December 2

Andre Rodgers (1934)

Pedro Borbon (1946)

Wayne Simpson (1948)

Julio Cruz (1954)

Chip Hale (1964)

Darryl Kile (1968)

Mark Kotsay (1975)

Peter Moylan (1978)

Nearly all of infielder Walter William "Chip" Hale's major league career came with the Twins. He was born in San Jose, attended the University of Arizona, and was drafted by the Twins in the 17th round in 1987. A left-handed batter, he posted solid batting averages in the minors and showed the ability to draw walks. He was with the Twins for about a month in 1989 and played one game in 1990, but did not really reach the majors until 1993. Hale came to the Twins in June of that year, and with the exception of a couple of weeks in 1995 he stayed with the big club through 1996. Hale was used as a bench player throughout that time: he played a little second, a little third, a little DH, and was used as a pinch-hitter from time to time. He was actually pretty good in that role. He had neither power nor speed, and was not considered particularly good defensively, but he provided a decent batting average and a decent OBP off the bench. As a Twin, Chip Hale hit .281/.349/.369 in 563 at-bats, with 7 homers and 78 RBIs. Hale became a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with the Dodgers. He started the season in Los Angeles, but was used exclusively as a pinch-hitter, going 1-for-12 with two walks in that role over the first month of the season. Hale was demoted to AAA Albuquerque after that, and never played in the majors again. He was released by the Dodgers after the 1997 campaign and signed with the Angels, but was traded to St. Louis at the end of spring training. He was with AAA Memphis for the entire season, and then his playing career came to an end. Hale then went into managing and coaching. He was a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2007-2009, then became the third base coach for the New York Mets in 2010. He was in the running for the manager’s job for 2011, but when it went to Terry Collins, Hale was retained as third-base coach.  After the season, however, Hale left the Mets to take a job as bench coach for the Oakland Athletics, a position he continues to hold.

Right-hander Peter Michael Moylan never played for the Twins, but he was originally signed by them. A native of Attadale, Australia, Moylan signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1996. He was in rookie ball for two years, posting ERAs right around four, and then was released in April of 1998. He returned to Australia and worked as a pharmaceutical salesman while playing ball for Blackburn. He was a member of the Australian WBC team in 2006 and pitched well. Back problems had resulted in conversion to a sidearm delivery, and with this motion, his fastball became ten miles per hour faster. Impressed by his WBC work, Atlanta signed Moylan in March of 2006. He did not pitch well at AAA Richmond, nor did he pitch well in 15 games in the majors, but Atlanta obviously saw something in him. The Braves were rewarded, as Moylan has been a solid member of their bullpen three of the last six seasons (he was injured much of 2008 with Tommy John surgery and 2011 with a torn rotator cuff).  He was still injured much of the 2012 season, but did very well in eight major league appearances. In 295 appearances for Atlanta, Moylan has posted an ERA of 2.59 and a WHIP of 1.29. He turns 34 today and has had some major surgeries, but if he can stay healthy he should be able to stick around for a few more years yet.