March 6

Ring Lardner (1885)

Lefty Grove (1900)

Bob Swift (1915)

Pete Gray (1915)

Ted Abernathy (1933)

Cookie Rojas (1939)

Willie Stargell (1940)

Karl Best (1959)

Scott Stahoviak (1970)

Terry Adams (1973)

Marcus Thames (1977)

Clint Barmes (1979)

Writer Ring Lardner wrote about a variety of subjects, but is probably most famous for writing about baseball.  If you haven't read any of his stuff, you really should.

As you probably know, Pete Gray played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite having only one arm.

Right-hander Karl Jon Best made eleven relief appearances for the Twins in 1988.  He was born in Aberdeen, Washington and went to high school in Kent, Washington.  He was drafted in the twelfth round in 1977.  His minor league numbers are unimpressive, due primarily to wildness.  His best minor league year was 1982, the only time he posted an ERA under four in a full minor league season.  He went 9-4, 3.45 that year, striking out 125 in 138.1 innings; however, he also walked 90.  He had been a starter to this point, but in 1983 he was moved to the bullpen.  It did not help his control any, but despite that, Best made brief appearances for the Mariners in 1983 and 1984.  He started 1985 in Seattle and actually pitched very well:  his ERA was 1.95 in 32.1 innings, his WHIP was 0.96, and he struck out 32 while walking only six.  Unfortunately, he was then injured in late June, and never had a year that good again.  In 1986 he was still adequate, but his wildness problems returned:  he walked 21 in 35.2 innings.  He was in the minors for all of 1987, getting traded to Detroit at mid-season.  In March of 1988, Best was traded to Minnesota for Don Schulze.  He began the season in Portland, but came up to the Twins in early May.  He pitched 12 innings, mostly in mop-up relief, and had an ERA of 6.00 and a WHIP of 1.83, giving up 15 hits and walking seven.  Best was returned to the minors in late June and was traded to San Francisco in mid-August for Alan Cockrell.  He finished out the season in AAA Phoenix and then his playing career was over.  At last report, Karl Best was living in Snohomish, Washington.  His daughter Amanda, played basketball for the University of New Mexico.

First baseman Scott Edmund Stahoviak played his entire major league career with the Twins.  Born in Waukegan, Illinois, he attended high school in Mundelein, Illinois and went to Creighton University.  He was chosen by the Twins in the first round in 1991.  He hit pretty well in the minors, although with only moderate power.  His best minor league season was 1994, when he hit .318 with 41 doubles and 13 homers in AAA Salt Lake.  Stahoviak made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1993, returned in May of 1995, and had his only full season in 1996.  He was the regular first baseman for the Twins that season and actually did not do so badly, hitting .284 with an OBP of .376 and an OPS of .845.  It was not considered good enough, however, and in 1997 he shared the position with Greg Colbrunn.  Stahoviak fell to .229 that season, and was back in the minors in 1998.  He had a fine season in Salt Lake, hitting .316 with 33 doubles and 18 homers, but got only 19 at-bats in the big leagues.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Cubs.  He was at AAA for the Cubs for two years, but did not get back to the big leagues, and his playing career was over.  As a Twin, Scott Stahoviak hit .256/.335/.410 in just over a thousand at-bats.  He was the batting coach at the University of Illinois--Chicago from 2003-2005.  At last report, he was a high school baseball coach and gym teacher in Mundelein, Illinois.  He was also an instructor at Slammers Baseball Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois.