February 15

Sliding Billy Hamilton (1866)
Charlie Irwin (1869)
Jimmy Ring (1895)
George Earnshaw (1900)
Larry Goetz (1900)
Lorenzo Ponza (1915)
Chuck Estrada (1938)
Ron Cey (1948)
Rick Auerbach (1950)
Joe Hesketh (1959)
Mark Davidson (1961)
Melido Perez (1966)
Ugueth Urbina (1974)
Alex Gonzalez (1977)
Luis Ugueto (1979)
Russell Martin (1983)
Johnny Cueto (1986)
Mark Canha (1989)
Tzu-Wei Lin (1994)

Lorenzo Ponza invented the modern pitching machine.

Larry Goetz was a National League umpire from 1936-1957.

Outfielder John Mark Davidson played for the Twins from 1986-1988.  His father, Max Davidson, was a minor league outfielder from 1947-1954.  Mark Davidson was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and attended both the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Clemson.  He was drafted by Minnesota in the eleventh round in 1982.  He was up and down in the minors, but got people's attention in 1985, when he hit .302 with 25 home runs for AA Orlando.  He did not do as well in 1986, when he was promoted to AAA, but still was with Minnesota for about two months as a reserve outfielder.  He did nothing that year, batting only .118 in 68 at-bats, but was with the Twins for all of 1987 and most of 1988.  He was decent as a reserve in 1987, batting .267, but fell to .217 in 1988.  Davidson started 1989 in the minors, then was traded to Houston in May for a player to be named later (Greg Johnson).  Houston initially kept him in AAA, but brought him to the majors for the second half of the season.  He split 1990 between AAA and the majors and was with Houston all of 1991 (always as a reserve).  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Cleveland organization, spending two years at AAA before ending his playing career.  As a Twin, Mark Davidson hit .219/.283/.287 in 324 at-bats spread over three seasons.  At last report, Mark Davidson was living in Statesville, North Carolina and was working in marketing for Wikoff Color Corporation, which makes packaging and containers.  His son, infielder Logan Davidson, reached the majors in 2025, playing for Sacramento and the Angels.

Infielder Luis Enrique Ugueto did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2007.  He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, went to high school in Maracay, Venezuela, and signed with Florida as a free agent in 1996.  He had no power, and while he had some decent minor league batting averages, he did not hit for a terribly high average.  He stole some bases, but not a huge number, and did not draw a ton of walks, either.  He was considered a tremendous defensive player, however, and because of that he played in the minors for quite a few years.  He stayed in rookie and A ball through 2001, hitting a combined .243.  His last year in Class A, he hit .263/.330/.342.  After the 2001 season, he was selected by Pittsburgh in the Rule 5 draft and was sold to Seattle the same day.  He spent the 2002 season in the majors but was used mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement, appearing in 62 games but making only 25 plate appearances.  He was in the majors for about a month in 2003 in a similar role, appearing in twelve games and getting six plate appearances.  He was in AAA for the Mariners in 2004 and actually had the best year of his career, hitting .271/.341/.440 in Tacoma, but it was not good enough.  He became a free agent after the season and was in AAA with Kansas City in 2005; however, he was suspended twice for using performance-enhancing drugs and was released in August.  He played in Taiwan in 2006; then the Twins signed him in 2007.  He was mostly in Ft. Myers, appearing in seven games for Rochester, and hit a combined .223/.288/.299.  He played in Italy in 2008 and for Laredo in the independent United Baseball League in 2009.  It is unclear what he was doing in 2010, but in 2011 he played briefly for Yuma of the North American League.  He played for Anzoategui in the Venezuelan league that winter, but did not catch on with anyone for 2012.  He continued to play winter ball for a couple more years, but then his playing career came to an end.  His major league record is .214/.290/.321 in 74 games (28 at-bats).  He was managing Aragua in the Venezuelan League, but was let go in November of 2021.  He was a coach in the Braves organization in 2023-2024.  At last report, he was a coach for Magallanes in the Venezuelan League.

Utility player Tzu-Wei Lin played three innings for the Twins in 2021.  He was born in Kaohsiung County, Taiwan, and signed with Boston as a free agent in 2012.  He started out as a shortstop, but started playing a variety of positions in 2016.  He did not hit much, even in the low minors, never posting an OPS as high as .700 through 2016.  He was however, still pretty young.  He finally had a good offensive season in AA in 2017, although he did not hit when promoted to AAA that year.  Still, he spent about a month and a half in the majors in 2017 and did fairly well.  In 2018 it clicked for him at AAA, as he batted .307 with an OPS of .810 in 277 at-bats.  He was in the majors the rest of the season as a reserve and again did okay, batting .246 with an OPS of .744.  That's as good as it's been for him so far, though.  He started 2019 in the majors, but played little and didn't do much when he did play.  Sent back to AAA, he didn't hit there, either.  He was in the majors in all of the shortened 2020 season, but batted just .154 in 52 at-bats.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Twins.  He played in seven games in AAA and in one game in the majors, going to left field in the eighth inning of a game in Cleveland on April 26, but not coming to bat.  He missed the rest of the season due to injury and once again became a free agent after the season.  He signed with the Mets for 2022, hit poorly in AAA, and was released in mid-August.  He finished out the season playing for Long Island in the Atlantic League and had a strong year in Australia over the off-season.   He was back in Long Island at the start of 2023, then went to Taiwan, where he has played for Rakuten and has not hit much. He turns thirty-two today.  His major league numbers are .223/.298/.316 in 193 at-bats.  Perhaps he'll stay with Rakuten, or perhaps he'll go back to the Atlantic League, where he has hit well in the past.  But the chances of him ever playing in the major leagues again are slim to non-existent.

February 14

Joe Gerhardt (1855)

Arthur Irwin (1858)

Pretzels Getzien (1864)

Morgan Murphy (1867)

Candy LaChance (1870)

Bob Quinn (1870)

Earl Smith (1897)

Frank Duncan (1901)

Mel Allen (1913)

Red Barrett (1915)

Len Gabrielson (1940)

Ken Levine (1950)

Larry Milbourne (1951)

Will McEnaney (1952)

Dave Dravecky (1956)

Alejandro Sanchez (1959)

John Marzano (1963)

Kelly Stinnett (1970)

Damaso Marte (1975)

Tyler Clippard (1985)

Brooks Lee (2001)

Bob Quinn was a long-time executive for the St. Louis Browns, the Boston Red Sox, and the Boston Braves.  He was later the director of the Hall of Fame.

Ken Levine has been a broadcaster for Baltimore, San Diego, and Seattle.  He has also worked on a number of television programs, notably including "Cheers" and "Frazier".

John Marzano was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1981, but he did not sign.

There have been eight major league players with the last name "Valentine".  The most recent was Joe Valentine, a reliever for Cincinnati from 2003-05.  The best was Ellis Valentine, who played from 1975-83 and 1985, mostly for Montreal.  One became a manager, Bobby Valentine.

Infielder Lawrence William Milbourne played for the Twins for a little less than two months in 1982.  Born in Port Norris, New Jersey, he signed with Baltimore as a free agent in 1969.  He hit .305 in rookie ball, but that wasn't enough to satisfy the Orioles, who released him the next spring.  Milbourne was out of baseball in 1970, but signed with San Francisco for 1971.  He hit .301 in Class A and was selected by California that November in the Rule 5 draft.  Something was apparently worked out, because he was in AA for 1972.  Left unprotected again, he was selected by St. Louis in the next year's Rule 5 draft.  Again, something must have been worked out, because he was in AAA for 1973.  It was deja vu all over again that November; he was left unprotected and chosen in the Rule 5 draft, this time by Houston.  He stayed in the big leagues all of 1974, but was seldom used, getting most of his playing time as a defensive replacement for Tommy Helms.  He split the 1975 and 1976 seasons between Houston and AAA, getting about 150 major league at-bats both years.  Milbourne was traded to Seattle just before the 1977 season.  That trade enabled him to stick in the big leagues, as he was a reserve infielder for the Mariners for four seasons.  His best year as a Mariner was 1979, when he hit .278 in 356 at-bats.  Seattle traded Milbourne to the Yankees in November of 1980.  He had his highest average in the big leagues as a Yankee in 1981, hitting .313 in 163 at-bats.  In May of 1982, the Yankees sent Milbourne, Pete Filson, John Pacella, and cash to Minnesota for Roger Erickson and Butch Wynegar.  He was the Twins' starting second baseman for about a month but didn't hit, lost the job, and was traded to Cleveland on July 3 for Larry Littleton.  As a Twin, Larry Milbourne hit .235/.283/.265 in 98 at-bats.  He was the regular second baseman for Cleveland for the rest of the season and hit .275, but was sold to Philadelphia in 1983.  He was sold back to the Yankees in July of 1983, and was traded back to Seattle before the 1984 season.  He was a reserve infielder for the Mariners for all of 1984, went back to the minors in 1985, and was released in August, ending his career.  He then went into minor league coaching and managing, coaching for the Mets in the late 1980s and managing in the St. Louis organization in the early 1990s.  He also played in the Seniors' League in the late 1980s.  After that, however, Milbourne appears to have left baseball, and at last report was living in Vineland, New Jersey.  He is a member of the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame.

Outfielder Alejandro (Pimentel) Sanchez got 16 at-bats with the Twins in 1986.  He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1978.  He gradually worked his way through the Phillies' system, making his mark by batting .306 with 13 homers for AAA Oklahoma City in 1982.  That got him a September call-up.  He started 1983 with Philadelphia, but played in only two games, batting once, before being sent back to the minors.  He had a poor year there, but still got another September call-up.  It was his swan song in Philadelphia, however, as he was traded to San Francisco during spring training of 1984.  Sanchez had a tremendous year in Phoenix in 1984, hitting .318 with 26 home runs.  That got him a September call-up again, and it also got him another spring training trade, as he was sent to Detroit.  1985 was the closest he came to a full year in the majors, as he came up in late April and stayed the rest of the season.  He was strictly a reserve, however, batting only 133 times and hitting .248, although with six home runs.  In the off-season, Sanchez was sent to Minnesota with Chris Pittaro for Dave Engle.  He started the 1986 season with the Twins but played in only eight games in a month, going 2-for-16, before being sent back to AAA.  He became a free agent again after the season and signed with Oakland.  He hit .310 at AAA in 1987, but got only three at-bats in the big leagues, the last three he would have.  He was in AAA all of 1988, and then his playing career seemingly came to an end.  In 1997, however, he made a comeback of sorts, playing for two years in independent leagues before retiring again in 1998, this time for good.  At last report, Alejandro Sanchez had returned to the Dominican Republic.

Right-hander Tyler Lee Clippard pitched for the Twins in 2020.  He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, went to high school in New Port Richey, Florida, and was drafted by the Yankees in the ninth round in 2003.  He reached AA in 2006, AAA in 2007, and made six starts for the Yankees in 2007 as a twenty-two-year-old, not doing very well.  He was traded to Washington after the season and spent almost all of 2008 in AAA, making just two starts for the Nationals.  The Nationals converted him to relieving in 2009 and he took to it immediately, dominating the International League before being promoted to the majors in late June.  He was a solid reliever for Washington through the 2014 season.  He got one shot at being a closer, in 2012 and it was his worst season with the Nationals, although it certainly wasn't awful:  2-6, 3.72, 1.16 WHIP.  He then started moving around.  He was traded to Oakland for 2015 and traded to the Mets at the July deadline that year.  He signed with Arizona as a free agent for 2016 and was traded to the Yankees at that year's July deadline.  He started 2017 with the Yankees but was again traded in July, this time to the White Sox.  A few weeks later he was traded again, to Houston.  He was with Toronto in 2018 and with Cleveland in 2019.  He struggled in 2017 but otherwise was a fine reliever through all those moves.  He signed with Minnesota  for 2020 and was again a fine reliever, going 2-1, 2.77, 0.89 WHIP with 26 strikeouts in 26 innings (and 26 games).  A free agent again, he signed with Arizona for 2021.  He missed half the season due to injury, but once healthy he had another fine year.  A free agent once more, he signed with Washington for 2022.  He went to AAA and had a good year there, but struggled in four major league appearances and was released in late August.  It seemed like he still might have been able to help someone, but apparently no one who mattered thought so, because his playing career ended at that point.  At last report, Tyler Clippard was living in Tampa, Florida.

Infielder Brooks Thomas Lee has played for the Twins since 2024.  Born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California, he attended Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and was drafted by the Twins with the eighth pick of the first round in 2022.  After an outstanding college career, he went to Class A in 2022 and did very well in AA in 2023, though he struggled when promoted to AAA.  He had an excellent AAA season in 2024, however, and reached the majors in July.  Other than a rehab assignment, he spent all of 2025 in Minnesota, playing mostly shortstop but also seeing substantial time at second and third.  He has not hit well so far in his major league career, batting .232/.279/.357 in 659 at-bats.  His minor league numbers are substantially better than that, and as he turns twenty-five today he still has some time to improve.  It appears he will play an important part in the Twins infield in 2026.

February 13

Chick Fulmer (1851)

Bill Bradley (1878)

Hal Chase (1883)

Eddie Foster (1887)

Marvin Barker (1912)

Sal Bando (1944)

Donnie Moore (1954)

Jerry Browne (1966)

Matt Mieske (1968)

Kevin Stocker (1970)

Howie Clark (1974)

Nathan Eovaldi (1990)

Gilberto Celestino (1999)

Nathan Eovaldi is the only player in major league history whose last name begins with "Eo".

Infielder Howard Roddy Clark had eight at-bats for the Twins in 2008.  Born in Huntington Beach, California, Clark was drafted by Baltimore in the 27th round in 1992.  He advanced slowly through the Orioles minor league system, spending two years in rookie ball, two years at Class A, and two years in AA before making his AAA debut in 1998.  He then went back-and-forth between AA and AAA from 1998-2000.  Along the way, he posted solid but unspectacular numbers.  He had a good batting average, hit a good number of doubles, and had a far number of walks, but appears to have lacked any one outstanding skill that would have attracted the attention of the Orioles' front office.  Clark became a minor-league free agent after the 2000 season and went unsigned, playing in the Mexican League and the independent Western League.  He rejoined the Orioles in 2002, went to Rochester, and hit .309.  He finally made his major league debut that season, spending about three weeks with the Orioles.  Clark became a free agent again after the season and signed with Toronto.  He was in the Blue Jays organization in both 2003 and 2004, staying in the majors for about half of each season.  He was in AAA for Pittsburgh in 2005, for Baltimore in 2006 (getting seven big league at-bats), went to 2007 spring training with San Diego, was released, signed with Toronto in May, got two more months in the big leagues, and signed with the Twins for 2008.  According to the Mitchell Report, it was in 2005 that Clark used performance enhancing drugs, although they don't seem to have particularly helped him.  At any rate, Clark hit .293 in 2008 for Rochester, and was with the Twins for about a week in May.  As a Twin, Howie Clark went 2-for-8, with both his hits being doubles.  A free agent again after the season, Clark went back to the Blue Jays' organization for 2009 and was in AAA all season.  He re-signed with Toronto for 2010, was sent to AAA, but did not play and was released in early May.  He was out of baseball the rest of the season.  He tried to come back in the Mexican League in 2011, but did not make a team and his playing career ended.  He then went into coaching.  He was the assistant batting coach of the Baltimore Orioles from 2017-2018.  Howie Clark was going to be the batting coach for the Charlotte Knights (AAA, White Sox) in 2020.  He was the assistant batting coach for the major league White Sox in 2021-2022.  He moved on to the Cardinals organization after that, and will be the batting coach for AAA Springfield in 2026.

Outfielder Gilberto Celestino played for the Twins from 2021-2022. He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and signed with Houston in 2015.  He put up decent, but not eye-catching, numbers in the low minors until 2018, when he batted .323 with an OPS of .868 in 127 at-bats for low-A Tri-City.  He was then traded to the Twins in July with Jorge Alcala for Ryan Pressly.  He was still just nineteen years old at that point.  He continued to put up decent, but not eye-catching numbers through 2019.  He did not play in 2020, of course, but did very well in 2021 in 49 games of AAA, batting .290 with an OPS of .827.  He did not do so well in 23 major league games, batting just .136.  He was with the Twins for all of 2022 and did better, but still batted just .238 with an OPS of .615.  He was injured in 2023, and had a decent but unspectacular season in AAA when he could play.  A free agent, he signed with Pittsburgh for 2024, and was again decent but unspectacular in AAA before being sold to the Cubs in late July.  He played in just five AAA games for them before being released in mid-August.  He signed with the Mets for 2025 and had a good season in AAA, but did not get a shot at the majors.  He turns twenty-seven today and is a free agent.  In his major league career, all with the Twins, he has batted .222/.292/.300 in 370 at-bats.  He draws some walks, has some speed, and is a good defensive player.  His best chance is to sign a AAA contract and hope someone gets hurt, giving him a chance to be a fourth outfielder.

February 12

Pants Rowland (1878)

Chick Hafey (1903)

Tom Parker (1912)

Dom DiMaggio (1917)

Joe Garagiola (1926)

Pat Dobson (1942)

Mike Martin (1944)

Ray Corbin (1949)

Lenny Randle (1949)

Don "Full Pack" Stanhouse (1951)

Cam Bonifay (1952)

Greg Johnston (1955)

Chet Lemon (1955)

Joe Bitker (1964)

Ryan Lefebvre (1971)

Chris Snyder (1981)

Cole De Vries (1985)

Todd Frazier (1986)

Clarence "Pants' Rowland spent his life in baseball.  A catcher, he went on to manage the Chicago White Sox to the World Championship in 1917.  He was an American League umpire from 1923-1927.  He was also a minor league manager and executive, and was president of the Pacific Coast League from 1944-1954.  He is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

Mike Martin won over 2,000 games as the head coach of Florida State.

Cam Bonifay was the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1993-2001 and is currently working in the Cincinnati organization.

Ryan Lefebvre appeared in six minor league games for the Watertown Indians in 1993.  He was a Twins broadcaster in 1997 and 1998 before moving to Kansas City in 1999, where he has been a broadcaster for the Royals ever since.

Joe Bitker was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in the 1984 January draft, but he did not sign.

This is a great day for players with colorful nicknames.  In addition to those listed above, we have Sweetbread Bailey (1895), Kiddo Davis (1902), Dutch Dietz (1912), Monk Dubiel (1918), and Woody Main (1922).

Right-hander Alton Ray Corbin pitched for the Twins from 1971-1975 and spent his entire professional baseball career with them.  He was born and raised in Live Oak, Florida and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1967.  He was used as both a starter and reliever in his first couple of years in the minors, but became a full-time starter in 1969.  He pitched quite well throughout the minors, and after a good year at AA Charlotte in 1970, he skipped AAA and went right to the majors in 1971 at age 22.  He was briefly in the rotation in June, but was mostly used as a "swing man", starting eleven games and relieving in 41.  He struggled with his control that year, but got better as his career went on.  Corbin started the season in the bullpen in 1972, but joined the rotation in late June and had a fine year, winning only eight games but posting a 2.62 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  He moved back to the bullpen for most of 1973, starting only seven games, and had another fine year, with an ERA of 3.03 and a WHIP of 1.24.  It went downhill after that, however; used as both a starter and a reliever again, he did not do well in either role.  He had another down year in 1975, was sent back to the minors in July, and was released in May of 1976.  For his career, Ray Corbin was 36-38, 3.84 in 652.1 innings.  He made 181 appearances, 63 of them starts.  One can't help but wonder if he might have had a longer career if the Twins had ever settled on a role for him.  No information about what Ray Corbin is doing now was readily available.

Outfielder Gregory Bernard Johnston played briefly for the Twins in 1980 and 1981.  Born in Los Angeles, he was drafted by San Francisco in the 12th round in 1975.  He advanced a level per year, reaching AAA in 1978.  He hit .296 with moderate power at AAA in 1979, resulting in a promotion to the majors in late July of that year.  He was used primarily as a pinch-hitter, batting .203 in only 74 at-bats.  At the start of the 1980 season, Johnston was purchased by Minnesota.  He again hit .296 with moderate power at AAA, getting  September call-up and hitting .185 in 27 at-bats.  Johnston began 1981 with the Twins, but was sent back to the minors at the end of April after getting only 16 at-bats and hitting .125.  He hit only .235 at AAA Toledo, and his career in the United States came to an end at the age of 26.  As a Twin, Greg Johnston hit .163 in 43 at-bats.  While in the minors, Johnston pitched three innings, giving up no runs and only one hit.  He played in Japan in 1982, but then his playing career ended.  No information about what he has done since then was readily available; in fact, there was a post at city-data.com several years ago in which one of his children was looking for him.

Right-hander Cole William De Vries played for the Twins in 2012-2013.  He was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, went to high school in Eden Prairie, went to the University of Minnesota, and was signed as a free agent in 2006.  He pitched well in the low minors in 2007 and 2008 but struggled when promoted to New Britain in 2009.  He was shifted to the bullpen in 2010 and did even worse.  As an undrafted free agent who had struggled for two years at AA, his future did not look very promising.  The Twins stuck with him, though, and in 2011, still in the bullpen, he did very well in New Britain and did not do badly when promoted to Rochester.  He went back into the starting rotation for the Red Wings in 2012 and made twelve starts for them, going 3-5, 4.37 but with a 1.21 WHIP.  He then was promoted to Minnesota, and while he didn't blow anybody away he did fairly well.  In seventeen appearances, sixteen of them starts, De Vries went 5-5, 4.11, 1.21 WHIP in 87.2 innings.  In 2013, however, he battled injuries.  He made ten starts in Rochester, pitching poorly, and did not do well in a September call-up to the majors.  He was released after the season and elected to retire.  As a Twin, he was 5-7, 5.08, 1.33 WHIP in 102.2 innings.  At last report, Cole De Vries was living in the Twin Cities and was a realtor with Edina Realty.

February 11

Jimmy Ryan (1863)

Leon Ruffin (1912)

Kenjiro Tamiya (1928)

George Alusik (1935)

Downtown Ollie Brown (1944)

Ben Oglivie (1949)

Tom Veryzer (1953)

Todd Benzinger (1963)

Scott Pose (1967)

J. R. Towles (1984)

Dansby Swanson (1994)

Darren Baker (1999)

Kenjiro Tamiya is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, playing from 1949-1963.  He began as a pitcher, and came within one out of pitching the first perfect game in Nippon Pro Baseball history.  A shoulder injury required him to switch to the outfield in 1952.  He was a seven-time all-star.

Outfielder Scott Vernon Pose did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 1995.  He was born in Davenport, Iowa, went to the University of Arkansas, and was drafted by Cincinnati in the thirty-fourth round in 1989.  He hit for high averages with quite a few walks in the minors, reaching AA in 1991.  He hit .342 in AA Chattanooga in 1992, but was left unprotected after the season and was chosen by Florida in the Rule 5 draft.  He was the starting center fielder in the first game the Marlins ever played, but quickly lost the job and was back in the minors by late April.  He stayed in AAA for several years.  He was released by the Marlins in March of 1994 and signed with Milwaukee.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Dodgers for 1995 but was released in mid-April.  The Twins signed him on June 1 and sent him to Salt Lake, where he hit .310/.395/.364 in 203 at-bats.  He was a free agent again after the season, signed with Cleveland for 1996, but was traded to Toronto during spring training.  He was once again a free agent after the season and signed with the Yankees for 1997.  He actually spent most of that season in the big leagues as a reserve outfielder, hitting .218 in 87 at-bats.  He stayed in the Yankees’ organization in 1998, then moved on again, this time to Kansas City.  He spent two full seasons in the majors with the Royals, his only two full seasons in the majors, but was basically a defensive replacement, appearing in 133 games but getting only 185 at-bats.  He was in AAA for Houston in 2001 and for Texas and the Dodgers in 2002, after which his playing career ended.  At last report, Scott Pose was living in the Raleigh-Durham area.  He was a baseball analyst for the Big Ten Network and for the Durham Bulls.  He was also a regional sales manager for Coloplast, which develops products and services that make life easier for people with very personal and private medical conditions.

Catcher Justin Richard (J. R.) Towles did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2012.  Born and raised in Crosby, Texas, he attended Collin College in Dallas and North Central Community College in Gainesville, Texas before being drafted by Colorado in the twentieth round in 2004.  He hit very well in Class A in 2005 but for some reason, possibly having to do with defense, he was made to repeat Class A in 2006.  He had another fine year and continued to hit well when promoted to AA in 2007 and made his major league debut that year as a September call-up.  He began 2008 as the Astros starting catcher but did not hit, getting sent back to AAA in early June.  That was the pattern for the rest of his time with the Astros:  he would hit well in the minors, but do nothing in the majors.  He became a free agent after the 2011 season, signed with Minnesota, and was sent to Rochester.  The Red Wings had quite the catching crew that year:  Towles, Drew Butera, and Rene Rivera, with a few games by Danny Lehmann thrown in.  If you can't rise to the top among that crew, it's not a good sign for your career, and Towles couldn't:  he hit .214/.280/.315 in 168 at-bats.  He bounced around after that, playing in AAA for St. Louis and Los Angeles in 2013, starting 2014 with Bridgeport, signing with Texas in late August, and becoming a free agent after the season.  He did not sign with anyone, bringing his playing career to an end.  His major league stats all came in his five partial seasons with Houston, ending in 2011:  he hit .187/.267/.315 in 428 at-bats.  He is a member of the Lexington Legends Hall of Fame.  At last report, J. R. Towles was a coach with Drillbit Roughnecks youth baseball in the Houston area.

February 10

Horace Wilson (1845)

Jim Keenan (1858)

Curt Welch (1862)

Billy Evans (1884)

Herb Pennock (1894)

Jake Stephens (1900)

Henry Kimbro (1912)

Bill Adair (1913)

Allie Reynolds (1917)

George Sobek (1920)

Randy Jackson (1926)

Billy O'Dell (1933)

Dick Bogard (1937)

Jim Barr (1948)

Larry McWilliams (1954)

Lenny Dykstra (1963)

Lenny Webster (1965)

Jayhawk Owens (1969)

Alberto Castillo (1970)

Bobby Jones (1970)

Kevin Sefcik (1971)

Lance Berkman (1976)

Cesar Izturis (1980)

Alex Gordon (1984)

Duke Welker (1986)

Jeanmar Gomez (1988)

Travis d'Arnaud (1989)

Liam Hendriks (1989)

Omar Narvaez (1992)

Max Kepler (1993)

Jorge Lopez (1993)

Horace Wilson was an American professor English at Tokyo University.  He is credited with introducing baseball to Japan in either 1872 or 1873.

Billy Evans was the youngest umpire in major league history, starting his career at age 22.  He was an American League umpire from 1906-1027.  He would later become general manager of the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, and was president of the Southern Association from 1942-1946.

Bill Adair was a long-time minor league player (1935-1956) and manager (1949-1973).  He also was the scout credited with signing Andre Dawson and Tim Raines.

George Sobek was a long-time scout for the White Sox, credited with signing Denny McLain, Steve Trout, and Mike Squires.  He also played in the NBA and was a long-time college basketball referee.

Another long-time scout, Dick Bogard played in the minors for six years, managed for three, and was a scout for nearly thirty years, mostly for Houston and Oakland.  He is credited with signing Walt Weiss, Jason Giambi, and Ben Grieve.

Jim Barr was drafted six different times before finally signing.  Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round of the January Secondary draft in 1970, but he did not sign.

Catcher Leonard Irell Webster played for the Twins in 1989-1993 and had a longer career than you may realize.  He was born in New Orleans, went to high school in Lutcher, Louisiana, and then attended Grambling State University.  The Twins drafted him in the 21st round in 1985.  Webster really didn't do a whole lot in the minors--his best year was probably 1988, when he hit .288 with 11 homers in his second full year at Class A Kenosha.  He got September callups every year from 1989 through 1991, also spending a couple of weeks in June with the Twins in 1991.  He had two full seasons with Minnesota, 1992 and 1993, as the backup catcher to Brian Harper.  He had a little over 100 at-bats each season and showed the vagaries of small sample size, hitting .280 in 1992 and .198 in 1993.  Montreal acquired him from the Twins in March of 1994 in what is described as a "conditional deal."  Webster then spent a few years bouncing around:  he was the backup catcher for the Expos in 1994, the backup for Philadelphia in 1995, back to being the backup in Montreal in 1996, and then on to Baltimore for 1997.  He stayed a little while in Baltimore, reaching part-time status and getting over 300 at-bats for the only time in his career in 1998.  He was released at mid-season in 1999, however, finished out the season in Boston, and went back to Montreal for the 2000 season.  He ended his playing career after that.  As a Twin, Lenny Webster hit .254/.324/.370 in 284 at-bats.  At last report, he was a youth baseball coach with Perfect Game Baseball, located in Snellville, Georgia.

Catcher Claude Jayhawk Owens did not play for Minnesota, but was drafted by them.  He was born in Cincinnati and went to high school there.  He then attended Middle Tennessee State before being drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1990.  He put up fairly pedestrian numbers in three years in their minor league system, which led to Owens being left unprotected in the expansion draft.  Colorado took him, and after he hit .310 in 174 at-bats in Colorado Springs in 1993 they brought him to the big leagues.  He played sparingly, however, hit .209 in only 86 at-bats, and spent most of 1994 and 1995 back in Colorado Springs.  He continued to be pretty average, but in 1996 he was called up to the majors in late April and spent the rest of the season with the Rockies as the right-handed part of a platoon with Jeff Reed.  He again failed to hit and never got back to the majors again.  Owens was in Colorado Springs all of 1997, came back to the Twins' organization for the start of 1998, hit .205 in AAA Salt Lake, finished the season in the Cincinnati organization, stayed in the Reds' chain for 1999, and then his career came to an end.  After that, he was a minor league manager and coach, mostly in the Cincinnati organization, a career that came to an end in 2007.  He was inducted into the Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Hall of Fame in 2012.  At last report, Jayhawk Owens was living in the Denver area and was a project manager for Baker Concrete, one of the largest sub-contractors of concrete in the nation.

Right-hander Matthew Scott "Duke" Welker did not play for the Twins, but was part of their organization for about six weeks in 2013.  He was born in Kirkland, Washington, went to high school in Woodinville, Washington, attended Seminole State College in Seminole, Oklahoma and the University of Arkansas, and was drafted by Pittsburgh in the second round in 2007.  He pitched well in seven starts in rookie ball in 2007, then struggled in the Sally League in for three years.  The Pirates never gave up on him, though, moving him to the bullpen in 2010, and in 2011 he had a fine year for Class A Bradenton, although he did so at age twenty-five.  He followed that up with a good 2012 split between AA and AAA.  He had a good season in AAA in 2013 and made his major league debut that season, making two appearances for Pittsburgh in late June and retiring all four batters he faced.  In early October of 2013, he was sent to Minnesota as the player to be named later in the deal that also sent Alex Presley to Minnesota for Justin Morneau.  In mid-November of that year, however, he was traded back to Pittsburgh for Kris Johnson.  He was in AAA in 2014, but pitched poorly and was eventually found to need Tommy John surgery, which he had in June.  The Pirates released him in July and it appeared that his playing career had come to an end, but he signed with the Giants and spent the summer of 2016 with AAA Sacramento.  He had an ERA of 3.86 in 31 games, but he gave up 49 hits in 35 innings and had a WHIP of 1.86.  That really was the end of his playing career.  At last report, Duke Welker was a sales representative for A1A Inc., representing DuPuy Orthopedics, and was based in Bellingham, Washington.

Right-hander Liam Johnson Hendriks was with the Twins from 2011-2013.  He was born in Perth, Australia and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 2007.  He pitched well in the GCL in 2007, missed all of 2008, but came back to pitch well in 2009 and ever since.  His best year as a minor league was 2010, when he went a combined 8-4, 1.74, 0.84 WHIP with 105 strikeouts in 108.2 innings for Beloit and Ft. Myers at age 21.  He began 2011 in New Britain and pitched very well, earning a promotion to Rochester.  His ERA in nine starts there was an unimpressive 4.56, but his WHIP was 1.12.  He made four starts in Minnesota in 2011 and did not look ready, but did not totally embarrass himself, either,  going 0-2, 6.17, 1.50 WHIP with 16 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.  He spent about half of 2012 in Rochester, despite the fact that he had nothing to learn there, and half of it in Minnesota, where he struggled.  He began 2013 with Minnesota but was shipped out after only two starts, one of which was fairly good.  He struggled with injury in Rochester and came back to Minnesota in August, not doing very well.  The Twins gave up on him after the season, placing him on waivers.  He was selected by the Cubs in mid-December but was waived again ten days later, this time being claimed by Baltimore.  Baltimore waived him early in spring training in 2014 and he was again claimed, this time by Toronto.  He pitched very well for AAA Buffalo and got three starts for the Blue Jays, with two of them very good and one of them very bad.  He was traded to Kansas City in late July with Erik Kratz for ex-Twin Danny Valencia.  He again pitched very well in AAA but had mixed results in six appearances for the Royals.  He was traded back to Toronto after the 2014 season.  The Blue Jays moved him to the bullpen in 2015 and he had an outstanding year, going 5-0, 2.92, 1.08 WHIP in 64.2 innings (58 games).  He was then traded to Oakland, and while he was not as good as in 2015 he put in a couple of solid years for them as a reliever.  He struggled in 2018, however, and split the year between AAA and the majors.  In 2019, however, he put together a tremendous year, going 4-4, 1.80, 0.97 WHIP.  He took over the closer role in late June and did not let it go, compiling 25 saves.  He had another excellent year as the Athletics' closer in 2020, then became a free agent and signed with the White Sox.  He had two excellent seasons for them, but then was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.  He appears to have beaten it, and made five appearances in 2023, but then was injured and required Tommy John surgery.  He signed with Boston after that season, but missed all of 2024.  He tried to come back in 2025, but it didn't go well for him.  As a Twin, Liam Hendriks was 2-13, 6.06, 1.59 WHIP in 156 innings.  On the one hand, you can say the Twins didn't give him much of a chance, but on the other hand you can say he didn't do much with the chances he got.  The Twins never tried him in the bullpen, though, and in hindsight it certainly looks like they should have.  He turns thirty-seven today and is a free agent.  If he can get and stay healthy, it's certainly possible that someone will give him another chance.  It's also possible, though, that it's time for Liam Hendriks to move on to the next phase of his life.

Outfielder Maximilian Kepler played with the Twins from 2015-2024.  Born and raised in Berlin, Germany, he was signed by Minnesota as a free agent in 2009 at the age of sixteen.  He was okay, but nothing special, in his first couple of minor league seasons, although one should say that he did quite well for his age.  He had an outstanding year in 2012 in Elizabethton at age nineteen.  He was in Cedar Rapids in 2013 and Fort Myers in 2014, again not doing badly but not being particularly impressive, either.  Impressive came in 2015, when he hit .322/.416/.531 for AA Chattanooga and got a September call-up.  He appeared in three games, two as a pinch-hitter, and went 1-for-7.  He started 2016 with Minnesota but didn't play much and went down to Rochester in late April.  He came back on June 1 and was with the Twins the rest of the season.  He didn't hit for a high average, but he showed good power and drew a good number of walks, batting .235/.309/.424 despite a poor September.  The Twins spent the next two years hoping ever since that he would take a step forward, but his numbers in 2017 and 2018 were very similar to that 2016 campaign.  In 2019 the step forward finally came.  Batting out of the leadoff spot, he batted .252/.336/.519 with 36 home runs.  In 2020, however, he took a step backward again, and his OPS went into a steady decline, from .855 in 2019 to .760, to .719, and to .666 in 2022.  He bounced back some in 2023, but slid back again in 2024.  He became a free agent and signed with Philadelphia for 2025, but had a poor year.  A free agent, he will serve an eighty-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs if he signs with anyone.  As a Twin, Max Kepler batted .237/.318/.429 in 3761 at-bats.  He turns thirty-three today.  He's been pretty average for most of his career, and has been below average the last two seasons.  We wish him well, but given the suspension he's facing, it's entirely possible that his playing career is over.

Right-handed reliever Jorge Yabiel Lopez appeared in twenty-three games for the Twins in 2022.  Born and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, he was drafted by Milwaukee in the second round in 2011.  He was a starter throughout his minor league career and for a little while in the majors, not switching to the bullpen until 2017.  He struggled early in his minor league career but had an excellent 2015 at AA, getting a September call-up and making two starts that season.  He struggled in AAA in 2016, however, and made the transition to the bullpen in 2017.  It didn't seem to help a whole lot, and he was traded to Kansas City at the July deadline.  The Royals put him back in the starting rotation and he came back up to make seven starts in the majors.  He both started and relieved in 2019-2021, and even though he stayed in the majors it did not go well for him at all.  The Royals waived him in August of 2020 and he was claimed by Baltimore.  Things did not go any better for him there until 2022.  He became the Orioles closer and made the all-star team, posting a 1.68 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP while striking out 10.1 per nine innings.  He was traded with cash to the Twins in early August of 2022 for Juan Nunez, Cade Povich, and Yennier Cano.  Installed as the Twins' closer, he did not come close to matching his Orioles numbers.  He was worse in 2023, and was traded at the July deadline to Miami for Dylan Floro.  As a Twin, he was 4-3, 7 saves, 4.81, 1.41 WHIP.  He was waived in early September and was claimed by Baltimore.  The Mets signed him for 2024 and he didn't pitch badly for them, but after a meltdown in early June they released him.  The Cubs signed him a week later and he pitched very well for them.  He signed with Washington for 2025, pitched poorly, and was released in early June.  Teams are always looking for pitching, so he may get another chance.  But it may be that Jorge Lopez' playing career is over. 

February 9

Harry Pulliam (1864)

Heinie Zimmerman (1887)

Specs Toporcer (1899)

Bill Veeck (1914)

Jodie Phipps (1918)

Vic Wertz (1925)

Erv Palica (1928)

Clete Boyer (1937)

Eddie Solomon (1951)

Mookie Wilson (1956)

Pete O'Brien (1958)

John Kruk (1961)

Doug Linton (1965)

Todd Pratt (1967)

Vladimir Guerrero (1975)

Dioner Navarro (1984)

Vidal Brujan (1998)

Harry Pulliam was president of the National League from 1903-1909.

Bill Veeck was the owner of the Cleveland Indians (1946-49), St. Louis Browns (1951-53), and Chicago White Sox (1958-61, 1975-81).

Pitcher Jodie Phipps played in the minors from 1939-1957, winning 275 games.  He also managed in the minors for seven seasons.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to LBR.

Outfielder/first baseman Victor Woodrow Wertz appeared in 44 games for Minnesota in 1963 at the end of his long major league career.  He was born in York, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Reading, Pennsylvania, and signed with Detroit as a free agent in 1942.  He had a poor year as a seventeen-year-old at Class B Winston-Salem, played briefly for AA Buffalo in 1943 and then went into the military, not returning to baseball until 1946.  When he did, he hit .301 with 19 homers for then AAA Buffalo and was in the majors to stay at the start of the 1947 campaign.  He was a semi-regular his first two years, becoming a regular in 1949.  He made the first of four all-star teams that season and also had the first of four top ten MVP finishes.  He was again in the top ten in MVP balloting in 1950 and made the all-star team again in 1951 and 1952.  In August of 1952, however, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns as part of an eight-player trade.  He moved to Baltimore with the club in 1954, but got off to a bad start there and was traded to Cleveland on June 1.  The Indians moved him from the outfield to first base, and Wertz had three solid seasons in Cleveland, finishing in the top ten in MVP voting in 1956 and 1957 and making the all-star team in 1957.  He was injured for most of 1958, however, and was on the move again after the season, traded to Boston.  Now in his mid-thirties, he became a part-time player for the Red Sox, with his most at-bats there 443 in 1960.  He still did well when he played, finishing fourteenth in MVP voting in 1960.  He was still playing decently in 1961, but the Red Sox waived him in September and he was claimed by Detroit.  Primarily a pinch-hitter with the Tigers, he had an excellent year in 1962, hitting .324 in 105 at-bats.  Despite that, he was released in May of 1963 after only five at-bats.  The Twins signed him on June 18 and he finished the season and his career in Minnesota.  It did not go well—he hit .136/.240/.341 with three homers in 44 at-bats, and his playing career came to an end.  It was a pretty good career, though; in 17 seasons and 6,099 at-bats, he hit .277/.364/.469 with 266 home runs.  His best season was probably 1950, when he hit .308 with 27 homers and 123 RBIs for Detroit, but that season was not particularly out of line with several others.  He is occasionally remembered today as the man who hit the drive on which Willie Mays made his famous catch in the 1954 World Series.  After his playing career ended, he returned to Detroit, where he owned a beer distributorship.  Vic Wertz passed away from a heart attack on July 7, 1983 at the age of 58.

Right-hander Douglas Warren Linton did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system in 1998.  He was born in Santa Ana, California, attended Cal—Irvine, and was drafted by Toronto in the 43rd round in 1986.  He had a couple of tremendous years in Class A, posting ERAs below two and WHIPs right around one.  He did well when moved up to AA in 1989 and reached AAA in 1990.  He made his major league debut with the Blue Jays in 1992, appearing in eight games.  He never did get a full year in the majors, constantly bouncing back and forth from AAA.  He was waived in June of 1993 and claimed by California.  The Angels released him in mid September and he signed with the Mets for 1994.  He appeared in the most games of his career that season, 32, going 6-2, 4.47, but with a WHIP of 1.87 in 50.1 innings.  He moved on to Kansas City for 1995 and was actually a member of their rotation for a while in 1996, when he pitched the most innings of his career, 104.  He went 7-9, 5.02, 1.32 WHIP that season.  He was released in March of 1997 and missed the entire season.  The Yankees signed him for 1998 but released him in March.  He was again out of baseball for two months when the Twins signed him in late May.  He went to AAA Salt Lake, where he appeared in eighteen games, fourteen of them starts.  He went 4-4, 5.99, 1.51 WHIP in 79.2 innings.  He moved on to Baltimore for 1999 and got back to the majors, making eight starts and fourteen appearances.  He was with Colorado in 2000, the Dodgers, the Mets, and a Korean team in 2001, Atlanta in 2002, and Toronto in 2003.  He actually made it back to the big leagues again with the Blue Jays, making seven appearances and going 0-0, 3.00, 1.22 WHIP in nine innings.  He moved on again in 2004, however, going to Kansas City.  He pitched poorly in AAA for the Royals, and his playing career came to an end.  He didn’t do badly for a 43rd round draft pick, though; his numbers aren’t pretty, but he pitched in six major league seasons and appeared in 112 major league games, and there are not a lot of guys who can say that.  He was a pitching coach or coordinator with the Colorado Rockies beginning in 2006, but was let go after the 2025 season.  He does not appear to have been hired by anyone for 2026, but with his experience we assume he can get another job in baseball if he wants one.

Utility player Vidal Brujan Esteva was a member of the Twins for about eight days in 2026.  He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 2014.  He batted quite well in the low minors, reached AA in 2019, missed the 2020 COVID season, reached AAA in 2021, and made his major league debut in July of 2021, staying for about two weeks.  He split 2022 between AAA and the majors, batting well in AAA but not for the Rays.  2023 was similar, and he was traded to Miami after the season with ex-Twin Calvin Faucher.  He had his first (almost) full season in the majors in 2024, playing 102 games but getting just 248 at-bats.  He did not hit in a utility role and was traded to the Cubs after the season.  He did not hit in a utility role for the Cubs, either and was waived in early August.  Baltimore claimed him, and he got one at-bat for them before being waived again after five days.  Atlanta claimed him this time and he did hit better there for the rest of the season, but still not anything special.  He was waived by Atlanta and claimed by Minnesota on January 14, 2026.  He was then sold to the Mets on January 22.  He turns twenty-eight today.  He's hit well in AAA--.273/.356/.450 in 905 at-bats--but other than a couple of months in 2022 has never been allowed to be more than a part-time utility player in the majors.  He has not excelled in that role, batting .199/.267/.276 in 584 at-bats.  It would be interesting to see if he could turn his AAA numbers into major league numbers with a regular job, but it seems unlikely that it will ever happen.