhoan Duran, and Gabriel Maciel.  He continued to play well for the Diamondbacks for the rest of the season.  In 2019 he was the starting third baseman for Arizona and had a fine year, posting an OPS of .831 and leading the league in triples.  He remained their starting third baseman in 2020, but had a poor season, batting just .212.  He bounced back in 2021, making his first all-star team, and also bounced to Milwaukee, traded there in late July.   A free agent after the season, he signed with the Mets and had a solid 2022 season.  He began 2023 as the Mets' starting third baseman, but after a poor April he fell to a utility role and was traded to the Angels in late June.  He was a utility player for them as well and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Toronto in 2024 but was released in spring training.  He has not played in organized baseball since then, but has continued to play winter ball. As a Twin, Eduardo Escobar batted .258/.308/.421 in 2520 at-bats.  He turns thirty-seven today.  It appears that it's time for Eduardo Escobar to decide what the next phase of his life will be.

First baseman Christopher John Cron played for the Twins in 2019.  He was born in Fullerton, California, went to high school in Phoenix, attended the University of Utah, and was drafted by the Angels in the first round in 2011.  He reached AA in 2013, went to AAA at the start of 2014, and made his major league debut on May 3, 2014.  He was a part-time player most of the rest of the season and did okay, though nothing spectacular.  His 2015 was similar--he did really well in about a month in AAA, but was pretty average in the majors.  2016 was his first full year in the majors (except for a rehab assignment) and while he was a little better nobody was still too excited.  In 2017 he still appeared to be treading water, so in February of 2018 the Angels traded him to Tampa Bay for a player to be named later. The Rays made him their regular first baseman in 2018 and he responded with his best season, posting an OPS over .800 for the first time.  His power numbers were the only thing that improved, really--he hit thirty homers and had twenty-eight doubles, but his average and OBP were pretty much in line with what they had been before.  The Rays waived him after the season and Minnesota claimed him.  He was their starting first baseman in 2019 and had a fine first half, but injuries hampered him in the second half of the season.  Still, as a Twin he batted .253/.311/.469, numbers which are only slightly below his career numbers.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Detroit for 2020.  He was able to play only thirteen games, however, before suffering a season-ending injury.  He signed with Colorado for 2021 and had an excellent season, hitting 28 homers and posting an OPS of .905.  He remained with the Rockies in 2022 and did not do as well, but still had a solid season and hit 29 home runs.  He was again the Rockies' starting first baseman in 2023, but missed a month and a half due to injury and was traded to the Angels at the July deadline.  He played for them for about two weeks and was injured again, missing the rest of the season except for one game in September.  He signed with Boston for 2024, but was released in spring training and did not sign with anyone.  He is the son of 1990s first baseman Chris Cron and a cousin of former Twin Chad Moeller.  He is a member of the University of Utah Hall of Fame.  No information about what C. J. Cron has done since spring training of 2024 was readily available.

Outfielder Daniel Ortiz did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them and was in their farm system for eight years.  He was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fourth round in 2008.  He played in the GCL in 2008, did not play in 2009, and was with Elizabethton in 2010.  He did fairly well in those years.  but struggled when promoted to Class A Beloit in 2011.  He was just twenty-one, however, and had a solid 2012 with Fort Myers.  He kept getting promoted a level at a time and each year did okay--not bad, but nothing special.  He reached Rochester in 2014 and played there again in 2015.  In his two seasons there, he batted .251/.292/.435 with 25 home runs.  Again, not bad, but nothing to really catch your eye, either.  He became a free agent after that season and signed with Pittsburgh.  He didn't do much in AAA in 2016 but had a better year there in 2017, batting .270/.303/.457.  He got a little over a week in the majors in May, going 1-for-12 in nine games.  A free agent, he signed a minor league contract with Philadelphia for 2018.  He spent the season in AAA and hit fifteen home runs, but was otherwise unimpressive.  He again was a free agent, went unsigned, and has played in the Mexican League since then, where he's done quite well.  He turns thirty-six today.  It's baseball, and strange things happen, but there's no reason to think we'll see him in a major league uniform again.  If he wants to play in Mexico or somewhere else for a couple more years, though, he probably can.

January 4

Tommy Corcoran (1869)
Ernest Lanigan (1873)
Al Bridwell (1884)
Ossie Vitt (1890)
George Dixon (1896)
George Selkirk (1908)
Gabe Paul (1910)
Herman Franks (1914)
Don McMahon (1930)
Tito Fuentes (1944)
Charlie Manuel (1944)
Ken Reynolds (1947)
Paul Gibson (1960)
Daryl Boston (1963)
Trey Hillman (1963)
Ted Lilly (1976)
Willie Martinez (1978)
Kevin Pillar (1989)
Raisel Iglesias (1990)
Kris Bryant (1992)
Michael Lorenzen (1992)
Reynaldo Lopez (1994)
Blake Cederlind (1996)

Ernest Lanigan was the nephew of the Spink brothers who founded The Sporting News.  He worked for the publication from the time he was 15.  Among other things, he compiled baseball's first encyclopedia, published in 1922, and served as curator, historian, and director of the Hall of Fame from 1946 until his death in 1962.

Gabe Paul was the general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians (twice), and the New York Yankees.

Trey Hillman was the manager of the Kansas City Royals from 2008-2010.

Blake Cederlind was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-second round in 2015, but he did not sign.

Right-hander Donald John McMahon did not play for the Twins, but he was their pitching coach from 1976-1978. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he signed with the Boston Braves as a free agent in 1950. His career got off to a good start, but then he missed to full years in military service, from May of 1951 to May of 1953. While he did some starting in the minors, he was primarily a relief pitcher. He struggled in his first couple of shots at AAA, but had a fine year with Wichita in 1957, going 6-2, 2.92 in 71 innings. He made his major league debut that year with the Milwaukee Braves and was one of the first true relief specialists. His best year as a Brave was 1959, when he led the league in games finished (49) and saves (15), going 5-3 with a 2.57 ERA. He had an off year in 1960, but bounced back in 1961. He began 1962 with the Braves, but was sold to Houston in early May. After two seasons there he was sold again, this time to Cleveland. He had over two solid seasons there (1964-1966), then was traded to Boston in early June of 1966. He pitched well for the Red Sox, but after exactly one year he was traded again, this time to the White Sox. He did even better there, going 7-1, 1.77 with a 0.96 WHIP in 137.2 innings (77 appearances), but after a little more than a year he was on the move again, this time going to Detroit. He continued pitching well, but in August of 1969 he was traded once more, this time to the Giants. He found a home in San Francisco, staying there the rest of his playing career. His best year as a Giant was 1970, when he went 9-5, 2.96, 1.22 WHIP with 19 saves in 94.1 innings (61 appearances). He retired after the 1972 season to become the Giants pitching coach, but returned as an active player in mid-season in both 1973 and 1974. In 1973, at age 43, he went 4-0, 1.48, 0.92 WHIP with six saves in 30.1 innings (22 appearances). He remained as a coach for the Giants through 1975, then was the pitching coach for the Twins from 1976-1978. He went back to the Giants from 1980-82, then was the pitching coach for Cleveland from 1983-1985. He then went to work for the Dodgers as a special assignments scout. He was throwing batting practice for the Dodgers in July of 1987 when he suffered a heart attack. Don McMahon passed away on July 22, 1987 in Los Angeles, California.

Most of outfielder Charles Fuqua Manuel's major league career came as a member of the Minnesota Twins, for whom he played from 1969-1972. Born in Northfork, West Virginia, he attended high school in Buena Viasta, West Virginia. Minnesota signed him as a free agent in 1963. He hit .358 in rookie ball in 1963, then spent the next four years at Class A. He struggled much of that time, but finally hit .313 with 15 homers at Wisconsin Rapids in 1967, earning a promotion to AA. He had a solid year at AA and found himself in the majors for all of 1969. The 1969 Twins had some pretty good bats, and that, along with an injured ankle, left Manuel with a tough time finding playing time. Mostly playing left field, he got only 164 at-bats and hit .207. With Minnesota for all but a month in 1970, he played even less, getting only 64 at-bats and hitting .188. He was with the Twins for 2 1/2 months in 1971 and all of 1972, getting about the same amount of playing time with about the same results. As a Twin, he hit .199/.276/.265 in 366 at-bats spread over four seasons. The Twins kept Manuel at AAA in 1973 and then traded him to the Dodgers after the season along with Glenn Ezell for Mike Floyd and Jim Fairey. The Dodgers also kept Manuel at AAA for almost all of 1974-1975, giving him only 18 at-bats in the big leagues. He then went to Japan, where he found success. He remained in Japan through 1981. After his playing career, Manuel was hired by the Twins, working as a scout, a hitting instructor, and a minor league manager. In 1988, he moved on to the Cleveland Indians, and served as their manager from 2000-2002, reaching the playoffs in 2001. He then went to the Philadelphia organization and became their manager in 2005, a position he held until mid-August of 2013. The Phillies had reached the playoffs in five consecutive seasons prior to 2012, reaching the World Series in 2008-2009. Charlie Manuel managed the Phillies to a World Series victory in 2008.  After he was relieved of his duties as manager, he became a senior advisor for the Phillies.  In August of 2019, he became the team's batting coach.  He remained in that position until the end of the season, then returned to his senior advisor position.

Left-hander Kenneth Lee Reynolds did not play for the Twins, but he went to spring training with them in 1973. He was born in Trevose, Pennsylvania, then attended New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, the only major league player to attend that institution. He was drafted by Philadelphia in the fourth round in 1966. He began his professional career in Huron, South Dakota, where he had a fine year in the Northern League. He never looked like a star, but he put up solid numbers wherever he was, reaching AA in 1969 and AAA in 1970. He got a September call-up in 1970, then spent the next two full seasons in the majors, the only two full seasons he had as a big leaguer. He was mostly a starting pitcher, although he made a number of relief appearances both seasons. His ERA as a Phillie was 4.34 and his WHIP was 1.45. Those numbers are not particularly good, but his won-lost record made him look even worse: he was 7-24, going 2-15 in 1972 despite an ERA of 4.26 and a WHIP of 1.35, numbers which aren’t great but would seem to have deserved a better fate than he got. After the 1972 season he was traded to Minnesota with Ken Sanders and Joe Lis for Cesar Tovar, much to the consternation of Twins manager Frank Quilici, who had envisioned Tovar as his starting center fielder. Reynolds was traded to Milwaukee in late March of 1973 for Mike Ferraro. He had a solid year in AAA, but made only two appearances in the majors and then was traded again, this time to St. Louis. He stayed in the Cardinals’ organization for two seasons, returning to the majors in 1975 for a little more than a month. He did well there in 17 innings, going 0-1, 1.59, 1.35 WHIP. He was traded to San Diego after the season and split 1976 between the majors and the minors. He pitched poorly in the majors, though, and his major league career ended. He hung around for a few more years, pitching in AAA for Cleveland in 1977 and for Toronto in 1978-1979, then his playing career was over. Ken Reynolds was a popular physical education teacher at Marlborough High School in Marlborough, Massachusetts for many years until his retirement.  He said that he enjoyed teaching kids to play baseball much more than he enjoyed playing professionally.

Left-hander Paul Marshall Gibson did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 1982-1983. He was born in Southampton, New York, went to high school in Moriches, New York, and was drafted by Cincinnati in the third round of the January draft in 1978. He was in Class A with the Reds for three season, pitching well for the first two but having a poor year in 1980. The Reds released him at the end of spring training of 1981 and he was signed by Detroit in late May. The Tigers converted him from a starter to a reliever. He had a good year in Class A in 1981 and another one in AA in 1982, but the Tigers left him unprotected and he was chosen by Minnesota in the Rule 5 draft. The Twins worked something out to keep him in the minors, sending him to AA Orlando for two years. He was pretty awful in 1983, better but not great in 1984, and then he became a free agent. He signed back with the Tigers, who showed quite a bit of patience with him. He finally reached AAA in 1986 and was converted back to full-time starting in 1987. He had a fine season at AAA, going 14-7, 3.47, 1.29 WHIP. He began 1988 with the Tigers and stayed there through 1991. He was primarily a reliever and alternated good years with bad, pitching well in 1988 and 1990 and not well in 1989 and 1991. After the 1991 season he was traded to the Mets. He was there for the next year and a half, also spending time in the minors. He didn’t do much for the Mets, who released him in mid-June of 1993. The Yankees signed him and kept him until the end of August, 1994, when he was sent to Milwaukee. A free agent after the season, he was in the minors for all of 1995, first with Toronto and then with Pittsburgh. The Yankees signed him for 1996 and he made four more big league appearances, but was released at the end of May, bringing his playing career to an end. Paul Gibson is currently the owner of Paul Gibson’s All Pro Sports Academy, “Where Winners Come to Grow”, in Bellport, New York. Other former major leaguers on the staff include Kevin Baez, John Habyan, and Bill Pulsipher.  He also is the director of pitching performance for the Kansas City Royals.

Right-hander William Jose Martinez did not play for the Twins, but he was at AAA for them in 2001. Born and raised in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, he signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1995. He struggled in rookie ball, had a couple of good years in Class A, but never had a full season in which he recorded an ERA under four after that. He was a starting pitcher throughout his minor league career, reaching AA in 1998 and AAA at the end of 1999. In 2000, he went 8-5, 4.46, 1.47 WHIP at AAA Buffalo. He made his only major league appearance that season, a three-inning relief appearance on June 14 against the White Sox. Martinez entered the game at the start of the third inning with the Indians already trailing 10-4 and held Chicago in check pretty well, allowing just one run on a hit and a walk in his three innings of work. Unfortunately, the Cleveland offense could do nothing further, and the Indians lost 11-4. Cleveland waived him after the season and he signed with Minnesota, who sent him to AAA Edmonton for 2001. While there, he went 7-8, 5.61, 1.66 WHIP in 112.1 innings. He moved on to the Cincinnati organization for 2002, made four appearances for AA Chattanooga, and then his playing career was over. He then went into coaching.  He was in the Braves organization from 2008-15, but no information about what he has done since then was readily available.

January 3

Barney Gilligan (1856)
Warren Brown (1894)
Gus Suhr (1906)
Frenchy Bordagaray (1910)
Sid Hudson (1915)
Eddie Einhorn (1936)
Bob Gebhard (1943)
Dick Colpaert (1944)
Larry Barnett (1945)
Gary Lavelle (1949)
Jim Dwyer (1950)
Darren Daulton (1962)
Luis Rivera (1964)
Luis Sojo (1965)
A. J. Burnett (1977)
Michael Restovich (1979)
Alex Meyer (1990)

Warren Brown was a long-time sportswriter, mostly in Chicago.  He coined Babe Ruth's famous nickname, "The Sultan of Swat".

Eddie Einhorn was a part-owner of the Chicago White Sox.  He was the founder of the TVS networks, which syndicated sports regionally and nationally in the days before twenty-four hour sports stations.

Larry Barnett was a major league umpire from 1969-1999.

Right-handed reliever Robert Henry Gebhard appeared in 30 games for the Twins over two years in 1971-1972. A native of Lamberton, Minnesota, Gebhard went to high school in Lamberton and then attended the University of Iowa. He was chosen by the Twins in the 44th round of the draft in 1965. A starter early in his minor league career, he pitched very well in 1965, but not so well in 1966. He was shifted to the bullpen after that, and reeled off four pretty good years, two in Class A, one in AA, and one in AAA. He did some starting in Portland in 1971, and did less well, but was still called up to the Twins for the final two months of the season. Gebhard battled injuries in 1972, and did not pitch well when he could pitch. He was back in AAA in 1973, continued to not pitch well, and was released after the season. Montreal signed Gebhard, put him back into the bullpen full time, and he responded with a couple of very good seasons at AAA Memphis. He made one final appearance with Montreal, in 1974, but retired after not getting back to the big leagues in 1975. As a Twin, Bob Gebhard was 1-3, 6.00 in 41 innings of relief. Gebhard has remained in baseball after his playing career ended, first as a coach and then as a member of the front office. He was an assistant general manager for the Twins from 1988 through 1991, and then became the first general manager of the Colorado Rockies, a position he held through 1999. He has also worked for St. Louis Cardinals and until 2009 was the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He suffered a mild heart attack in February of 2010, but appears to have made a full recovery. Bob Gebhard was a vice president and special assistant to the general manager for the Diamondbacks through 2016, then took a similar role for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 until his retirement in 2020.  He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.

Right-hander Richard Charles Colpaert did not play for the Twins, but was briefly in their farm system, at least on paper. He was born in Fraser, Michigan, and signed with Baltimore as a free agent in 1961. He had a good year in 1962 as a reliever for Class D Appleton, then was selected by Pittsburgh in the first-year player draft. He spent the next ten years in the Pirates’ organization, putting up good ERAs every year but getting little chance for advancement. He reached AA in 1962 and stayed there through 1968. He made 245 appearances in AA, going 24-24 with a 3.41 ERA in 412 innings. Finally, in 1969, Colpaert was promoted to AAA, again posting good numbers but not getting moved up. His sole time in the big leagues was about three weeks in late July-early August of 1970, when he made eight relief appearances for the Pirates. He was 1-0, 5.91, 1.59 WHIP in 10.2 innings. After the 1972 season, he was sold to Kansas City, but was left unprotected and chosen in the Rule 5 draft by Cleveland. He had a poor year in AAA in 1973 and was traded to Minnesota with Bill Butler after the season for Mike Brooks and Jim Strickland. Before the 1974 season, however, the Twins sent him to Boston “in an unknown transaction.” It was known to the people involved, at least, because Colpaert started 1974 in AAA for the Red Sox. After 12 ineffective relief appearances, however, he was released in July, ending his playing career. His minor league numbers are not mind-blowing, especially when considered in the context of the 1960s, but he seems at least as good as a lot of other players who got a lot more of a shot than he did. He was a major league scout for many years after his playing career ended, including working for the Major League Scouting Bureau.  He was living in Shelby Township, Michigan when he passed away on April 6, 2021.

Outfielder/DH James Edward Dwyer played for the Twins for part of the 1988, 1989, and 1990 seasons.  He was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois, went to high school in Oaklawn, Illinois, and attended Southern Illinois University.  He was drafted by St. Louis in the eleventh round in 1971.  He was always a high-average hitter in the minors, posting an average of over .300 in every year in which he played more than eight games.  He first reached the majors in 1973, but bounced back and forth between St. Louis and AAA until he was traded to Montreal in July of 1975.  He finished the season with the Expos and did fairly well, but when he started poorly in 1976 he was on the move again, traded to the Mets in July.  Most of his time there was spent in the minors and then he was once again traded, this time to the Cubs.  Dwyer hit .332 with 18 homers and 12 triples for AAA Wichita for an OPS of 1.041 in 1977.  All it got him was a release as soon as the season was over.  Now heading into his age 28 season, he signed with St. Louis.  Dwyer finally got his first full season in the majors, but it wasn’t all with the Cardinals; he was traded to San Francisco in mid-June.  He didn’t get much chance to play with either team, and did not do much with the chances he had.  In March of 1979, the Giants sold him to Boston.  He was a part-time player for the Red Sox for two years and did fairly well, posting his best major league season up to that time.  He became a free agent after the 1980 season and moved to Baltimore, where he finally found a home.  He was never a regular, but he was a part-time outfielder for the Orioles for the next seven years, helping the Orioles win a world championship in 1983.  He started an eighth year, 1988, with Baltimore, but played little and was traded in late August to the Twins for a player to be named later (Doug Kline).  He finished the season with Minnesota, hitting .293 with 2 homers in 41 at-bats.  Dwyer was with the Twins most of 1989 and again hit well, posting an average of .316 as a left-handed DH, but was traded back to Montreal in late August for a player to be named later (Alonzo Powell).  He was traded back to the Twins that off-season for Jim Davins.  Now 40, he got off to a slow start in 1990 and elected to retire in late June.  As a Twin, Jim Dwyer hit .289/.387/.380 in 329 at-bats (145 games).  He was never a star, and in fact was never a regular; the highest number of at-bats he got in a season was 260.  Still, he was a big league ball player for all or part of eighteen seasons, and there are not a lot of people who can say that.  After his playing days ended, Jim Dywer was a coach and manager in the Twins organization, coaching at Portland (1991), managing at Ft. Wayne (1992) and Kenosha (1993-1994), coaching at New Britain (1995-1996), serving as minor league hitting coordinator (1997-2005), and coaching at Ft. Myers (2006-2016) until his retirement.  At last report, he was living in Cape Coral, Florida.

Outfielder Michael Jerome Restovich played for the Twins at various times from 2002-2004. He was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and went to high school there. Restovich was chosen by the Twins in the second round in 1997. He was tremendous in his first couple of minor-league years, which were spent in rookie and Class A ball. He was less tremendous, but still pretty good, at higher levels. He averaged over 20 homers a year in AAA from 2002-2004, a figure that is even more remarkable when you remember that he also was in the majors for a substantial part of those seasons. The Twins never gave Restovich anything approaching regular playing time in the big leagues, but he still hit .274/.364/.442 in 113 at-bats spread over three years. Despite all that, Minnesota put Restovich on waivers just before the 2005 season, and he was selected by Tampa Bay. The Devil Rays put him on waivers a week later, and he moved on to Colorado. Restovich was hitting .290 in part-time play for the Rockies when he was on the move again, this time going to Pittsburgh in mid-May. Restovich remained with the Pirates the rest of the season, his only full year in the majors, but was released once the season ended. He was with the Cubs in 2006 and Washington in 2007, getting brief appearances in the majors both years. He was signed by Philadelphia in November of 2007, but was released two weeks later. He went to Japan for 2008, then came back to the United States. Restovich played for Charlotte in the White Sox' organization in 2009 and for Albuquerque in the Dodgers’ chain in 2010, continuing to hit well.  In 2011 he played in the White Sox and Diamondbacks organizations, but did not hit well, and his playing career came to an end.  In eight AAA seasons, he hit .278/.346/.498 with 148 home runs.  It's hard to understand why no one wanted to give him a chance to show what he could do in the majors, but no one did.  After leaving baseball Michael Restovich went to law school and then joined his family's law firm. Restovich, Braun & Associates, in Rochester, Minnesota.

Right-hander Alex John Meyer appeared in two games for the Twins in 2015 and two more in 2016.  Born and raised in Greensburg, Indiana, he attended the University of Kentucky and was drafted by Washington in the first round in 2011.  He had a good year in Class A in 2012 but was traded to Minnesota after that season for Denard Span.  He missed time in 2013 due to injury, but pitched well when he did pitch.  He had a fairly good season in Rochester in 2014 but did not pitch well there in 2015, despite which he made two appearances for the Twins in June.  It did not go well for him, as he gave up five runs on four hits and three walks in 2.2 innings.  He had been a starter for his entire minor league career through 2014, but pitched mostly out of the bullpen in 2015, making 30 relief appearances and only eight starts.  He made two more appearances with the Twins in 2016, which did not go much better, and then was traded to the Angels on August 1 with Ricky Nolasco and cash for Hector Santiago and Alan Busenitz. He got a September call-up, went into the rotation, and didn't do too badly.  He spent about half of 2017 with the Angels and did well in twelve starts, but then was injured again and was unable to pitch in 2018.  The Angels placed him on waivers after the 2018 season, but then signed him to a minor-league contract for 2019.  Unfortunately, he was still unable to pitch and announced his retirement in June.  As a Twin, he was 0-1, 14.21, 3.00 WHIP in 6.1 innings.  He might have had a good career if he'd been able to stay healthy, but that's not the way it went.  At last report, Alex Meyer had moved back to his hometown of Greensburg and an area sales manager for BSN Sports.  He was the baseball coach of Greensburg Community High School from 2021-2025.

January 2

Jose Mendez (1885)
Red Kress (1905)

Pinky Whitney (1905)

Ted Strong (1914)

Jim Essian (1951)

David Cone (1963)

Edgar Martinez (1963)

Greg Swindell (1965)
Royce Clayton (1970)
Rick Greene (1971)
Jeff Suppan (1975)
Aaron Barrett (1988)
Felix Jorge (1994)
Fernando Tatis (1999)

Ted Strong was a star in the Negro Leagues, making the all-star team seven times.

Aaron Barrett was drafted by Minnesota in the 20th round in 2008 but did not sign.

Left-hander Forest Gregory Swindell was a Twin for roughly a season and a half in the late 1990s. A native of Ft. Worth, he attended the University of Texas and was chosen by Cleveland with the second pick of the 1986 draft. Swindell made three starts for Class A Waterloo and was immediately promoted to the big leagues and placed in the Indians' starting rotation. He struggled some early on, and was injured for the second half of 1987, but put things together in 1988, winning 18 games with a 3.20 ERA. That was arguably the best season he would ever have as a starter, but he had some other good ones, making the all-star team for the only time of his career in 1989. Swindell remained in the Cleveland rotation through 1991, then was traded to Cincinnati for one year. He had a fine 1992 for the Reds, became a free agent, and signed with Houston. It seemed as if everything was coming together for Swindell: a 28-year-old pitcher coming off a good year going to the best pitcher's park in baseball. Instead, he went backward. He wasn't awful as an Astro, but he was not what they expected him to be, either, posting ERAs in the low-to-mid-fours over three seasons. He got off to a bad start in 1996, was sent to the bullpen, and then was released in early June. He finished the season back with Cleveland, then became a free agent again and signed with Minnesota for 1997. His days as a starter were over, but he was a valuable member of the Twins' bullpen. He made 117 appearances for Minnesota, pitching 182 innings. He went 10-7, 3.61 with three saves, a WHIP of 1.16 and an ERA+ of 129. At the end of July, 1998, with the Twins once again far from the pennant race, Swindell was traded to Boston with Orlando Merced for Joe Thomas, John Barnes, and Matt Kinney. He continued to be a valuable reliever, first for the Red Sox and then, after becoming a free agent after the 1998 season, for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He had three solid seasons for Arizona. Then, in 2002, he battled injuries and decided to retire after the season, having pitched in the majors for 17 seasons. Greg Swindell has been an assistant coach for the University of Texas and an analyst for Arizona Diamondbacks television broadcasts. He has also done some work in sports talk radio in the Phoenix area.  He also was a baseball analyst for the Longhorn Network and at last report was living in Fredericksburg, Texas.  He was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1996, the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Houston Independent School District Athletic Hall of Honors in 2021.

Right-hander Richard Douglas Greene did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for part of the 2000 season. He was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, went to high school in Coral Gables, Florida, attended LSU (where he set a school record for saves), played for the 1992 U. S. Olympic team, and was drafted by Detroit in the first round in 1992. A reliever all along, he struggled for several seasons in the minors. Promoted to AAA for the first time in 1997, he had his best year, going 6-8, 2.83, 1.16 WHIP in 70 innings. After the season, he was traded to Milwaukee. He had a decent but not particularly impressive year in AAA for the Brewers in 1998 and a similar year for Cincinnati in 1999. The latter year was when he made his only major league appearance, a 5.2 inning relief stint against Milwaukee. He allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk in a 10-1 loss (he gave up a three-run homer to the first batter he faced, Jose Valentin, then settled down some). He split 2000 in AAA with Cincinnati and Minnesota. As a member of the Salt Lake Buzz, Rick Greene went 2-2, 5.81, 1.86 WHIP in 26.1 innings (22 appearances). He played in independent leagues in 2001 and 2002, then his playing career was over. At last report, Rick Greene was the executive director of Moxey NeLA, a member-owned trade exchange in Monroe, Louisiana, the regional director of Moxey Red River, and was the founder and CEO of the 2 Seam Dream Foundation, which was founded to raise awareness for cancer research and to aid in the support of patient recovery activities.

Right-hander Felix de Jesus (Estevez) Jorge made two starts for the Twins in 2017.  He was born in Santiago in the Dominican Republic and signed with the Twins in February of 2011 at age seventeen.  He pitched very well in rookie ball but the Twins brought him along very slowly, probably due to his age.  He did not reach A ball until 2014, when he pitched poorly in twelve appearances for Cedar Rapids.  He had a fine year for Cedar Rapids in 2015, however, and did very well in Fort Myers in 2016, although he did not do as well when promoted to Chattanooga.  He did much better in Chattanooga in 2017 and also made three starts in Rochester and two in Minnesota.  He was adequate in his first start with the Twins and bad in his second, giving him numbers of 1-0, 10.57, and a WHIP of 2.09 in 7.2 innings.  At that time we said, "Barring injury, however, those are unlikely to be his career numbers."  Sadly, however, he was unable to bar injury, and those are his career numbers.  He missed almost the entire 2018 season, making only two rehab appearances in the Gulf Coast League.  He became a free agent and signed with Cincinnati for 2019, but was unable to pitch, was released in March of 2020, and his playing career came to an end.  No information about what Felix Jorge has done since March of 2020 was readily available.

January 1

Tim Keefe (1857)

Hugh Nicol (1858)

Webster McDonald (1900)

Ethan Allen (1904)

Hank Greenberg (1911)

Joe Reichler (1915)

Sherry Robertson (1919)

Earl Torgeson (1924)

Carl Scheib (1927)

Bill Bethea (1942)

Rick Albert (1951)

LaMarr Hoyt (1955)

Bob Owchinko (1955)

Fernando Tatis (1975)

Dallas Keuchel (1988)

LaMonte Wade (1994)

Submarine-style pitcher Webster McDonald pitched in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1940.

Joe Reichler was a long-time sportswriter and later worked in the commissioner's office.  He was the editor of several editions of The Baseball Encyclopedia.

Roy Majtyka was a long-time minor-league manager, winning 1,832 games.

Rick Albert was a minor-league coach or manager in the Braves' organization.

Utility player Sherrard Alexander Robertson was the Twins’ farm director in their first decade of existence. He was the nephew of Clark Griffith and the brother of Calvin Griffith and became the Joe Cronin’s brother-in-law. Born in Montreal, Canada, he attended the University of Maryland and signed with Washington as a free agent in 1939. Robertson did not hit much in the minors, but still got brief trials with Washington in 1940 and 1941. He appears to have been in the big leagues for all of 1943, and then lost a couple of years to military service. An infielder in the minors and early in his major league career, Roberson began playing some outfield in 1947, and did both the rest of his career. He was primarily a reserve for his entire career; the closest he got to regular play was in 1949, when he appeared in 110 games and had 374 at-bats. He also set a career high in home runs that year with 11. Washington placed him on waivers in May of 1952 and he was selected by the Philadelphia Athletics, with whom he finished that season. His playing career ended after that; in parts of ten major league seasons, he hit .230/.323/.342 in 1,507 at-bats. Robertson then joined the Washington front office. He became farm director in 1958, and came to Minnesota with the team in 1961. He remained farm director through 1970. On October 23, 1970, Sherry Robertson was killed in a car accident near Houghton, South Dakota, where he had gone on a hunting trip. He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. In his honor, the Twins created the Sherry Robertson Award, given annually to their minor league player of the year.

Infielder William Lamar Bethea played briefly for the Twins in 1964. He was born in Houston and attended the University of Texas. St. Louis signed him as a free agent in 1963. He hit very well in Class A in 1963, although less well when promoted to AA at mid-season. Minnesota drafted him in the 1963 first-year draft. He had a fairly undistinguished 1964 campaign in AA Charlotte, but still received a September call-up, hitting .167 in 30 at-bats. He got off to a poor start in AA in 1965, was placed on waivers, and was selected by the Yankees. He continued to not hit for two more years in the Yankees organization, and after the 1967 season, he moved on to the California system. He had a better year in 1968 at AA El Paso, but again did not hit when moved up to AAA in 1969, and his playing career came to an end. He then became an assistant baseball coach at the University of Texas, a position he held from 1970-1989. Bethea then became the head baseball coach at Arkansas State, a job he held until his retirement in 2002.  He was inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Fame in 1986.  Wikipedia says his nickname was "Spot", but does not give an explanation. At last report, Bill Bethea was living in the Jonesboro, Arkansas area.

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel appeared in ten games for the Twins in 2023.  Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he attended the University of Arkansas and was drafted by Houston in the seventh round in 2009.  He was really nothing special in the minors, but he still made his major league debut in 2012.  He was there for over half the season, but it did not go well.  He posted an ERA of over five, but still spent all of 2013 in the majors, again posting an ERA of over five.  In 2014, however, something kicked in, as he went 12-9, 2.93.  2015 was even better, as he went 20-8, 2.48 and won the Cy Young Award.  He struggled in 2016, but bounced back for two more good seasons before becoming a free agent after the 2018 season.  He did not sign until June of 2019, but had a solid season with Atlanta.  He pitched well in the abbreviated 2020 season, but that was the last good year he had.  He struggled in 2021 and was released in June of 2022.  He signed with Arizona, but was released about six weeks later.  He finished out the season with Texas.  He went unsigned until June of 2023, when he caught on with the Twins.  He went to St. Paul, but came up to the Twins in early August.  He did about what he should have been expected to do, going 2-1, 5.97 in 37.2 innings (six starts, four relief games).  He signed with Seattle for 2024, went to AAA, was released, signed back again, was sold to Milwaukee, was released again, and finished the season in Japan.  He was okay, but nothing special, in AAA and Japan, but did nothing in four major league starts.  He went unsigned in 2025 until early July, when he signed with Kansas City.  He again was okay, but nothing special, in seven AAA starts, and was released in late August.  He turns thirty-eight today and has not had a good season since 2020.  We wish him well, but it appears that it's time for Dallas Keuchel to think about what he wants to do in the next phase of his life.

Outfielder/first baseman LaMonte Aaron Wade, Jr. was with the Twins from 2019-2020.  He was born in Baltimore, went to high school in Brooklandville, Maryland, attended the University of Maryland, and was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round in 2015.  He did well throughout the low minors and reached AAA in 2018.  He didn't hit all that well in AAA, although he drew a lot of walks. He put up a line of .238/.366/.346 in 151 Twins AAA games.  Despite that, he was with the Twins for about ten days from late June to early July of 2019 and then came back as a September call-up.  He then played in sixteen games in 2020.  He did about what you'd expect--walk a lot but not hit much.  As a Twin, in 113 plate appearances he had a line of .211/.336/.347.  The Twins traded him to San Francisco before the 2021 season for Shaun Anderson.  Wade spent all but a month of 2021 with the Giants, was a mostly regular outfielder, and had a better season than anyone would've expected, batting .253/.326/482 with 18 home runs.  He could not repeat that in 2022, however, batting just .207 with eight homers and spending a couple of weeks in AAA.  He bounced back in 2023, though, and reclaimed a starting job, this time at first base.  He had another unspectacular but decent season in 2024.  In 2025, however, his batting collapsed.  He lost his starting job, then was traded to the Angels in early June for a minor league player to be named later, who apparently has still not been named.  He did nothing for the Angels, either, and was released in early August.  He turns thirty-two today.  He may get another chance, or he may not, but if he does, he'd better make the most of it.

December 31

King Kelly (1857)

Tom Connolly (1870)

Bobby Byrne (1884)

Syl Johnson (1900)

Tommy Byrne (1919)

Guy LaValliere (1931)

Alfredo Meli (1944)

Joe Simpson (1951)

Jim Tracy (1955)

Rick Aguilera (1961)

Esteban Loaiza (1971)

Brian Moehler (1971)

Julio De Paula (1982)

Alex Colome (1988)

Kelvin Herrera (1989)

Adam McCreery (1992)

Tom Connolly was a major league umpire for many years.  He umpired the first World Series game in 1903.  He once went ten years without ejecting a player.

It does not appear that Bobby Byrne and Tommy Byrne are related.

Minor league catcher Guy LaValliere is the father of major league catcher Mike LaValliere.

Alfredo Meli is a member of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame.  He was the first man to win Italian championships as a player, a manager, and a general manager.  He also founded the Italian Baseball Federation for the Blind.

Adam McCreery was drafted by the Twins in the fourteenth round in 2011 but did not sign.

Nobody ever makes a fuss about the last baby of the old year.

Right-hander Richard Warren Aguilera was with the Twins for at least part of 11 seasons. He was born in San Gabriel, California and went to high school in West Covina, California. He then attended Brigham Young University and was drafted by the Mets in the third round in 1983. A starter in the minors, he pitched quite well for a little over two seasons, getting called up to the Mets in June of 1985. Placed in the starting rotation, he again did quite well, and did well again in 1986, his first full season in the majors. The Mets had a pretty strong rotation then; even though Aguilera was doing fine, he was always considered the fifth starter, and when he stumbled a little at the start of 1987 he was sent back to the minors for a couple of months. Aguilera was injured much of 1988. In 1989, he was shifted to the bullpen, where he was having a very good year when he was traded to Minnesota at the end of July along with Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, David West, and a player to be named later (Jack Savage) for Frank Viola. Aguilera was placed in the rotation for the rest of 1989 and, once again, pitched very well. In 1990, however, he became the Twins' closer, a job he held (with an interruption) through May of 1999. He took to the job immediately, making the all-star team three consecutive years (1991-1993) and receiving MVP consideration in 1991. In July of 1995, with the Twins out of playoff contention, Aguilera was traded to Boston for Frankie Rodriguez and a player to be named later (J. J. Johnson). He was a free agent after the season, and came back to Minnesota for 1996 with the promise that he would be allowed to start, something Aguilera had wanted to do again for some time. It did not go well--Aguilera was injured part of the season, did not pitch well when healthy, and his replacement as closer, Dave Stevens, was not up to the job. Aguilera went back to closing in 1997, and remained the Twins closer until May of 1999, when he was traded to the Cubs with Scott Downs for Kyle Lohse and Jason Ryan. He remained with the Cubs through 2000, then retired. As a Twin, Rick Aguilera was 40-47 with a 3.50 ERA and 254 saves.  He was the head baseball coach at Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, California through 2008, when it appears he retired from that position.  He continued to live in Rancho Santa Fe, California at last report and is available for personal appearances and/or endorsements. Rick Aguilera was inducted into the Twins' Hall of Fame in 2008.

Right-hander Julio Cesar De Paula pitched in 16 games for Minnesota in 2007. Born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, DePaula signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1999. He remained in the Dominican for a few years, not making his debut in the Gulf Coast League until 2002. He was converted to relief in 2003 and had a tremendous year for Elizabethton, when despite his experience he was still only twenty years old. He continued pitching well through the minors but was brought along slowly, not reaching AA until 2006 and not reaching AAA until 2007. He had a very good year for Rochester in 2007 and was with the Twins for about six weeks that season. In twenty innings, he was 0-1, 8.55. Those numbers look worse than they really were--they are skewed by three really bad outings in which he gave up 15 of his 19 earned runs. Back in Rochester in 2008, DePaula did not pitch well and was let go after the season. He signed with Tampa Bay for 2009 and spent the entire season at AAA Durham. He was a minor-league free agent at the end of the season and went to Korea for 2010, where he did not pitch all that well.  He played briefly for independent St. Paul in 2011.  In 2012 he pitched for independent Bridgeport and for two teams in the Mexican League.  He had a fine year pitching for York of the Atlantic League in 2013 and was doing well for them in 2014 when he was signed by Baltimore in late June.  Sent to AA, he did not pitch well there and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Arizona for 2015 but pitched poorly in three AAA appearances and was released.  He finished the season pitching in Mexico, where he did fairly well.  He pitched in the Atlantic League and in Mexico in 2016 and did not do well.  He pitched in the Atlantic League again in 2017 and did okay, but nothing special.  He had a poor year in the Atlantic League in 2018, bringing his playing career to an end.  At last report, Julio De Paula was running the De Paula Pitching Academy in New Jersey.

Right-handed reliever Alexander Manuel Colome played for the Twins in 2021.  He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and signed with Tampa Bay in 2007.  He was a starter throughout his minor league career, and while he was not awesome he did reasonably well.  He reached the majors for three starts in 2013, made five major league appearances in 2014, and got to the majors to stay in May of 2015.  He made a handful of starts that season, but was mostly used in relief, and after that season he left starting behind him for good.  He was a fine reliever for the Rays for three seasons.  He became the closer in 2016 and made the all-star team that year.  He led the league in saves in 2017, but struggled at the start of 2018 and was traded to Seattle in late May in a trade that involved ex-Twin Denard Span.  The Mariners traded him to the White Sox before the 2019 season and he had two excellent seasons for them.  A free agent, he signed with the Twins for 2021.  The Twins installed him as their closer and it did not go well, as he pitched to an ERA of over eight in April.  He lost the closer job at that point but was back as closer in August when Taylor Rogers went down.  He pitched significantly better after April, but still went 4-4, 4.15, 1.40 WHIP.  He had seventeen saves, but also had seven blown saves.  He was again a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado.  As Twins fans could have predicted, he went 2-7, 5.74, 1.68 WHIP.  In fairness, he pitched very well in May and June, but struggled in July and completely imploded in the last two months of the season.  A free agent again, he signed with Washington for 2023, was released during spring training, and signed with the White Sox.  He spent most of the year in AAA, making four major league appearances, and was released in early August.  He played in the Mexican League in 2024, played winter ball, did not play in the summer of 2025, and is playing winter ball again.  He is the nephew of former major league pitcher Jesus Colome. Again, we're all for someone playing as long as someone will let them play, but it appears that it's time for Alex Colome to decide what the next phase of his life will be.

December 30

Connie Day (1897)

Frank Torre (1931)

Sandy Koufax (1935)

Jose Morales (1944)

Tom Murphy (1945)

Travis Baptist (1971)

A. J. Pierzynski (1976)

Brad Voyles (1976)

Grant Balfour (1977)

Jim Hoey (1982)

The original Jose Morales, Jose Manuel Morales Hernandez was a designated hitter for the Twins from 1978-1980. He was born in Frederiksted in the Virgin Islands, one of eighteen players from the Virgin Islands to make the major leagues. He signed with San Francisco as a free agent in 1963. It took Morales a long time to get a shot at the majors. First, he was in the Giants' system for five years, two in Class A and three in AA. There was a reason for that--he really didn't have a good year in AA until his last one, in 1968. That off-season, Oakland chose Morales in the minor-league draft. The Athletics moved him up to AAA, where he would stay for most of the next five years. He had a fine year in 1970 at AAA Iowa, hitting .306 with a .524 slugging percentage, but not only did he not get a September call-up, he was returned to AAA the next year. He had a down year in 1971, moved to the Mets' organization in 1972, and was back in AAA with Oakland in 1973. He hit .293 in 1972 and .355 in 1973, which finally got him a brief trial in the majors. Part of the problem was that he was without a defensive position--nominally a catcher, he was not considered good enough to play that position in the majors, and while he was a good batter, he lacked power, so teams were reluctant to make him a DH. He was sold to Montreal in in mid-September of 1973, and he was finally brought up to the big leagues to stay in mid-1974. Morales played for the Expos from 1975-1977 and was used primarily as a pinch-hitter, seeing only occasional duty in the field. He hit very well in that role his first two years, batting .308 in 321 at-bats. In 1977, however, he slumped to .203 in 74 at-bats, and was sold to Minnesota just before the 1978 season. Morales had three solid years for the Twins, hitting .297 with 12 homers and 101 RBIs in 674 at-bats. Morales became a free agent after the 1980 campaign and signed with Baltimore. He stayed with the Orioles for a little over a year, but was seldom used. In late April, 1982, he was traded to the Dodgers. He had two good years as a pinch-hitter, but then was released in June of 1984. Montreal signed him and sent him to AAA, but Morales was never brought back to the majors and retired after the season. After his playing career ended, Morales worked as a hitting coach for several years and was highly respected; however, he grew tired of the sometimes political nature of the job and retired, although he still occasionally works on hitting with professional ball players.  At last report, Jose Morales was living in Montverde, Florida.

Left-hander Travis Steven Baptist made 13 relief appearances for the Twins in 1998. He was born in Forest Grove, Oregon, attended high school in Hillsboro, Oregon, and was drafted by Toronto in the 45th round in 1990. A starter for most of his minor league career, he went through the Blue Jays' system at a rate of one level a year, reaching AAA in 1994. Then, however, he stalled, staying at AAA Syracuse for three mediocre seasons. He was chosen by Minnesota in the 1996 Rule 5 draft. Apparently, something was worked out with Toronto, because Baptist was in the minors in 1997. He had a very good year there, the first good year he'd had since 1992. He had another strong year at AAA Salt Lake in 1998, and made the majors for the last two months of the season. He pitched 27 innings for the Twins, going 0-1, 5.67 with a 1.67 WHIP. That was to be the high point of his career. Baptist got off to a poor start in 1999, went to the Boston organization, continued to pitch poorly, and was with the Pirates chain in 2000. In 2001 he went to the White Sox' system, and then pitched in independent leagues for two years before his career came to an end after the 2003 season. At last report, Travis Baptist was living in Jacksonville, Florida and doing color commentary on Jacksonville University baseball games.  He was also the president of Christ the King Athletic Association Baseball, a youth baseball program in Jacksonville sponsored by Christ the King Catholic Church.

Right-hander Bradley Roy Voyles did not play for the Twins, but he went to spring training with them in 2007. He was born in Green Bay, went to high school in Casco, Wisconsin, and attended Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, one of four major league players to attend that school. He was drafted by Atlanta in the 45th round in 1998. A reliever from the beginning, he pitched very well in the minors. In late July of 2001 he was traded to Kansas City, and after 11 scoreless appearances in AA he got a September call-up. He pitched well in 9.1 innings, started 2002 in AAA, but was called back to the majors in late April. He spent about half the season there, but did not do well in 22 appearances. He also split 2003 between AAA and the majors, pitching pretty well in AAA but not so well in the big leagues. He made some starts that season and was a starter in 2004. He was not pitching fairly well, but was released in mid-June anyway. Voyles pitched in AAA for the Yankees in 2005. He made three solid starts in AAA for St. Louis in 2006, but was released again in late May. Out of baseball the rest of the season, Voyles signed with Minnesota in early January of 2007 but did not make the Twins and pitched for the New Jersey Jackals. He pitched in the Northern League and in the Mexican League in 2008, then his playing career was over. His major league number are 0-4, 6.45, 1.86 WHIP in 40 appearances (68.1 innings), which may not sound like much but is better than most 45th round draft choices do. A few years ago, Brad Voyles was an instructor at the Dave Griffin Baseball School of Griffith, Indiana, coaching youth  baseball.  He does not, however, currently appear on that school's website, so information on what he is doing now was not readily available.

Catcher Anthony John “A. J.” Pierzynski played for the Twins from 1998-2003 and was the Twins' regular catcher for the last three of those years. Born in Bridgehampton, New York, he attended high school in Orlando, Florida. Pierzynski was drafted in the third round in 1994 by Minnesota. He hit for a good average throughout the low minors, although with little power and few walks. He struggled somewhat in his first couple of tries at AAA, hitting in the .250s, but took a big step forward in 2000, hitting .335 in 155 at-bats at Salt Lake. Pierzynski received brief call-ups in 1998-2000, getting a total of 120 at-bats, but became the regular catcher for the Twins from 2001-2003. He did in the majors pretty much what he had done in the minors, although he did also hit a good number of doubles. As a Twin, Pierzynski hit .301/.341/.447 for an OPS+ of 105 and made the all-star team once, in 2002. After the 2003 season, he was traded to San Francisco for Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano, and Joe Nathan. He played one lackluster season for the Giants and then was released, signing with the White Sox. He has been the starting catcher for Chicago from 2005-2012, making another all-star team in 2006, the same year he received a tenth-place vote for MVP. He also hit double-digit home runs for seven consecutive seasons from 2003-2009. In 2012, at age 35, he had what may have been the best offensive season of his career, setting career highs in home runs (27), slugging percentage (.501) and OPS (.827) while winning a Silver Slugger award.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Texas.  He did not repeat his 2012 season, but was still a valuable player.  A free agent again, he signed with Boston for 2014 but was released in mid-July, signing with St. Louis for the rest of the season.  Once again a free agent, he signed with Atlanta for 2015, was their mostly-regular catcher, and had his best season since 2012, batting .300.  He could not repeat that in 2016, however, as he had the worst season of his career.  That brought his playing career to an end.  It was a good career, though.  His similarity scores at b-r.com show two Hall of Famers, Ernie Lombardi and Gabby Hartnett, plus guys like Benito Santiago, Yadier Molina, and Bill Freehan, which is pretty good company.  A. J. Pierzynski has been an analyst for Fox Sports since 2017.

Right-hander Grant Robert Balfour began his career with the Twins. Born in Sydney, Australia, he attended high school in Glenwood, Australia, and then signed with Minnesota as a free agent. A starter early in his minor league career, he was shifted to the bullpen in 2000. It took him a bit to make the transition, but he had a fine year in 2001 with AA New Britain, making two appearances with Minnesota that season. He struggled initially on his promotion to AAA, but had a good year there in 2003 as a sometime starter, sometime reliever, and spent about two months in the majors. He was with the Twins all of 2004, but battled injuries and pitched only 39.1 innings. He would miss most of the next two years with various injuries. The Twins gave up on him after the 2005 season, and Balfour became a free agent. He signed with Cincinnati, but appeared in only nine minor league games. Milwaukee selected him off waivers after the season, but while he pitched very well in the Brewers' minor league system, he made only three relief appearances for Milwaukee before being traded to Tampa Bay in late July of 2007. Balfour had a tremendous season in relief for the Devil Rays in 2008; he did not repeat that in 2009 (although he was still decent), but had another strong campaign in 2010. A free agent after the season, he signed with Oakland and turned in three more very good seasons from 2011-2013, becoming the Athletics' closer in 2011.  A free agent in 2014, he signed with Tampa Bay but had a poor year.  He started 2015 with the Rays, was released in late April, re-signed about a week later, and released again in late May, bringing his playing career to an end.  It was a pretty good career, though.  He appears to be something of a hero in his native Australia, having been inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame in February of 2015.  It appears that he currently divides his time between Tampa, Florida, and New South Wales, Australia.

Right-hander James Urban Hoey appeared in twenty-six games for the Twins in 2011. He was born in Trenton, New Jersey, attended Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and was drafted by Baltimore in the 13th round in 2003. He pitched well in rookie ball but then started to have injury problems, making only two appearances in 2004 and nine in 2005. He was a starter through 2004, then switched to relieving. He pitched very well in Class A in 2006, not as well in AA, but was promoted to Baltimore in late August, where he did not do well in twelve appearances. He made forty excellent minor league appearances in 2007, twenty in AA and twenty in AAA, and came up to the majors for about two months, where he again did not do well. He missed all of 2008 with injury and struggled in AA in 2009, but pitched quite well in a 2010 split between AA and AAA. After the season, he was traded to Minnesota along with Brett Jacobson for J. J. Hardy, Brendan Harris, and cash.  Hoey started 2011 with Minnesota but pitched poorly and was sent back to AAA in late June.  He had a couple of decent months in Rochester and got a September call-up, pitching somewhat better but not all that impressively.  The Twins placed him on waivers after the season and he was claimed by Toronto.  He had a poor year at AAA Las Vegas, became a free agent, and signed with Milwaukee for 2013.  He pitched poorly in three AAA outings, was released, and spent the rest of the summer pitching for Somerset in the Atlantic League.  Control had not been a particular problem for Hoey prior to his 2008 injury, but it was after he came back.  He announced his retirement in February of 2014.  At last report, Jim Hoey was living in the San Francisco area and was the global head of marketing for Logitech G, "the global leader in PC and console gaming gear".  He also hosts an annual golf tournament to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project.