August 19

Bobby Richardson (1935)
Fred Lasher (1941)
Mike Phillips (1950)
Luis Gomez (1951)
Tim Blackwell (1952)
Ned Yost (1955)
David Palmer (1957)
Gary Gaetti (1958)
Ron Darling (1960)
Woody Williams (1966)
Rob Augustine (1970)
J. J. Hardy (1982)

Rob Augustine played for a couple of years in the Cleveland organization, never rising above Class A.  He was (and maybe still is) an assistant baseball coach at Dakota Valley High School in the author's former home of North Sioux City.  Happy birthday, Rob.

Right-handed reliever Frederick Walter Lasher appeared in eleven games for the Twins in 1963.  He was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and was signed by Washington as a free agent in 1960. A submariner, he had problems with wildness in his first couple of years in the minors, but gradually improved, although he never had what you would call pinpoint control. Lasher made the Twins out of spring training in 1963, jumping all the way from Bismarck-Mandan in the Class C Northern League. He was used as a relief pitcher, which had been his primary role in the minors as well, but his wildness returned–Lasher walked 11 in 11.1 innings with the Twins. Sent back to the minors, he did well in 1965 and 1966, but as a 23-24-year-old in Class A. After the 1966 season, he was selected by Detroit in the minor-league draft. The Tigers must have helped Lasher figure something out, because his control improved and he became an effective reliever for the Tigers from 1967-69. His control vanished again in 1970, however, and this time it was gone for good. The Tigers traded him to Cleveland midway through the 1970 season, and California selected him in the Rule 5 draft, but by 1971 he was finished. As a Twin, he had no record and a 4.76 ERA, but for his career he was 11-13 with 22 saves and an ERA of 3.88. After leaving baseball, Lasher operated a drywall company and served as a recreation therapist for youth with drug and alcohol problems in Merillan, Wisconsin, where he still lived at last report.

Shortstop Luis (Sanchez) Gomez played for the Twins periodically from 1974-1977.  He was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and was drafted by the Twins in the seventh round in 1973 out of UCLA, where he had played freshman basketball on the same team as Bill Walton.  He was the first Mexican native selected in the major league baseball amateur draft.  He hit very little in the minors, but made his major league debut with Minnesota in April of 1974, where he continued to not hit. He spent part of 1974, all of 1975, and parts of 1976 and 1977 with the Twins, playing for AAA Tacoma the rest of the time.  In 1975, he set a record with 89 games played without an extra-base hit, a record which still stands.  Gomez’ best year was 1977, when he hit .285 for Tacoma and .246 for the Twins in 65 at-bats. The Twins let him go after that year, and he signed with Toronto and was their regular shortstop in 1978, his only year as a starter. Gomez continued not hitting, became a part-time player in 1979, and was traded that off-season along with Chris Chambliss to Atlanta, where he became a member of the LDS church due to the influence of Dale Murphy. He was a semi-regular for the Braves in 1980 and played sparingly in 1981. He was released at the end of spring training in 1982, and did not return to organized baseball. Gomez’ career OPS was .500, the lowest of any non-pitcher with as many plate appearances since Bill Bergen retired in 1911. As a Twin, Gomez had 362 at-bats, and hit .199/.246/.211 with no homers and 22 RBIs.  He did not hit a home run in either the majors or the minors (1,781 at-bats).  No information about Luis Gomez’ current life is readily available.

Third baseman Gary Joseph Gaetti played for the Twins from 1981-1990.  Born and raised in Centralia, Illinois, he was drafted by the Twins out of Northwest Missouri State University with the 11th pick in the 1979 June Secondary draft. He did not hit for a high average in the minors, but showed good power, which was basically true for much of his major league career as well. After a September callup in 1981, Gaetti became the Twins’ regular third baseman in 1982, a position he held through 1990. He averaged 27 homers a season from 1982-1988, a figure which would be higher if you threw out the 1984 season, when for some reason he only hit 5. Gaetti’s best season as a Twin was 1988, when he hit .301 with 28 homers and 88 RBIs. He started to decline after that, and became a free agent after the 1990 season. He signed with California, played two-plus years for the Angels, and was released in June of 1993. Signed by Kansas City, Gaetti resurrected his career in his mid-30s, hitting 35 home runs for the Royals in 1995. He became a free agent again after that season, and signed with the Cardinals, where he was a productive player for two and a half years. Released by the St. Louis in August of 1998, Gaetti signed with the Cubs and helped them with their playoff push, hitting .320 in 37 games. That was his last hurrah, however, as he batted only .204 for the Cubs in 1999, and went 0-for-10 for Boston in 2000, at which point he retired. Gaetti hit 360 home runs in a 20 year career. As a Twin, he batted .256 with 201 homers and 758 RBIs and won four Gold Gloves. Gaetti was placed in the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2007. After retiring, he served as the hitting coach for the Houston Astros and the Durham Bulls.  He became the manager of the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League in 2012, a job he currently holds.

Shortstop James Jerry “J. J.” Hardy played for the Twins in 2010.  Born and raised in Tucson, he was drafted by Milwaukee in the second round in 2001.  His early minor league numbers are not that strong, probably due to his age.  He began to develop in 2003, hitting .279 with twelve homers in AA Huntsville.  Hardy was apparently injured much of 2004, as he got only 101 at-bats in AAA.  Healthy in 2005, he made the Brewers out of spring training and was their starting shortstop that season.  He was again injured in 2006, he came back strong in 2007 and had back-to-back solid seasons, averaging .280 with 25 home runs in those two years.  He slumped in 2009, hitting just .229 with 11 homers and spending some time in AAA.  After that season, he was traded to Minnesota for Carlos Gomez.  He battled injuries again in 2010, but was solid defensively and not bad offensively when healthy.  Hardy’s numbers as a Twin were .269/.320/.394 in 340 at-bats.  After the season, however, Hardy was traded with Brendan Harris and cash to Baltimore for Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey.  Hardy responded with one of the best seasons of his career, batting .269 with a career high 30 home runs.  He had a down year in 2012, hitting only .238 (although he did hit 22 homers and won a Gold Glove).  He did substantially better in 2013, batting .263 with 25 homers at this writing and making his second all-star team, winning his second Gold Glove, and winning his first Silver Slugger.  His homers are down in 2014, but he still remains a good player.  He's thirty-two today, but shortstops who can hit and play good defense don't grow on trees.  As long as he continues to do those things, he'll be a starting shortstop in the major leagues.