April 27

Hi Myers (1889)
Allan Sothoron (1893)
Rogers Hornsby (1896)
Horace Stoneham (1903)
Enos Slaughter (1916)
John Rice (1918)
Greg Kosc (1949)
Willie Upshaw (1957)
Patrick Lennon (1968)
Frank Catalanotto (1974)
Benj Sampson (1975)
Chris Carpenter (1975)
Pedro Feliz (1975)
Luis Perdomo (1984

Outfielder Patrick Orlando Lennon was in the Twins' minor league system for a couple of months in 1995.  Born and raised in Whiteville, North Carolina, he was named North Carolina High School Athlete of the Year in 1986 and was drafted by Seattle with the eighth pick of the 1986 draft.  His early minor league numbers were fairly pedestrian, but in 1991 he hit .329 with 15 homers at AAA Calgary, earning him a September call-up.  Lennon was apparently injured much of 1992, as he had only 48 at-bats in AAA and two in the majors.  He became a free agent after 1992 and signed with Colorado.  He was released in April, signed and was out of baseball until July, when he signed with Cleveland.  A free agent again after the season, he went to Boston for 1994, was released in July of 1995, and signed with the Twins.  He hit .400 in 115 at-bats, but the Twins still let him go after the season.  He spent a month in the big leagues in with Kansas City in 1996 and was released at the end of April.  Lennon signed with Oakland and finished the season in their minor league system.  He started the 1997 in AAA with the Atheletics, but was called up in mid-May and spent most of the rest of the season in the majors, the most big-league playing time he ever got (116 at-bats in 56 games).  Lennon signed with Anaheim for 1998, was released in spring training, and went to Toronto, where he got 33 major league at-bats over two seasons before being released in June of 1999.  He finished the season for the Tigers' AAA team, was in AAA for Montreal in 2000, split 2001 between the Yankees' AAA team and the Mexican League, split 2002 and 2003 between AAA and independent Long Island, and was a Long Island Duck in 2004 and 2005 before his playing career finally came to an end.  He played in the minors for twenty seasons, hitting .295 in nearly six thousand at-bats, but got only 189 at-bats in the big leagues.  Patrick Lennon is currently an instructor for Play Like A Pro Baseball in Hauppauge, New York.

Left-hander Benjamin Damon Sampson pitched for the Twins for parts of two season from 1998-1999.  He was born in Des Moines and went to high school in Ankeny, Iowa.  Minnesota drafted him in the sixth round in 1993.  He pitched well in the low minors, but less well as he went up the ladder.  In parts of four AAA seasons, totally nearly three hundred innings, he never had an ERA below five.  Despite that, he got two shots with the Twins, which is probably more of a statement about the Twins' pitching in the late 1990s than anything else.  He got a September call-up in 1998 following his best AAA season, when he went 10-7, 5.14 with a WHIP of 1.55 for Salt Lake.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1999 and was their fifth starter.  That lasted for three starts, by which time Sampson had an ERA of 15.00.  He stayed in the majors most of the season, pitching out of the bullpen except for one start in early August.  He did not pitch well in either role, and was sent to the minors on August 19.  He was in the organization three more years, pitching well in Ft. Myers in 2001 and in New Britain in 2002, but flopped again when promoted to AAA Edmonton later in 2002.  The Twins finally let him go after that season and he signed with Colorado, for whom   he had a good  year at AA Tulsa.  He then went to Taiwan for 2004 and to Italy for 2005 before retiring as a professional player.  Benj Sampson's big-league numbers, all with Minnesota, are 4-2, 6.83 with a WHIP of 1.78 in 88.1 innings.  He appeared in 35 games, six of them starts.  After retirement, he went into the business world.  From 2006 to 2008, he was an account manager for USA ScoreTables, working with high schools in Texas to install scrolling media into gymnasiums, arenas, and stadiums.  He is currently the national accounts consultant for Learning Through Sports, Inc., which is a leading publisher of digital game-based learning programs for K-12, as well as being a key figure in the company’s STAR mentors program.

Right-hander Luis M. Perdomo has not played for the Twins yet, but is currently in their minor league system.  He was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, and was signed by Cleveland as a free agent in 2003.  He apparently spent a couple of years in the Dominican Summer League, as b-r doesn't give any stats for him until 2006.  A reliever his entire career, his numbers in the low minors are pretty good.  Still, he did not make AA until mid-way through the 2008 season and was traded to St. Louis in late July.  He was left unprotected that off-season and was chosen by San Francisco in the Rule 5 draft.  The Giants kept him, but put him on waivers in early April before he had played a game for them.  San Diego claimed him and kept him in the majors almost the entire season.  He did not pitch particularly well, however, going 1-0, 4.80, 1.52 WHIP in 35 appearances (60 innings).  He did pitch well in AAA in 2010, but did not pitch well when sent there again in 2011 and was allowed to become a free agent.  The Twins signed him and sent him to AA, where he is off to a slow start, although 8.1 innings (6 games) is not enough to tell anything about anyone.  He's 28 today, so he's obviously not a top prospect.  Still, he's had some success in the minors, and with relief pitchers it can be hard to tell.  It's not out of the question that Luis Perdomo might get another shot or two at the big leagues.