November 20

Joe Sommer (1958)
Kenesaw Landis (1866)
Clark Griffith (1869)
George McBride (1880)
Leon Cadore (1890)
Larry Benton (1897)
Jay Ritchie (1936)
Herm Starrette (1938)
Rick Monday (1945)
Jay Johnstone (1945)
Ron Cash (1949)
Alex Arias (1967)
Gabe White (1971)
J. D. Drew (1975)
Sam Fuld (1981)
Brock Peterson (1983)

Kenesaw Landis, as I'm sure you know, was the first commissioner of baseball, holding the job from 1920 until his death in 1944.

Pitcher Clark Griffith was a star for the Cubs before jumping to the White Sox when the American League was formed. Later, of course, was the owner of the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington. His adopted son, Calvin, brought the team to Minnesota.

Ron Cash was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 1969, but did not sign.

Outfielder Samuel Babson Fuld was with the Twins for about half of the 2014 season.  He was born in Durham, New Hampshire, went to high school in Exeter, New Hampshire, attended Stanford University, and was drafted by the Cubs in the tenth round in 2004.  He never showed much power, but he hit for a high average, drew a good number of walks, and stole some bases throughout his minor league career.  He got his first taste of major league ball as a September call-up in 2007, was with the Cubs for the second half of 2009, and finally made the majors to stay in mid-August of 2010.  That off-season, he was traded to Tampa Bay in a multi-player trade that included ex-Twin Matt Garza.  He started 2011 as the Rays' regular left fielder, but could not hit enough to hold the position.  He was injured much of 2012, was a reserve for the Rays in 2013, was a free agent after the season, and signed with Oakland.  The Athletics waived him three weeks into the season and was claimed by Minnesota.  He was a mostly regular outfielder for them when healthy and didn't do badly, hitting ,274/.370/.354 in 164 at-bats.  The Twins traded him to Oakland at the end of July for Tommy Milone and he was a regular outfielder for them for the rest of the season.  He turns thirty-three today.  He'll never be a star, and probably will never be a regular other than to fill in when someone's hurt.  On the other hand, he has some speed, can play any position in the outfield, and isn't an automatic out.  The chances are he can be a fourth outfielder for someone for a few more years yet.

First baseman/outfielder Brock Alan Peterson did not play for the Twins, but was drafted by them and was in their farm system for eight years.  He was born in Centralia, Washington, went to high school in Chehalis, Washington, and was drafted by Minnesota in the forty-ninth round in 2002.  He was initially a third baseman, but switched to first in 2004.  He rose very slowly, spending one year in rookie ball and three in Class A.  After hitting .291 with 21 home runs in Fort Myers in 2006, he finally reached New Britain in 2007.  He had a couple of decent years there, reaching AAA briefly in 2008 before going there for all of the following two seasons.  The Twins let him go after the 2010 campaign.  When one looks at his minor league career, one doesn't really see any bad years, but one doesn't really see much to make him sit up and take notice, either.  He was a consistently good minor league player, but not really any more than that.  He played in Bridgeport in the Atlantic League for most of the next two years before signing with the Cardinals in mid-August of 2012.  They sent him to AAA Memphis, and in 2013 he had the best minor league season of his career, hitting .296/.364/.531 with twenty-five home runs.  He got two stints in the majors that season, playing in St. Louis for about three weeks from mid-July to early-August and then getting a September callup.  He was used mostly as a pinch-hitter, playing in 23 games but getting only 26 at-bats.  He did not do well in those at-bats, going 2-for-26 with no extra-base hits, two walks, and two RBIs.  He once again became a free agent after the season, signed with Washington, was sold to the Dodgers in July, and spent the entire season at AAA, doing much better in Albuquerque than he had done in Syracuse.  He turns thirty-one today and is once again a free agent.  The way we closed last year's biography appears to still apply.  It seems reasonable to think someone might want him to fill out their AAA roster, and if he does well there and gets a break or two, he might make it back to the big leagues.  If not, well, twenty-six big league at-bats isn't bad for a forty-ninth round draft choice, and it's twenty-six more than you or I will ever get.