November 26

Hugh Duffy (1866)

Fred Tenney (1871)

Bob Johnson (1905)

Lefty Gomez (1908)

Howard Easterling (1911)

Eddie Miller (1916)

Bob Elliott (1916)

Jeff Torborg (1941)

Larry Gura (1947)

Richie Hebner (1947)

Jorge Orta (1950)

Jay Howell (1955)

Bob Walk (1956)

Mike Moore (1959)

Harold Reynolds (1960)

Chuck Finley (1962)

Brian Schneider (1976)

Matt Garza (1983)

Right-hander Matthew Scott Garza appeared in 26 games for the Twins in 2006-2007.  He was born in Selma, California, went to high school in Washington Union, California, went to Cal State-Fresno, and was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2005.  He played at every level in the Twins’ minor league system, but did not stay anywhere very long, as he was promoted rapidly.  He reached the majors in mid-August of 2006 and went 3-6, 5.76, numbers which are made to look much worse by a terrible first outing (his ERA drops by a run if you throw it out).  He started 2007 back in AAA, but was in the Twins’ rotation by mid-season and did okay.  As a Twin, he was 8-13, 4.47, although with a 1.60 WHIP.  It appeared that he might be in the Twins’ rotation for some time, but instead he was traded to Tampa Bay with Eduardo Morlan and Jason Bartlett for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, and Delmon Young.  Garza was immediately installed into the Rays’ rotation and was a solid starter for three seasons, posting ERAs in the high threes and WHIPs around 1.25.  After the 2010 season, he was traded again, this time to the Cubs.  He again had a solid season as a member of their starting rotation in 2011, and was doing so in 2012 until he suffered an elbow injury in late July that forced him to miss the rest of the season.  He may never be a star, but over the last five years he’s gone 49-48, 3.74, 1.24 WHIP.  Even missing two months last year, over that same span he's averaged 29 starts and 179 innings per season.  That’s a pretty valuable pitcher.  If he can come back healthy and keep putting up numbers like that, he’s going to continue to be an important part of a major league rotation.