June 26

Topsy Hartsel (1874)

Babe Herman (1903)

Bill Perkins (1906)

Debs Garms (1907)

Willard Brown (1915)

Howie Pollet (1921)

Bill Robinson (1943)

Dave Rosello (1950)

Mike Myers (1963)

Rodney Myers (1969)

Derek Jeter (1974)

Jason Kendall (1974)

Austin Voth (1992)

Outfielder Willard Brown was a star for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1935-1948.  He played briefly for the St. Louis Browns in 1947.

Four players born on this day have made their major league debuts in 2026:  JR Ritchie, Sterlin Thompson, Franco Aleman, and Chad Dallas.

Right-hander Austin Lee Voth has not pitched for the Twins, but has been in AAA for them for a few weeks.  He was born in Redmond, Washington, went to high school in Covington, Washington, attended the University of Washington, and was drafted by Washington in the fifth round in 2013.  That's a lot of Washington.  He was a starter in college and through most of his minor league career.  He reached AA in 2015 and AAA in 2016, pitching well both places.  For some reason, however, he was awful in a 2017 split between AAA and AA.  He was better, though still not particularly good, in AAA in 2018 and 2019, but pitched very well in a September call-up in 2019.  He spent all of the shortened 2020 season in the Nationals' rotation, but was not very good and transitioned to the bullpen in 2021, where he was still not very good.  He was even worse in 2022 and was waived in June and claimed by Baltimore.  Something clicked for him at that point, and he pitched well for the Orioles the rest of the season, mostly as a starter.  Moved back to the bullpen for 2023, he dealt with injuries and was not effective when he could pitch.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Seattle for 2024.  He had a very good season for the Mariners, then became a free agent and had a fine 2025 in Japan as a starter.  He came back to North America in 2026, signing with Toronto.  He pitched well in eight AAA starts, but was allowed to become a free agent and signed with the Twins.  At this writing he has made three starts in AAA and has not been very good.  He turns thirty-four today.  As you can see, he's been up and down in his career--he's pitched well for short periods, but has never been able to sustain it.  His major league numbers are 17-19, 4.77, 1.36 WHIP in 366.1 innings, 209 games, 39 starts.  In AAA he is 18-32, 4.19, 1.37 WHIP in 98 games, 90 starts.  At his age, he's clearly not a prospect.  But the Twins are desperate for pitching, so if he could have another hot streak, he might get another shot at the majors.

June 25

Joe Kuhel (1906)
Don Demeter (1935)
Dick Drago (1945)
Clay Kirby (1948)
Bob Shirley (1954)
Alejandro Pena (1959)
Mike Stanley (1963)
Aaron Sele (1970)
Michael Tucker (1971)
Carlos Delgado (1972)
Aramis Ramirez (1978)
Paul Maholm (1982)

First baseman Joe Kuhel played for the franchise for several years while it was in Washington and later managed the team there. However, there do not appear to be any players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

June 24

Billy Nash (1865)
George Harper (1892)
Rollie Hemsley (1907)
Jim Mills (1919)
Wally Yonamine (1925)
Don Mincher (1938)
Ken Reitz (1951)
Doug Jones (1957)
Tom Klawitter (1958)
Doug Bernier (1980)
Phil Hughes (1986)

Jim Mills spent almost his entire adult life involved in baseball in the Carolinas.  He played college ball at North Carolina State, played minor league ball for nine seasons in the Carolinas, managed in Carolina minor leagues for six seasons, umpired in the Carolina League for two seasons, was in minor league front offices in the Carolinas from 1956-1971, and was president of the Carolina League for seven years.

Born in Hawaii, Wally Yonamine was a star in Japan from 1951-1962, stealing home eleven times.

First baseman Don Mincher played for the Twins from 1961-1966.  Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, he was signed by the White Sox as a free agent in 1956.  He had a very good minor league record, batting over .300 twice and hitting over 20 homers three times.  Just before the 1960 season, Mincher was traded to Washington with Earl Battey and $150,000 for Roy Sievers, a trade which worked very well for the soon-to-be Minnesota Twins.  Mincher was given the first base job for Washington in 1960, but did not hit well and was back in the minors by mid-May.  He was with the new Minnesota Twins in 1961, but again did not hit and was back in the minors in late May.  Mincher finally made the majors to stay in 1962, but as the Twins also had Vic Power and Harmon Killebrew, he had a hard time getting playing time.  He appeared in 86 games, but 61 of them were as a pinch-hitter, as he played the field in only 25 contests.  Given his role, he did pretty well, hitting .240 with 9 homers for an OPS of .894.  He got into the field more in 1963, but still only batted 225 times, posting an OPS of .871.  By 1964 Power was gone, but Sam Mele chose to give Bob Allison substantial playing time at first base.  Mincher did get 65 starts and hit 23 homers in 287 at-bats, recording an OPS of .847.  Finally, in 1965, he got semi-regular status, sharing first base with Harmon Killebrew (Killebrew shifted to third when Mincher played).  Mincher finally got almost regular playing time in 1966, at age 28, but after the season was traded to California with Pete Cimino and Jimmie Hall for Dean Chance and a player to be named later (Jackie Hernandez).  He had a very good year for the Angels in 1967, hitting .273 (which was very good for 1967) with 25 homers and making his first all-star team.  He slumped in 1968, however, and was left unprotected in the expansion draft.  Seattle chose him, and he was easily their best offensive player, hitting 25 homers, again posting an OPS over .800, and making his second all-star team.  He was traded to Oakland after the season and had another solid year, but was again traded in May of 1971, this time to Washington.  He hit fewer homers as a Senator but had the highest batting average of his career, .291, and again had an OPS over .800.  That was his last good year; he got off to a poor start when the team moved to Texas in 1972, was traded to Oakland in July, and ended his career as he had started it, as a pinch-hitter.  As a Twin, Don Mincher hit .244/.340/.479.  There were reasons he didn’t play more, but one wonders what sort of numbers he might have posted if he had been given regular playing time in his mid-twenties.  Don Mincher remained in baseball after his playing career ended.  He became general manager and part-owner of the Huntsville Stars in the Southern League, holding those titles from 1994-2001.  At that point, he became president of the Southern League, a position he held until his death.  He was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.  Don Mincher passed away in Huntsville, Alabama on March 4, 2012.

Left-hander Tom Klawitter appeared in seven games for the Twins in 1985.  He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and attended Wisconsin-La Crosse.  Klawitter was drafted by the Dodgers in the nineteenth round in 1980.  He struggled in the Dodgers’ system, reaching AA in 1982 but never posting an ERA under four.  The Dodgers released him in May of 1983.  Minnesota picked him up and sent him to Class A Wisconsin Rapids, where he pitched fairly well the rest of the season.  Promoted to AAA for 1984, Klawitter continued to do fairly well, going 10-6, 3.59 with a 1.35 WHIP.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1985; manager Billy Gardner would make a claw gesture to the bullpen when he wanted Klawitter in the game.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for very long, as his control, which had always been shaky, pretty much deserted him.  Klawitter made five relief appearances and two starts for the Twins.  He gave up seven runs on seven hits and thirteen walks in 9.1 innings.  The record is not clear about what happened to him after mid-May of 1985; Klawitter was no longer with the Twins, but he does not appear to have gone to the minors, either.  At any rate, he made six appearances for AA Knoxville in 1986, and then his playing career was over.  Tom Klawitter was a high school girls basketball coach in Janesville, Wisconsin for many years, winning three state championships and being named state coach of the year in 1993.  He retired in 2015 to become an assistant baseball coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater, a position he continues to hold.

Infielder Douglas Paul Bernier has played briefly for the Twins in 2013, 2014, and 2015.  Born and raised in Santa Maria, California, he attended Oral Roberts University and was signed by Colorado as a free agent in 2002.  He spent two years in high-A and two years in AA before getting to AAA Colorado Springs in 2007.  He had a couple of solid seasons there, but considering that it's Colorado Springs, his numbers were not all that impressive.  He appeared in two games for the Rockies in the middle of June, one as a defensive replacement and one as a starter, and went 0-for-4.  He then bounced around AAA for a while.  He became a free agent after the 2008 season and signed with the Yankees.  He had a poor year in 2009, moved to the Pittsburgh organization in 2010, continued to not hit much, moved back to the Yankees organization from 2011-2012, and signed with Minnesota for 2013.   He got called up to the majors in late July, batting .226/.339/.283 in 53 at-bats as a Twin.  He got a September call-up in 2014 and went 2-for-7 in seven games.  He was back in the majors briefly in 2015 also, going 1-for-5 in four games.  As a Twin, therefore, he hit .231/.351/.292 in 65 at-bats.  He became a free agent after the 2015 season and signed with Texas.  He was in AAA for two seasons, doing fairly well in 2016 but not as well in 2017.  He became a free agent after that season and did not sign with anyone, bringing his playing career to an end.  He has founded Pro Baseball Insider, a website which provides instructional articles and videos on how to play baseball.

Right-hander Philip Joseph Hughes is in his first season as a Twin.  He was born in Mission Viejo, California, went to high school in Santa Ana, California, and was drafted by the Yankees in the first round in 2004.  He pitched very well throughout his minor league career, never posting a WHIP above 1.00, and reached the majors in 2007, making a couple of starts early in the season and coming up for good in August.  He was injured much of 2008 and when he came back in 2009 he found himself in the bullpen, as the Yankees preferred giving starts to Joba Chamberlain, Sergio Mitre, and Chien-Ming Wang.  He had an excellent year as a reliever and returned to the rotation in 2010, when he won 18 games and made the all-star team.  He again had injury troubles in 2011 but came back to pitch well in 2012.  He had what was easily the worst year of his career to that point in 2013 and the Yankees let him become a free agent.  He signed with Minnesota and had the best year as a starter he ever had, going 16-10, 3.52 and finishing seventh in the Cy Young balloting.  He didn't match that in 2015, but he was still fairly decent.  Since then, however, he has battled injuries and has been ineffective when he has pitched.  The Twins finally gave up on him in late May of 2018, trading him to San Diego for Janigson Villalobos.  He made seven appearances for the Padres, went back on the disabled list, made nine more appearances for them, and was released in mid-August.  He did not signed with anyone and his playing career came to an end, although he did not actually announce his retirement until January of 2021.  As a Twin, he was 32-29, 4.43, 1.29 WHIP in 489.2 innings.  He could have pitched several more years if he could have stayed healthy, but sadly that was not the case.  He appears to be quite active on twitter, but a very quick review of his X page did not reveal what Phil Hughes may be doing these days, although it did reveal that he's gotten into baseball card collecting and has a youtube channel which focuses on it.  It appears that he is living in Laguna Beach, California.

June 23

George Weiss (1894)
Jack Smith (1895)
Karl Spooner (1931)
Dave Bristol (1933)
Tom Haller (1937)
Dave Goltz (1949)
Marty Barrett (1958)
Jim Deshaies (1960)
Hensley Meulens (1967)
Josh Byrnes (1970)
Mark Hendrickson (1974)
Tim Anderson (1993)

George Weiss was the general manager of the New York Yankees from 1948-1960.

Karl Spooner set the record, later tied by J. R. Richard, for strikeouts in a major league debut with fifteen.

Dave Bristol managed four different teams from 1966-1980.

Josh Byrnes has been the general manager of Arizona and San Diego and is currently the senior vice president of baseball operations for the Dodgers.

Right-hander Dave Goltz pitched for the Twins through most of the 1970s.  He was born in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, went to high school in Rothsay, Minnesota.  He was a four-sport star, playing basketball, football, and participating in track as well as playing baseball (he was all state in both basketball and baseball).  Goltz was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1967.  He had two very good years in the low minors, then missed all of the 1969 season due to military service and made only two appearances in 1970 due to injuries.  He came back to have a fine 1971 campaign and was doing fairly well in AAA in 1972 when he was called up to Minnesota in mid-July to replace an injured Jim Kaat.  He pitched extremely well the rest of the way, going 3-3, 2.67 with a WHIP of 1.10 and an ERA+ of 121.  The Twins moved him to the bullpen for 1973, however, and he did not flourish in the role.  He was moved back to the rotation in late July and was extremely inconsistent, mixing brilliant outings with horrible ones.  The next year, he was in the rotation from the beginning, and had the first of five consecutive very good seasons for the Twins.  His best years were 1977-1978, when he went a combined 35-21, 2.99 with a WHIP of 1.24 in 523.1 innings (303 of which came in 1977, when he won 20 games and finished sixth in Cy Young voting).  He had double-digit complete games in each of those five seasons, with a high of nineteen in 1977.  He started to slip in 1979 and the Twins allowed him to become a free agent.  It turned out to be a good decision, as he never had as good a season again.  Goltz had a poor year in 1980, went to the bullpen in 1981, and when he was no better at the start of 1982 he was released in late April.  California signed him in late May and he did somewhat better, but he did nothing in 1983 and was released again in early July, ending his playing career.  He won twenty games once, got a World Series ring (with the Dodgers in 1981), and set one record, although not a good one.  Dave Goltz holds the record for most runs allowed while getting a save, giving up eight runs while getting a three-inning save against Cleveland on June 6, 1973.  Gene Mauch once was quoted as saying Goltz was the best starting pitcher he had ever managed.  As a Twin, Dave Goltz was 96-79, 3.48 with a 1.31 WHIP.  He appeared in 247 games, 215 of them starts, and worked 1,638 innings.  After retirement, Goltz returned to Minnesota.  He is currently an insurance agent, with offices in Fergus Falls and Rothsay, Minnesota.  He also was the baseball coach for Fergus Falls Community College for two years.

Left-hander Jim Deshaies was with the Twins for most of 1993 and all of 1994.  Born and raised in Massena, New York, he attended LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, one of six major league players that school has produced.  He was drafted by the Yankees in the twenty-first round in 1982.  He put up some really good numbers in the Yankees’ system, reaching AAA by 1984.  He also made his major league debut that year, making two starts for the Yankees in August.  He did not have a good year in AAA in 1985, however, and was traded to Houston in mid-September as part of a deal for Joe Niekro.  It was a good move for Deshaies, as he was immediately placed in the Astros rotation and stayed there for six years.  He was pretty good for five of those years; the best was 1989, when he went 15-10, 2.91 with a WHIP of 1.15.  He pitched poorly in 1991, however, and when contract expired he was allowed to become a free agent.  He signed with Oakland, but was released in spring training of 1992.  San Diego signed him in late April, sent him to AAA, and brought him to the majors in early July, place him in their starting rotation.  He bounced back pretty well, but was a free agent after the season, signing with Minnesota.  He did okay in 1993, not great but not terrible.  The Twins fell out of the race, however, and in late August Deshaies was traded to San Francisco for Andres Duncan, Aaron Fultz, and a player to be named later (Greg Brummett).  Deshaies was a free agent after the season and returned to Minnesota for 1994.  He was much worse in his second go-round with the Twins, leading the league both in home runs allowed and in earned runs allowed.  As a Twin, he was 17-25, 5.71 with a WHIP of 1.46.  He appeared in 52 games, all of them starts, and pitched 297.2 innings.  He became a free agent again and signed with Philadelphia for 1995.  He did well in AAA, but flopped in two starts with the Phillies and was released in late July, ending his playing career.  In 1986, he struck out the first eight batters of the game, setting a modern-day record.  He also holds the record for most at-bats without an extra-base hit.  Jim Deshaies was a  television broadcaster for the Houston Astros from 1997-2012 and is currently a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs.

June 22

Steel Arm Davis (1896)

Carl Hubbell (1903)

Walt Masterson (1920)

Han Urbanus (1927)

Faye Throneberry (1931)

Russ Snyder (1934)

Ron Hodges (1949)

Dave Tomlin (1949)

Greg Booker (1960)

Brant Brown (1971)

Esteban Yan (1975)

Willie Harris (1978)

Luis Maza (1980)

Ian Kinsler (1982)

Engelb Vielma (1994)

Han Urbanus is in the Dutch Baseball Hall of Fame.  He pitched over 150 consecutive complete games over a period of eight years.

The brother of Marv Throneberry, outfielder Faye Throneberry spent much of his career with the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington (1957-1960).  In December of 1960, he was chosen by the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft.

Right-handed reliever Gregory Scott Booker appeared in six games for the Twins in 1989.  The son-in-law of Jack McKeon, he was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, went to high school in Burlington, North Carolina, and then attended Elon University in Elon, North Carolina (a school also attended by Dick Such).  He was drafted by San Diego in the tenth round in 1981.  Mostly a starter in the minors, he did not have very good numbers there at all, although much of his time was spent in hitter-friendly Las Vegas in the PCL.  Despite never posting a minor league ERA under 5.25 or a WHIP under 1.6, Booker got a September call-up in 1983.  He went back-and-forth between San Diego and Las Vegas from 1984-1986.  He was almost exclusively a reliever in the majors, making only four career starts.  His major league numbers are substantially better than his minor league totals, although it should be noted that Booker never pitched as many as seventy innings in a major league season.  His only two full seasons in the majors were 1987-1988, and he pitched pretty well in those years, posting ERAs in the low threes and WHIPs around 1.35.  He did not pitch as well in 1989, was sent back to AAA in June.  In late June, his father-in-law traded him to Minnesota for Fred Toliver.  Most of his time with the Twins was in AAA, but he came up to the majors in September.  He appeared in six games and pitched 8.2 innings.  Had no record, giving up four runs on eleven hits for a 4.15 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.  The Twins allowed him to become a free agent and he signed with the Cubs, but he was released at the end of spring training.  He signed with the Giants for 1990 and was in AAA most of the year, playing in two major league games in late May.  That was the end of his playing career.  He stayed in professional baseball, coaching in the Indians and Rockies organizations, and was the major league pitching coach for San Diego from 1997-2003.  He was the pitching coach of the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League from 2010-2013.  He then became a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  His son, Zach Booker, played in the minors from 2007-2011.  Sadly, Greg Booker passed away from melanoma on March 30, 2019.

Infielder Luis Alberto Maza did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for several years.  Born and raised in Cumana, Venezuela, he signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1997.  Partly due to his age, Maza was in the low minors for several years, not reaching AA until 2004.  He hit .311 there that year and was promoted to AAA in 2005.  He had a bad year in Rochester in 2006, hitting only .207, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with the Dodgers, played very well in the minors, and reached the majors in mid-May of 2008, staying for two months.  He hit only .228, however, and so far this has been Maza’s only time in the majors.  He hit .378 in Albuquerque that year, and followed it up with a .300 season last year.  When he did not get a call back to the big leagues, Maza again became a free agent, this time signing with Philadelphia.  He moved on to Houston in late June, but was released in early August.  He signed with Grosseto in the Italian Baseball League for 2011 and played for Rimini in that same league in 2012.  He did not play anywhere during the regular 2013 or 2014 seasons but he continued to play winter ball in Venezuela through the winter of 2015-16.  At last report, Luis Maza was a coach for the Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League.  His son, Luis Maza, Jr., played in the Dominican Summer League from 2021-2023.

Infielder Engelb Stalin Vielma did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2012-2017.  He was born in Maraciabo, Venezuela and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in September of 2011.  He rose through the Twins system at a steady pace, playing in the DSL in 2012, the GCL and the Appalachian League in 2013, Class A in 2014, high-A in 2015, and AA in 2016.  He started 2017 in AA but went to AAA about at third of the way through the season.  He apparently was considered a superior fielder, because he has never posted an OPS of .700 or better at any level.  His best mark was .690 in that third of a season in AA Chattanooga in 2017.  His highest batting average was .286 in that same third of a season--for a full season his highest is .271 in 2016.  The Twins waived him in September of 2017, which started an interesting off-season for him.  The Giants selected him, but waived him in November.  He was selected by Philadelphia, who waived him in December.  He selected by Pittsburgh, who waived him in January.  A week later, he was traded to Baltimore for a player to be named later or cash.  He started the season with the Orioles but played sparingly, appearing in just six games and batting only seven times (1-for-7 with a single and a walk).  He missed most of the rest of the season due to injury, appearing in just twelve minor league games.  In 2019 he appeared in 40 games, mostly for AAA Norfolk, but did not hit.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign with anyone.  He did, however, continue to play winter ball through 2025.  He has not played since, though, so we assume his playing career is over.  No information about what Engelb Vielma is doing now was readily available.

June 21

Matt Kilroy (1866)

Randy Moore (1906)

Harold Seymour (1910)

Ed Lopat (1918)

Merle Harmon (1926)

Jackie Collum (1927)

Charlie Moore (1953)

Rick Sutcliffe (1956)

Jay Pettibone (1957)

Donovan Osborne (1969)

Garrett Jones (1981)

Jeff Baker (1981)

Sam Clay (1993)

Harold Seymour wrote a three-part History of Baseball, published from 1960-1990.

Merle Harmon broadcast Minnesota Twins games from 1967-1969.

Left-hander Jack Dean “Jackie” Collum pitched in eight games for the Twins in 1962.  He was born in Victor, Iowa and went to high school in Newburg, Iowa.  He signed with St. Louis as a free agent in 1946.  He was used as both a starter and a reliever in the minors and appears to have pitched pretty well in both roles.  He got cups of coffee in the majors in both 1951 and 1952, appearing in a total of five games for the Cardinals.  1953 was his first full season in the majors, but most of it was not spent in St. Louis, as Collum was traded to Cincinnati in late May.  He stuck with the Reds through 1955, making 31 starts and appearing in 98 games.  He did a good job, posting ERAs in the mid-threes.  He was traded back to St. Louis for 1956, and unfortunately things went downhill for him after that.  He did not do particularly well for the Cardinals, was traded to the Cubs after the season, pitched poorly, and was traded to Brooklyn in late May.  Most of his time with the Dodgers that year was spent in AAA, and he remained in AAA for the Dodgers through 1960.  He did fairly well there, but was traded to the Twins sometime afte the 1960 season “in an unknown transaction.”  He stayed in AAA in 1961 but had a strong season there in 1962, earning about three weeks with the Twins.  It did not go well, however; as a Twin, Jackie Collum was 0-2, 11.15 in 15.1 innings.  He appeared in eight games, three of them starts.  On August 20, he was traded to Cleveland with a player to be named later (Georges Miranda) and cash for Ruben Gomez.  He made one appearance with the Indians, and then his playing career was over.  He was a good hitter, batting .269 in the minors and .246 in the majors.  He occasionally played outfield in the minors as well as pitching.  After retiring from baseball, Collum became the owner of the Pioneer Oil Company in Grinnell, Iowa.  Jackie Collum passed away on August 29, 2009 in Grinnell.

Right-hander Harry Jonathan ”Jay” Pettibone made four starts for the Twins in 1983.  He was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan, attended Chapman University of Orange, California, one of seven major leaguers to have attended that school.  He was drafted by Texas in the thirtieth round in 1979.  He was in the minors with the Rangers for two ineffective years, not rising above Class A, and was released in December of 1980.  The Twins signed him in February of 1981 and sent him to Class A Visalia, where he went 14-8, although with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.  He had a good year in Visalia in 1982 and a half-way decent year in AA Orlando in 1983, earning a September call-up in the latter season.  His first game was a complete game 3-1 loss, but he did not pitch well in the other three starts.  He was 0-4, 5.33 with a WHIP of 1.33 in 27 innings.  Pettibone was back in the minors in 1984 and did not pitch particularly well.  After the season, he was the player to be named later in the deal that brought Chris Speier to the Twins from St. Louis for a month and a half in 1984.  He did not pitch in the Cardinals organization, however; his playing career ended after the 1984 campaign.  He auditioned for a job as a replacement player in 1995, and was working as a special agent in the Treasury Department at that time.  At last report, Jay Pettibone was working for U. S. Customs and Border Protection in Yorba Linda, California as a special agent.  His son, Jonathan Pettibone, pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies and pitched for New Britain in the Atlantic League from 2017-2018.

Outfielder/first baseman Garrett Thomas Jones had three stints with the Twins in 2007, totaling about two and a half months.  He was born in Harvey, Illinois, went to high school in Tinley Park, Illinois.  He was drafted by Atlanta in the fourteenth round in 1999.  He was in rookie ball for three years, did not do a whole lot (although he did hit .289 in 2001), and was released in May of 2002.  Minnesota signed him three days later and sent him to Class A Quad Cities.  He hit for low averages for two years in Class A, but he began to develop some power, and finally in 2004 in AA New Britain he put things together.  He hit .311 that season with 30 home runs.  He spent almost all of the next four seasons at AAA Rochester, hitting over 20 homers three of those years and posting an OPS over .800 the last two.  He appeared in 31 games for the Twins in 2007, twelve of them at DH, eight at first base, six in the outfield, and five as a pinch-hitter.  He hit .208/.262/.338 in 77 at-bats.  Jones was allowed to become a free agent after the 2008 season and signed with Pittsburgh.  He started the season in AAA but came up on July 1 and was a regular for the Pirates, although at three different positions (right field, first base, and left field).  Surprisingly, he did very well, hitting .293 with 21 homers, posting an OPS of .938, and finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting.  He continued to play regularly for the Pirates in 2010, but failed to match his 2009 totals.  2011 turned out to be much more similar to 2010 than 2009 and he found himself being platooned, although as a left-handed batter he still got the bulk of the playing time.  He was still platooned some in 2012, but came back to have a better season.  He had a down year in 2013 and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Miami and was okay, but nothing special.  He was traded to the Yankees during the off-season, was been used as a role player in 2015, and really didn't do a whole lot for them, getting released in August.  He had a solid season in Japan in 2016, but then his playing career ended.  He is married to a cousin of ex-Twin Ron Coomer.  He was not a star, obviously, but he still had a very respectable career for someone who got started that late.  At last report, Garrett Jones was an analyst for AT&T Sportsnet of Pittsburgh.

Left-hander Samuel Thomas Hunter Clay did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system from 2014-2020.  He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, went to high school in Buford, Georgia, attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, and was drafted by Minnesota in 2014.  He was a reliever in college, but the Twins tried to make him into a starting pitcher.  It did not go well, as he struggled in the minors until 2017, when the Twins sent him back to the bullpen.  He had a fine season with Fort Myers that year, going 8-0, 1.38 with a 1.14 WHIP.  He struggled in AA in 2018, however.  His 2019 season was split between AA and AAA--he did pretty well in AA, but struggled in AAA.  There was, of course, no 2020 minor league season, and as Clay was now twenty-seven and had not established himself beyond AA, the Twins allowed him to become a free agent.  He signed with Washington and, surprisingly, spent almost the entire season in the majors despite posting an ERA of 5.69 and a WHIP of 1.71.  He was mostly in AAA in 2022, making five appearances for the Nationals before being waived in early July.  He was claimed by the Mets but was again in AAA, making one appearance in the majors for them.  He was a free agent after the season, signed with Arizona for 2023, was released in March, and signed with Detroit at the end of April.  He was once again in AAA and did not do particularly well.  He went to the Mexican League in 2024 and remained there for most of 2025.  He finished 2025 in the Atlantic League, and did not do well in either place.  In 50.1 major league innings (65 games) he is 0-5, 5.90, 1.69 WHIP.  He does not appear to be pitching anywhere in 2026, so we assume his playing career is over.  We wish him well in whatever his future holds.

June 20

Ned Cuthbert (1845)

Jim Delahanty (1879)

Cum Posey (1890)

Namon Washington (1894)

Billy Werber (1908)

Andy Etchebarren (1943)

Dave Nelson (1944)

Paul Beeston (1945)

Dickie Thon (1958)

Doug Gwosdz (1960)

Paul Bako (1972)

Juan Castro (1972)

Carlos Lee (1976)

Kevin Gregg (1978)

Kendrys Morales (1983)

Adalberto Mejia (1993)

Ronny Henriquez (2000)

Cum Posey, played for, managed, and owned the Homestead Grays in the Negro National League.

Paul Beeston has been president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989-1997 and from 2010-2016, at which time he became president emeritus.

Infielder Juan Gabriel Castro played for the Twins in 2005 and the first part of 2006.  Born and raised in Los Mochis, Mexico, Castro signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1991.  He had decent batting averages in the minors, but did not walk very much nor did he show much power.  He gained a reputation as a fine fielder, however, and made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1995.  He spent the next two years going back and forth between Albuquerque and Los Angeles, putting up good numbers in the minors but bad numbers in the majors, where he was used as a utility player.  He got his first full season in the majors in 1998, again as a utility player, and hit only .195 with an OPS of .499.  He was back in AAA for almost all of 1999 and then was traded to Cincinnati.  He started 2000 in AAA but was back in the majors in late April and remained with the Reds through 2004, again as a utility infielder.  He continued to not hit very well– his best year was 2003, when he hit .253 with nine homers for an OPS of .678.  Castro became a free agent after the 2004 campaign and signed with Minnesota.  As a Twin, he basically was what he was–a weak hitter with a reputation as a good fielder.  He hit .248/.271/.357 in 428 at-bats.  He stayed with Minnesota until mid-June of 2006, when he was traded to Cincinnati for Brandon Roberts.  He had a good rest-of-2006 for the Reds, but did little in 2007 and was released in early May of 2008.  He signed with the Rockies, played in AAA there for two and a half months, then was traded to Baltimore.  He was with the Dodgers in 2009, moved on to Philadelphia for 2010, was released in mid-July, and signed with the Dodgers again.  He was still with the Dodgers in 2011, but spent most of the season in the minors and retired on July 10.  Upon his retirement, Juan Castro was named a special assistant for player personnel for the Dodgers.  He was the Dodgers' Quality Assurance Coach from 2016-2017.  He was the director of operations for the Tijuana Toros in the Mexican League in 2017, and was manager of the Aguilas de Mexicali in the Mexican Pacific League in 2018.  He was named manager of Team Mexico in the WSBC Premier12 tournament in 2019.  He became the Philadelphia Phillies' infield coach from 2020-2021.  He managed Diablos in the Mexican League in 2022, but was let go fifteen games into the 2023 season.  At last report, Juan Castro was a sales representative for Amare Mental Wellness and was living in the Phoenix area.

First baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales was with the Twins for about six weeks in 2014.  He was born in Fomento, Cuba.  He played in Cuba through 2003, then defected, established residency in the Dominican Republic, and was signed by the Angels in December of 2004.  His name was incorrectly listed as "Kendry", a mistake he lived with until prior to the 2011 season.  He started 2005 in Class A and quickly proved he was too good to be there, being promoted to AA after twenty-two games.  He started 2006 in AAA but spent half the season in the majors, making his debut in late May.  He went back and forth between AAA and the majors through the 2008 season before coming up to stay in 2009.  He had a fine season, finishing fifth in MVP voting, and was having another solid year in 2010 when he broke his leg stepping on home plate following a walkoff grand slam on May 29.  He missed the rest of that season and all of 2011.  He came back in 2012 and was again a good player, although perhaps not quite as good as he had been before his injury.  After the season he was traded to Seattle for Jason Vargas.  He spent 2013 with the Mariners and again put up solid numbers.  He became a free agent after the season and went unsigned until early June, when he signed with Minnesota.  He hit poorly and was traded back to Seattle in late July for Stephen Pryor.  He was a free agent after the season and it looked like he might be done, but he signed with Kansas City and started hitting again.  It's unclear what happened to him in 2014, but whatever it was it obviously went away, as he had two solid seasons for the Royals.  A free agent after the 2016 campaign, he signed with Toronto and did okay from 2017-2018, although not as well as he had done in Kansas City.   He was traded to Oakland just before the 2019 season, then was traded to the Yankees in mid-May.  He did not hit for either team and was released by the Yankees in early July.  He announced his retirement in February of 2020.  As a Twin, he hit .234/.259/.325 in 154 at-bats.  For his career, he hit .265/.327/.453.  At last report, Kendrys Morales living in Miami and operated a private baseball academy.

Left-hander Adalberto Mejia pitched in the Twins' organization since 2016.  He was born in Donao, Dominican Republic and signed with the Giants as a free agent in 2011.  He moved steadily up the Giants system, going to Class A in 2012, high-A in 2013, and AA in 2014.  He had a rough year in 2014 but was off to an excellent start there in 2015 when his season was cut short, first by injury and then by a suspension for use of a banned stimulant.  He did very well in eleven AA starts in 2016 and did okay in seven AAA starts when he was traded to Minnesota for Eduardo Nunez.  He pitched well in four starts in Rochester and made one appearance with the Twins.  He started the 2017 season in the Twins' rotation, was sent back to Rochester for a month after three starts, and came back to the Twins in late May.  He was not particularly good, but he was not terrible, either.  He spent most of 2018 in Rochester but made sporadic appearances with the Twins and did well in the limited chances he got.  He was with the Twins for the first month of the 2019 season and had terrible numbers, then missed time due to injury.  The Twins waived him in July.  He was claimed by the Angels, waived again ten days later, claimed by St. Louis, was waived again about ten days after that, and was claimed by the Angels again.  He signed with the White Sox for 2020 but was released in August.  He signed with the Fubon Guardians in Taiwan for 2021 but appeared in just four games.  He then played in two games in winter ball in the Dominican League.  It appeared that his playing career was over, but he came back to pitch for for Staten Island in the Atlantic League in 2025.  It did not go well, however, and we assume his playing career is now truly over.  As a Twin he was 6-0, 4.63, 1.55 WHIP in 138 innings.  He appeared in 40 games, starting 25 of them.  We wish him well in whatever his future may hold.

Right-handed reliever Ronny Henriquez pitched for the Twins off and on from 2022-2024.  He was born in Bonao, Dominican Republic, and signed with Texas in 2017.  He did quite well in rookie ball in 2018, but struggled the next year when promoted to Class A.  Following the COVID year of 2020 he pitched five games of high-A and then went to AA, where he again struggled.  The Rangers traded him to Minnesota in March of 2022 with Isiah Kiner-Falefa for Mitch Garver.  Henriquez had a poor year in AAA in 2022, despite which he got a September call up and did well in three appearances, going 0-1, 2.31, 0.94 WHIP with 9 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.  He was did very badly in AAA in 2023 due to injury.  Recovered in 2024, he did much better and was in the majors with the Twins for about two months, where he went 1-1, 3.26, 1.29 WHIP.  The Twins gave up on him, though, and he was claimed off waivers by Miami.  He pitched very well for them in 2025, but will miss all of 2026 after UCL reconstruction surgery.  He turns twenty-six today.  If he can get healthy, it's quite possible for Ronny Henriquez to have a substantial major league career.