May 23

Dummy Hoy (1862)

Deacon Phillippe (1872)

Zack Wheat (1888)

Halsey Hall (1898)

Arch McDonald (1901)

Willis Hudlin (1906)

Augie Galan (1912)

Lennie Pearson (1918)

Lawrence Ritter (1922)

Clyde King (1924)

Skip Bertman (1938)

Tom Penders (1945)

Reggie Cleveland (1948)

Buck Showalter (1956)

Ricky Gutierrez (1970)

Ramon Ortiz (1973)

Mike Gonzalez (1978)

Mike Dunn (1985)

Jordan Zimmerman (1986)

Kyle Barraclough (1990)

Cesar Hernandez (1990)

Tyler Beede (1993)

Michael Helman (1996)

Deacon Phillippe was the winning pitcher in the first World Series game.  He lived in what would become the state of South Dakota from 1875-1896, where his family farmed near the town of Athol.

Legendary sportswriter and broadcaster Halsey Hall broadcast Twins games from 1961-72.

Arch McDonald was an early baseball broadcaster known for his re-creations of games.

Author Lawrence Ritter wrote the excellent book, "The Glory of Their Times".

Skip Bertman was the head baseball coach at LSU from 1984-2001.

College basketball coach Tom Penders played minor league baseball for the Indians in 1968.

Right-hander Ramon Diogenes Ortiz was a member of the Minnesota Twins for about four and a half months in 2007.  A native of Cotui in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz was signed by the Angels as a free agent in 1995.  He generally pitched well in the minors, although he appears to have been slowed by an injury in 1998.  He reached AAA in 1999 and after only nine starts there was promoted to the majors in August.  He was immediately thrown into the rotation, but he wasn’t ready, going 2-3, 6.52.  He split the next year between AAA and the majors, but by 2001 he was in the big leagues to stay.  He was in the Angels starting rotation for three full years, from 2001-2003.  His best year was clearly 2002, when he went 15-9, 3.77 with a WHIP of 1.18.  His ERA soared to 5.20 the next year, and when he got off to a poor start in 2004 Ortiz was sent to the bullpen.  The Angels traded him to the Reds for 2005, but while he stayed in the rotation he really did not pitch any better than he had the year before.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Washington for 2006 and again spent the entire year in the rotation despite pitching poorly.  He signed with Minnesota as a free agent for 2007.  He was again in the rotation and pitched well in his first three starts, but slipped to average for his next two and bad for his next five.  Ortiz went to the bullpen after that and was traded to Colorado in mid-August for Matt Macri.  As a Twin, he was 4-4, 5.14 in 28 appearances, ten of them starts.  He pitched 91 innings for Minnesota.  Ortiz became a free agent after the 2007 season and played in Japan for the Orix Blue Wave in 2008, where he continued to not pitch very well.  He came back to the United States for 2009, pitching at AAA Phoenix in the Giants’ organization.  He signed with the Dodgers for 2010 and made sixteen appearances in the majors, most of them poor ones.  The Dodgers released him in early June, he was in the Mets’ organization for about a month and a half, and he finished the season at AAA with Tampa Bay.  He was released by the Rays in March of 2011, but signed with the Cubs a month later and battled his way back to the big leagues, spending half the season in Chicago.  A free agent again after the season, he signed with San Francisco for 2012.  He was released near the end of spring training, but signed with the Yankees and spent the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he had a fine season in AAA but did not get another shot at the majors.  Once again a free agent after the season, he signed with Toronto for 2013.  He started the season in AAA but made it back to the majors for about a month.  That's the last time he's played in what we call Organized Baseball, but  he continued to  play in the Dominican League during the winter and also played in Mexico from 2014-15.  It's pretty impressive to play twelve seasons in the big leagues when you only had one year with an ERA under four and eight years with an ERA over five.  At last report, it appeared that Ramon Ortiz had moved back to Cotui in the Dominican Republic and owned a barbershop there.

Right-hander Kyle David Barraclough appeared in ten games for the Twins in 2021.  Born and raised in Santa Clara, California, he attended St. Mary's College of California.  He was drafted by the Twins in the fortieth round in 2011, but did not sign.  He was later drafted by St. Louis in the seventh round in 2012.  He pitched pretty well in the low minors, but was traded to Miami in July of 2015 for Steve Cishek.  He came up to the majors in August of 2015 and stayed with the Marlins through 2018, pitching quite well in relief.  Miami traded him to Washington after the 2018 season for Unknown Compensation.  I don't know how well Mr. Compensation did, but Barraclough was awful for the Nationals and then got hurt, or more likely he was hurt and that's why he was awful, as his numbers fell off sharply in the middle of May.  He was waived in early August and claimed by San Francisco, for whom he pitched fairly well in September.  He was signed by San Diego for 2020 but was let go before the (shortened) season started and did not pitch that year.  He signed with the Yankees in 2021 and did pretty well in AAA, but was still released in mid-June.  The Twins signed him a couple of days later, sent him to AAA, the brought him to the majors in late August.  He pitched well at times, but he also pitched not well at times, and his record as a Twin was 2-0, 5.54, 1.54 WHIP.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Angels.  They brought him to the majors in May and he did very well in eight appearances, but he spent the rest of the season pitching well in AAA.  He became a free after the season, and despite the fact that teams are always looking for pitching no one wanted him, so he pitched for High Point in the Atlantic League at the start of 2023.  The Red Sox signed him in mid-June and he spent most of the summer in AAA, making three appearances in the majors.  He started 2024 back in High Point, but was signed by Texas in early May, again going to AAA.  He did okay for them, but did not make it back to the majors.  He started 2025 once again back in High Point, but then moved to Oaxaca in the Mexican League.  He was prepared to pitch for Oaxaca again in 2026, but was released in April.  He turns thirty-six today.  In 291 major league games (282 innings), he was 19-16, 3.86, 11 saves, and a WHIP of 1.40.  He also struck out 11.2 per nine innings.  Perhaps he'll return to High Point or some other independent league team, or perhaps he'll move on to the next phase of his life.  We wish him well.

Utility player Michael James Helman appeared in nine games for the Twins in 2024.  He was born in Omaha, attended Texas A&M, and was drafted by Minnesota in the eleventh round in 2018.  He did very well in 2018 but struggles when promoted to high-A in 2019.  He missed the COVID season of 2020.  He was nothing special in high-A in 2021, but did well in AA in 2022 and had an outstanding season in AAA in 2023.  He had another good year at AAA in 2024 and earned a September call-up.  Unfortunately, he wasn't given much of a chance.  Used mostly as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement, he batted .300/.300/.500 in ten at-bats.  The Twins sold him to St. Louis before the 2025 season.  He did not hit in AAA and was waived in mid-May.  Pittsburgh claimed him, but waived him five days later and he was claimed by Texas.  He split the rest of the season between AAA and the majors, spending about two months with the Rangers.  He again wasn't given much of a chance, but did okay when he did play.  He is currently at AAA Round Rock, but isn't doing very well at this writing.  He turns thirty today.  We're rooting for him, but the odds of him getting a regular spot in the majors don't look good at this point.

Right-hander Tyler Joseph Beede has not played for the Twins yet, but is currently at AAA for them.  He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, went to high school in Groton, Massachusetts, attended Vanderbilt, and was drafted by San Francisco in the first round in 2014.  He struck out a batter per inning in college, but also walked 4.7 per nine, a problem that would plague him throughout his career.  He pitched well in the low minors but struggled when promoted to AA in 2015. He did much better in his second try at AA in 2016, but did poorly in AAA in 2017 and 2018, despite which he made two starts for the Giants, again pitched poorly.  He did well in  seven AAA starts in 2019, however, and was in the Giants' rotation most of that season, going 5-10, 5.08.  He missed the 2020 COVID season and pitched poorly again in AAA in 2021, despite which he again made one major league appearance.  He made six appearances for the Giants in 2022 and then was waived and claimed by Pittsburgh.  He was in the majors the rest of the season, continuing not to pitch well.  He went to Japan in 2023, was unimpressive, and was signed by Cleveland for 2024, for whom he pitched poorly in AAA and in twelve major league appearances.  He signed with the Twins in mid-April of 2025, wasn't very good, and was released in early June.  He then made five starts in the Atlantic League and three in the Mexican League, not doing very well there, either.  He signed with the Cubs for 2026 and is once again pitching poorly in AAA.  It sounds like we're being really hard on him, but in 201 major league innings he's 8-16, 5.55, 1.58 WHIP.  In 314,1 AAA innings he's 13-30, 6.21, 1.72 WHIP.  He turns thirty-three today.  There's obviously something about him teams like, because he keeps getting chances, but there's really no reason Tyler Beede should ever be in a big league uniform again, and really no reason he should be in a AAA uniform, either.  But he's probably a nice guy, and we wish him well in whatever life after his playing career holds.

May 22

Al Simmons (1902)

Terris McDuffie (1910)

Jose Valdivielso (1934)

Ron Piche (1935)

Rich Garcia (1942)

Walt Hriniak (1943)

Tommy John (1943)

Jim Colborn (1946)

Jose Mesa (1966)

Al Levine (1968)

Julian Tavarez (1973)

Eric Sogard (1986)

Corey Dickerson (1989)

Carson McCusker (1998)

Zebby Matthews (2000)

Terris McDuffie pitched from 1930-1954, playing in the Negro Leagues, the Cuban Winter League, the Mexican League, the Puerto Rican League, the Dominican League, the Venezuelan League, the California Winter League, and the minor leagues.  His biography at b-r.com is worth reading.

Rich Garcia was an American League umpire from 1975-1999.

Tommy John was one of the Twins’ television broadcasters from 1994-1996.

Infielder Jose Lopez Valdivielso was one of the original Twins, playing for them in 1961.  He was born in Matanzas, Cuba.  He started in organized baseball in 1953, joining the Washington organization in 1954.  He came up to the majors in late June of 1955 and was the regular Washington shortstop the rest of the season.  He hit .221 with an OPS of .594, yet somehow got a tenth-place vote for MVP.  He was again the regular shortstop for much of 1956, although he spent a month or so in the minors.  He hit a little better, but not much.  Valdivielso then spent some time playing in other organizations, although whether he actually belonged to those other organizations is unclear.  He was at AAA with the White Sox in 1957 and with Boston and San Francisco in 1958.  He was a reserve infielder for Washington for much of 1959, also playing at AAA with Baltimore.  He then got his only two full seasons in the majors, 1960 with Washington and 1961 with Minnesota.  He was a part-time starting shortstop in 1960 and a reserve infielder in 1961.  In his one season as a Twin, he played in 76 games and got 149 at-bats.  He hit .195/.234/.248.  In his major league career, all of which was in the Washington/Minnesota organization, he hit .219/.282/.290 in 971 at-bats.  He was at AAA Vancouver for the Twins in 1962, then moved on to Indianapolis in the White Sox’ organization for two years before ending his playing career after the 1964 season.  After that, he worked in New York City as a youth recreation director before going into broadcasting.  He did Spanish-language broadcasts for the New York Yankees, and was the morning sports reporter at WKDM in Newark, New Jersey.  He was a director emeritus on the board of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.  Jose Valdivielso passed away on March 4, 2025 at the age of ninety.

Right-hander Ronald Jacques Piche did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for part of the 1965 season.  He was born in Verdun, Quebec, Canada, and signed with Milwaukee as a free agent in 1955.  He pitched well in the minors, posting an ERA below three each year from 1955-1961.  He both started and relieved, making his record of success more remarkable.  He reached AAA in 1959 and made his major league debut with the Braves in late May of 1960.  He was used as a short reliever and pitched well, going 3-5, 3.56 with nine saves in 48 innings (37 appearances).  He began 1961 in Milwaukee, but despite the fact that he was pitching well he was sent down in mid-May, not returning until he received a September call-up.  He split 1962 between AAA and the majors, then stayed for the whole season in 1963, his only full year in the majors.  He generally struck out quite a few batters, but also walked quite a few batters, which is probably why he did not get more of a chance in the big leagues.  He was back in the minors in 1964, was traded to the Angels (with Phil Roof) before the 1965 season, and then was sent to Minnesota in June of 1965 “in an unknown transaction”.  The Twins sent him to Denver, where he pitched badly, going 3-4, 5.77 in 53 innings.  Before the 1966 season, Piche was traded to St. Louis in another “unknown transaction.”  He made it back to the majors in late July, staying for the rest of the season.  That would be the end of his major league career, however; his major league numbers are 10-16, 4.19 with 12 saves in 221.1 innings.  He appeared in 134 games, 11 of them starts.  He played for a few more years, however, staying in the Cardinals organization through 1967, going to the Cubs system in 1968-1969, playing in the Mets and Expos chains in 1970, and finishing in the Expos organization in 1972.  After leaving baseball, he moved to Montreal, where among other things he became a volunteer firefighter.  He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. Ron Piche passed away on February 3, 2011 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Outfielder Carson Michael McCusker played sixteen games for the Twins in 2025.  Born and raised in Sparks, Nevada, he attended Folsom Lake College in Folsom, California, the only major league player to come from that institution, and was drafted by Milwaukee in the twenty-sixth round in 2017.  He did not sign, however, and instead went to Oklahoma State.  He had a solid career there, but was nothing special, and so went to independent ball for two seasons.  The Twins signed him in 2023 and he had a solid season for them in Class A and high-A.  In 2024 he went to AA and AAA, and then was in AAA in 2025.  Everywhere he went, he hit about the same--a batting average around .260 to .280, double digit home runs, and an OPS of around .840 to .860.  He spent about six weeks with the Twins in 2025 and did not hit, although he wasn't given much of a chance, either--he played in sixteen games, but only had twenty-nine at-bats.  The Twins released him after the season and he went to Japan, where he is off to a slow start for Rakuten.  He turns twenty-eight today.  As a Twin, he hit .172/.200/.172.  We wish he'd been given more of a chance, although there's no way to know what he'd have done with it.  We wish him well.

Right-hander Daniel Zebulon Matthews began his major league career with the Twins in 2024.  He was born in Cullowhee, North Carolina, went to high school in Sylva, North Carolina, attended Walters State Community College and Western Carolina University, and was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 2022.  He pitched solidly in college and reached high-A in 2023.  In 2024 he shot through the Twins' system, starting in high-A, moving to AA, AAA, and then the majors in mid-August.  He went 1-4, 6.69 in nine starts, numbers which are skewed by two really bad starts.  He pitched very well in AAA in 2025, but not well at all in sixteen starts with the Twins.  He got off to a poor start in AAA in 2026, but pitched better more recently and did well in his one major league start at this writing.  He turns twenty-six today, and is one of only three "Zeb" or "Zebby"s to reach the majors.  So far, he is 7-10, 5.59, 1.49 WHIP in 124 major league innings.  It's hard to have a lot of confidence in him, but there are guys who took a while to figure it out but had good careers once they did.  Given the state of the Twins, it seems likely he'll be given a chance to be one of them.

May 21

Fred Dunlap (1859)
Eddie Grant (1883)
Earl Averill (1902)
Hank Johnson (1906)
Mace Brown (1909)
Monty Stratton (1912)
Larry Napp (1919)
Ed FitzGerald (1924)
El Tappe (1927)
Moe Thacker (1934)
Barry Latman (1936)
Bobby Cox (1941)
Kent Hrbek (1960)
Bryce Florie (1970)
Tom Martin (1970)
Chris Widger (1971)
Mark Quinn (1974)
Josh Hamilton (1981)
Andrew Miller (1985)
Matt Wieters (1986)

Larry Napp was an American League umpire from 1951-1974.

El Tappe had a twin brother, Mel Tappe, who also played in the minors.

First baseman Kent Allen Hrbek played his entire 14-year major league career, 1981-1994, with the Twins.  He was born in Minneapolis, raised in Bloomington, and drafted by Minnesota in the 17th round in 1978.  He hit only .203 in 59 at-bats in Elizabethton that year, but improved to .267 with 19 homers in Wisconsin Rapids in 1980.  In 1981, he hit .379 with 27 homers at Class A Visalia, and that was as much as the Twins need to see.  He came to Minnesota in late August and opened 1982 as the Twins’ regular first baseman, a position he held until he retired after the 1994 season.  He made the all-star team in his rookie year of 1982, and would have made a couple of others had he been willing to go to the game.  He also finished second to Cal Ripken for Rookie of the Year in 1982, hitting .301/.363/.485 with 23 homers and 92 RBIs that season.  While Hrbek was a consistently good player for the Twins, his best year appears to be 1987, when he hit .285 with 34 homers and 90 RBIs and an OPS of .934.  He finished 16th in MVP voting that year, which was not his highest finish–that came in 1984, when he hit .311 with 27 home runs and 107 RBIs, finishing second in MVP balloting to Willie Hernandez.  Injuries slowed Hrbek toward the end of his career, and he retired after the players’ strike in 1994.  Kent Hrbek hit .282/.367/.481 in 6,192 at-bats.  He hit 312 doubles, 293 home runs, and drove in 1,086 runs.  He was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2000.  As you probably know, Kent Hrbek hosted an outdoors program, “Kent Hrbek Outdoors”, for several years and is active in raising money for ALS research.

May 20

Walt Burnham (1860)

Joe Harris (1891)

George Grantham (1900)

Pete Appleton (1904)

Hal Newhouser (1921)

Herman Wedemeyer (1924)

Tom Morgan (1930)

Ken Boyer (1931)

Sadaharu Oh (1940)

Bobby Murcer (1946)

Ralph Bryant (1961)

David Wells (1963)

Todd Stottlemyre (1965)

Ramon Hernandez (1976)

Jayson Werth (1979)

Austin Kearns (1980)

Adam Rosales (1983)

Walt Burham was a minor league manager from 1885-1907, winning 1,164 games.

Outfielder Herman Wedemeyer played for Class C Salt Lake City in 1950.  He was a star running back in the All-America Football Conference and later appeared in over 300 episodes of the original Hawaii Five-O, playing Sergeant Edward “Duke” Lukela.

Right-hander Tom Morgan was with Washington at the end of 1960, appearing in fourteen games with them.  On January 31, 1961, before the franchise played a game in Minnesota, he was sold to the Los Angeles Angels.

Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan.

Outfielder Ralph Bryant was drafted by Minnesota in the thirteenth round of the January draft in 1981, but he did not sign.

There do not appear to be any other major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

May 19

Ed Walsh (1881)

Newt Allen (1901)

Goose Curry (1905)

Gil McDougald (1928)

Curt Simmons (1929)

Larry McCoy (1941)

Dan Ford (1952)

Rick Cerone (1954)

Ed Whitson (1955)

Luis Salazar (1956)

Eric Show (1956)

Turk Wendell (1967)

Brandon Inge (1977)

Brian Anderson (1993)

Outfielder Goose Curry was a star in the Negro Leagues, batting over .300 several times.

This author's first baseball glove was a Gil McDougald model.  I had no idea who he was.  But then, he probably had no idea who I was, either.

Larry McCoy was an American League umpire from 1971-1999.

Eric Show was drafted by Minnesota in the 36th round in 1974, but did not sign.

Brian Anderson was drafted by Minnesota in the 20th round in 2011, but did not sign.

Outfielder Darnell Glenn “Disco Danny” Ford played for the Twins from 1975-1978.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ford was drafted by Oakland in the first round in 1970.  He spent his first two seasons at Class A Burlington, hitting .354 with 18 homers the second year.  That got him promoted to AAA Tucson, where he also spent two seasons.  Ford hit around .280 with double digit home runs in each season, but the Athletics were apparently not impressed as they traded both Ford and Dennis Myers to Minnesota after the season for Pat Bourque.  Many would argue the Twins got the better end of the deal; Bourque never played in the majors again, while Ford was a solid major league outfielder for Minnesota for four years.  He started 1975 with Minnesota and never went back to the minors.  His year-to-year numbers as a Twin are remarkably consistent.  He batted between .267 and .280 every season with an OPS from .756 to .781.  He hit from 11 to 20 homers each year.  Ford was in center for the Twins in 1975, moved to right in 1976 and 1977, and went back to center in 1978.  As a Twin, Dan Ford hit .272/.331/.435 in 1,999 at-bats.  After the 1978 season, Minnesota traded Ford to California for Danny Goodwin and Ron Jackson.  He spent three seasons as the Angels right fielder and was essentially the same player he had been in Minnesota, although 101 RBIs in 1979 got him a bit of MVP consideration.  The Angels traded Ford to Baltimore after the 1981 season.  He was there for four seasons.  His first one was his first bad season in the majors, as he hit only .235.  Ford bounced back in 1983 with a typical Dan Ford season:  .280/.328/.440.  It was his last good year in the majors, however.  Ford battled injuries his last two seasons, playing sporadically, and retired after the 1985 campaign.  He was never a star, but he was a solid, consistent major league outfielder for eight years, and that’s pretty good.  After leaving baseball, he moved to Louisiana to help run a family ranch, then became a scout, first with Oakland, then with the Angels.  He also worked with at-risk youth, apparently in the Los Angeles area.  At last report, Dan Ford was the owner of Paycation Travel, a travel agency in Benton, Louisiana.

May 18

Babe Adams (1882)

Arndt Jorgens (1905)

Gil Coan (1922)

Jack Sanford (1929)

Carroll Hardy (1933)

Brooks Robinson (1937)

Reggie Jackson (1946)

Osamu Higashio (1950)

Eric Gregg (1951)

Jim Sundberg (1951)

Andre David (1958)

Jim Bowden (1961)

Erik Hanson (1965)

Eric Young (1967)

Rich Garces (1971)

Joakim Soria (1984)

Randy Rosario (1994)

Pitcher Osamu Higashio is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Eric Gregg was a National League umpire from 1975-1999.

Jim Bowden was the general manager of Cincinnati and of Washington and is currently a broadcaster for MLB Network Radio.

Two players who share a name with Minnesota Twins players, Scott Baker (1970) and Roy Smith (1976), were also born on this day.

Outfielder Carroll William Hardy played in 11 games for the Twins in 1967.  Born and raised in Sturgis, South Dakota, Hardy attended the University of Colorado and signed with Cleveland as a free agent in 1955.  Hardy began his minor league career that season with Class A Reading; he also played running back for the San Francisco 49ers that season.  He stuck with baseball after that, and was having a fine season at AAA in 1956 when he entered the military.  That cost him the rest of that season and all of the 1957 campaign.  He started 1958 in Cleveland and was doing fairly well in a reserve role when he was injured and missed a month.  He did not do well upon his return and ended the season in AAA.  He was in Cleveland at the start of 1959 as well, but was seldom used and again ended the season in AAA.  Once again a seldom-used major leaguer at the start of 1960, Hardy was traded to Boston in mid-June and finally got to play a little.  His best season was 1961, when he hit .263 as a part-time player.  He got his most playing time in 1962, when he batted 362 times, but he only .215 (although with 54 walks).  That off-season, the Red Sox traded him to Houston for Dick Williams.  He started 1963 with the Astros, but was sent down after a month and did not come back until July of 1964.  He again did not hit, and he was traded to Minnesota just before the start of the 1965 season for Joe Christian.  He spent three years in AAA Denver; his best year was the first one, when he hit .300 with 14 homers.  He got a September call-up and played in 11 games.  His slash line as a Twin is pretty impressive--.375/.444/.750--unfortunately, it is in only 8 at-bats.  He did hit a home run off the Yankees' Fritz Peterson.  Hardy played in one game in Denver in 1968 and then his playing career came to an end.  He managed at Class A St. Cloud the rest of the 1968 season.  Carroll Hardy is the answer to at least two trivia questions:  he is the only player to pinch-hit for Ted Williams (he also pinch-hit for Roger Maris and Carl Yastrzemski), and he is the only player to break a scoreless tie with a walk-off grand slam in the twelfth inning or later.  He worked for twenty years in the front office of the Denver Broncos.  He is a member of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.  Carroll Hardy passed away in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on August 9, 2020, from complications from dementia.

Outfielder Andre Anter David played in parts of the 1984 and 1986 seasons.  He was born in Hollywood, went to high school in Chatsworth, California, and then attended Cal State--Fullerton.  He was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 1980.  He hit .324 that season in Class A, but struggled on his first try at AA.  He eventually got things going again, hitting in the .290s in consecutive years at AAA Toledo before getting his first shot at the majors in 1984.  He came up in late June and stayed the rest of the year.  David was used mostly as a pinch-hitter, playing in 33 games but batting only 48 times.  He didn't do badly given his sporadic playing time, hitting .250 with 7 walks and a home run.  The home run came in his first major league at-bat, and was his only home run in the majors.  He was back in AAA in 1985, but after hitting ,328 there in 1986 he got a September call-up.  He again did not get a chance to play, however, going 1-for-5.  As a Twin, Andre David hit .245/.349/.340 in 53 at-bats.  He was allowed to become a free agent after the 1986 season and signed with the Mets.  He was in AAA for them for two seasons, then moved on to the Brewers' organization for 1989 before his playing career ended.  He remained in baseball, serving as a minor league coach and manager for the Mets and Royals organizations.  He was a major league hitting coach for the Royals for parts of 2005 and 2006 and has also been their minor league hitting coordinator.  He has also been the batting coach for the AZL Royals, the Royals' entry in the Arizona Summer League.  Andre David had been a roving minor league batting instructor for the Royals, but has returned to the AZL Royals (now ACL Royals) in 2021 and was their batting coach in 2023.  At last report, Andre David was a coach at Pro Baseball Instruction in Surprise, Arizona.

Right-hander Richard Aron (Mendoz) Garces, Jr. appeared in eight games for the Twins, five in 1990 and three in 1993.  He was born and raised in Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1987.  He was a reliever every year in the minors with the exception of 1989, when he made 24 starts for Class A Kenosha.  He pitched very well in the low minors and got his first taste of major league ball as a September call-up in 1990, at the age of 19.  He allowed one earned run on four hits in 5.2 innings, although he walked four.  Garces struggled in the high minors, however.  He next made the majors for about two weeks early in the 1993 season, pitching four scoreless innings.  Sent back to AAA Portland, that year was a disaster for him, as he posted an ERA over eight.  He pitched better in 1994 at AA Nashville, but the Twins gave up on Garces and released him after the season.  He signed with the Cubs, pitched very well at AAA Iowa, and came up to the majors in late June.  He pitched well in seven appearances, but was placed on waivers in August and selected by Florida.  He was a Marlin through the end of the 1995 season and then became a free agent.  He signed with the Red Sox, where he finally found a home.  A big man (6' 0", 250 lbs.), he was a fan favorite in Boston, acquiring the nickname "El Guapo".  Garces was with the Red Sox for parts of seven seasons.  Boston was patient with him, as he pitched very well at AAA but not so well in the majors his first couple of seasons with them.  He never pitched a lot of innings--his highest season in the majors was 74.2--but he was a consistently good relief pitcher for the Red Sox from 1998-2001.  In those years, he was 20-4, 3.16 with a WHIP of 1.20 in 228.1 innings.  His best season was 1999, when he was 5-1, 1.55 with a WHIP of 1.06 in 74.2 innings.  He pitched poorly in 2002, and his career was basically over at that point.  He tried some comebacks, however, pitching in the minors for the Red Sox in 2005 and in independent ball and the Mexican League in 2007-2008.  As a Twin, Rich Garces had a 0.93 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in 9.2 innings spread over eight appearances.  He was the pitching coach for the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League in 2017.  He became the pitching coach for Monroe University--Bronx in 2024, but does not appear to currently be in that position.  Thus, no information about what Rich Garces is doing now was readily available.

Left-hander Randy Miguel (Luperon) Rosario appeared in two games for the Twins in 2017.  He was born in Nagua, Dominican Republic, and signed with the Twins as a free agent in August of 2010, when he was sixteen.  He spent three years in rookie ball and did quite well there.  He apparently was injured for most of 2014, as he made just three starts for Class A Cedar Rapids that season.  He did not play a full season in 2015 either, as he appeared in just thirteen games, most of them again in Cedar Rapids.  Apparently healthy again in 2016, he spent most of the year in high-A Fort Myers, where he was okay but nothing special.  He was still only twenty-two, however.  He moved to the bullpen in 2017 and was with AA Chattanooga most of the year, but made two appearances for the Twins in June.  There was no real reason to think he would be ready, and he wasn't:  he pitched 2.1 innings and gave up eight runs on seven hits.  The Twins placed him on waivers after the season and he was claimed by the Cubs.  Either the Cubs taught him something or he simply matured, because he had an excellent season in AAA Iowa and then came up to the majors shortly after his birthday in 2018.  He had a solid season for the Cubs.  He wasn't off to a bad start in 2019 other than one game, but that game bloated his ERA and the Cubs weren't willing to look past it, as they sent him back to AAA at the end of April, coming back to the majors for a couple of weeks in July.  The Cubs waived him in September and he was claimed by Kansas City, for whom he did well in six appearances.  He did not, however, pitch well in four appearances with the Royals in 2020.   He became a free agent after the season.  His ERA with the Twins was 30.86, but his career numbers are 6-1, 5.00 in 66.2 innings (69 games).  He had very good numbers against left-handed batters, and so could possibly have played a role as a lefty specialist, but no one seems to have used him that way.  He played for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan in 2021 and played briefly for Saltillo in the Mexican League in 2022, but that appears to have brought his playing career to an end.  At last report, Randy Rosario was living in Mesa, Arizona.

May 17

Hal Carlson (1892)

Del Webb (1899)

Cool Papa Bell (1903)

Ace Parker (1912)

Billy Hoeft (1932)

Ozzie Virgil (1932)

Dan Monzon (1946)

Carlos May (1948)

Pascual Perez (1957)

Greg Mathews (1962)

Jose Guillen (1976)

Carlos Pena (1978)

Del Webb was an owner of the New York Yankees from 1945-1964.

As you probably know, James "Cool Papa" Bell was a star in the Negro Leagues.  It was said that he was so fast he could turn out the light and be in bed before the room got dark.

Ace Parker is a member of both the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fame.  He was an infielder for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937-1938.

Left-hander Greg Mathews was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round of the January draft in 1982, but did not sign.

Daniel Francisco Monzon was an infielder for the Twins for parts of the 1972 and 1973 seasons.  He was born and raised in the Bronx, attended Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, and was drafted by Minnesota in the second round of the June Secondary draft in 1967.  He was in Class A for three seasons, hitting very well in his first one and poorly in his next two.  He never did hit for power, but his average came up when he went to AA in 1970, and he hit .305 in AAA Portland in 1971.  He had played some outfield as well as infield, and his versatility and improved batting got him a job as a utility player on the Twins.  He played two full seasons in Minnesota, 1972-1973, and was very much a reserve, playing in 93 games but batting only 131 times.  He hit .244/.342/.275.  He began 1974 in AAA with the Twins and was traded to Montreal for Earl Stephenson in late May.  Monzon toiled in the minors for four more seasons, but never made it back to the majors.  He was in AAA for the Expos through 1975, then moved on to the Houston organization, playing in AAA for them through 1977.  He did not hit much in any of those years, and after he hit .199 in 1977 his playing career came to an end.  He stayed in baseball, managing in the minors through 1982 and then going into scouting.  He was the Latin American scouting coordinator for the Boston Red Sox when he passed away from injuries resulting from an automobile accident on January 21, 1996 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.