March 15

Arlie "The Freshest Man on Earth" Latham (1860)

Doc Casey (1870)

Ralph Miller (1873)

Fred Lieb (1888)

Rosy Ryan (1898)

Sid Hartman (1920)

Bob Locker (1938)

Wayne Granger (1944)

Bobby Bonds (1946)

Jim Kern (1949)

Steve Stroughter (1952)

Mickey Hatcher (1955)

Harold Baines (1959)

Mike Pagliarulo (1960)

Kim Batiste (1968)

Robert Fick (1974)

Vladimir Nunez (1975)

Dan Perkins (1975)

Kevin Youkilis (1979)

Jon Jay (1985)

Nick Ahmed (1990)

Max Stassi (1991)

Michael Fulmer (1993)

Sean Poppen (1994)

Ralph Miller was the first major league player to live to be a hundred years old.

Fred Lieb was a sportswriter who covered baseball for seventy years.

Sid Hartman was a sportswriter/broadcaster/sports executive who was involved in Minnesota sports for most of the time that there have been Minnesota sports.

Right-handed reliever Wayne Allan Granger was co-closer with Dave LaRoche in 1972.  He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, went to high school in Huntington, Massachusetts, and then attended Springfield College, the same school attended by ex-Twin Glenn Adams.  Granger signed with St. Louis as a free agent in 1965.  He was a starter that year, but shifted to the bullpen in 1966.  He pitched quite well in the minors, reaching AAA in 1967.  In 1968, after posting a 2.16 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP in 25 AAA innings, Granger made his big league debut in early June.  He pitched very well the rest of the season, going 4-2, 2.25 with four saves in 44 innings.  He was traded to Cincinnati after the season and did very well there for three years.  He led the league in saves with 35 in 1970 and led the league in appearances in 1969 and 1971.  He twice received consideration for the MVP award and finished eighth in Cy Young voting in 1970.  After the 1971 season, Granger was traded to Minnesota for Tom Hall.  He continued to pitch very well, going 4-6, 3.01 with 19 saves and a 1.24 WHIP for the Twins in 1972.  After the season, though, Granger was on the move again, traded to St. Louis for John Cumberland and Larry Hisle.  After that, he seemed to kind of hit the wall, and while he had a couple more decent years, he was never a top reliever again.  Granger did not pitch particularly well for the Cardinals and was traded to the Yankees in August of 1973.  The Yankees released him in late March of 1974 and Granger signed with the White Sox.  He spent much of 1974 at AAA, and did not do well in the majors when he did pitch there.  Released after the season, Granger signed with Houston for 1975 and was decent, but no more.  He was released after the season and signed with Montreal for 1976.  He was with the Expos for the first half of the season and was okay, but not very good, and was sent to the minors.  The Expos released him in February of 1977, he signed with Atlanta, and was released again in March.  Granger pitched in Mexico in 1977, apparently did not play in 1978, and then tried to come back with Montreal in 1979 but was ineffective in AAA, ending his playing career.  Wayne Granger was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Fame in 1982 and was inducted into the Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.  After leaving baseball, he worked for a sporting goods company, then at a boat dealership, and then started a billiard business that lasted for fourteen years, until his retirement.  Wayne Granger passed away in Oviedo, Florida on February 25, 2026 at age eighty-one.

Outfielder Stephen Lewis Stroughter did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for a couple of months in 1981.  Born and raised in Visalia, California, he attended the College of the Sequoias and was drafted by San Francisco with the sixth pick of the 1971 June Secondary draft.  He hit pretty well in the minors but his power was inconsistent at first, plus he struck out a lot, so he did not get to AA until 1974 and did not leave Class A behind for good until after the 1975 season.  After that season, when he hit .301 with 15 homers for Fresno at age 23, he was sold to California.  He had two fine years at AA El Paso and then went to AAA Salt Lake City, where he hit .325/.419/.535 in 1978.  Not only did that not earn him a call-up to the majors, Stroughter was released at the end of spring training in 1979.  He was out of baseball until the middle of June, when Seattle signed him.  He had a couple of solid years at AAA Spokane in 1979 and 1980, but was traded to Minnesota after the 1980 season for Mike Bacsik.  In 82 at-bats at Toledo, he hit .247/.317/.411 and then was sold back to Seattle at the end of May.  He finished the season in Spokane, then finally made his major league debut at the start of the 1982 season.  He was used almost exclusively as a bench player, getting only 40 at-bats by May 19.  He did not impress in those at-bats and was sent back to AAA Salt Lake City.  He was back with the Mariners for the month of July, but got only seven more at bats, hitting .170/.235/.255 for the season.  Those would be his career major league numbers; he was in AAA for Toronto and in Japan in 1983, and then his playing career ended.  He appears to have been limited defensively, but he hit .303/.377/.503 in 1,818 AAA at-bats.  Much of that was in the Pacific Coast League, but it’s still hard to think he couldn’t have helped somebody if he’d been given the chance.  After baseball, Steve Stroughter returned to Visalia, where he was an “independent entertainment professional.”  Steve Stroughter passed away on March 6, 2018 in Fresno, California.

Outfielder/first baseman/third baseman Mickey Vaughn Hatcher played for the Twins from 1981-1986.  Hatcher was born in Cleveland, but went to high school in Mesa, Arizona and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he also played football.  He was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round in 1977.  He hit very well in the minors--his career minor league batting average is .339 in 1,403 at-bats.  He split 1979 and 1980 between AAA and the majors, but his minor league success did not immediately translate to the majors, as he hit only .243 in 177 at-bats.  In late March of 1981, Hatcher was traded to Minnesota with Kelly Snider and Matt Reeves for Ken Landreaux.  While he only had one season in which he played in over 120 games (1984), Hatcher was a semi-regular, at least, in his six years with the Twins.  He was generally used in the outfield, playing mostly in center in 1981, splitting time in the two corner outfield positions in 1982, playing mostly in right in 1983, and moving to left for 1984-1986.  He topped .300 in consecutive years, 1983-1984.  As a Twin, he hit .284/.315/.383 in 2,366 at-bats (672 games).  Despite hitting .278 in 1986, Hatcher was released by the Twins in March of 1987.  He signed with the Dodgers and played for them for four years as a reserve.  He continued to hit for a high average in his first three years, but in the fourth year he dropped to .212.  He played briefly for AAA Albuquerque in 1991, and then his playing career came to an end.  Hatcher remained in baseball, coaching for the Texas Rangers in 1993 and 1994, managing and coaching in the minors, and coaching for the Dodgers in 1998.  He became the batting coach of the Angels in 2000, a job he held until mid-May of 2012, when he reportedly clashed with Albert Pujols.  He was with the Dodgers as a special assistant to the general manager for the rest of that season, but was not retained for 2013.  At last report, Mickey Hatcher was still living in the Los Angeles area and was doing involved in public relations for the Angels.  He has been a part of the Twins Fantasy Camp in recent years.

Third baseman Michael Timothy Pagliarulo played for the Twins in the early 1990s.  Born in Medford, Massachusetts, he attended the University of Miami and then was drafted by the Yankees in the sixth round in 1981.  His batting averages in the minors were nothing special, but he hit for power (41 homers from 1982-1983) and drew a high number of walks.  He was actually having a poor year in AAA Columbus in 1984 when he was brought up to the majors in early July to replace Toby Harrah.  He remained the Yankees' third baseman through June of 1989.  He never hit for average, but he hit 105 home runs in a Yankee uniform.  When Pagliarulo hit in the .230s, his power numbers made him acceptable to the Yankees, but in 1988 both his power and his average dropped, and the next year he was traded to San Diego.  His power never did come back, but he was able to raise his batting average, hitting .254 as the mostly-regular third baseman for the Padres in 1990.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota.  Platooned with Scott Leius in 1991, Pagliarulo hit .279 for the World Champion Twins.  He missed much of 1992 with injury, but came back in 1993 and was hitting .292 in late August when he was traded to Baltimore for a player to be named later (Erik Schullstrom).  He finished the year at .303.  As a Twin, Mike Pagilarulo hit .272/.317/.376 in 723 at-bats (246 games).  He was a free agent in 1994 and played in Japan.  He came back in 1995 as a platoon third baseman for Texas, but hit only .232, and his playing career came to an end.  Mike Pagliarulo was the owner of the website dugoutcentral.com.  He then became a principal in an international sports consulting company called The Baseline Group as well as the founder of a nonprofit corporation called the Baseball Institute of Development, which collaborates with leading experts from various fields of sports and medicine to provide qualified resources and develop solutions to advance athletic performance knowledge.  One of the officers of the Baseball Institute of Development is Dan Gladden.  In 2013 Pagliarulo became the batting coach for Indianapolis in the Pittsburgh organization, but he was replaced after the 2014 season by ex-Twin Butch Wynegar.  In 2017 he replaced Barry Bonds as the batting coach of the Miami Marlins.  He was let go by the team in April of 2019 because the team was not hitting.  At last report, he was the owner of Universal Sports Analytics and is involved with Italian-American Baseball Foundation.  He is also on the advisory board of America's Adopt a Soldier. Pagliarulo’s son, also named Mike, played baseball for Dartmouth College.

Right-hander Daniel Lee Perkins was with the Twins for much of 1999.  A native of Miami, Perkins was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1993.  His minor league numbers are not particularly impressive:  a career ERA of 4.98 and a career WHIP of 1.50.  He did have an excellent year at Ft. Myers in 1996, going 13-7, 2.96 with a 1.19 WHIP in 136 innings.  Perkins reach AAA late in 1998 and got attention by going 5-0 in seven starts; however, his ERA was 4.82 and his WHIP 1.46, leading one to believe he benefited from good run support.  Still, he began 1999 in the Twins' bullpen, and became a member of the starting rotation for most of May and June.  In all, he made twelve starts and seventeen relief appearances, going 1-7, 6.54 with a 1.85 WHIP.  He was relatively effective as a reliever, with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP, but was disastrous as a starter.  Oddly, he was much more effective against lefties:  right-handers hit him at a .363/.419/.606 clip that year.  1999 would be Perkins' only year in the majors; after an awful 2000 at AAA Salt Lake the Twins let him go.  He signed with Cleveland, but made only one start at AA Akron before ending his career.  After leaving baseball he attended Miami Dade College and Florida International University.  He then became a chef, working for a restaurant in Miami, owning a restaurant in Orlando, and then becoming a food service director for Aramark in Winter Garden, Florida.  We don't know how many major league ballplayers have become chefs after their playing careers ended, but we're guessing it's a pretty small number.

Right-hander Michael Joseph Fulmer was with the Twins for two months in 2022.  He was born in Oklahoma City, went to high school in Edmond, Oklahoma, and was drafted by the Mets in the first round with the fourth pick in 2011.  He pitched well for the Mets in the minors, reaching AA in 2015 at age twenty-two, and was having a fine year there when he was traded to Detroit at the July deadline.  He began 2016 in AAA, but after just three starts was promoted to the majors, where he stayed other than a couple of rehab assignments.  He was rookie of the year in 2016, when he went 11-7, 3.06, 1.12 WHIP in 26 starts.  He made the all-star team in 2017, but struggled in 2018 and missed all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery.  He was not good in the COVID year of 2020, but came back strong when moved to the bullpen in 2021, going 5-6, 2.97, 1.28 WHIP.  His strikeout rate went way up--he had only struck out around seven per nine as a starter, but fanned 9.4 per nine as a reliever that year.  He was having another solid year for the Tigers in 2022 when he was traded to Minnesota in early August for Sawyer Gipson-Long.  In twenty-six appearances (24.1 innings) Fulmer went 2-2, 3.70, but with a WHIP of 1.56 and allowing 11.1 hits per nine innings.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Cubs. He was nothing special, but was a useful pitcher for them in 2023.  A free agent again, he signed with Boston for 2024 but missed the entire season due to injury.  He was released in April of 2025, signed two days later with the Cubs, was released at the end of June, signed three days later with Kansas City, was released in mid-August, and signed three days later with Seattle.  Most of his 2025 was spent in AAA, but he did appear in two games for the Cubs and one for Boston.  He signed with San Francisco for 2026.  He turns thirty-three today.  We wish him well.

Right-hander Sean Russell Poppen appeared in ten games for the Twins from 2019-2020.  He was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, attended Harvard, and was drafted by the Twins in the 19th round in 2016.  His minor league numbers are certainly respectable, though hardly eye-poppin'.  He reached Class A in 2016, high-A in 2017, AA in 2018, and AAA in 2019.  In 12 games (9 starts) in Rochester in 2019, he went 5-1, 3.84, 1.31 WHIP.  He was called up briefly twice in 2019, appearing in one game in mid-June and three games in late July.  He appeared in six games for the Twins in 2020.   His totals as a Twin are 0-0, 4.70, 1.75 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings.  The Twins put him on waivers after the 2020 season and he signed with Pittsburgh.  The Pirates sold him to Tampa Bay in mid-May of 2021 and the Rays waived him in early August.  He was claimed by Arizona.  He made twenty-four appearances in the majors that season, twenty of them with the Diamondbacks, and was not particularly good. in 2022, however, he made the Arizona team out of spring training and pitched well for them, going 1-2, 3.91 in twenty-six appearances.  Diamondbacks management was apparently not particularly impressed, though, because he was sent down after a couple of mediocre outings in early July and didn't come back until the last week of the season.  He signed with San Diego for 2023 and had a poor year in AAA.  He signed with Seattle for 2024, but was released in April and spent the summer pitching poorly for Gastonia in the Atlantic League.  He signed with the Angels in late April of 2025, but pitched poorly in AA and was released in early August, finishing the season in the Mexican League.  He did pitch well there, although in just three games.  He turns thirty-two today and has a lifetime major league ERA of 5.08 with a WHIP of 1.59.  His AAA ERA is 4.42 with a WHIP of 1.47.  We have no reason to root against him, but unless he develops a new pitch or something there's no reason to think he's going to make it back to the major leagues, and he may not even make it back to the Mexican League.

March 14

Candy Nelson (1849)

Bill Holbert (1855)

Marty McManus (1900)

Jack Rothrock (1905)

Santos Amaro (1908)

Bill Hoskins (1914)

Ron Law (1946)

Dave McKay (1950)

Butch Wynegar (1956)

Steve Lake (1957)

Jerry Willard (1960)

Kirby Puckett (1960)

Kevin Brown (1965)

Brent Gates (1970)

Matt Kata (1978)

Bobby Jenks (1981)

Marwin Gonzalez (1989)

Santos Amaro is the father of Ruben Amaro Sr. and the grandfather of Ruben Amaro Jr.  He was a star player in Cuba and in Mexico and is a member of the Salon de la Fama.

Matt Kata was drafted by Minnesota in the twentieth round in 1996, but did not sign.

Right-hander Ronald David Law did not pitch for the Twins, but was in AAA for them in 1972.  He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 1964 at age eighteen.  He pitched quite well in the low minors and didn't do badly for a twenty-year-old in AA in 1966.  For some reason he spent a lot of 1967 back in Class A, although he pitched well there and again in AA when finally moved back there.  He again was made to repeat A and AA in 1968 and this time, possibly bored by it, did not do as well.  Cleveland chose him in the minor league draft after the 1968 season.  He pitched well in AA for them and came up to the majors for the second half of the season.  He did not do well, going 3-4, 4.99 with one save.  Part of the problem may have been that he had a reverse split, doing much better against left-handed batters than right-handers.  Also, he was still only twenty-three.  That was to be his only time in the majors, though.  He was traded to Washington after the 1969 campaign.  He did decently for AAA Denver for a couple of seasons but never made it back to the majors.  Sometime during the 1972 season he found his way from Denver to Tacoma in the Twins' system.  He appeared in eleven games for them, ten of them starts, and went 3-4, 3.84, 1.31 WHIP.  That brought his playing career to an end.  Ron Law passed away on July 5, 1994, at the young age of forty-eight.

Infielder David Lawrence McKay played for the Twins in 1975 and 1976.  He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, attended Creighton University, and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1971.  He was never much of a hitter; his best year in the minors was 1974 in AA Orlando when he hit .278, significantly above his career minor league average of .245.  Despite that, the Twins brought him up in late August of 1975 and made him their regular third baseman the rest of the season, replacing the injured Eric Soderholm.  He began 1976 as the regular third baseman as well, but predictably failed to hit and lost the job to Mike Cubbage.  McKay was sent to the minors in late June and was left unprotected in the expansion draft after the season, being selected by Toronto.  As a Twin, he hit .228/.281/.281 in 263 at-bats.  McKay was a utility player for the Blue Jays in 1977, hit .197, and in 1978 was made the regular second baseman.  He hit .238, but was still the regular second baseman at the start of 1979, finally losing the job to Danny Ainge in late May and going back to the minors.  He was released after the season and signed with Oakland for 1980.  Moved back into a utility role, he actually did a decent job for a couple of years for the Athletics, hitting .244 and .263 in 1980 and 1981.  In 1982, however, he fell to .198, and after spending 1983 in AAA his career came to an end.  After that, he became a coach for Oakland from 1984 through 1995.  He then followed Tony LaRussa to St. Louis, where he was a coach through 2011.  When LaRussa retired, however, McKay moved on.  He was the first base coach for the Chicago Cubs in 2012-2013 and has been the first base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2014.  Dave McKay was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.  His son, Cody McKay, was a catcher who got 77 at-bats in the major leagues, three with Oakland in 2002, 74 with St. Louis in 2004.

Switch-hitting catcher Harold Delano “Butch” Wynegar was the Twins' catcher from 1976 through 1982.  A native of York, Pennsylvania, Wynegar was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1974.  He had two excellent years in the low minors.  After hitting .314 with 19 homers in Class A Reno in 1975, Wynegar was jumped to the big leagues and made the Twins' regular catcher in 1976.  He had a good year for a twenty-year-old, hitting .260 with ten homers, making the all-star team, finishing second to Mark Fidrych for Rookie of the Year, and getting a tenth-place vote for MVP.  He had a nearly identical season in 1977 and made the all-star team again.  Given his age, Wynegar was considered a coming star, but it turned out that this was about as good as he got.  He remained the Twins' starting catcher until mid-May of 1982, although he was injured much of 1981.  As a Twin, Butch Wynegar hit .254/.340/.342 in 2,746 at-bats (794 games).  He was off to a poor start in 1982 when he was traded to the Yankees along with Roger Erickson for Pete Filson, Larry Milbourne, John Pacella, and cash.  He shared the catching position with Rick Cerone, playing mostly against left-handers, and had a couple of fine years, batting over .290 in his first two seasons as a Yankee.  He then began a slow slide, and after hitting only .206 in 1986, Wynegar was traded to the Angels.  He was a backup catcher for California for two seasons, ending his playing career after the 1988 campaign. Wynegar remained in baseball, becoming a minor league manager and coach in the Baltimore and Texas systems before becoming the batting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003.  In 2006, he became the batting coach for the Yankees' AAA team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, a job he held through 2014.  He moved on to the Pittsburgh organization in the 2015 season.  He was the batting coach for AAA Indianapolis from 2015-2017 and was the batting coach for Class A Bradenton from 2018-2019.  He then was co-host of a podcast, Low&Away Baseball, but that seems to have ended in 2023.  Thus, no information about what Butch Wynegar is doing now was readily available.

Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett was a Twin for his entire major league career, 1984-1995.  Born and raised in Chicago, Puckett attended Bradley University and was chosen by the Twins with the third pick of the 1982 January draft.  He hit .382 in rookie-level Elizabethton in 1982, .314 at Class A Visalia in 1983, and was hitting .263 in AAA Toledo in 1984 when he was called up to Minnesota on May 8.  He was immediately installed as the starting center fielder, got four hits in his first game, and never went to the minors again.  He hit .296 in his first season, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Alvin Davis and Mark Langston.  Puckett hit no homers in 1984 and only four in 1985, but jumped to 31 in 1986; that would be his career high, but he remained a power threat the rest of his career.  He was the Twins regular center fielder until 1994, when he moved to right with first Alex Cole and then Rich Becker taking over in center.  Puckett's best season was probably 1988, when he hit .356 with 24 homers and led the league in both hits and total bases.  For his career, Puckett hit .318/.360/.477 with 207 homers and 134 stolen bases in 7,244 at-bats (1,783 games in twelve seasons).  He received MVP consideration nine times, finishing in the top seven seven times and in the top three three times.  Puckett made the all-star team ten times, won six gold gloves, and won six silver slugger awards.  He led the league in at-bats twice, in hits four times, in RBIs once, in batting average once, and in total bases twice.  He played in the World Series twice, hitting a home run in 1991 which some people may remember.  Shortly before the 1996 season started, he woke up to find that he could not see out of his right eye.  He was diagnosed with glaucoma, and his playing career was suddenly over.  Kirby Puckett was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2001.  In 2002, Puckett was charged with fifth-degree sexual criminal conduct and fifth-degree assault, charges for which he was found not guilty.  He moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 2003.  Kirby Puckett passed away in Scottsdale on March 6, 2006, one day after suffering a stroke.

Infielder Brent Robert Gates played for Minnesota for two years in the late 1990s.  He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, attended high school in Grandville, Michigan, and then went to the University of Minnesota.  He was drafted by Oakland in the first round in 1991.  He hit quite well in the minors; Gates hit .321 in Class A Modesto in 1992 and was hitting .337 in 102 at-bats split between AA and AAA in 1993 when he was called up to the majors in May.  He was the Athletics regular second baseman that year and hit .290, finishing sixth for Rookie of the Year.  He was having a similar year in 1994 when he was injured in mid-July.  He missed the rest of the season and never was as good again.  He got the second base job back in 1995 but hit only .254.  He was the starter at second in 1996 when he suffered another season-ending injury, this time in mid-June.  The Athletics released him in March of 1997.  He signed with Seattle and was a utility player for the Mariners that year.  A free agent after the season, Gates came to Minnesota.  He shared third base with Ron Coomer in 1998 (Coomer would replace Orlando Merced at first when Gates played) and backed up Todd Walker at second in 1999.  As a Twin, Brent Gates hit .252/.326/.330 in 639 at-bats (217 games).  On occasion, the stadium organist would play the Christian hymn "Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates" as his walk-up music.  He managed in Class A in 2001, then left baseball.  Brent Gates currently owns the Gates Insurance Agency in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He was also the baseball coach of Grand Rapids Christian High School from 2008-13, reaching the state championship in each of his last three seasons and winning the last two of them, and returned to that job from 2020-2022.  He became an assistant coach with Davenport University in 2023.  He was inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Utility player Marwin Javier Gonzalez played for the Twins from 2019-2020.  He was born in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela and signed with the Cubs as an amateur free agent in November of 2005.  He was in the minor leagues for the Cubs through 2011, reaching AA in 2010 and AAA in 2011.  He initially played third base, moved to middle infield in 2008, and added outfield to his resume in 2009.  He was generally young for his league and so struggled at the plate, but hit well in 2011 as a twenty-two-year-old splitting his season between AA and AAA.  He was left unprotected by the Cubs after the season and was claimed by Boston.  He never played with the Red Sox, however, as he was traded to Houston that same day.  He was a part-time player there for his first couple of seasons and didn't hit much.  He improved in 2014, when at age twenty-five he became more-or-less a league average batter.  That's what he has remained with the exception of 2017, when he batted .303/.377/.530 with 23 home runs.  He became a "regular" player, although at a variety of positions, in 2016.  He became a free agent after the 2018 season and signed with Minnesota.  He started the 2019 season at third base due to an injury to Miguel Sano, but once again played a variety of positions when Sano returned.  2020 was similar--he played a lot of third when Josh Donaldson was out, and played a variety of positions otherwise.  He was decent at the plate in 2019, but had a poor year in 2020.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Boston for 2021.  He did little for them, was released in mid-August, signed with Houston, and did little for them the rest of the season.  He signed with the Yankees for 2022, and again did little.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Orix Buffaloes, for whom he did not hit much, either.  He played in thirty-games for Orix in 2024, did little again, and retired after the season.  It wasn't a bad career, though--he played in eleven seasons, batted .252, and had an OPS of .709.  That's not great, but not bad for a guy who could play any position but catcher.  As a Twin he batted .248/.311/.387 in 662 plate appearances (167 games).  No information about what Marwin Gonzalez is doing now was readily available.

March 13

Frank "Home Run" Baker (1886)

Patsy Gharrity (1892)

Alejandro Oms (1895)

C. Arnholt Smith (1899)

Doug Harvey (1930

Steve Barber (1948)

Randy Bass (1954)

Terry Leach (1954)

Yoshihiko Takahashi (1957)

Luis Aguayo (1959)

Mariano Duncan (1963)

Will Clark (1964)

Jorge Fabregas (1970)

Scott Sullivan (1971)

Johan Santana (1979)

Mike Aviles (1981)

Sandy Leon (1989)

Robinson Leyer (1993)

Outfielder Alejandro Oms was a star in Cuba and in the Negro Leagues.

C. Arnholt Smith was the original owner of the San Diego Padres.

Doug Harvey was a National League umpire from 1962-92.

Infielder Yoshihiko Takahashi has the longest hitting streak in Japanese professional baseball.

Not the Steve Barber who played in the majors for fifteen years, this is right-handed reliever Steven Lee Barber, who played for the Twins in 1970 and 1971.  B-r.com lists them as having both attended high school in Blair, Maryland, but this seems unlikely, as the more famous Steve Barber was actually born in Maryland while "our" Steve Barber was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He attended both the University of Arizona and the University of LaVerne before signing with the Twins as a free agent in 1969.  He had a very good year in Class A Wisconsin Rapids in 1969, and started 1970 in Minnesota.  He was there most of the year but was used sparingly, logging only 27.1 innings in 18 appearances.  Add in only 24 minor league innings, and it was pretty much a wasted year for the 22-year-old.  Barber started 1971 in the majors, again was used sparingly, and was sent back to the minors after about a month.  He would never make it back to the majors.  He had a poor year at AAA Portland in 1971, but bounced back for a good year at AA Charlotte in 1972.  He was still only 24 that season, so you'd think he’d have gotten another chance.  Instead, that was his last season in organized baseball.  No information about Steve Barber's life since then was readily available.

First baseman Randy William Bass had 19 at-bats with the Twins in 1977.  A native of Lawton, Oklahoma, he attended high school there and then was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in 1972.  He was in the Twins' minor league system for six years.  He hit for power every year, belting 30 homers for Class A Lynchberg in 1974, but had no speed due to fractures in both feet when he was eight years old.  He was jumped to AAA the next year and continued to hit for power and a decent average.  He did not get a chance in the majors until 1977, when a .321 average with 25 homers and an OPS of 1.016 at AAA Tacoma resulted in a September callup.  He went 2-for-19 in nine games, with both hits singles.  Just before the 1978 season, Bass was sold to Kansas City and sent to Omaha.  The stadium there took away some of his power, but he still hit 22 homers and had an OPS of .916.  He also drew 100 walks, the third consecutive season he was in triple digits in walks in the minors.  He only got two at-bats in the majors, however, and just before the 1979 he was sold again, this time to Montreal.  Playing in hitter-friendly Denver, Bass really took off, batting .333 in consecutive years and hitting 73 homers in two seasons.  Again, though, it did not translate into a chance in the majors--Bass got one major league at-bat in 1979, and in September of 1980 he was traded to San Diego.  1981 was Bass' only full season in the majors, but he still never really got a chance to play, hitting .210 in only 176 at-bats.  He was waived in May of 1982 and selected by Texas.  The Rangers returned him to AAA Denver in early June, where he had another good year.  It did him no good, however, and after the season, Bass went to Japan, where he became a star.  In six seasons in Japan, Randy Bass hit .337/.418/.660.  He hit 54 home runs in 1985, one shy of Sadaharu Oh's single season record (in a season-ending series against the Oh-managed Tokyo Giants, Bass was walked every time he came to bat).  His career in Japan came to an end in June of 1988 when he was released over a dispute with management over whether it was responsible for paying medical bills for his son.  Upon ending his playing career, Bass moved back to the Lawton, Oklahoma area, where he purchased a farm, raising cattle and wheat.  He was also a scout for the Tokyo Giants from 1998-2003.  In 2004 he was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate, where he served until 2019, when he was forced out by term limits.  In 2023 he was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, a rare honor for a non-Japanese player.  He was also given the Order of the Rising Sun in 2025.

Right-handed submariner Terry Hester Leach pitched for the Twins in the early 1990s.  He was born in Selma, Alabama and attended Auburn University.  An arm injury at Auburn led Leach to develop his submarine delivery.  He signed as a free agent with Atlanta in 1977.  Used primarily in relief, Leach pitched very well in the minors for the Braves.  His best year was 1979, when he posted a 1.95 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in 106 innings, mostly in AA.  His reward for that was to be sent to AA again 1980 and to be released in July despite a 3.21 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP that season.  The Mets signed him four days later and he pitched very well again.  Finally, in 1981, after he went 10-3 with a 2.28 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in AA and AAA, Terry Leach was brought to the majors in mid-August.  He pitched very well, but just like with Atlanta, the Mets clearly had no faith in him.  He split 1982 between AAA and the majors, was in the minors all of 1983 and 1984 (despite going 11-4, 3.03 in 1984), and split 1985 and 1986 between AAA and the majors.  He always pitched well in the majors when given the chance:  his major league ERA through 1986 was 3.21 in 143 innings.  Finally, in 1987, at age 33, Terry Leach got his first full year in the big leagues.  In 44 games, twelve of them starts, he went 11-1, 3.22 with a 1.23 WHIP.  He had another good year in 1988, used exclusively out of the bullpen.  In 1989, however, Leach got off to a poor start and was traded to Kansas City in early June.  The Royals released him on April 2, 1990, and the Twins signed him five days later.  Leach was a valuable member of the Minnesota bullpen for two years:  in 105 games, he posted an ERA of 3.38 and a WHIP of 1.35.  He became a free agent after the 1992 season and signed with Montreal, but was released at the end of spring training.  The White Sox picked him up, and he finished his career with two years in Chicago.  Leach was still an effective relief pitcher at the end of his career:  in his final two seasons, he posted an ERA of 2.11 and a WHIP of 1.05 in 89.2 innings.  In 2000, Leach wrote his autobiography:  "Things Happen For A Reason".  At last report, Terry Leach a partner in Designers Logistics Support in West Palm Beach, Florida.  He is also involved in raising money for autism awareness.

Johan Alexander Santana pitched for the Twins from 2000-2007.  He was born in Tovar Merida, Venezuela and attended high school there.  Santana was signed by Houston as a free agent in 1995.  He did not enter American organized baseball until 1997.  In three years in the Astros' organization, Santana never had an ERA below 4.50, although he had a high number of strikeouts.  He never got above Class A in those three seasons.  The Astros left him unprotected after the 1999 season, and he was selected by Florida.  The Marlins then traded Santana to Minnesota for Jered Camp.  Many analysts believe the Twins got the better end of the trade.  Only twenty-one years old in 2000, Santana was used sparingly, and he was injured part of 2001.  When he came back from injury in 2002, however, he was ready to be a major league pitcher.  He pitched in 27 games, 14 as a starter and 13 in relief, and posted a 2.99 ERA in 108.1 innings, with a WHIP of 1.23 and 137 strikeouts.  Santana felt he had earned a spot in the starting rotation for 2003, but the Twins disagreed and kept him in the bullpen until mid-July, when it became obvious that he was simply too good to be used in relief.  Santana remained in the Twins' starting rotation through 2007.  He led the league in victories once, in ERA twice, in starts once, in innings once, in strikeouts three times, in ERA+ three times, in WHIP four times, in fewest hits per nine innings three times, and in strikeouts per nine innings three times.  He made the all-star team three times, won the Cy Young award twice, finished in the top five in Cy Young voting two other times, finished in the top seven an additional time, and twice finished in the top seven in MVP voting.  He also won a Gold Glove.  Unfortunately, after the 2007 season it appeared that Santana wanted more money that the Twins would pay, and so on February 2, 2008, Johan Santana was traded to the Mets for Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey.  Johan Santana pitched in 251 games as a Twin, 175 of them starts.  He went 93-44, 3.22 with a WHIP of 1.09 and struck out 1,381 batters in 1,308.1 innings.  With the Mets, Santana continued to pitch well, leading the league in starts, ERA, and innings in 2008, a year in which he finished third in Cy Young balloting and received support for MVP.  He also pitched well in 2009 and 2010, although he was been hampered by injuries and a lack of run support.  He missed all of 2011 due to injury.  He came back strong at the start of 2012, but injuries again struck shortly before the all-star break.  He tried to keep pitching but was ineffective, making five awful starts before being shut down in mid-August.  He missed all of the 2013 season, signed with Baltimore for 2014, but missed all of the 2014 season as well.  He signed with Toronto for 2015 but was again unable to pitch and his playing career ended.  It was a pretty fine career, though.  He went 139-78, 3.20, 1.13 WHIP.  He was in the top five in Cy Young voting six times, was in the top ten in MVP voting twice, made four all-star teams, and won a Gold Glove.  He's not going into the Hall of Fame, but he's in the Twins Hall of Fame.  At last report, Johan Santana was living in Estero, Florida and coaching youth baseball.  He was also helping the Twins during spring training.  He also has founded the Johan Santana Foundation, which provides assistance to hospitals.

Catcher Sandy David Leon appeared in twenty-five games for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela and signed with Washington as a free agent in 2007.  He did not hit early in his minor league career, but suddenly in 2012 he found his batting stroke.  Over three minor league teams, he batted .322/.396/.460 and got twelve major league games.  The next year, however, his batting stroke went away again, as he posted an OPS of .528, mostly in AA.  He has rarely been a good offensive player, but he is highly regarded as a defensive catcher.  He got occasional call-ups with the Nationals through 2014, then was sold to Boston in March of 2015.  He stayed with the Red Sox through 2019, mostly as a major league backup.  He batted .310 with an OPS of .845 in 2016, but was below .200 with an OPS below .600 the rest of his Boston career.  He was traded to Cleveland for the 2020 season, became a free agent, and went to Miami for 2021.  He signed back with Cleveland for 2022, was released at the end of March, signed with Cincinnati in early April, was sold back to Cleveland in late June, and was traded to the Twins for Ian Hamilton in early August.  He appeared in twenty-five games over two months, getting fifty-six at-bats, and batted .179/.270/.232.  He signed with Texas for 2023, was released in late March, and signed with Cleveland one more time in July.   He signed with Kansas City for 2024, was released in March again, and signed with Atlanta, for whom he played in AAA.  He was again in AAA for the Braves in 2025, making the majors for five games, and is again in spring training with Atlanta this season.  He turns thirty-seven today.  As long as he can play good defense, Sandy Leon will probably be playing baseball somewhere.

Right-hander Robinson Leyer did not play for the Twins, but was in AAA for them in 2021.  He was born in El Saibo, Dominican Republic, and signed by the White Sox as a free agent in 2011.  His early minor league numbers are not impressive, but the White Sox stuck with him through 2017.  After an average year in AA, they sold him to Cincinnati for 2018.  He had his first really good year that season, but he was still in AA at age 25.  He became a free agent and signed with Seattle for 2019.  He pitched poorly in AAA, was released in mid-June, and signed with Boston.  He did well for them, but he did it back in AA.  There were no minor leagues in 2020, of course, but he made six appearances for the Red Sox.  He was, well, not good--six games, 4.2 innings, 11 runs, 12 hits, 8 walks.  He was 0-0, 21.21 with a WHIP of 4.29, which has to be one of the worst career lines for someone who played in at least six games.  He signed with the Twins for 2021 and spent the summer in AAA, putting up a line of 1-4, 6.95, 1.63 WHIP.  He again became a free agent and did not sign with anyone, ending his playing career.  He struck out a lot of batters, which is probably why he got a lot of chances, but when someone didn't strike out against him they usually got on base.  No information about what Robinson Leyer is currently doing was readily available.

March 12

Abraham Mills (1884)

Denny Lyons (1866)

Leroy Matlock (1907)

Vern Law (1930)

Durwood Merrill (1938)

Johnny Callison (1939)

Jimmy Wynn (1942)

Bill Butler (1947)

Larry Rothschild (1954)

Ruppert Jones (1955)

Dale Murphy (1956)

Mike Quade (1957)

Darryl Strawberry (1962)

Shawn Gilbert (1965)

Steve Finley (1965)

Raul Mondesi (1971)

Greg Hansell (1971) 

David Lee (1973)

P. J. Walters (1985)

Max Meyer (1999)

Abraham Mills was president of the Mills Commission, which determined that Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball in Cooperstown, New York in 1839.

Leroy Matlock was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s.

Durwood Merrill was a major league umpire from 1977-2002.

Max Meyer was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-fourth round in 2017 but did not sign.

Left-hander William Franklin Butler pitched for the Twins in parts of three seasons:  1974, 1975, and 1977.  He was born in Hyattsville, Maryland and went to high school in Herndon, Virginia.  He was drafted by Detroit in the 37th round in 1965.  He pitched pretty well in the low minors, but did not reach AA until the end of 1967.  He was shifted to the bullpen in 1968 and continued to pitch well in AA.  Butler was left unprotected in the expansion draft, however, and was selected by Kansas City.  He was with the Royals for all of 1969.  He went back to starting and did decently, going 9-10, 3.90 in 193.2 innings.  He was did about as well again in 1970, but started 1971 in AAA Omaha, coming back to Kansas City in late June.  He again did okay, but the Royals clearly had no faith in him, as the again started him in the minors in 1972 and then sold him to Cleveland in July.  He got a September call-up with the Indians and pitched well in 11.2 innings.  It did him no good, as he was in the minors all of 1973 and was traded to Minnesota after the season, along with Dick Colpaert, for Mike Brooks and Jim Strickland.  Butler made four good starts at AAA Tacoma and was called up to Minnesota in mid-May.  Used about equally as a starter and a reliever, Butler went 4-6, 4.10 with a 1.49 WHIP.  He was used more as a reliever in 1975, but did not do as well.  He had an unspectacular 1976 in Tacoma and did not do much better there in 1977, when he was shifted back to a starting role.  Butler was with the Twins for about a month that season, his last shot at the majors, and pitched poorly.  The Twins traded him to the Dodgers for Rex Hudson after the season.  He was in the AAA Albuquerque bullpen all season, pitched poorly, and his playing career was over.  At last report, it appeared that Bill Butler was living in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia and was working with youth there.

Outfielder/infielder Gregory Michael Quade did not play for the Twins, but he managed the Rochester Red Wings from 2015-2017.  He was born in Evanston, Illinois, went to the University of New Orleans, and was drafted by Pittsburgh in the twenty-second round in 1979.  He had some decent batting averages and drew a good number of walks, but had very little power.  He remained in the Pittsburgh organization through 1983 but spent nearly all of that time in Class A, only reaching AA for sixty-three games in 1981.  He was mostly an outfielder, but also played every position of the infield except first base and was twice used as a mop-up pitcher.  He became a minor-league manager in 1985 and has been a manager or coach most of the rest of the time.  In seventeen years as a minor league manager his teams have reached the playoffs eight times and won the league championship twice.  He was the manager of the Chicago Cubs at the end of 2010 and for all of 2011, where he joined a long list of managers who failed to win anything with the Cubs.  He was the manager of the Rochester Red Wings, the Twins' AAA team, from 2015-2017.  He was a roving outfield instructor the Twins in 2018 and was the outfield coordinator for the Twins from 2019-2025.  It appears, however, that he is no longer in that position.  No information about what Mike Quade is doing now was readily available.

Utility player Albert Shawn Gilbert was drafted by the Twins, but never played for them.  He was born in Camden, New Jersey, but went to high school in Avondale, Arizona.  He then attended Cal State--Fresno and Arizona State and was drafted by Minnesota in the 12th round in 1987.  He was in the Twins' minor league system for six years.  He was a shortstop for the first four years, shifted to the outfield in his fifth season, and played all over the place in year six.  His best season was 1988, when he hit .288, mostly for Class A Kenosha.  He had little power, never topping five home runs and not even hitting that many doubles.  He reached AAA in 1992, but hit only .245 in Portland.  Gilbert was placed on waivers after the season and signed with the White Sox.  He did no better at AAA for them, became a free agent after the season, and signed with Philadelphia.  He had a couple of mediocre years in AAA there, became a free agent again, and signed with the Mets.  He was not particularly better as a Met, but his persistence paid of in 1997, when he made his major league debut.  He came up in early June and was used mostly as a pinch-hitter/defensive replacement, getting 22 at-bats in 29 games.  Gilbert started 1998 in the Mets' system, then was traded to St. Louis in June.  Most of his 1998 was in the minors, although he got five major league at-bats (three with the Mets, two with St. Louis).  He became a free agent again after the season and signed with the Dodgers.  He had the best years of his career in AAA with the Dodgers, hitting over .300 for three consecutive years and in the .330s the last two years.  He was in his mid-thirties by then, and obviously not a prospect, but spent a month in the majors in 2000, used mostly as a defensive replacement.  He spent his last two years as a player at AAA in Pittsburgh, ending his playing career after the 2003 season.  He played seventeen years in the minors, twelve of them in AAA, but got only 47 at-bats in the majors, hitting .149.  Still, it's 47 more at-bats than most of us will ever get, and he got to spend seventeen years doing something he apparently loved doing.  He was an assistant baseball coach for Fresno Pacific University from 2009-2010, then was an assistant baseball coach for Long Beach State, and at last report was the head baseball coach at Servite High School in Orange County, California.

Right-hander Gregory Michael Hansell was a reliever for the Twins in 1996.  Born in Bellflower, California, he attended high school in La Palma, California and was drafted by Boston in the tenth round in 1989.  Originally a starter, he got off to a good start in the low minors, but was traded to the Mets in July of 1990 as part of a deal for first baseman Mike Marshall.  At the end of the year, he was traded again, this time to the Dodgers.  After a strong year in Class A Bakersfield in 1991, the Dodgers promoted Hansell as high as AAA in 1992.  He struggled there, but had a fine year after being moved to the bullpen in 1994.  He was apparently injured part of 1995, and was traded to the Twins at the July deadline along with Ron Coomer, Jose Parra, and a player to be named later (Chris Latham) for Kevin Tapani and Mark Guthrie.  the Twins kept him in the minors the rest of that season, but Hansell was in Minnesota in 1996, his only full season in the major leagues.  Used exclusively in relief, he was 3-0 with three saves in 50 appearances.  His ERA, however, was 5.69 and his WHIP was 1.53.  Less than impressed, the Twins put Hansell on waivers after the season.  He was claimed by Boston, but released in spring training of 1997, signing with Milwaukee.  He had a poor year in AAA for the Brewers and became a free agent after the season.  Hansell signed with Arizona, was released in March of 1998, signed with Oakland, and was traded to Kansas City in early May.  Again a free agent after 1998, he signed with San Francisco, was released right before the 1999 season, and signed with Pittsburgh.  He started the season in AAA but came up to the majors in mid-June and stayed the rest of the season.  He actually had a good year in limited use, posting a 3.89 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP in 39.1 innings.  It would be his last time in the big leagues, however; after the 1999 season, Hansell was sold to the Hanshin Tigers, where he stayed for three seasons.  In 2003, at age 32, he came back to the United States, pitched in the minors for the Yankees that season and for Arizona in 2004, and then his playing career came to an end.  Greg Hansell was an international scout for the Rakuten Eagles of Japan from 2005-2009.  He then worked with the Beverly Hills Sports Council from 2010-2012.  At last report, he was an instructor for Legends Baseball in Chandler, Arizona.

Right-hander David Emmer Lee did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2002.  Born and raised in Pittsburgh, he attended Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, one of two major league players the school has produced (John Costello).  He was drafted by Colorado in the twenty-third round in 1995.  A reliever all the way, he spent three years in Class A, then made only 16 appearances in AA and six in AAA before being jumped to the majors.  He was with the Rockies for most of 1999 and did okay in limited duty, going 3-2, 3.67, 1.47 WHIP in 49 innings spread over 36 appearances.  He began 2000 in the majors, but was sent back to AAA after only five appearances and spent most of the rest of the year there.  He was traded to the Yankees after the season, but before the 2001 campaign began he was traded again, this time to San Diego.  He was in the majors for almost all of the 2001 season and again did okay in limited duty, going 1-0, 3.70, although with a 1.62 WHIP in 48.2 innings over 41 appearances.  He was released after the season and signed with Minnesota for 2002.  He spent the entire year in Edmonton, going 9-1, 4.69, 1.71 WHIP in 64.2 innings.  He was with the Dodgers for 2003 but was traded to Cleveland in September and got a few appearances in the big leagues with them at the end of the year and again in 2004.  He was in the minors for the Mets, San Francisco, and St. Louis in 2005, signed with the Cubs for 2006, was released in spring training, and was in the minors for Houston, Florida, and Boston that year.  After that, he apparently ran out of teams to play for, and his playing career came to an end.  In his major league career, he was 5-2, 4.37, 1.64 WHIP in 115.1 innings.  He appeared in 96 games, all in relief.  At last report, David Lee was living in the Pittsburgh area and was a professional trainer for the David Lee Big League Experience.

Right-hander Phillip DeWayne "P. J." Walters pitched for the Twins in 2012.  He was born in Dothan, Alabama, went to high school in Mobile Alabama, attended the University of South Alabama, and was drafted by St. Louis in the eleventh round in 2006.  He was a reliever that season in short-season Class A, but has been primarily a starting pitcher since.  He pitched very well in the minors before hitting a bump in his first year of AAA, 2008.  Still, he began 2009 in the majors.  He was not ready, and so spent the season in Memphis.  He was not much better there in 2009 than he had been in 2008, but he did significantly better in 2010.  He made seven appearances in the big leagues that season.  He was again in AAA in 2011 but was called up to St. Louis in July, making four relief appearances before being traded to Toronto in an eight-player deal.  He made one appearance there before going back to AAA.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota for 2012.  He was not particularly impressive in AAA for them, but the Twins were looking for pitchers, so he made twelve starts in the big leagues, pitching fairly well in about half of them.  2013 was pretty much the same as 2012--he did not do that well in AAA, but made eight starts in the majors anyway.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Kansas City.  He appeared in ten games of AAA, pitched poorly, and was sold to Toronto in late May.  He was in both AA and AAA for the Blue Jays but was released after the minor league season was over.  He signed with Philadelphia for 2015, was released at the end of spring training, played independent ball for a month, signed with the Dodgers in early May, and was sold to Washington in early June.  He did not get back to the majors and did not pitch well for any of those teams in the minors.  He was released by the Nationals before the 2016 season, ending his playing career.  As a Twin, he was 4-10, 5.79, 1.60 WHIP in twenty starts.  As a big leaguer, he was 6-10, 6.28, 1.58 WHIP in 152 innings.  He appeared in 40 games, 24 of them starts.  He pitched in AAA for parts of eight seasons and had combined numbers of 55-44, 4.74, 1.47 WHIP there.  At last report, P. J. Walters was living in Loxley, Alabama.

March 11

Bobby Winkles (1930)

Dock Ellis (1945)

Cesar Geronimo (1948)

Phil Bradley (1959)

Bryan Oelkers (1961)

Steve Reed (1965)

Salomon Torres (1972)

Bobby Abreu (1974)

Rich Hill (1980)

Dan Uggla (1980)

Frank Mata (1984)

Bobby Winkles was the head baseball coach at Arizona State from 1959-1971, winning three College World Series titles. He also managed and coached in the major leagues.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Zack.

Left-hander Bryan Alois Oelkers made ten appearances for the Twins in 1983. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Oelkers was the second player born in Spain to reach the major leagues (Al Cabrera, one game in 1913). He attended high school in Maryland Heights, Missouri and then attended Wichita State. After being named NCAA picher of the year in 1982, he was drafted by the Twins with the fourth pick of the 1982 draft, famously drafted ahead of Dwight Gooden. He made eight starts in the minors in 1982 and started 1983 in the Twins' starting rotation. He did well in two of his first three starts, but things went downhill after that. After five poor starts and a couple of poor relief appearances, Oelkers was sent to AAA, where he continued to pitch poorly. in 1984, he bounced back to go 16-11, 3.40 at AA Orlando, pitching a surprising 219.2 innings. He could not repeat his success in 1985 and was traded to Cleveland after the season along with Ken Schrom for Ramon Romero and Roy Smith. After nine successful starts in AAA Maine, Oelkers came up to the Indians in early June. Working mostly out of the bullpen, he did a decent but unexceptional job for them. It would be his last major league season. After a bad year at AAA Buffalo in 1987, the Indians let Oelkers go. He pitched at AAA for Montreal and the Cubs in 1988 and for St. Louis in 1989 before ending his playing career. He is a member of the Wichita State Hall of Fame. Bryan Oelkers was a senior vice president of customer implementation services for MasterCard Worldwide until his retirement.  At last report, he was living in Saint Albans, Missouri.

Left-hander Richard Joseph Hill pitched for the Twins in 2020.  He was born in Boston, went to high school in Milton, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Michigan.  He was drafted three times before finally signing with the Cubs as a fourth-round pick in 2002.  He struggled early in his minor league career but got it going in 2005, starting in AA, moving to AAA, and making ten appearances in the majors.  He was overmatched at the major league level that year, but did better in half a season in the majors in 2006.  2007 was his first full year in the majors and he was a solid starter for the Cubs.  Then, however, he started having injury troubles.  He also started moving around a lot.  He made just five starts for the Cubs in 2008, thirteen for Baltimore in 2009, made six relief appearances for Boston in 2010, and nine more in 2011.  He had a good half-season out of the bullpen for the Red Sox in 2012, then went to Cleveland for 2013 and was awful.  He made just sixteen appearances in 2014 for the Angels and Yankees and four more for Boston in 2015.  He went back to starting in 2015 and when healthy has pitched well for several years.  He made fourteen starts for Oakland in 2016 and then was traded to the Dodgers, where he stayed through 2019.  When he could pitch for the Dodgers he pitched well:  30-16, 3.16, 1.08 WHIP in 69 games.  A free agent after 2019, he signed with Minnesota for 2020.  He pitched well for the Twins, too:  in eight starts he was 2-2, 3.03, 1.16 WHIP over 38.2 innings.  He signed with Tampa Bay for 2021 and pitched quite well for them, but was traded to the Mets in late July, for whom he continued to pitch well.  He signed with Boston for 2022 and had a decent season.  Once again a free agent, he signed with Pittsburgh for 2023, and while he wasn't the worst pitcher in the league it appeared that age had finally caught up with him.  Pittsburgh traded him to San Diego on August 1, and he made five poor appearances for them.  A free agent after the season, he went unsigned for 2024 until mid-August, when Boston gave him a shot.  He made four appearances out of the bullpen for them and only gave up runs in one.  Still, the Red Sox released him in early September. He pitched for the U. S. National team in the November 2024 WSBC Premier12 tournament and was named the best starting pitcher in the tournament.  He went unsigned in 2025 until mid-May, when Kansas City picked him up.  He wasn't very good in AAA, but still made two starts for the Royals, where he wasn't awful but wasn't very good, either. He turns forty-six today and his playing career is probably over.  But then, we've written that before.

Right-handed reliever Frank Jesus Mata did not play for the Twins, but was originally signed by them. He was born in Barcelona, Venezuela, attended high school in Venezuela, and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 2002. He played in the Venezuelan Summer League for two seasons before coming to Elizabethton in 2004. He pitched quite well there, but then missed the entire 2005 season with an injury. He struggled on his return in 2006 with Class A Beloit. In 2007 and 2008 he pitched well in Ft. Myers, but struggled in both years when promoted to AA New Britain. In New Britain for a full year in 2009, he did better but not all that great and became a free agent after the season. He signed with Baltimore for 2010 and pitched very well in AAA Norfolk, making the majors for a month. He was 0-0, 7.79, 1.85 WHIP in 17.1 innings spread over fifteen games, numbers that are skewed by a few really bad outings. A free agent again after the season, he signed with Florida for 2011, but did not pitch well. He played in the Mexican League in 2012 and played winter ball in Venezuela through 2015.  He also pitched one game for Venezuela in the Bolivarian Games in 2017 and pitched in France in 2018.  No information about what Frank Mata has done since then was readily available.

March 10

Gene DeMontreville (1873)

Art Herring (1906)

John Briggs (1944)

Wayne Twitchell (1948)

Greg Pavlick (1950)

Steve Howe (1958)

John Cangelosi (1963)

Mike Timlin (1966)

Aaron Bates (1984)

Greg Pavlick was a coach in the Mets organization for 26 years and was the rehabilitation pitching coordinator for the Yankees for several years after that.

First baseman/outfielder John Edward Briggs played with the Twins for about half of the 1975 season. Born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, he attended Seton Hall and signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1962. He spent only one year in the minors--1963, when he hit .297 with 21 homers for Class A Bakersfield. Briggs joined the Phillies in 1964 and stayed until early 1971, but never got as many as 400 at-bats in a season. He was used primarily as a pinch hitter in 1964 but then received semi-regular play. A left-handed batter, he played almost exclusively against right-handed pitching. Briggs had a good eye at the plate: he hit only .251 as a Phillie, but had an OBP of .349. He was traded to Milwaukee in April of 1971, where he was able to shed his platoon status and become a full-time player. He did not do particularly better or worse as a full-time player than he had as a part-timer, although his home run number went up due to increased at-bats. He actually received six points in the MVP voting in 1973, a year when he hit .246 with 18 homers, 57 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases. In June of 1975, Briggs was traded to Minnesota for Bobby Darwin. As a Twin, John Briggs hit .231/.371/.360 in 264 at-bats, hitting seven homers and driving in 39 runs. He was released in February of 1976 and went to Japan for a year, ending his playing career after the season. After that, John Briggs returned to his home town of Paterson, New Jersey, and was a sergeant in the Paterson Sheriff's Department until his retirement.  A ballpark in Paterson has been named in his honor.  At last report, he was still living in Paterson.

Left-handed reliever Steven Roy Howe pitched for the Twins for about a month in 1985. He was born in Pontiac, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round in 1979. He was a starter at AA San Antonio and pitched very well, going 6-2, 3.13 with a WHIP of 1.05. He began 1980 with the Dodgers and won the Rookie of the Year award, going 7-9 with 17 saves and an ERA of 2.66 in 59 appearances. He did an excellent job in relief for the Dodgers through 1983, making the all-star team in 1982. After the 1983 season, however, Howe was suspended for a year due to drug use. He was not the same when he came back, and the Dodgers released him in July of 1985. The Twins signed him in early August. He made 13 appearances for them, going 2-3, 6.16 in nineteen innings. He could not conquer his drug problems, however, and left the team in early September. Howe played some independent ball in 1986 and signed with Texas in July of 1987. He was in the big leagues with the Rangers for the last two months of the season and did okay, but drugs hit him again, and he was once again out of baseball. He did not play again until 1990, when he played for an independent team. Howe signed with the Yankees in 1991 and it appeared that the story might have a happy ending, as he pitched well out of the Yankee bullpen for four years. He pitched poorly in 1995, however, and in 1996 he again had drug problems. He pitched well for independent Sioux Falls in 1997, but injured his arm and was out of baseball for good. After his playing career ended, he wrote an autobiography and worked as a self-employed framing contractor in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Steve Howe passed away in an automobile accident on April 28, 2007 in Coachella, California.

First baseman Aaron Bates did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for about a year. He was born in New York, went to high school in San Jose, California and Soquel, California, attended both San Jose State and North Carolina State, and was drafted by Boston in the third round in 2006. In 2007, playing mostly in the California League, he hit .306/435/.560 with 28 home runs. Unfortunately, he has not been able to repeat those power numbers, hitting no more than twelve homers in any year since. He reached AAA in 2009 and even spent a week in the majors that season, going 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles just before the all-star break. He stayed in the Red Sox organization through 2010, but after hitting only .240 in a full year at Pawtucket he was let go in 2011 spring training. He went unsigned until early May, when the Twins picked him up and sent him to Rochester. He had a fine season there, hitting .316/.408/.439. He has always drawn a good number of walks, posting a career OBP of .378 in six minor league seasons. The Twins did not give him a September call-up in 2011 despite needing a first baseman. Bates was a minor league free agent after 2011, but re-signed with the Twins organization for 2012. He got off to a slow start and was released in mid-May. He signed with the Cardinals, did not hit in 21 games of AAA, was released again, and finished the season playing for Sugar Land in the Atlantic League. He was still in Sugar Land for 2013 and had a fine year, batting .306. He signed with the Dodgers for 2014 but missed most of the season due to injury and his playing career came to an end.  Aaron Bates was a coach for the AZL Dodgers from 2015-16, was the batting coach for the Great Lakes Loons in 2017, and was the assistant batting coordinator for the Dodgers in 2018.  He has been a batting coach for the Dodgers since 2019.

March 9

Billy Southworth (1893)

Myril Hoag (1908)

Phil Seghi (1909)

Joe Paparella (1909)

Arky Vaughan (1912)

Jackie Jensen (1927)

Ron Kline (1932)

Jim Landis (1934)

Bert Campaneris (1942)

Darrel Chaney (1948)

John Curtis (1948)

Wendell Kim (1950)

Terry Mulholland (1963)

Benito Santiago (1965)

Vince Horsman (1967)

Aaron Boone (1973)

C. J. Nitkowski (1973)

Koyie Hill (1979)

Craig Stammen (1984)

Daniel Hudson (1987)

Yennier Cano (1994)

Phil Seghi was in baseball most of his life, serving as Cleveland Indians general manager from 1973-1985.

American League umpire Joe Paparella holds the record for most games umpired in a season, 176 in 1962.

Wendell Kim was a major league coach and minor league manager for many years.

Right-hander Ronald Lee Kline had a solid year for the Twins in 1967.  A native of Callery, Pennsylvania, Kline signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1950.  He pitched very well in the low minors and reached the Pirates in 1952, jumping from Class B.  He appears not to have been ready--in 27 games, 11 starts, he went o-7, 5.49.  Kline then missed the next two years due to the Korean War.  Upon his return in 1955, he stayed in the big leagues, pitching for Pittsburgh from 1955 through 1959.  Used mostly as a starter, Kline was durable and consistent, pitching around 200 innings per year and posting WHIPs just over 1.3o.  He slipped a little in 1959, however, and was traded to St. Louis after the season.  After a poor 1960 for the Cardinals, Kline was sold to the Angels in April of 1961.  He continued to pitch poorly, was placed on waivers, and was claimed by Detroit in August.  He was moved to the bullpen in 1962 and did somewhat better, but not great, and was sold to Washington in March of 1963.  Kline saved his career in Washington.  He became the closer for the Senators and posted an ERA under three in four consecutive seasons.  He was 26-25 with 83 saves in that span, leading the league with 29 saves in 1965.  He was still pitching well in 1966, but after that season he was traded to Minnesota for Bernie Allen and Camilo Pascual.  The Twins had Al Worthington to close, so Kline became a setup man and had another fine year in 1967, going 7-1, 3.77 with a WHIP of 1.20.  He was on the move again after the season, though, traded to Pittsburgh for Bob Oliver.  He had an excellent 1968, going 12-5, 1.68 with a WHIP of 1.11.  That was his last good year, though.  Off to a poor start in 1969, Kline was traded to San Francisco in June, sold to Boston in July, and released by the Red Sox after the season.  He signed with Atlanta for 1970, but was released in June.  The Angels picked him up and he had a fine rest of the season in AAA Hawaii, but then his career was over.  After his retirement, Ron Kline returned to his home town of Callery, Pennsylvania, eventually serving as mayor.  Ron Kline passed away at his home in Callery on June 22, 2002.

Left-hander Terence John Mulholland pitched for the Twins in 2004 and 2005.  A Uniontown, Pennsylvania native, he attended Marietta College and was drafted by the Giants in the first round in 1984.  He pitched well in the low minors, but struggled when promoted to AAA in 1986.  Despite that, he was bounced back and forth between AAA and San Francisco in 1986.  He spent all of 1987 in AAA, still not pitching particularly well.  Mulholland went back to bouncing between AAA and the Giants in 1988 and 1989 until he was traded to Philadelphia in June of 1989.  He established himself as a Phillie; he became a rotation starter there and was a good one, posting an ERA under four for four consecutive years, 1990 through 1993.  He pitched a no-hitter in 1990, led the league in complete games (12) in 1992, and made the all-star team in 1993.  He was traded to the Yankees in February of 1994 and immediately collapsed.  He went 6-7, 6.49, became a free agent after the season, and signed with the Giants for 1995.  After another poor year he became a free agent again and went back to the Phillies, but was traded to Seattle at the end of July, 1996.  Mulholland pitched somewhat better that year, but continued to be on the move in 1997, signing with the Cubs at the start of the season but being selected off waivers by the Giants in August.  Mulholland went back to the Cubs for 1998, went to the bullpen, and suddenly was a good pitcher again, going 6-5, 2.89 in 112 innings.  He could not sustain his success, was traded to Atlanta in July of 1999, pitched poorly for the Braves in 2000, and was a free agent again.  He was with the Pirates and Dodgers in 2001 and with the Dodgers and Indians in 2002.  He stayed with Cleveland for 2003, but was pretty mediocre.  A free agent again after that campaign, Mulholland signed with Seattle again for 2004, but was sold to the Twins near the end of spring training.  He stuck with Minnesota for two years, the longest he had been with the same team in over a decade.  He did not pitch particularly well out of the Minnesota bullpen in the first half of the season, but the Twins were desperate for a fifth starter, so he went into the rotation in early July.  He was not great in that role, either, but managed to go 4-5 with an ERA just under five.  Late in the season he was paired with catcher Pat Borders, making them the oldest battery in major league history.  Moved back to the bullpen for 2005, he actually did somewhat better.  Still, he became a free agent after the season and signed with Arizona for 2006.  He began the season in the majors, but was quickly sent back to AAA, and was released in June ending his career.  It was a pretty good career, though, lasting twenty seasons and including two World Series teams.  At last report, Terry Mulholland was a part-owner of the Dirty Dogg Saloon in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Left-hander Vincent Stanley Joseph Horsman made six appearances for the Twins in 1995.  He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and went to high school in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  He signed with Toronto as a free agent in 1984.  He was mostly used in relief, although the one time he was used as a starter, 1987 at Class A Myrtle Beach, he went 7-7, 3.82 with a 1.22 WHIP.  Returned to the bullpen after that, Horsman continued to pitch pretty well.  After going 4-1, 2.34 in 80.2 innings in AA Knoxville in 1991, Horsman got a September call up.  Surprisingly, he was waived after that season and was claimed by Oakland.  He was with the Athletics for all of 1992, his only full season in the majors, and did quite well as a Loogy, going 2-1, 2.49 in 43.1 innings spread over 58 games.  Horsman started 1993 in the minors, but was called up in mid-June and placed in the same role.  He did not do as well, posting a 5.40 ERA in 25 innings spread over 40 appearances.  He split 1994 between Oakland and AAA, again used as a Loogy.  He was released after the season and signed with Minnesota just before the 1995 campaign.  He was in the majors for about two weeks that season, pitching nine innings over six games and giving up seven earned runs on twelve hits.  His best outing as a Twin came on May 7, when he pitched three scoreless innings in a seventeen inning loss to Cleveland.  He did not pitch particularly well in AAA, and was released in August.  Horsman pitched in AAA for Toronto in 1996, pitched in Taiwan in 1997, and pitched in AAA for Baltimore in 1998, and then his playing career was over.  Horsman was a batting practice pitcher for the Orioles from 1999 through 2004 and pitched for Dartmouth in the Baseball Canada Senior Championship in 2005.  Vince Horsman was the pitching coach for the Lansing Lugnuts in 2014, for the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2015, and was the pitching coach for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats from 2016-2019.   All are affiliates of the Toronto Blue Jays.  He was not retained by the Blue Jays for 2020, was the pitching coach for Team Italy in 2021, and at last report was the pitching coach of the Unilions in Taiwan.  He is a member of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.

Left-hander Christopher John Nitkowski did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them in 2005.  He was born in Suffern, New York, went to high school in Ramsey, New Jersey, attended St. John’s, and was drafted by Cincinnati with the ninth pick of the draft in 1994.  He made 14 solid starts in AA that year, eight more the next, then went up to AAA.  He did not do particularly well there, but was jumped to the majors anyway.  He struggled through nine appearances, seven of them starts, then was traded to Detroit.  He pitched poorly for the Tigers as well and was back in AAA in 1996, although he was in the majors for about two months in the second half of the season.  He was traded to Houston after that year, put in a full year in AAA, and did fairly well.  He made the Astros as a reliever in 1998 and had his first (some might say his only) good year in the majors, going 3-3, 3.77 with 3 saves and a 1.21 WHIP.  He was traded back to Detroit for 1999.  He was decent for the Tigers that season, but it was pretty much down hill after that, as he only once posted an ERA below four and a half and never had a WHIP below 1.5.  His last full year in the majors was 2001, a year when he was traded to the Mets in September.  He signed with Houston for 2002, was released on March 25, re-signed three days later, released again on June 6, signed that same day with St. Louis, was released on July 21, and signed with Texas, where he finished the season.  He stayed in the Rangers’ organization for 2003, was with Atlanta and the Yankees in 2004, and signed with Minnesota for 2005.  The Twins released him on March 31 and he spent the summer in the Detroit and Washington organizations.  He was in the majors for part of each of those seasons.  He signed with Pittsburgh for 2006 and spent the entire year in AAA.  He then spent two seasons in Japan before moving to Korea for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  He apparently did not play in 2011, but played in the Dominican Republic that winter.  He did well enough to sign with the Mets for 2012, pitching well in six AA relief appearances but not very well in fifteen AAA games.  He was again active in the Dominican League that winter, but then his playing career came to an end.  His major league career numbers are unimpressive, to say the least:  18-32, 5.37, 1.63 WHIP.  Still he was in the majors for parts of ten seasons, appeared in 336 games, and pitched 479 major league innings, which a lot of people would be happy to be able to say.   He is currently a host on MLB Network radio, was a broadcaster for the Texas Rangers from 2017-2023, and has been a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves since 2024.

Right-handed reliever Yennier Cano made ten appearances for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Ciego de Avila, Cuba, and pitched in Cuba from 2013-2016.  B-r.com does not list him pitching again until 2019--I assume the reason for that is known, and I assume his defection to the United States has to do with it, but I could not quickly find the reason.  At any rate, he did defect to the United States and signed with the Twins for the 2019 season.  He was twenty-five at that point and pitched made ten minor league appearances, mostly in high-A.  Then, of course, came the COVID season of 2020, and he did not pitch.  He started 2021 in AA and dominated in twelve appearances, but was not as successful in AAA (although not terrible, either).  He did much better in AAA in 2022 and came up to the Twins in May.  He made his major league debut on May 11 without throwing a pitch--he was announced into the game, but the game was rained out before the next inning started.  He pitched the next day when the game was resumed.  In ten games for the Twins he went 1-0, 9.22, 2.05 WHIP.  He was traded to Baltimore in early August with Juan Nunez, Cade Povich, and Juan Rojas for Jorge Lopez and cash.  He struggled in AAA for the Orioles and did worse in three major league appearances with Baltimore.  In 2023, however, his career turned around and he had an outstanding year, making the all-star team.  He was not quite as good in 2024, but still had a fine season.  2025, however, was a different story, as he got off to a good start, but had an ERA of over four in each month other than April.  He turns thirty-two today.  He will presumably be given another chance, but he's going to have to pitch substantially better in 2026 if he's going to remain part of the Orioles' bullpen.