February 24

Honus Wagner (1874)
Wilbur Cooper (1892)
Del Wilber (1919)
Bubba Phillips (1928)
Dave Edwards (1954)
Eddie Murray (1956)
Nick Esasky (1960)
Stubby Clapp (1973)
Mike Lowell (1974)
Randy Keisler (1976)
Bronson Arroyo (1977)
Rob Bowen (1981)
Nick Blackburn (1982)
J. D. Durbin (1982)
Chris Parmelee (1988)

Today is also the birthday of Twins' farm director Jim Rantz (1938), who was the winning pitcher in the deciding game of the 1960 College World Series.

Outfielder David Leonard Edwards played for the Twins from 1978-1980.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round in 1971.  He was only seventeen, and as a result he spent a long time in rookie and Class A ball.  He was up and down in those years, hitting as low as .198 and as high as .306.  The .306 came in his last year at Class A, 1975.  He was in AA in 1976 and reached AAA in 1977.  He gradually developed some power, hitting 16 homers in Toledo in 1978.  He got a September call-up that year and then was with the Twins for two full seasons, 1979 and 1980.  He was used as a utility outfielder, starting 114 games over two seasons.  In 640 at-bats as a Twin, he hit .249/.317/.366.  After the 1980 season he was traded to San Diego for Chuck Baker in a trade involving two incredibly common names.  He filled a similar role with the Padres for two seasons and then was released, ending his playing career.  Two of his brothers, Mike Edwards and Marshall Edwards, also were major league players.  No information about what Dave Edwards has been doing since his playing career ended was readily available.

Left-hander Randy Dean Keisler did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them.  He was born in Richardson, Texas and went to high school in Palmer, Texas.  He was drafted by the Yankees in the second round in 1998.  He pitched very well in the minors in 1999 and 2000, getting a September call-up in the latter season.  Keisler made two starts for the Yankees in April of 2001, was sent to the minors, came back in mid-June and was back in the rotation for eight starts, and then went back to the minors again.  He did not pitch well either place.  Things got worse in 2002, when he missed the entire season due to injury.  The Yankees let him go in February of 2003, and Keisler signed with San Diego.  He made two starts for the Padres, was sent to the minors, was released in June and signed with Texas, was released by the Rangers in July and signed with Houston, where he finished the season.  He went to the Mets for 2004, but never got to the majors with them, and was released after the season.   He went to Cincinnati for 2005 and was in the majors for much of the season, but was mostly used out of the bullpen.  Released again, he moved on to Oakland for 2006, appearing in 11 major league games.  He signed with St. Louis for 2007 and returned to starting, making three major league starts.  Keisler went to spring training with the Twins in 2008, was released in March, signed with the Cubs in April, was released and signed by Baltimore on the same day, and became a free agent again after the season.  Keisler was in an independent league in 2009.  He pitched well in Mexico in 2010 and managed to turn that into a minor league contract with the Dodgers in 2011.  He did not pitch particularly well in AAA, although he did stay there all season.  He pitched in Mexico this winter, and is currently unsigned for 2012.  He turns 36 today, and his chances of returning to the majors are slim at best.  Still, he's left-handed and still breathing, so you never know for sure.

Switch-hitting catcher Robert McClure Bowen had 37 at-bats for the Twins in 2003-2004.  He was born in Bedford, Texas, but went to high school in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  He was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 1999.  He did not hit a lot in the minors, although he did have his moments, hitting .255 with 18 homers in Class A in 2001 and hitting .285 in a 2003 season split between AA and AAA.  He got a September call-up in 2003, going 1-for-10.  He started 2004 with the Twins and spent a total of about two months with them that year, going 3-for-27 in limited use.  When in the minors, he had a poor year in AA, hitting .197.  He did better in 2005, batting .267 in Rochester, but the Twins placed him on waivers in late March of 2006.  He was chosen by Detroit, but was waived again less than a week later and claimed by San Diego.  Bowen was in the majors all year, backing up Mike Piazza and Josh Bard.  He was traded to the Cubs in June of 2007, moved on to Oakland in July of that year, and was with the Athletics for a year and a half as a seldom-used backup to Jason Kendall and Kurt Suzuki.  Bowen was released in March of 2009 and was not picked up by anyone.  After leaving baseball, Rob Bowen founded Opulent Professional Services, which provides transportation, security, and other services to athletes, entertainers, and other high net worth individuals.  He is also a police officer for the Henry County Police Department in McDonough, Georgia.

Right-hander Robert Nicholas Blackburn currently pitches for the Twins.  He was born in Ada, Oklahoma, went to high school in Oklahoma City, and was drafted by Minnesota in the 29th round in 2001.  He was up and down in the minors, starting slowly, pitching well at Class A Quad Cities in 2004 and at Ft. Myers in 2005, then stumbling a little at New Britain in 2006.  In 2007 he made a big move forward, posting a 3.08 ERA in 38 AA innings and a 2.11 ERA in 110 AAA innings.  That got him a September call-up.  He did not pitch well in six appearances out of the bullpen, but he started 2008 in the starting rotation and, with the exception of a few weeks in Rochester in 2010, has been there every since.  His numbers for 2008 and 2009 were remarkably similar:  11-11 each year, an ERA just over 4.00, 33 starts each year, about 200 innings pitched, a WHIP of about 1.36, about 10.5 hits per nine innings, exactly 1.1 homers per nine innings, exactly 1.8 walks per nine innings, about 4.4 strikeouts per nine innings.  In 2010, his record was nearly the same (10-12), but many of the other numbers were significantly worse.  In 2011, his record dropped a little more, and while his ERA came back some, he did not really pitch any better than he had in 2010.  He turns 30 today.  If he's going to remain a rotation starter, he'd better improve on his last two seasons.

Right-hander Joseph Adam Durbin made four appearances for the Twins in 2004.  He was born in Portland, Oregon and attended high school in Scottsdale, Arizona.  He was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2000.  He pitched very well through AA, regularly posting ERAs in the low threes or below.  He reached AAA in mid-2004 and struggled some, putting up a 4.54 ERA in seven starts.  The Twins still gave him a September callup that year.  He made one start and three relief appearances, going 0-1, 7.36 in 7.1 innings.  Those would turn out to be Durbin's career numbers with the Twins.  He had another mediocre year in AAA in 2005.  He was pitching well at Rochester in 2006, but then was injured and missed the rest of the season.  He was put on waivers in late March of 2007 and claimed by Arizona.  Durbin made one appearances as a Diamondback, giving up seven runs on seven hits in two-thirds of an inning, and was waived again, this time to be claimed by Boston.  He made zero appearances as a member of the Red Sox, as he was waived one more time four days later and claimed by Philadelphia.  He did very little in the minors, but was called up by the Phillies in late July anyway.  He made 18 appearances for Philadelphia, ten of them starts, and pitched poorly.  He spent 2008 in the minors and was released after the season.  Durbin was in the Dodgers organization in 2009, then went to Japan for 2010.  He made a few appearances in Mexico in 2011, but pitched for Lancaster in the Atlantic League most of the season and did not do particularly well there.  On the one hand, he's only 30; on the other hand, he has not succeeded above AA since 2006.  J. D. Durbin is probably on his last chance, if he hasn't used it up already.

First baseman Christopher Edward Parmelee made his debut with the Twins in September of 2011.  He was born in Long Beach, California, went to high school in Chino Hills, California, and was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2006.  Early in his minor league career he put up good power numbers, but they were accompanied by high strikeout totals and low batting averages.  Through 2009, he was still in Class A, and had put up a career batting average of .250.  His OBP was in the .340s, but he had also struck out in just over thirty percent of his at-bats.  He appeared to change his approach in 2010, hitting .338 in 22 games at Ft. Myers and hitting .275 the rest of the season at AA New Britain.  The increase batting average came at the expense of power, however, as he hit only eight home runs combined after averaging fifteen in the previous three seasons.  Returning to New Britain for 2011, his power returned, as he hit thirteen homers while batting .287.  This earned him a September call-up to Minnesota, and while he did not play enough to prove anything, he certainly did not hurt himself, batting .355/.443/.592 with four home runs in 76 at-bats.  He turns 24 today.  It would not hurt him to start the season in Rochester, but if Justin Morneau is not ready when the season starts, it would not be a surprise to see Parmelee manning first base for the Twins in 2012