May 12

Chicken Wolf (1862)

Lave Cross (1866)

Jumping Joe Dugan (1897)

Hank Borowy (1916)

Ed Runge (1918)

Yogi Berra (1925)

Felipe Alou (1935)

Ted Kubiak (1942)

Vic Albury (1947)

Bob Heise (1947)

Joe Nolan (1951)

Lou Whitaker (1957)

Kevin Bass (1959)

Willie Lozado (1959)

Mark Clark (1968)

Wes Helms (1976)

Felipe Lopez (1980)

Evan Meek (1983)

Lance Lynn (1987)

Terrin Vavra (1997)

Ed Runge was an American League umpire from 1954-1970.  His son Paul and his grandson Brian have also been major league umpires.

Infielder Willie Lozado was drafted by Minnesota in the third round of the January Secondary draft in 1978, but did not sign.

Terrin Vavra is the son of former Twins coach Joe Vavra.

Left-hander Victor Albury pitched for the Twins from 1973-1976.  Born and raised in Key West, Albury was drafted by Cleveland in the ninth round in 1965.  He was a first baseman then, and spent a year at Class A Dubuque hitting .233.  He then went into the military for three years, and when he came back he was a pitcher.  Somewhere along the line, Cleveland transferred his rights to the Cubs.  He pitched for them in Class A in 1969 and did well, posting an ERA of 2.32.  Despite that, the Cubs transferred him to San Diego, for whom he had a bad year split between Class A and AAA.  Minnesota selected him in November of 1970 in the minor league draft.  He had a tremendous year at AA Charlotte in 1971, going 12-7, 1.72 with a WHIP of 1.20.  The next year, he was mostly injured, pitching only 18 innings at AAA Tacoma.  He came back in 1973, put up an ERA of 3.99 at Tacoma, and was promoted to the Twins in August, pitching out of the bullpen the rest of the season.  He was with Minnesota for the next three seasons.  He started the 1974 season in the bullpen, went into the starting rotation for about three months, then went back to the bullpen again.  He was much better as a starter, going 7-9, 3.77, so he started 1975 in the rotation again.  He didn’t do all that badly, but the Twins had no patience with him, and switched him back to the bullpen in late May.  This time, he did quite a bit better as a reliever, going 3-0, 3.00 in that role.  In 1976 he was a full-time reliever, going 3-1, 3.58 in 50.1 innings, although with a WHIP of 1.49.  The Twins decided that was not good enough and he spent 1977 pitching in AAA for the Yankees.  He did poorly there, was out of baseball in 1978, then tried to come back with AAA Tacoma, by then in the Cleveland organization, in 1979.  He did poorly there, too, and his playing career came to an end.  In his major league career, all of which came with Minnesota, he was 18-17, 4.11 in 372.2 innings.  He appeared in 101 games, 37 of them starts.  Albury stayed in baseball for a while, coaching in the Indians organization at Waterloo in 1983.  Vic Albury passed away on April 18, 2017 in Tampa.

Right-handed reliever Evan David Meek did not pitch for the Twins, but was drafted by them.  He was born in Bellevue, Washington, went to high school in Kenmore, Washington, and was drafted by Minnesota in the 11th round in 2002.  He had an outstanding season at Elizabethton in 2003, going 7-1, 2.47 with a 1.12 WHIP.  He followed that with two outstandingly bad seasons at Elizabethton, Quad Cities, and Beloit, and the Twins released him in June of 2005.  He signed with San Diego in September and was in Class A for them for most of 2006 before being traded to Tampa Bay in late August.  Meek did somewhat better in AA in 2007 and was chosen by Pittsburgh that winter in the Rule 5 draft.  He began the year in Pittsburgh, but the Pirates then purchased him from Tampa Bay and sent him to AA Altoona.  He pitched very well both there and in AAA Indianapolis.  What seems to have changed the most is that Meek learned how to throw strikes, which he had not done most of his time in the Twins’ organization.  He was in the Pirates’ bullpen for most of 2009 and pitched quite well, posting a 3.45 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP although in only 47 innings over 41 appearances.  He did even better in 2010, his first full season in the majors, going 5-4, 2.14, 1.05 WHIP in 80 innings over 70 appearances and making the all-star team.   He was injured much of 2011, making only 20 appearances, and his control problems returned when he was able to pitch.  He spent most of 2012 in AAA when healthy, and while he did not give up a lot of hits he continued to struggle to throw strikes.  A free agent after the 2012 season, he signed with Texas and spent 2013 at AAA Round Rock, and while his control improved some he did not have a very good year.  He signed with Baltimore for 2014 and made the big club out of spring training, but again could not throw strikes and was sent to Norfolk in early May.  Surprisingly, he did throw strikes there, walking only four in 41.2 innings.  He again became a free agent, signed with Washington for 2015, and spent the season pitching for AAA Syracuse, where his control problems returned.  He pitched well otherwise, but was still released in July and finished the season in Korea.  He pitched in independent ball in 2016, then his playing career was over.  At last report, Evan Meek was living in Hixson, Tennessee, and was a senior commercial territory manager for JAT Energy.

Right-hander Michael Lance Lynn pitched for the Twins for about four months in 2018.  He was born in Indianapolis, went to high school in Brownsburg, Indiana, attended the University of Mississippi, and was drafted by St. Louis in the first round in 2008.  He progressed rapidly through the low minors and reached AAA in 2010 (other than one AAA start in 2009).  He had a rather mediocre year in Memphis and started 2011 there as well, but came up to the majors in early June and, after a rough start, pitched very well out of the Cardinals bullpen.  He went into the Cardinals' rotation (he had always been a starter in the minors) at the start of the 2012 season and stayed there through 2015.  He was a solid rotation starter for those seasons, going 60-38, 3.38 and making over thirty starts each season.  He missed 2016 due to injury, but came back in 2017 to go 11-8, 3.43.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota for 2018.  For whatever reason, he never got anything going with the Twins, going 7-8, 5.10, 1.63 WHIP in twenty starts.  The Twins traded him to the Yankees at the July deadline for Tyler Austin and Luis Rijo.  He pitched better for the Yankees for two months, then signed with Texas for 2019.  He had two fine seasons for the Rangers, going 22-14 and finishing in the top six in Cy Young voting both years.  He was traded to the White Sox after the 2020 season and had a fine 2021 for them, making his second all-star team.  He injured his knee late in spring training in 2022 and did not start his season until the middle of June, but again had a good season.  He got off to a poor start in 2023, but did substantially better when he was traded to the Dodgers in late July.  He signed with St. Louis for 2024 and had a solid season.  There's no reason to think he couldn't have still been an effective pitcher in 2025, but he chose to retire instead. His career can basically be summed up this way:  He pitched well everywhere other than Minnesota.  At last report, Lance Lynn was living in Marion, Illinois.  He was inducted into the University of Mississippi M Club Hall of Fame.

May 11

Charlie Gehringer (1903)

Rip Sewell (1907)

Eddie Chiles (1910)

Jack Lang (1921)

Nestor Chylak (1922)

Milt Pappas (1939)

Frank Quilici (1939)

Jerry Martin (1949)

Dane Iorg (1950)

Mark Huismann (1958)

Walt Terrell (1958)

Trent Hubbard (1964)

Bobby Witt (1964)

Kerry Ligtenberg (1971)

Francisco Cordero (1975)

Miguel Sano (1993)

Eddie Chiles was the owner of the Texas Rangers from 1980-1989.

Jack Lang was a long-time sportswriter in New York and was the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of America from 1966-1988.

Nestor Chylak was an American League umpire from 1954-1978.

Infielder/manager/broadcaster Francis Ralph Quilici was associated with the Twins for many years.  He was born and raised in Chicago, attended Loras College of Dubuque, Iowa, one of two major league players that school has produced (Red Faber), then transferred to Western Michigan.  Quilici signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1961.  He was not a great batter in the minors, but had a decent season at AA Charlotte in 1964 and was hitting .277 in AAA Denver when he was called up to the majors in mid-July of 1965.  He only hit .208 in Minnesota that year but started in the World Series in place of the injured Jerry Kindall.  Quilici was back in Denver for all of 1966 and was a seldom-used reserve in 1967.  In 1968 he got the most playing time of his career, starting 34 games at second and 24 at third and getting 229 at-bats.  He didn’t do much with the playing time, and by 1969 he was essentially Harmon Killebrew’s late-inning defensive replacement at third.  In 1970, he was given another chance at second when Rod Carew was out, but he didn’t do much with it and was released in April of 1971.  That ended Quilici’s playing career; he hit .214/.281/.287 in 682 at-bats.  He became a coach with the Twins in 1971, and when Bill Rigney was fired in July of the following year Quilici became the youngest manager in the major leagues.  He remained the manager through the 1975 season, when he was replaced by Gene Mauch.  Quilici then joined the Twins’ broadcasting crew, calling games for the team on radio from 1976-1977, 1980-1982 and on television in 1987.  Quilici was nominated as a candidate for the College World Series Legends Team.  He retired to Burnsville, Minnesota, was a member of the board of directors of the Twins Community Fund, and participated in Twins’ fantasy camps.  In August of 2011, a baseball field in North Minneapolis was renovated and re-named “Frank Quilici Field” in his honor.  It serves as home to the North Minneapolis RBI program.  He was also involved in charitable work encouraging organ donation.  Frank Quilici passed away on May 14, 2018, after suffering from a kidney disease.

Infielder Miguel Angel (Jean) Sano was with the Twins from 2015-2022.  He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 2009.  He dominated throughout the low minors, posting an OPS of over .900 every year but 2012, when it was .893 for Class A Beloit.  His batting averages were not always high, but he always drew a lot of walks and always hit for power.  He reached AA in 2013, missed 2014 due to injury, but came back strong in 2015, when he jumped from AA to the majors in early July.  He made an immediate impact, hitting .269/.385/.530 in a half-season.  Used mostly as a designated hitter, he was moved from his natural position, third base, to right field in 2016 in what can only be described as a lame-brained decision.  He was a liability in the outfield, then got hurt, and had a year that, while it wasn't all that bad (25 homers, an OPS of .781), was not a step forward in his development.  Back at third base where he belonged in 2017, he improved in the field and had a fine year at the plate, hitting 28 home runs and posting an OPS of .859).  He was off to a slow start in 2018, dealt with a variety of injuries, and never really did get going.  An injury delayed the start of his 2019 season, but once he started he had his best season, clouting 34 home runs with an OPS of .923.  He was unable to build on that in the next couple of seasons, however--he continued to hit home runs, but posted batting averages so low that, although he drew a decent number of walks, his OBP was still nothing to shout about.  He was off to an awful start in 2022 when he tore his meniscus and missed the rest of the season.  He became a free agent after the season, went unsigned, and did not play at all in 2023.  He played winter ball that off-season, however, and signed with the Angels for 2024.  He got off to a hot start, but could not maintain it and was released in mid-July.  He hit well in winter ball for two years, then signed with Chunichi in Japan for 2026.  He turns thirty-three today.  He can probably play somewhere for a couple more years if he wants to, but the odds are very heavily against him making it back to the majors again.

May 10

Chippy McGarr (1863)

Ed Barrow (1868)

Klondike Douglass (1872)

Harry Salsinger (1885)

Allan Roth (1917)

Hideo Fujimoto (1918)

John McMullen (1918)

Herb Carneal (1923)

Jim Hickman (1937)

Ken Berry (1941)

John Cumberland (1947)

Chris Berman (1955)

Joey Meyer (1962)

Robby Thompson (1962)

Pete Schourek (1969)

Edward Mujica (1984)

Salvador Perez (1990)

Lucas Sims (1994)

Cody Laweryson (1998)

Ed Barrow was the manager of the Boston Red Sox from 1918-1920, and is credited with making the decision to make Babe Ruth an outfielder, rather than a pitcher.  He was then general manager of the New York Yankees from 1921-1944.

Harry Salsinger was the sports editor of the Detroit News for forty-nine years.

Allan Roth was the first full-time statistician employed by a major league team, being hired by Branch Rickey in 1947.  He is credited with promoting the idea that on-base percentage is more valuable than batting average and with providing the first evidence that right-handed batters tend to hit better against left-handed pitchers and vice versa.

Hideo Fujimoto holds the Japanese records for lowest career ERA and lowest one-season ERA.

John McMullen was the owner of the Houston Astros from 1979-1992.

With all due respect to John Gordon, Cory Provus, and Kris Atteberry, some of us will always consider Herb Carneal to be the Voice of the Twins.

Chris Berman broadcast baseball on ESPN for several years.

Left-hander John Sheldon Cumberland did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 1973.  He was born in Westbrook, Maine, attended the University of Maine, and signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1966.  He had a mediocre season in Class A, but the Yankees thought they saw something in him and selected him in the minor league draft.  He had a decent in 1967 in AAA and a solid 1968 there, making his major league debut in the latter season as a September call-up.  He was not as good in 1969 but was not terrible, either, and made two more major league appearances.  He started 1970 with the Yankees and was doing okay, but was traded to San Francisco in mid-July.  1971 was his first full season in the majors and it was his best one:  he went 9-6, 2.92, 1.12 WHIP in 185 innings.  He made 45 appearances, 21 of them starts.  That was as good as it would get for him.  He struggled at the start of 1972, was traded to St. Louis in mid-June, continued to struggle, and after the season was traded to Minnesota with Larry Hisle for Wayne Granger.  That turned out to be a good trade for the Twins, but not because of Cumberland—he was released at the end of spring training.  He signed with the Giants again a couple of weeks later, was released at the end of June, and signed with California.  He made it back to the majors at the end of May, 1974 and pitched fairly well for the Angels for two months, but was sent back to the minors at the end of July.  His playing career came to an end after the season.  For his major league career, he was 15-16, 3.82, 1.24 WHIP in 334.1 innings.  He appeared in 110 games, 36 of them starts.  He stayed in baseball for a while as a coach, most recently working for the Kansas City Royals from 2002-2004.  His son Chris was in the minors for 12 seasons, two of them in the Twins’ organization, but did not make the major leagues.  John Cumberland passed away at his home in Lutz, Florida on April 5, 2024.

First baseman Tanner Joe Meyer did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 1991.  He was born in Honolulu, went to high school in Kailua, Hawaii, attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and was drafted by Milwaukee in the fifth round in 1983.  A big man (listed at 6′ 3″, 260), he crushed the ball in the minors, averaging thirty home runs a season over his first four seasons and hitting over .300 in three of those seasons.  He was in the majors all of the 1988 season, but was used as a part-time player, mostly at DH, as the Brewers preferred giving playing time to Greg Brock and Billy Joe Robideaux to seeing what their young slugger could do playing every day.  He wasn’t terrible in part-time duty, hitting .263 with 11 homers in 327 at-bats.  In 1989 he got even less playing time, as he continued to lose time to such stalwarts as Brock and George Canale.  He managed to hit seven homers in 147 at-bats, but his average declined.  The Brewers released him after the season, he went to Japan for 1990, then came back to the Twins for 1991.  They got rid of him at the end of spring training, but they at least had a better excuse, as they had Kent Hrbek to play first and Paul Sorrento at AAA.  Also, they did not just release him, but traded him to Pittsburgh for Greg Sims.  He played part-time at AAA in the Pirates’ organization in 1991, then his playing career came to an end.  He was a big guy who struck out a lot, but given his minor league record, one has to wonder what he might have done if someone had just given him regular playing time in the big leagues.  After his playing career he returned to Honolulu, and at last report was a security officer for Maui Memorial Medical Center.  He also was a manager for LLS Pacific, a landscaping company.

Right-hander Cody Orion Laweryson came up to the Twins in 2025.  He was born in Bingham, Maine, attended the University of Maine, and was drafted by the Twins in the fourteenth round in 2019.  He was primarily a reliever until his last year of college, mostly started for the Twins through 2021, and has been mostly in the bullpen since then.  He struggled as a starter in high-A in 2021, which is probably why he was moved to relieving.  He had an excellent 2022 split between high-A and AA, but had a poor 2023 in AAA and continued to pitch poorly when returned to AA in 2024.  In 2025, however, something clicked.  He pitched very well in AA, still did well in AAA, and did well in a September call-up that season.  He started 2026 in the majors, but was put on the injured list with a right forearm strain in early April and has not pitched since.  His major league numbers, all with the Twins, are 0-1, 2.57, 1.85 WHIP with fifteen strikeouts in fourteen innings.  He turns twenty-eight today.  His record so far is a pretty mixed bag, so it's anyone guess what the future will hold for him.

May 9

Frank Bancroft (1846)

Tommy Clarke (1888)

Neck Stanley (1905)

Billy Jurges (1908)

Tony Bartirome (1932)

Ron Jackson (1953)

Tom Chism (1954)

Tony Gwynn (1960)

Aaron Harang (1978)

Prince Fielder (1984)

Chase Headley (1984)

Buddy Boshers (1988)

Jace Peterson (1990)

Oswaldo Arcia (1991)

Cade Smith (1999)

Frank Bancroft managed seven teams in nine different seasons over the period of 1880-1902.

Infielder Tony Bartirome is better known as an athletic trainer, working for Pittsburgh from 1967-1985 and for Atlanta from 1986-1988.

Cade Smith was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2017, but did not sign.

First baseman Ronnie Damien Jackson played for the Twins from 1979-1981.  Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, he was drafted by California in the second round in 1971.  He was primarily a third baseman in the minors.  He had good but unspectacular minor league seasons with the exception of 1974, when he hit .328 with 11 home runs at AA El Paso.  He made his major league debut as a September callup in 1975 and started 1976 with the Angels.  He began as a bench player, but by mid-May Jackson was the regular third baseman.  He did not hit, however, and was down to part-time status in 1977.  He played more first base than third in 1978 and had a pretty good year, batting .297 in 387 at-bats.  After the season, Jackson was traded with Danny Goodwin to Minnesota for Dan Ford.  He was the Twins’ regular first baseman in 1979 and was fairly decent, hitting .271 with 14 home runs.  He was the mostly regular in 1980 as well, but slipped a little and fell to part-time status in 1981 before being traded to Detroit in August for a player to be named later (Tim Corcoran).  Jackson became a free agent after the season and did not sign until mid-April of 1982, going back to the Angels.  He hit .331 in only 142 at-bats for California in 1982, but slid back after that.  California released him in August of 1984 and he finished the season with Baltimore.  Jackson played in AAA for St. Louis in 1985 and briefly in AAA for the White Sox in 1988.  He played for a couple of years in the Seniors League, but then his playing career ended.  He was consistently employed until 2009 as a batting coach, either in the majors or in the minors.  He has made a series of instructional videos under the general title “Ron Jackson’s Hitting Factory.”  At last report, he was the owner of Gap to Gap, a website which offers various batting instructional videos and aids.  He also serves as a guest instructor at various baseball academies and coached Birmingham's Willie Mays Youth Baseball team to the 2014 championship of the Junior RBI Classic.  He has also started the Ron "Papa Jack" Baseball Foundation in Birmingham.

First baseman Thomas Raymond Chism did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for a brief time in 1980.  He was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, attended Brandywine Junior College, went to Widener University (the only major league player to have gone to that school), and was drafted by Baltimore in the fourth round in 1974.  He did quite well in the minors, hitting .300 more often than not and posting an OPS over .800 every year.  He got a September call-up in 1979, appearing in six games and going 0-for-3.  Unfortunately for Chism, the Orioles had a first baseman named Eddie Murray, so there was no room for Chism. After the season, the Orioles traded him to Minnesota for Dan Graham.  That seemed to be a turning point in his career; he never made the majors again, and his averages in the minors fell into the .250s.  He apparently did not get along with Twins management very well, moved on to the Detroit organization after 34 AAA games for the Twins, and finished the year back in the Orioles’ chain.  He stayed there for 1981, but at that point he could see that he was unlikely to get much of a chance.  He was a player-coach in 1981 and became a full-time minor-league coach in 1982 .  He remained in the Orioles organization through 1985 as a coach and scout.  He received a World Championship ring from them in 1983, a ring that was later stolen.  The thief was caught, but the ring was never recovered.  At last report, Tom Chism was living in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a security guard for the Crozer-Chester Medical Center for twenty-years until a back injury forced him to retire.  His son, T. J. Chism, was a pitcher in the Mets’ organization, reaching AA, and played in the Atlantic League in 2015.

Left-hander Jeffrey Allan "Buddy" Boshers played for the Twins for parts of 2016-17.  Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, he attended Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama (a school which produced Jorge Posada and Gary Redus) and was drafted by the Angels in the fourth round in 2008.  He was a starter through 2009, but became primarily a relief pitcher in 2010.  He struggled early in his career, not reaching AA until 2012.  He began 2013 in AA, but was promoted to AAA in June.  He made sixteen appearances in AAA, doing okay but nothing special, when for no apparent reason he was promoted to the majors in mid-August.  He spent the rest of the season there and was apparently used as a LOOGY, as he made 25 appearances but pitched only 15.1 innings.  He did okay, sort of, posting a 4.70 ERA and a 1.37.  He actually did significantly better against right-handed batters than he did against lefties, although it's obviously a small sample size.  He split 2014 between AA and AAA, became a free agent, signed with Colorado for 2015, was released in late March, did well in the Atlantic League that season, and signed with the Twins for 2016.  He started 2016 in Rochester but came up to the Twins in late May and did fairly well for them.  He started 2017 in Rochester as well, but again came up to the Twins in late May and did well at first, but faded in the second half.  The Twins waived him after the season and he was claimed by Houston.  He was in AAA for the Astros, was waived in August, and finished the year in AAA for Pittsburgh.  He signed with Cincinnati for 2019, was released in March, and signed with Toronto in May.  He made it back to the majors for the last couple of months of the season and wasn't awful.  He became a free agent after the season and did not play in 2020.  He played in the Dominican Winter League that off-season, but that brought his playing career to an end.  As a Twin, Buddy Boshers was 3-0, 4.56, 1.25 WHIP in 86.1 innings (100 games).  At last report, Buddy Boshers was coaching youth baseball in the Huntsville area.

Outfielder Oswaldo Celestino Arcia played for the Twins from 2013-2016.  He was born in Anaco, Anzoategui, Venezuela and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 2007.  He did okay his first couple of years, but really broke through with Elizabethton in 2010, hitting .375/.424/.672.  He was jumped to Fort Myers for 2011 and did not really stand out, but he did not do badly, either.  He took another substantial step forward in 2012, hitting .320/.388/.539 in a season divided between Fort Myers and New Britain.  He began 2013 in Rochester, but was brought to Minnesota early in the season.  He struck out a lot, which was a problem in the minors as well, but he still did okay, especially for a twenty-two year old. In 2014 he continued to strike out a lot, but also hit twenty homers and had an OPS of .752.  He was off to a decent start in 2015 when he was injured in early May.  He never got it going after that, having a poor year in Rochester.  He had quite an interesting 2016:  he started the season in Minnesota, was traded to Tampa Bay in June for a player to be named later or cash, was waived in late August and claimed by Miami, was waived again four days later and claimed by San Diego.  As a Twin, he batted .240/.303/.429.  He was released after the 2016 season and signed with Arizona for 2017.  He had a tremendous year in AAA, posting an OPS of 1.049, but did not get back to the majors.  He became a free agent after the season.  It's hard for me to think that no major league team wanted to give him a chance after a AAA season like that, but apparently no one did, because he played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2018 and played in Mexico in 2019.  He has continued to play winter ball since then and has been back playing in Mexico since 2023.  He hit really well there for two seasons, but he fell off in 2025 and did not do well in winter ball, either.  He's turns thirty-five today.  We suspect his playing career may be over, and we certainly wish him well in the future.  His brother, Orlando, was a major league shortstop for several seasons and is playing in AAA for the Twins in 2026.

May 8

Dan Brouthers (1858)

Edd Roush (1893)

Turkey Stearnes (1901)

Mike Cuellar (1937)

Steve Braun (1948)

Dennis Leonard (1961)

Orestes Destrade (1962)

Todd Greene (1971)

John Maine (1981)

Adrian Gonzalez (1982)

Wily Peralta (1989)

Sean Gilmartin (1990)

We could not find out why Edd Roush's first name was spelled with two d's.  We did find out, however, that he had a twin brother whose name was Fred, not Fredd.

Outfielder Turkey Stearns was a star in the Negro Leagues from 1923-1940, posting a slugging percentage of .619.

Mike Cuellar pitched in AAA in the Twins’ organization in 1961.  He does not seem to have belonged to the Twins, however.  It may be that he was temporarily loaned to them, a practice which was not uncommon in the 1960s.

Left-handed hitter Stephen Russell Braun played for the Twins from 1971-1976.  He was born in Trenton, New Jersey, went to high school in Pennington, New Jersey, and was drafted by the Twins in the tenth round in 1966.  He was in rookie ball for two years, doing nothing special, and then missed two years to military service.  He came back to hit .279 at Class A Lynchberg in 1970 and started 1971 with the Twins.  He was used mostly as a pinch hitter at first, but gradually worked his way into a more-or-less regular role.  Braun is not the type of player normally thought of as a “utility player”, but he played mutliple positions with the Twins, spending time in both the infield and the outfield.  He was primarily used as an infielder in 1971-1973, used mostly at third but also starting games at second and short as well as a few in the outfield.  He was primarily a left fielder in 1974-1975, but played some third and first.  In 1976 he was mostly used at DH, but again saw time in the outfield and at third base.  At all of these positions, he was a solid batter, regularly posting batting averages in the .280s and OBPs of .360 or higher.  His best year as a Twin was probably 1975, when Braun hit .302 with 11 home runs and 66 walks.  He was still a productive player in 1976, but the Twins left him unprotected in the expansion draft and he was chosen by Seattle.  Perhaps the Twins knew something, because even though he was not yet thirty, 1977 was Braun’s last year as a regular.  Used at left field and DH, he was a disappointment to the Mariners and was traded to Kansas City in June of 1978.  He then embarked on a relatively long career in which he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter.  Braun was with the Royals until he was released in June of 1980.  He finished that season with Toronto, then signed with St. Louis, where he played the final five years of his career.  He never got as many as 100 at-bats in any of his last six seasons, but he remained relatively consistent, batting in the .270s in each season from 1982-1984.  As a Twin, Steve Braun hit .284/.376/.381 in nearly 2500 at-bats.  He remained in baseball after his playing career ended, including some time as the hitting coach for the Cardinals.  More recently, he was batting coach for the Trenton Thunder from 1999-2004.  At last report, he was living in retirement in Florida.

Left-hander Sean Patrick Gilmartin did not play for the Twins but was in their minor league system in 2014.  He was born in Thousand Oaks, California, went to high school in Encino, attended Florida State, and was drafted by Atlanta in the first round in 2011.  He pitched pretty well up through AA, but stumbled when reaching AAA  for seven starts in 2012.  He continued to struggle in AAA in 2013 and after the season was traded to Minnesota for Ryan Doumit.  He spent half of 2014 in AA and half in AAA, doing better in AA and not all that badly in AAA.  The Twins left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft and he was chosen by the Mets.  He had been a starter his entire career up to this point, but the Mets put him in the bullpen and he did quite well there.  He was in the majors all of 2015 and was 3-2, 2.67, 1.19 WHIP in 57.1 innings (50 appearances).  Despite that, he started 2016 in AAA and was up and down all year, having three stints with the Mets but appearing in only fourteen games.  His numbers look terrible, but two bad outings skew them--take those out, and his ERA is 2.40 instead of 7.13.  He made two appearances for the Mets in 2017, one good and one bad.  The Mets waived him in mid-June and he was claimed by St. Louis.  He almost immediately injured his elbow, making only eight appearances in AAA for the Cardinals.  He remained in AAA for St. Louis in 2018, did not do well, and was released in early July.  He signed with Baltimore, got called up in mid-August, and did well in twelve appearances.  He was back in AAA in 2019, and while he did well there he got only one major league appearance for the Orioles.  A free agent, he signed with Tampa Bay for 2020 and appeared in two games for them, not doing very well.  He became a free agent after the season and signed back with the Twins in late June of 2021.  He pitched very poorly, became a free agent, and went unsigned, ending his playing career.  He is married to former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.  His brother, Michael, played minor league ball from 2009-2013, reaching AA, and played independent ball from 2014-2016.  At last report, Sean Gilmartin was the pitching coach for Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut. 

May 7

Mickey Doolin (1880)

Tom Zachary (1896)

Dick Williams (1929)

Claude Raymond (1937)

Steve Whitaker (1943)

Manny Hernandez (1961)

Brook Fordyce (1970)

James Loney (1984)

Sam Dyson (1988)

Keon Broxton (1990)

Emilio Pagan (1991)

Right-hander Manuel Antonio (Montas) Hernandez did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for most of 1989.  He was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and signed with Houston as a free agent in 1978.  He was very young, of course, and as a result he was in rookie ball for two years and Class A for three more.  He pitched well in every year except 1982.  He jumped to AAA Tucson in 1984 and stayed there most of the next five seasons, getting some cups of coffee in Houston in 1986 and 1987.  His numbers in AAA were neither good nor terrible, but he never really seemed to improve while he was there.  He made fifteen appearances with the Astros, seven of them starts, and went 2-7, 4.56 in 49.1 innings.  He became a free agent after the 1988 season and signed with Minnesota for 1989.  He did all right in Portland, going 9-8, 3.91 with a 1.15 WHIP.  He was sold to the Mets on August 1 and got back to the majors for one inning, retiring all three batters he faced.  That was his swan song in the majors.  He remained in the Mets’ organization in 1990, split 1991 between the Mets and Brewers organization, and then his playing career was over.  At last report, Manny Hernandez had returned to the Dominican Republic.

Right-hander Samuel Isaac Dyson appeared in twelve games for the Twins in 2019.  Born and raised in Tampa, he attended the University of South Carolina and was drafted by Toronto in the fourth round in 2010.  He had Tommy John surgery, so he did not make his professional debut until 2012.  He pitched well in AA and even made two appearances in the majors in July.  He was waived after the season, however, and was claimed by Miami.  He did well in a 2013 season split between AA and AAA, started 2014 in AAA, came to majors in mid-June and stayed there ever since.  He was a starter in 2013, the only season of his professional career in which he started.  He did well for the Marlins, but was traded to Texas at the July deadline in 2015.  He continued to pitch well through 2016, but got off to a very poor start in 2017 and was traded to San Francisco.  He pitched much better and was a solid reliever for the Giants through the July trade deadline in 2019.  At that point, he was traded to Minnesota for Prelander Berroa, Kai-Wei Teng, and Jaylin Davis.  It seemed like a good idea, but unfortunately for the Twins, he was injured and they didn't know that.  After a couple of disastrous games he went on the disabled list, and he pitched better after that.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign with anyone for 2020.  He was suspended for all of the 2021 season for violations of MLB's domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy.  He signed with Tijuana in the Mexican League for 2022 and had a very good season.  That, however, brought his playing career to an end. As a Twin he was 1-0, 7.15, 1.77 WHIP in 11.1 innings (12 games).  No information about what Sam Dyson is doing now was readily available.

Outfielder Keon Darell Broxton did not played for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2021.  Born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, he attended Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida, and was drafted by Arizona in the third round in 2009.  He reached AA in 2013, but was unimpressive at the plate and was sold to Pittsburgh prior to the 2014 season.  He batted very well in AA, had a decent half-season at AAA in 2015, and got a September call-up that year.  He was traded to Milwaukee before the 2016 season.  He went back-and-forth between AAA and the majors through 2018, although he played almost a full season in the majors in 2017.  He played good defense but did not hit, and was traded to the Mets prior to the 2019 season.  The Mets sent him to Baltimore in late May, and he was selected off waivers by Baltimore in late July.  It was his first full major league season, but he again did not hit for any of those teams and became a free agent after the season.  Milwaukee signed him back for 2020, but he never made it past the alternate site and was again a free agent after the season.  The Twins signed him for 2021 and sent him to AAA St. Paul where, predictably, he did not hit.  The Twins released him in mid-August, and he finished out the season in AAA for Milwaukee.  He played for Monclova in the Mexican League in 2022 and had a very good season.  He spent most of 2023 with Kansas City in the American Association and did pretty well.  That, however, brought his playing career to an end.  In over a thousand major league plate appearances he has a line of .209/.297/.388.  He could play defense, however, and he could also steal some bases.  In the old days, he'd have been a valuable man as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement.  In the present days, however, he simply didn't hit enough.  At last report, Keon Broxton was a coach for Canes Baseball, "one of the top showcase organizations in the country", in Tampa.

Right-handed reliever Emilio Enrique Pagan pitched for the Twins from 2022-2023.  He was born in Simpsonville, South Carolina, the second major leaguer to come from that town (Red Barbary, 1943).  He went to high school in Greenville, South Carolina, attended Belmont Abbey College and Gardner-Webb University, and was drafted by Seattle in the tenth round in 2013.  He pitched very well throughout his minor league career, reaching AAA in 2016 and making his major league debut with the Mariners in May of 2017.  He spent roughly half the season in the majors that year and has pretty much remained in the majors ever since.  He was traded to Oakland for 2018, was traded to Tampa Bay for 2019, was traded to San Diego for 2020, and was traded to Minnesota with Chris Paddack and a player to be named later (Brayan Medina) for Taylor Rogers, Brent Rooker, and cash.  The Twins handed him the closer role and he handed it back, recording just nine saves with six blown saves and posting an ERA of 4.43.  He actually had a very good year in 2023, going 5-2, 2.99, 0.95 WHIP.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Cincinnati.  He did not have a particularly good season in 2024, but came back to have an outstanding season in 2025.  He is off to a poor start in 2026, although a few bad outings have skewed the numbers. He turns thirty-five today.  He's been up and down in his career, but the ups have been very good.  It seems likely that Emilio Pagan will be in the major leagues for at least a couple more years yet.

May 6

Bonesetter Reese (1855)

Walton Cruise (1890)

Mike McCormick (1917)

Willie Mays (1931)

Russ Gibson (1939)

Bill Hands (1940)

Masanori Murakami (1944)

Steve Staggs (1951)

Larry Andersen (1953)

Al Williams (1954)

Gerardo Parra (1987)

Jose Alvarez (1989)

Jose Altuve (1990)

John “Bonesetter” Reese worked with many baseball players and other famous people in the first part of the twentieth century.  Today we might call him a physical therapist, although he did not have a formal degree.  “Bonesetting” is a Welsh term for the treatment of muscle and tendon strains.

Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese-born player in the major leagues.

Infielder Steve Staggs was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1970, but did not sign.

Right-hander William Alfred Hands pitched for the Twins for most of two seasons in 1973 and 1974.  He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, went to high school in Rutherford, New Jersey, and signed with San Francisco as a free agent in 1959.  Hands struggled early in his minor league career, and as a result he spent a full year in Class D, Class C, Class B, and Class A.  After a fine season in 1962 at Class A, however, he was jumped to AAA Tacoma.  He struggled his first year there, but did well in 1964 and even better in 1965.  Hands made four apperances with the Giants in 1965, then was traded to the Cubs with another future Twin, Randy Hundley, for Don Landrum and Lindy McDaniel.  He did not do well in his first season with the Cubs, and in 1967 he was used primarily out of the bullpen.  He had a good year there, and was placed in the Cubs rotation in 1968, where he stayed for five seasons.  His best year as a Cub was probably 1969, when he went 20-14, 2.49 with a 1.14 WHIP in 300 innings.  He continued to be a solid member of the rotation through 1972.  After that season, Hands was traded to Minnesota with Bob Maneely and Joe Decker for Dave LaRoche.  Hands pitched fairly well for the Twins in 1973, but his won-lost record did not reflect it, and when he got off to a slow start in 1974 he was pulled from the rotation and sent to the bullpen.  He pitched very well there, posting an ERA of 2.93 and a WHIP of 1.09 in 61.1 innings as a reliever.  The Twins gave him four starts in August and he still did well, going 2-1, 3.44, but after a bad start on September 1 they surprisingly placed him on waivers.  The Rangers snapped him up and put him in their rotation, where he pitched well through 1975.  He was traded to the Mets early in spring training of 1976, but opted to retire instead.  After retiring from baseball, he moved to Orient, Long Island where he purchased a service station and started a retail oil business, both of which proved successful.  Bill Hands passed away on March 9, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.

Right-hander Albert Hamilton (DeSouza) Williams pitched for the Twins from 1980-1984.  He was born in Pearl Lagoon, Nicaragua and signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1975.  He pitched in the Pirates’ organization for a year and a half without particular distinction and was released in July of 1976.  He then returned to Nicaragua, where he fought in the Nicaraguan Revolution.  He did not play in organized baseball for three years.  He sneaked out of the country, as the Nicaraguan government would not grant him a visa, and in January of 1980, Williams signed with Minnesota.  He made fifteen starts in Toledo, going 9-3, 2.10 with a WHIP of 0.95, and was called up to the majors.  He was used both as a reliever and a starter and did well, going 6-2, 3.51.  He was in the starting rotation beginning in 1981 and stayed there through 1983, not doing great but not doing terribly, either.  He started 1984 in the rotation as well, but got off to a bad start and was sent back to AAA Toledo in early May.  He came back a month later and did somewhat better, but got injured in early July and missed the next two months, coming back in September.  The Twins released Williams after the season.  He signed with the Yankees, had a mediocre season in AAA Columbus, and then his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Al Williams had returned to his native Nicaragua.