December 12

Phenomenal Smith (1864)

Tully Sparks (1874)

Buzzie Bavasi (1915)

Clyde Kluttz (1917)

Ralph Garr (1945)

Gorman Thomas (1950)

Steve Farr (1956)

Alonzo Powell (1964)

Orlando Hudson (1977)

Outfielder Alonzo Sidney Powell did not play for Minnesota, but was in their farm system for a year. He was born in San Francisco, went to high school in San Francisco, and was signed by San Francisco as a free agent in 1983. He was in the Giants' system for two years, but didn't hit. The Giants kept him under contract for 1985, but loaned him to independent San Jose. He did a little better, but was traded to Montreal after the season ended. The trade seemed to help him--he hit .301 in AA in 1986 and started 1987 in the majors. That lasted only a month, but he hit .299 in AAA at age 22 and looked poised to make a move. Instead, he went backward, hitting .262 in AAA in 1988 and .232 in 1989. He was traded to Minnesota after the 1989 season as the player to be named later when the Twins traded Jim Dwyer to the Expos. Again, the trade seemed to help him, as he hit .322 in Portland in 1990. It made no impression on the Twins, though; they let him become a free agent after the season. Signing with Seattle, Powell was hitting .375 at AAA Calgary when he was promoted to the majors in late May. He was given sporadic playing time, however, and did not do much with it. He started 1992 in Calgary again, but then signed with Chunichi Dragons in Japan. Powell stayed in Japan until 1998, when he decided to give it one last shot in the United States. He was in AAA with the organizations of Toronto, the Yankees, and Colorado through 2000, but never got back to the big leagues. He played in 2001 for independent Newark, and then retired. Powell then went into coaching. On May 9, 2009, he became the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners, a job he held until 2011.  In 2012, Alonzo Powell was the assistant batting coach of the San Diego Padres, which is his current position.

Second baseman Orlando Thill Hudson played for the Twins in 2010. Born and raised in Darlington, South Carolina, he was drafted in the 43rd round by Toronto in 1997. He posted decent but unspectacular batting averages early in his minor league career, hitting a fair number of doubles and drawing a good number of walks. He came on in 2001, hitting .306 in a season split between AA and AAA and following it up with a .307 average in AAA in 2002. He made his big league debut in the latter season, coming up in late July and immediately taking over as the Blue Jays’ starting second baseman. He remained their starting second baseman through the 2005 season, hitting around .270 with an OPS of around .750 and winning a Gold Glove in his last season there. He was traded to Arizona after the 2005 campaign and was the second baseman for the Diamondbacks from 2006-2008. He hit a little better there, hitting over .300 in 2008, winning two more Gold Gloves, and making the all-star team in 2007. He was a free agent after the 2008 season and signed with the Dodgers for 2009, making another all-star team and winning another Gold Glove. A free agent again after the 2009 season, he signed with Minnesota for 2010. He neither made the all-star team nor won the gold glove, hitting .268 with an OPS of .710. A free agent after the season, he signed with San Diego and had the worst year of his career, hitting .246 with an OPS of .681.  He was worse in 2012, batting .211 when he was released in mid-May.  He signed with the White Sox and stayed the rest of the season as a reserve, but batted just .197.  He may get another chance, but there's not a lot of demand for a thirty-five-year-old  second baseman who's struggling to stay above the Mendoza line.  One has to think there's a good chance that Orlando Hudson's major league career is over.