August 13

Fielder Jones (1871)
George Susce (1907)
Lou Finney (1910)
Sid Gordon (1917)
Jerry Neudecker (1930)
Vinegar Bend Mizell (1930)
Mudcat Grant (1935)
Tony Cloninger (1940)
Fred Stanley (1947)
Jerry Crawford (1947)
Andre Thornton (1949)
Tom Niedenfuer (1959)
Jim Reboulet (1961)
Jay Buhner (1964)
Tom Prince (1964)
Mark Lemke (1965)
Alex Fernandez (1969)
Jarrod Washburn (1974)
Will Ohman (1977)
Corey Patterson (1979)
Dallas Braden (1983)
Boone Logan (1984)
Hansel Robles (1990)
Randal Grichuk (1991)
Taijuan Walker (1992)

Jerry Neudecker was an American League umpire from 1966-1985.  He was the last major league umpire to use an outside chest protector.

Jerry Crawford was a major league umpire from 1976-2010.  He is tied with Bruce Froemming for the most postseason games umpired, 111.

Jim Reboulet is the brother of ex-Twin Jeff Reboulet. He was in the minors for six years, reaching AAA. He had three seasons with sixty or more stolen bases.

Right-hander James Timothy “Mudcat” Grant pitched for the Twins from 1964-1967.  He was born in Lacoochee, Florida, went to high school in Dade City, Florida, and was signed as a free agent by Cleveland in 1954. He pitched quite well in the minors, going 70-28 with an ERA under 3.20 and averaging over 200 innings per season.   He made the Indians out of spring training in 1958. Grant was a solid member of the Cleveland rotation for six years, making the all-star team in 1963.  He also did some singing as part of a nightclub act.  When he got off to a poor start in 1964, he was traded to Minnesota for George Banks and Lee Stange. Something clicked for him when he came to the Twins, as he had his best years in Minnesota: for the rest of 1964, he was 11-9 with a 2.82 ERA, in 1965 he went 21-7 with a 3.30 ERA and finished sixth in the MVP voting, and he went 13-13 in 1966 with a 3.25 ERA. Four consecutive years of pitching between 228 and 270 innings appeared to take its toll, however; 1966 was Grant’s last good year as a starter, and after the 1967 season, he was traded to the Dodgers with Zoilo Versalles for Bob Miller, Ron Perranoski, and Johnny Roseboro. He then had a relatively successful career as a relief pitcher, saving 24 games for Oakland in 1970 and leading major league baseball in appearances with 80. The last year of his 14-year major league career was split between Oakland and Pittsburgh; he also pitched for Iowa in the Oakland organization in 1972. Grant pitched in 129 games as a Twin, 111 of them starts, and went 50-35 with a 3.35 ERA. There are various stories about who gave him the nickname “Mudcat”, with the most popular being that he was given it by Cleveland teammate Larry Doby or a minor-league teammate named LeRoy Irby.  He has served on the board of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Baseball Assistance Team, and the Major League Baseball Alumni Association. In recent years, Grant has been promoting education about the history of blacks in baseball. His book, “The Black Aces”, profiles African-American pitchers who have won twenty games in the majors, along with Negro League pitchers who might have done so had they had they opportunity.   He is the uncle of Domonic Brown, an outfielder for Philadalphia from 2010-15.  Mudcat Grant passed away on June 11, 2021 in Los Angeles at the age of eighty-five.
Catcher Thomas Albert Prince played for the Twins from 2001-2003. He was born in Kankakee, Illinois, and was drafted by Pittsburgh in 1984 in the 4th round of the secondary phase of the January draft. Prince did not hit particularly well in the low minors, but showed moderate power and got a reputation as a good defensive player.  He surprisingly hit .307 at AA Harrisburg in 1987, nearly fifty points higher than he had ever hit in the minors.  That was good enough for him to make his debut in Pittsburgh as a September call-up that season. He spent parts of the next seven seasons with the Pirates, sticking for the whole year only in 1993, which was the only year he got more than 100 at-bats for Pittsburgh.  He never hit for them, posting batting averages of over .200 only twice in those seven years.  Let go by the Pirates after that season, Prince spent parts of the next four years with the Dodgers, again only getting 100 at-bats once, in 1997, although he did hit .200 or above every year.  He spent 1999-2000 with the Phillies, and was signed as a free agent by the Twins after the 2000 campaign. With the Twins, Prince was who they thought he was: a reserve catcher who was good defensively and couldn’t hit. In 2 1/2 years in Minnesota, he got 361 at-bats and hit .219/.300/.374 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs. Released by the Twins in July of 2003, he signed with the Royals, spending most of the rest of the year in Omaha. He retired after that year at the age of 38.  Tom Prince managed to play in parts of seventeen major league seasons and get 1,190 major league at-bats with a lifetime batting average of .208.  He was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates for several years, mostly as a minor league manager.  From 2017-2019 he was the bench coach for Pittsburgh.  He left the Pirates organization after 2019, however, and managed the Toledo Mud Hens in the Detroit organization in 2021.  He was let go after the season and does not seem to have gotten another baseball job.  Thus, no information about what Tom Prince is doing now was readily available.

Right-hander Hansel Manuel Robles was with the Twins for four months in 2021.  Born and raised in Bonao in the Dominican Republic, he signed with the Mets as a free agent in 2008.  He pitched very well in the low minors but was brought along very slowly.  He was mostly a starter at that point, but began a conversion to relief in AA in 2014.  He made five AAA appearances in 2015 and then reached the majors, having a fine season out of the bullpen for the Mets.  He did well again in 2016 but struggled some in 2017, resulting in a two-month stint in AAA.  He got off to a poor start in 2018 and was waived by the Mets in late June.  He was claimed by the Angels and turned his season around, pitching very well for them for the last three months of the season.  He had another fine season in 2019 but 2020 was a different story.  When he was on he was really on, but when he was off he was awful, so his numbers do not look good at all.  The Twins signed him as a free agent for 2021.  He pitched well for them at times, but was not consistent enough for the Twins to rely on him.  In forty-five games (forty-four innings), he went 3-4, 4.91, 1.39 WHIP with ten saves.  The Twins traded him to Boston at the July deadline for Alex Scherff.  He did fairly well for them in 2021, but pitched poorly in 2022 and was released in early July.  He signed with the Dodgers a couple of weeks later and pitched poorly the rest of the season in AAA.  He turns thirty-three today and hasn't had a good year since 2019.  He pitched well in winter ball, though, and had an excellent season in the Mexican League in 2023.  He did not pitch as well in winter ball last season.  He signed a minor league contract with Seattle for 2024, but did not pitch for them and was released after the season.  He signed to play in the Mexican League in 2025, but was released before the season started.  He signed to play there again in 2026 and this time did pitch, but has not done very well.  He turns thirty-six today.  As we've said before, we're all for someone playing as long as someone will let you play.  But having said that, it appears that it may be time for Hansel Robles to decide what the next phase of his life will be.

August 12

Christy Mathewson (1880)
Ray Schalk (1892)
Harlond Clift (1912)
Fred Hutchinson (1919)
Bob Buhl (1928)
Kevin Cooney (1950)
Matt Clement (1974)
Lew Ford (1976)
Zach Cosart (1985)
Chris Owings (1991)
Ian Happ (1994)

A notoriously bad hitter, even for a pitcher, Bob Buhl had a lifetime average of .089 and went the entire 1962 season without getting a hit (0-for-70).  Oddly, he equaled his career high in walks that year with six, which goes to show something or other.

Kevin Cooney was an eleventh round draft choice of the Twins in 1972.  He pitched in the Twins’ organization for two seasons, then a shoulder injury ended his playing career.  He then became a college baseball coach.  He was the head coach at Montclair State from 1984-1987 and at Florida Atlantic from 1988-2008.

Outfielder Jon Lewis “Lew” Ford played for the Twins from 2003-2007.  He was born in Beaumont, Texas, went to high school in Port Neches, Texas, attended Dallas Baptist University, and was drafted by the Red Sox in the twelfth round in 1999. He hit well in their minor league system (although as a 22-year-old in the NY-P league and a 23-year-old in the Sally League). The Twins acquired him in September of 2000 for Hector Carrasco. Ford got to AA in 2001 and AAA in 2002.  The latter was his best minor league season, as he hit .318 with 20 homers in a year split between New Britain and Rochester.  Ford came up to the Twins in May of 2003, did well in limited playing time that year and became a regular the following season. 2004 was by far his best year: he hit .299 with 15 homers and 72 RBIs, and actually received a ninth-place vote for MVP that year. Ford declined after that, losing his starting spot in 2006 when he hit only .226. He split time in 2007 between AAA and Minnesota and was released after the season. As a Twin, he batted .272/.349/.402 with 32 homers and 172 RBIs. After leaving the Twins, Ford went to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers. He signed a minor-league contract with Colorado in March of 2009, but failed to make the Rockies. He spent most of 2009 playing for the Long Island Ducks, although he did play briefly for AAA Louisville in the Cincinnati organization.  Ford began 2010 playing in Mexico, but was released in mid-May despite the fact that he was hitting .314 with 13 doubles and 5 homers in 140 at-bats.  He went back to the Ducks for 2011 and played very well.  He was doing even better for them in 2012 when he signed with the Baltimore organization in mid-May.  He was sent to AAA Norfolk, continued to hit well, and in late July, after an absence of about four and a half years, Lew Ford was back in the big leagues.  He was a free agent after the season, re-signed with Baltimore, missed much of the season with injury, and ended 2013 back with the Long Island Ducks.  He was with them again in 2014.  In 2015 he played both with the Ducks and with Tijuana in the Mexican League, hitting well in both places.  He was back with Long Island for 2016-19 and continued to hit well there, batting .303 in 2019.   In 2020, we said, "It appears that the Atlantic League has not played in 2020, so Lew Ford's playing career may be over.  But given his history, we wouldn't bet too heavily on it."  We hope you didn't, because he batted .311 for Long Island in 2021, batted .270 for them in 2022, and batted .340 for them in 2023 at age forty-six.  He became the manager of the Ducks in 2024, which brought his playing career to an end.  However, the cry of "LEEEEWWWWWWWWW" can still be heard in a baseball park, which makes us rather happy.

August 11

Danny Murphy (1876)
Bobo Newsom (1907)
Bob Scheffing (1913)
Walter McNeil (1934)
Bill Monboquette (1936)
Vada Pinson (1938)
Sal Campisi (1942)
Jim Hughes (1951)
Dennis Lewallyn (1953)
Bryn Smith (1955)
Melky Cabrera (1984)
Colby Rasmus (1986)
Pablo Sandoval (1986)

Walter McNeil is better known as Wally the Beer Man, long-time vendor at Minnesota Twins games.

Right-handed reliever Salvatore John Campisi appeared in six games for the Twins in 1971.  Born and raised in Brooklyn, he attended Long Island University, where he had led the nation in ERA at 0.27, and was signed as a free agent by the St. Louis in 1964. He pitched well in the minors, regularly posting ERAs under three, but made a rather slow rise.  He spent a year in rookie ball and two years in A ball before finally getting to AA in 1967 and AAA in 1968.  Campisi was a starter in rookie ball but was primarily a reliever after that.  He made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in 1969 and spent almost all of 1970 with them. Control trouble, which was never a problem in the minors, plagued him in the majors, as he walked over six per nine innings with St. Louis. In the off-season, the Cardinals traded Campisi to the Twins with Jim Kennedy for Charlie Wissler and Herman Hill. He made the team out of spring training, but he pitched only 4.1 innings in six games with Minnesota, with no win-loss record and a 4.15 ERA, before being sent down to AAA. He was let go after that season, and his playing career came to an end.  He walked only 2.5 batters per nine innings in 718 minor league innings, but averaged 6.7 in 63.1 major league innings. Sal Campisi was inducted into the Long Island University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.  At last report, it appeared that Sal Campisi was living in Lakeland, Florida, where he owned a car dealership, Regal Automotive.  It appears that his son, Sal Campisi, Jr., is now running things there.

Right-handed palm ball specialist James Michael Hughes pitched for the Twins from 1974-1977.  Baseball Reference says his nickname was "Bluegill", although we don't remember hearing that at the time.  He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Playa del Rey, California, and was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-third round in 1969.  He had poor control early in his minor league career, a problem which got better as he went up the minor league ladder.  Unfortunately, he became easier to hit at higher levels as well, so that he regularly posted WHIPs around 1.5 with the exception of 1972, when he had his best year as a minor leaguer, going 13-9, 2.58, 1.17 WHIP for Class A Lynchburg.  In 1974, he went 10-12, 4.83, 1.43 WHIP, which was deemed good enough for a September call-up.  He spent the next two years in the Twins’ rotation.  By far the better year was 1975, when he went 16-14, 3.82 in 249.1 innings with 12 complete games, although also with a WHIP of 1.47.  His WHIP was about the same in 1976, but he went 9-14, 4.98.  He began 1977 in the Twins’ bullpen, but was sent to AAA after only two appearances, never to return.  He had a poor year in Tacoma and was released after the season.  Hughes signed with the White Sox for 1978 but was released in late March.  He signed with Texas a few days later, but made only eight AAA appearances with them.  He was in AAA for the Dodgers in 1979, posting an ERA of 3.00 but a WHIP of 1.61 in 36 innings.  His playing career came to an end after that.  There are lots and lots of people named “Jim Hughes”; many of them are even involved in baseball in one way or another.  At last report, it appeared that "our" Jim Hughes was living in Orange, California.

August 10

Jim Clinton (1850)
Willie Wells (1904)
Odell Hale (1908)
Taffy Wright (1911)
Buddy Lewis (1916)
Bob Porterfield (1923)
Rocky Colavito (1933)
Tom Brookens (1953)
Tim Brookens (1953)
Jerald Clark (1963)
Andy Stankiewicz (1964)
Gerald Williams (1966)
Sal Fasano (1971)
Brandon Lyon (1979)
Dan Johnson (1979)
Wilson Ramos (1987)
Anthony Banda (1993)

Willie Wells is considered, along with Pop Lloyd, one of the two greatest shortstops in the history of the Negro Leagues.

Tim Brookens is the twin brother of Tom Brookens and played four years in the minors, reaching AA.

Outfielder Jerald Dwayne Clark played for the Twins in 1995.  He was born in Crockett, Texas, attended Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and was drafted by San Diego in the 12th round in 1985.  He hit over .300 every season in the minors, the last three of them in AAA.  His best season was 1989, when he hit .313 with 22 homers and an OPS of .926 for AAA Las Vegas. Clark made brief appearances with the Padres in 1988-90 before sticking with the club in 1991. He spent two full years in San Diego, playing fairly regularly in left field, but did not hit very well.  He was left unprotected and was taken by Colorado in the expansion draft. He was a mostly-regular for the Rockies in 1993 and had his best major league season, batting .283 with 13 homers.  It was not enough for the Rockies, however, and Clark opted to go to Japan in 1994.  The Twins signed him as a free agent, and he spent 1995 with Minnesota, appearing in 36 games. He had a good year as a reserve outfielder, batting .339/.354/.550 in 109 at-bats. The Twins apparently attributed it to small sample size, however, as he was let go after the season. He played for Calgary in the Pittsburgh organization in 1996, but did not make it back to the big leagues, and called it a career after playing nine games for Duluth-Superior in the Northern League in 1997. After his baseball career ended, Jerald Clark got a bachelor’s degree in computer science and is now selling real estate in San Diego. His brother, Phil Clark, played in the majors from 1992-96.

Catcher Wilson Abraham (Campos) Ramos played in seven games for the Twins in 2010.  He was born in Valencia, Venezuela, and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 2004.  He hit well every year in the minors other than 2010, hitting .317 at AA New Britain in 2009.  After a good year of winter ball, he got off to a horrible start at AAA Rochester.  Still, due to an injury to Joe Mauer, he was brought up to the Twins for a little over a week in May of 2010.  He came in with a bang, getting seven hits in his first nine at-bats before going 1-for-18 in his other five games.  As a Twin, Wilson Ramos hit .296/.321/.407 in 27 at-bats.  Sent back to Rochester, he struggled for a while, but got things going in July, raising his average to .241.  On July 29, 2010, he was traded to Washington with Joe Testa for Matt Capps.  He was sent to AAA Syracuse, hit well, and got a September call-up.  He was the mostly-regular catcher for the Nationals in 2011 and had a fine year, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting.  Things after that did not often go well for him, although it really wasn’t his fault.  He was kidnapped in Venezuela after the 2011 season, and fortunately he was released unharmed.  He played in only 25 games in 2012 before tearing his ACL, an injury which ended his season.  He missed a couple more months in 2013 and has missed about that same amount of time in 2014.  He played a full season in 2015, but had by far the worst season of his career.  At that time, we wrote "all the injuries of the past may be taking their toll...It's hard to know where his career is going at this point."  Where his career was going was to the all-star game, as in 2016 he is had by far the best season of his career.  He batted .307 with an OPS of .850.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Tampa Bay for 2017.  Unfortunately he was injured again and missed the first half of the season with, again, a torn ACL.  He came back in late June, but was hit in the head by a broken bat in late July and needed six stitches.  He was decent, but no more, the rest of the season.  He came back in 2018 and had an excellent first half, getting named to the all-star team again, but then injured his hamstring.  He came back from that and was traded to Philadelphia at the July deadline, for whom he played quite well.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Mets and stayed healthy all of 2019.  He wasn't an all-star, but he still had a fine season.  He had a down year in 2020, however, and became a free agent.  He signed with Detroit for 2021, did not hit, was injured again, and was released in late June.  He signed with Cleveland a couple of weeks later and got nine major league games with them before tearing his ACL.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign until August of 2022, playing in three games of AAA with the Texas Rangers before being released three weeks later.  In 2023 he played in the Atlantic League and the Mexican League.  He played winter ball for a couple of years after that, but that was the end of his playing career.  He was generally a fine player when healthy, but unfortunately he was never able to stay healthy.  Wilson Ramos was the manager of the FCL Phillies in 2026.

Left-handed reliever Frank Anthony Banda came to the Twins in 2026.  He was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, went to high school in Sinton, Texas, attended San Jacinto College, and was drafted by Milwaukee in the tenth round in 2012.  He struggled in rookie ball for a couple of years, then was traded to Arizona in July of 2014.  A starter at that time, he did much better in the Diamondbacks organization, but struggled again when promoted to AAA in 2017.  Despite that, he made his major league debut that year, spending about a month there in three segments.  That off-season he was traded to Tampa Bay.  He pitched well in 2018 when he could pitch, both in eight AAA starts and three major league games, but required Tommy John surgery in early June.  He came back at the end of 2019 but did not do well, nor was he any better in four games in 2020.  He was sold to San Francisco in August of that year, traded to the Mets in July of 2021, selected off waivers by Pittsburgh a month later, sold to Toronto in July of 2022, released a month later, signed by Seattle a few days after that, released a couple of weeks later, and signed by the Yankees a few days after that.  He did pitch well for the Pirates for a couple of months in 2021, but other than that got very little accomplished.  Still, there was something about him teams liked, because someone was always willing to give him another chance.  He signed with Washington for 2023 and made the team out of spring training, but pitched poorly and was back in AAA by the first of May, where he continued to pitch poorly.  He signed with Cleveland for 2024 and something finally clicked, because he pitched very well in twelve AAA games before being sold to the Dodgers.  He had two excellent seasons with them, collecting two World Series rings.  But the Dodgers apparently felt they had better options, because after the 2025 season they sold him to Minnesota for Future Considerations and International Bonus Pool Money.  He has been in the majors all season and hasn't been awful, but he hasn't been good, either:  2-0, 2 saves, 4.46 ERA, 1.34 WHIP at this writing.  He turns thirty-three today.  He really hasn't had much success other than his two seasons with the Dodgers, but if history is any guide, someone will want him in 2027.

August 9

John Grim (1867)
John Galbreath (1897)
Jack Tighe (1913)
Ralph Houk (1919)
Julian Javier (1936)
Claude Osteen (1939)
Paul Lindblad (1941)
Tommie Agee (1942)
Chris Wheeler (1945)
Bill Campbell (1948)
Ted Simmons (1949)
John Moses (1957)
Matt Young (1958)
Deion Sanders (1967)
Troy Percival (1969)
Pat Mahomes (1970)
Ryan Radmanovich (1971)
Matt Morris (1974)
Mike Lamb (1975)
Brian Fuentes (1975)
Jason Frasor (1977)
Steve Lomasney (1977)
Drew Butera (1983)
Jason Heyward (1989)
Kyle Cody (1994).

John Galbreath was the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1946-1985.

Jack Tighe was a long-time minor league player, manager, and scout.  He also managed the Detroit Tigers from 1956-1957.

Ralph Houk is best known as a manager of the New York Yankees, but he was also a special assistant to the general manager for the Twins from 1987-1989.

Chris Wheeler was a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1977-2013.

Better known for his Hall of Fame NFL career, Deion Sanders was a major league outfielder for nine seasons, leading the league in triples in 1992.  He hit .263/.319/.392 in 2,123 at-bats.

Kyle Cody was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2015 but did not sign.

Right-handed reliever William Richard Campbell pitched for the Twins from 1973-1976.  He was born in Highland Park, Michigan, went to high school in Pomona, California, and was signed by the Twins as an amateur free agent in 1970.  A starting pitcher in the minors, he pitched very well there, posting career minor league marks of 28-18, 2.62, 1.16 WHIP in 415 innings.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1973 as a reliever and flourished there.  He was the Twins’ closer in 1974 and 1976; despite the fact that he’d had a good year as closer in 1974, the Twins used Tom Burgmeier as their primary closer in 1975, even placing Campbell in the rotation for a few weeks.  Even when he was the closer, he was not used as a modern closer would be–he often pitched more than one inning, and was often used in games where the Twins were tied or behind.  This usage enabled him to get 17 relief wins in 1976, one off the major league record, along with 20 saves.  He also led the league in appearances that year, working in 78 games and pitching 167.2 innings.  He also finished seventh in Cy Young balloting and eighth in MPV voting.  He became a free agent at the end of that year, one of the first of many to leave the Twins in that era.  As a Twin, Bill Campbell appeared in 216 games, pitched 460.2 innings, and went 32-21 with 51 saves and a 3.13 ERA.  He signed with Boston and had a fine year as closer in 1977, saving 31 games and making the all-star team, but then his high workload may have started taking its toll, as he began suffering from injuries and ineffectiveness.  Still, he remained with the Red Sox for five seasons before becoming a free agent again and signing with the Cubs.  He had two decent years in their bullpen, leading the league with 82 appearances in 1983.  He played for Philadelphia in 1984, St. Louis in 1985, and Detroit in 1986, pitching well for each team.  He pitched briefly for Montreal in 1987, but did not pitch well and was released in May, ending his playing career.  He was a pitching coach in the minors for a few years.  For some time, he worked for the Fox Valley Sports Academy of Elgin, Illinois.  Bill Campbell passed away from cancer in Palatine, Illinois on January 6, 2023.

Outfielder John William Moses played for the Twins from 1988-1990.  He was born in Los Angeles, attended the University of Arizona, and was a 16th round draft choice for the Seattle Mariners in 1980.  He hit for a decent average in the minors and drew a pretty good number of walks, although he had no power.  Moses reached the majors in 1982 and spent parts of the next six seasons with Seattle, with 1987 his only full season there.  Moses hit .322 in 621 at-bats over two seasons at AAA Calgary from 1985-1986.  He was a semi-regular center fielder for the Mariners from 1986-1987, but only hit around .250.  Released after the 1987 season, he was signed by the Twins just before the 1988 campaign.  He spent the next three years as a part-time player, often being used as a defensive replacement or a pinch-runner when not in the starting lineup.  His best year as a Twin was 1988, when he hit .316.  He was considered a base stealer, and had double digit stolen bases five times in his career, but his success rate was only sixty-four percent in his career.  He had a total of 620 at-bats in 349 games with the Twins, batting .276/.335/.358. with four home runs and 57 RBIs.  He left the Twins after the 1990 season and bounced around quite a bit, being a part of the Boston, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Seattle organizations over the next two years, spending time in the big leagues with the latter two.  He last played in 1992 with Seattle.  He has stayed in baseball since then, coaching in both the majors and the minors.  He was the batting coach for the AA Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League in 2011, and was named the league’s coach of the year.  No word on what he did in 2012, but beginning in 2013 he was in the Atlanta Braves organization, last serving as the batting coach of AAA Gwinnett before his retirement in 2018.  At last report, John Moses was living in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Right-hander Patrick Lavon Mahomes pitched for the Twins from 1992-1996.  He was born in Bryan, Texas, went to high school in Lindale, Texas, and was drafted by Minneota in the sixth round in 1988.  He pitched very well in the minors, but not so well in the majors.  In 43 AAA starts for Minnesota, he went 23-14, 3.26, 1.31 WHIP.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1992.  He spent parts of 1992-93 in the minors before sticking in 1994, his best year, when he went 9-5 with a 4.72 ERA.  In every other season as a Twin, his ERA was over six.  A move to the bullpen in 1995 did not improve matters.  As a Twin, he was 18-28, 5.82, 1.62 WHIP in 114 games, 51 of them starts.  He was traded to Boston in August of 1996 for Brian Looney.  He stayed with Boston through the end of the 1997 season, was out of baseball in 1998, and was with the Mets in 1999-2000.  He actually had a fine year in the Mets’ bullpen in 1999, coming up in mid-May and going 8-0, 3.68, 1.27 WHIP in 63.2 innings.  He could not sustain it, however, as his ERA was over five the next year.  He became a free agent after that season, went to Texas in 2001, the Cubs in 2002, and Pittsburgh in 2003.  He had a career ERA of 5.47, and only was under 5.00 three times, but managed to pitch in the big leagues in parts of 11 seasons.  After leaving the big leagues, he pitched for the Montreal, Florida, L. A. Dodgers, Kansas City, and Toronto organizations, He also appeared in independent ball, most recently pitching for the Sioux Falls Canaries in 2009.  He is a member of the Sioux Falls Canaries Hall of Fame.  At last report, he was involved in youth baseball in Longview, Texas.  His son, also named Patrick Mahomes, did very well in high school baseball in Texas, but elected to play an easier sport and is currently a quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Outfielder Ryan Ashley Radmanovich did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them.  Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he attended Pepperdine University and was a 14th-round draft choice of the Twins in 1993.  He spent five years in the Twins minor-league system, the first three in Class A (although he was apparently injured much of 1995).  He hit with power, hitting over 20 home runs three times in the Twins’ organization.  His OPS was over .800 in every minor league season with the Twins.  Still, the Twins apparently did not have any faith in him, and put him on waivers in late March of 1998.  Seattle selected him, and he saw his only major-league action that season, making the team out of spring training.  He went back to the minors in mid-May, but came back as a September call-up.  He hit .217/.260/.362 for Seattle with 2 homers and 10 RBIs in 69 at-bats.  Let go by the Mariners after 1999, he saw action in the San Diego organization from 2000-2001 and the Pittsburgh organization in 2001-2002.  He played in independent leagues from 2003-2009, spending most of that time with Somerset in the Atlantic League.  He also played for Canada in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008.  A power hitter, he had 269 minor league home runs.  His career line in AAA was .274/.360/.469.  He seems like he could have helped somebody if he’d been given a chance to play.  At last report, Ryan Radmanovich had become a U. S. citizen and was living in Hartford, Connecticut, coaching baseball and hockey for Kingswood Oxford preparatory school.

Third baseman Michael Robert Lamb played for the Twins in part of the 2008 season.  He was born in West Covina, California, went to high school in La Puente, California, attended Cal State–Fullerton, and was drafted by Texas in the seventh round in 1997.  He had some good years in the minors, most notably 1999, when he hit .324 with 21 home runs for AA Tulsa.  He came up to the Rangers in 2000 and was the regular third baseman that year, hitting .278 but with only six home runs.  He spent the next few years as a part-time player, spending substantial time in the minors in 2001 and 2003.  Just before spring training of 2004, he was traded to the Yankees for Jose Garcia, but he never played for the Yankees, getting traded just before the 2004 season to Houston for Juan DeLeon.  He was a semi-regular for the Astros for four years, generally getting 300-400 at-bats.  He did pretty well with the playing time he got, hitting over .280 with an OPS over .800 three times for Houston.  Lamb became a free agent after the 2007 season and signed with Minnesota.  He was with the Twins for most of 2008 before being released in early September.  He had 236 at-bats as a Twin, batting .233/.276/.322 with 1 homer and 32 RBIs.  He finished 2008 with Milwaukee, but was released by the Brewers just before the 2009 season.  He spent 2009 with Buffalo in the Mets organization, then became a free agent and signed with Florida for 2010.  He made the Marlins out of spring training and was with them through mid-July, used mostly as a pinch-hitter.  He hit only .184, however, and was sent to AAA New Orleans, where he hit very well.  He was a free agent again after the 2010 season and went unsigned.  It appeared his playing career was over, but in late June of 2011 he signed with the Yankees, who sent him to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  He did well there, but did not get called up and his playing career ended.  At last report, Mike Lamb was a fielding instructor for ProKids Academy of San Juan Capistrano, California.

Left-hander Brian Christopher Fuentes appeared in nine games for the Twins in 2010.  Born and raised in Merced, California, he was drafted by Seattle in the twenty-fifth round in 1995.  He was a starting pitcher for most of his time in the minors and did not have much success above low Class A.  He was moved to the bullpen when he was promoted to AAA in 2001 and the move paid off.  He did very well there and was promoted to the big leagues for about six weeks.  After the 2001 season, Seattle sent him to Colorado as part of a deal for Jeff Cirillo.  He began 2002 back in AAA, but was with the Rockies by late May and never went back to the minors again, other than a few rehab assignments.  He was with the Rockies through 2008 and always did well for them with the exception of 2004, when he was battling injuries.  He generally appeared in 60-80 games and pitched 60-80 innings.  He became the Rockies’ closer in 2005 and saved around 30 games a season.  A free agent after the 2008 season, he signed with the Angels for 2009.  He actually had a down year in many statistical categories, but led the league in saves for the only time of his career with 48.  He was doing better in 2010 when he was traded to Minnesota in late August for a player to be named later (Loek Van Mil).  In his nine games for the Twins, he worked 9.2 innings, gave up three hits and two walks, and struck out eight.  He was 0-0, 0.00 with 1 save and a WHIP of 0.52.  He again became a free agent after the season and signed with Oakland.  He had a decent season with the Athletics and returned there for 2012, but pitched poorly and was released July 11.  He signed with St. Louis July 14 but made only six appearances before asking to be placed on the restricted list for personal reasons.  There was never an official announcement, but one gathers that he simply had gotten tired of being away from his family.  He retired after the season.  At last report Brian Fuentes was living in his home town of Merced, California, and was the owner of an almond farm.

Catcher Steven James Lomasney did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for about four months in 2006.  He was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, went to high school in Peabody, Massachusetts, and was drafted by Boston in the fifth round in 1995.  He was not too bad in the low minors, hitting 20 homers or more in consecutive seasons in 1998-1999.  In 1999, after hitting .259 with twenty home runs in a season split between Class A and AA, Lomasney got a September call-up.  He made his major league debut in the last game of the season, replacing Jason Varitek in the fifth inning.  He went 0-for-2, striking out against B. J. Ryan and Brian Falkenborg.  Unfortunately, that was Lomasney’s major league swan song as well, as he never got back to the major leagues.  He struggled when he got to AAA, posting a batting average of .220 and an OPS of .590 with seven home runs in 631 career AAA at-bats.  He suffered a serious eye injury near the end of 2001 when he was struck by a batted ball and his eyesight never fully recovered, which partly explains his struggles in the high minors. He became a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with Baltimore for 2003.  After one year in their farm system, he moved on to the Cincinnati chain for 2004-2005.  He signed with Minnesota for 2006, spending most of the season at New Britain with ten at-bats in Rochester.  The Twins released him in August 3, bringing his playing career to an end.  At last report, Steve Lomasney owned The Show Baseball Academy, a baseball and softball academy in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  He is also the coach of an under-fifteen baseball team which won the New England championship in 2010 and finished second in the national AAU championship for under-sixteen (there was no under-fifteen division).

Catcher Andrew Edward Butera played for the Twins from 2010-2013.  The son of ex-Twin Sal Butera, he was born in Evansville, Illinois and drafted by the Mets in the fifth round in 2005.  He has never hit–his career minor league line is .224/.303/.340–but he is known as an outstanding defensive player.  He seems to have been a part-time or semi-regular catcher even in the minors, topping 300 at-bats only twice in eight minor league seasons.  He was traded by the Mets to Minnesota on July 30, 2007 with Dustin Martin for Luis Castillo.  He finished 2007 with New Britain, then played for Rochester from 2008-2009.  He was expected to be in Rochester again in 2010, but got his chance in the majors when Jose Morales was hurt during spring training.  It’s hard to say that he made the most of it, as he batted only .197, but he stayed with the team all season.  He was with the Twins most of 2011 and hit even worse, batting .167.  He had his best offensive season to that point in 2012, hitting .198/.270/.279.  He spent most of 2013 in Rochester, appearing in two games for the Twins when Joe Mauer was on paternity leave.  On July 31, 2013 he was traded to the Dodgers for a player to be named later and was sent to AAA Albuquerque, coming up to the Dodgers in September.  He was with the Dodgers all of 2014 as their reserve catcher, and continued to be who he had always been.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Angels for 2015 but was traded to Kansas City in early May.  He remained with the Royals in 2016 and had a career year, batting .285/.328/.480 (in 123 at-bats).  At the time, we said, "Either Ned Yost is really good at spotting him against pitchers he can hit or it's simply the vagaries of small sample size."  It turned out to be the latter, as he batted .227/.284/.319 in 2017, which was still his second-best season.  He went back to batting below .200 in 2018 and was traded to Colorado at the end of August.  He started 2019 with the Rockies but was sent back to AAA on May 1, coming back as a September call-up.  He was again with the Rockies in 2020, then became a free agent.  He signed with Texas for 2021, was released in late March, and signed with the Angels in early May.  He was in the majors for about three weeks, then went to AAA, where he remained.  His career major league line is .196/.252/.290 in 1337 at-bats.  He became a free agent after the 2021 season, went unsigned, and is catching coach for the Los Angeles Angels.  He moved on to the White Sox from 2023-2025 and is currently a coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.

August 8

Jocko Milligan (1861)
Cupid Childs (1867)
Cecil Travis (1913)
Ken Raffensberger (1917)
Johnny Temple (1927)
Frank Howard (1936)
Jose Cruz (1947)
Mike Ivie (1947)
Al Woods (1953)
Ray Fontenot (1957)
Dave Meier (1959)
Ron Karkovice (1963)
Matt Whiteside (1967)
Craig Breslow (1980)
Anthony Rizzo (1989)
Yandy Diaz (1991)

Outfielder Alvis Woods appeared in twenty-three games for the Twins in 1986.  Born and raised in Oakland, he attended Laney College in Oakland, went to the University of San Francisco, and was drafted by the Twins in the June Secondary Draft of 1972.  He was in the Twins' minor league system for four seasons, going up a level a year and reaching AAA in 1976.  He posted good batting averages and good OBPs in the minors, but showed little power with the exception of 1973, when he improbably hit eighteen home runs for Class A Wisconsin Rapids.  He was taken by Toronto in the expansion draft and was their regular left fielder in their inaugural season of 1977.  He did about as much as you could reasonably expect him to do, batting .284 with an OBP of .336 but a slugging average of just .382.  He batted just .241 in 1978 and spent some time back in AAA, but came back in 1979 to reclaim the starting left field job with an average of .278.  He had his best season in 1980, batting .300 with fifteen home runs and an OPS of .844.  He apparently was dealing with some sort of injury the last month of the season, though, because despite his fine season he was mostly used as a pinch-hitter or DH throughout September.  He was only twenty-six at that point, and probably people thought he had taken a big step forward.  Unfortunately, he went backward after that.  He batted just .241 in 1981, and by 1982 the Blue Jays started using people like Jesse Barfield and Lloyd Moseby, leaving Woods behind.  He was traded to Oakland after the 1982 season, but was released late in spring training and signed back with Toronto.  He spent 1983 and 1984 in AAA, where he was okay but not really anything special.  He was a free agent after the 1984 season, and somebody in the Twins organization apparently still liked him, because the Twins signed him for 1985.  He had a good year in AAA Toledo for them that year, and in 1986 got about a month and a half with the big club, playing for them for two weeks in May and then getting a September call-up.  He was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter and did quite well in that role, batting .321/.375/.571 with two home runs in just twenty-eight at-bats.  He was thirty-two by then, though, and the Twins were ready to get serious about trying to win, so Woods became a free agent again.  He spent 1987 in the Mexican League, then retired.  It was not a bad career:  618 major league games, nearly 2000 at-bats, batted .271/.326/.387.  He became a deputy sheriff in San Francisco after leaving baseball, a position he held until his retirement at the end of 2020.

Left-hander Silton Ray Fontenot appeared in 15 games for the Twins in 1986.  He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, went to high school in LaGrange, Louisiana, and was drafted by Texas in the 34th round in 1979.  He was traded to the Yankees in October of that year in a multi-player deal that included, among others Mickey Rivers, Oscar Gamble, and Gene Nelson.  He pitched quite well in the minors, especially when he was moved to the bullpen in 1983.  He made it to the majors that year and spent two years with the Yankees, pitching pretty well in relief, before being traded to the Cubs in the 1984-85 off-season in another multi-player deal which included, among others, Ron Hassey and Henry Cotto.  After a year and a half in Chicago, he was traded to Minnesota along with Julius McDougal and George Frazier for Dewayne Coleman and Ron Davis.  He appeared in fifteen games for the Twins that year, getting no wins, losses, or saves in 16.1 innings with a 9.92 ERA.  The Twins released him after the season.  He signed with the Giants before the 1987 season, but did not make it out of spring training.  Houston picked him up, but released him after he pitched poorly in AAA, and he did not appear in organized baseball again.  Ray Fontenot moved back to Lake Charles, Louisiana and was a business development manager for Polaris Engineering and Construction until his retirement in January of 2023.  He is a member of the LaGrange High School Hall of Fame.

Outfielder David Keith Meier played for the Twins in 1984-1985.  He was born in Helena, Montana, went to high school in Fresno, California, attended Stanford, and was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1981.  He hit well at all of his minor league stops, posting an average of well over .300 every year but one.  He hit .336 in AAA Toledo in 1983 and made the Twins out of spring training in 1984.  He was with the Twins for two full seasons, but struggled to get playing time in an outfield that featured Kirby Puckett, Tom Brunansky, and Mickey Hatcher.  He batted .247/.317/.323 with the Twins in 251 at-bats.  Meier was released by the Twins after the 1985 season, and was out of baseball in 1986 before attempting a comeback with the Rangers in 1987.  He hit .320 with 18 homers at AAA Oklahoma City, but got only a September call-up and was allowed to become a free agent after the season.  He was traded to the Cubs for the 1988 season and again had a tremendous year in AAA, hitting .305 with 20 homers in AAA Iowa, but again got only a September call-up.  After that he apparently decided to call it quits, as his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Dave Meier was the chief baseball consultant for Equity Sports and was living in Fresno.

Left-hander Craig Andrew Breslow was with the Twins for part of the 2008-2009 seasons and again for part of the 2017 season.  He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, went to high school in Trumbull, Connecticut, and was drafted by Milwaukee in the twenty-sixth round in 2002.  A reliever throughout his career, he did very well in rookie ball in 2002 but struggled when promoted to Class A in 2003.  The Brewers released him in July of 2004 and he finished the year playing for independent New Jersey.  San Diego signed him in March of 2005, and after pitching very well in AA and decently in a brief stint at AAA, he reached the majors in July 0f 2005.  Breslow became a free agent after that season and signed with Boston.  He spent most of his two years with the Red Sox in AAA, although he got into thirteen games with the big club in 2006.  He was waived in March of 2008 and selected by Cleveland.  He appeared in only seven games for the Indians before being waived again, and was chosen by Minnesota.  He pitched very well for the Twins in 2008 and not so well in early 2009.  The Twins put him on waivers in May of 2009 and he was chosen by Oakland, where he pitched quite well.  He stayed there through the end of 2011, then was traded to Arizona.  He did a good job for the Diamondbacks, but was again traded at the end of July, this time to Boston, where he stayed through the 2015 season.  He pitched extremely well through 2013, but not so well after that.  He signed with Miami for 2016, was released in July, and signed with Texas, for whom he made three appearances in AAA and was released again.  At that time, we wrote, "He has not had a good year since 2013, and he turns 36 today...one suspects that the playing career of Craig Breslow is nearly at its end".  The Twins thought they knew better and signed him for 2017.  It turned out we were right:  he went 1-1, 5.23, 1.61 WHIP and was released in late July.  He signed with Cleveland in August of 2017 and appeared in seven games (4.1 innings).  He signed with Toronto for 2018, was released at the end of March, but was signed again in early April.  He did not pitch well in the minors for them, either at AA or AAA, and his playing career came to an end after that season.  As a Twin, he was 2-5, 3.75, 1.31 WHIP with 1 save in 84 innings (89 games).  He joined the Chicago Cubs front office after retiring and was an assistant general manager until October of 2023, when he became the Chief Baseball Officer for the Boston Red Sox.

August 7

Adonis Terry (1864)
Joe Hewitt (1885)
Bill McKechnie (1886)
Jack Marshall (1908)
Rocky Bridges (1927)
Art Houtteman (1927)
Don Larsen (1929)
Ron Henry (1936)
Jerry McNertney (1936)
Gary Dotter (1942)
Mike Poepping (1950)
Steve Kemp (1954)
Jason Grimsley (1967)
Danny Graves (1973)
Edgar Renteria (1976)
Wade LeBlanc (1984)
Ryan Lavarnway (1987)
Tommy Kahnle (1989)
Brock Stassi (1989)
Tony Zych (1990)
Mike Trout (1991)
Jose De Leon (1992)
Marco Raya (2002)

Tony Zych broke Dutch Zwilling's record for last in alphabetical order for major league baseball players.

There are three people named "Josh Smith" who have played major league baseball.  Two of them were born on this day.

Catcher Ronald Baxter Henry played for the Twins in 1961 and again in 1964.  He was born in Chester, Pennsylvania and began his professional career in 1954 with independent Class C Boise.  He went to the Milwaukee Braves’ system in 1955 and stayed there six years.  He looked like a pretty good player, really;  he hit over .300 twice, and had double-digit home runs three times.  Still, the Braves apparently did not believe in him, as he played only 60 games above AA in his six years with them.  The Twins selected Henry in the Rule 5 draft after the 1960 season.  He spent all of 1961 with the Twins as the third catcher behind Earl Battey and Hal Naragon, but played in only 20 games  (only six of them in the field) and got just 28 at-bats.  Still only 25, he went back to the minors, spending all of 1962 in AAA Vancouver and splitting 1963 between AA and AAA.  He had a strong year with AA Charlotte in 1964, hitting .307 with 17 homers, resulting in his getting 41 more at-bats with the Twins in 1964.  He was in AAA Denver in 1965-1966, but by then his time had passed.  In 1967, the Twins sent him to Houston; as a Twin, Ron Henry hit .130/.176/.261 in 69 at-bats.  He was in the Houston system through 1968, but did not play in the majors again.  His playing career came to an end after that.  He joined the Army for a couple of years, then moved to Denver, where he became a locally popular singer and actor.  Ron Henry passed away on May 14, 2016 in Denver from cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.

Left-hander Gary Richard Dotter pitched briefly for the Twins in 1961, 1963, and 1964.  He was born in St. Louis and signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in 1960.  He did not do that much that year, but was drafted by the Twins in the first-year player draft after the 1960 season.  He went 14-8, 3.08 for Class B Wilson, getting a September call-up and appearing in two games with the Twins at age 19.  He went to Class A Charlotte in 1962 and AAA Dallas-Ft. Worth in 1963, and pitched well in both spots, getting another two-game cup of coffee with the Twins in ’63.  Dotter appears to have been injured in 1964–he did not play in the minors at all, and only appeared in three games in September with the big club.  After 1964, he went to the Houston organization, pitching for them through 1967.  He did pretty well, but he never got another chance at the major leagues.  His playing career ended after the 1967 season.  Altogether, he spent three seasons in AAA, pitching 333 innings with a 3.43 ERA, but only pitched 12.1 major league innings, all with the Twins, and was out of baseball at age 25.  As a Twin, Gary Dotter appeared in seven games and pitched 12.1 innings.  He gave up eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and seven walks with ten strikeouts, for an ERA of 5.11.  He had control problems throughout his career, but he seems like he might have been able to help somebody if he’d been given more of a chance.  Gary Dotter passed away on July 27, 2024 from complications from Parkinson's Disease.

Outfielder Michael Harold Poepping played in fourteen games for the Twins in 1975.  A big man (6’6″, 230 lbs.), he was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, went to high school in Pierz, Minnesota, and attended Brainerd Junior College and St. Cloud State.  He signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1969.  He was in rookie ball for two years and Class A for four years, never hitting as high as .240 but developing some power.  He had his best year in the minors in 1974 at AA Orlando, hitting .262 with 23 home runs.  He dropped to .249 with 19 homers in AAA Tacoma in 1975, but that was good enough to get him a September call-up.  He started eleven games for the Twins in right field that September, hitting .135/.238/.162 in 37 at-bats.  He was back in Tacoma in 1976 but dropped to .225 with 15 homers.  That was all the Twins needed to see; his playing career came to an end after that season.  Still, he was an undrafted free agent who made the big leagues, and that’s something not a lot of people can say.  Sadly, life after baseball did not go entirely well for him; he went back to Pierz, but was jailed in 2002 for watching and videotaping his stepdaughter through a two-way mirror in the bathroom over a period of six years.  At last report he was still living in Pierz and was working as a carpenter, although he has probably retired by now.  It is to be hoped that he managed to get his life straightened out.

Right-handed reliever Daniel Peter Graves did not play for the Twins, but was in AAA Rochester in 2008.  He was born in Saigon to an American serviceman and a Vietnamese mother, the only Vietnam-born player to appear in the major leagues.  He went to high school in Brandon, Florida, attended the University of Miami, and was drafted by Cleveland in the fourth round in 1994.  A reliever throughout his minor league career, he did very well in the Indians’ farm system and was with the Indians for about seven weeks in 1996.  He appeared briefly with the  Indians in 1997, then was traded to Cincinnati in a trade that involved ex-Twin John Smiley.  He pitched well in a set-up role in 1998 and became the team’s closer in 1999.  He remained in that role through 2004 with the exception of 2003, when an experiment to convert Graves to a starter proved unsuccessful.  He did a good job as the Reds closer, saving 182 games and being named to two all-star teams.  His best year as a Red was probably 2000, when he went 10-5, 2.56 with 30 saves.  2004 was his last good year, however; he was released in late May of 2005 after posting an ERA over seven in 20 games.  He signed with the Mets in June, was released again in August, and was out of baseball the rest of the season.  He started 2006 with Cleveland, but was sent to the minors in early May and would not make it back to the majors.   He signed with Colorado for 2007, was released in March, and spent the 2007 season pitching for the independent Long Island Ducks before signing with the Twins organization in the spring of 2008.  He pitched well in New Britain, but did not pitch well in Rochester, and was released after the season.  He signed with Houston for 2009, but was released at the end of spring training and his career came to a close.  Danny Graves is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.  At last report, Danny Graves was living in San Antonio and was an analyst for the ACC Network.  He also went back to college to pursue a degree from the University of Miami, graduating in 2023.

First baseman Brock James Stassi did not play for the Twins, but was in AAA for two months in 2018.  He was born in Sacramento, went to high school in Yuba City, California, attended Nevada-Reno, and was drafted by Philadelphia in the thirty-third round in 2011.  He really didn't do much for a few years, but despite his draft position the Phillies didn't give up on him.  He finally had a solid year in AA in 2015, batting .300 with an OPS of .863.  Promoted to AAA in 2016, he again posted an OPS of over .800 and at the start of 2017 he was in a Philadelphia uniform.  He stuck with the Phillies for the first half of the season as a pinch-hitter and backup first baseman.  He appeared in fifty-one games but got just seventy-eight at-bats, which is a tough role.  He wasn't up to it, batting .167/.278/.295.  He finished out the year in AAA and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Minnesota for 2018 and went to AAA Rochester, where he batted .211/.316/.316 in 114 at-bats.  He was released in late May and went to the Atlantic League, playing for New Britain.  He did very well there, batting .361 at this writing with an OPS of over 1.000.  He signed with San Francisco for 2019 and hit well in AA, but played only three games in AAA.  He signed with Oakland for 2020 but was released in late March.  He did not play in 2020, but was back playing in the Atlantic League in 2021.  At last report, Brock Stassi was an assistant baseball coach for William Jessup University in Rocklin, California.

Right-hander Jose Eugenio De Leon appeared in twelve games for the Twins in 2023.  He was born in Isabela, Puerto Rico, went to high school in San Juan, attended Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, and was drafted by the Dodgers in the 24th round in 2013.  He rose rapidly, reaching AA in 2015, AAA in 2016, and making his major league debut as a September call-up in 2016.  It was widely rumored that he might be going to the Twins in exchange for Brian Dozier that off-season, but instead he was traded to Tampa Bay.  He battled injuries that year and missed all of 2018 due to Tommy John surgery.  He pitched again in 2019, doing pretty well in AAA and in three major league appearances.  Tampa Bay traded him to Cincinnati after the season and he made five appearances for the Reds in the 2020 COVID season.  He battled injuries again in 2021 and did not do well when he could pitch.  The Reds released him late July, he signed with Boston in early August, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Toronto for 2022 but could make only eleven minor league appearances.  He signed with Minnesota for 2023.  He spent about six weeks with the big club, going 0-1, 4.67, 1.21 WHIP with 17 in 17.1 innings (12 games).  Unfortunately, he was injured again and missed the rest of 2023 and all of 2024.  He signed with Boston for 2025 and did not do well in AAA, although he did get one more game in the majors.  He pitched in winter ball and for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, but does not appear to be pitching anywhere in 2026.  For his career, he is 5-2, 7.13, 1.68 WHIP in 72 innings (35 games).  He turns thirty-four today.  If he could ever get and stay healthy, he might still be able to help a team.  Sadly, however, it does not seem likely that will ever happen.

Right-hander Marco Antonio Raya has appeared in three games for the Twins so far, all in 2026.  Born and raised in Laredo, Texas, he was drafted by Minnesota in the fourth round in 2020.  He pitched very well in the low minors, but has struggled above that.  He was in AA in 2024 and went 3-4, 4.27 in twenty-four starts, although it should be pointed out that he was just twenty-one years old.  He has been in St. Paul since then, with the exception of three major league games in late June/early July.  He moved to the bullpen in 2026, but neither starting nor relieving has gone particularly well for him in AAA:  he is 6-13, 6.03, 1.52 WHIP in 147.2 innings there (61 games, 22 of them starts).  He actually did pretty well in two of his three big league games:  he is 0-0, 3.00, 1.33 WHIP in six innings (three games).  He turns twenty-four today.  He still young enough to improve, but he's going to need to if he's going to have much of a major league career.