October 9

Dave Rowe (1854)

Al Maul (1865)
Rube Marquard (1866)
Joe Sewell (1898)
Mike Hershberger (1939)
Joe Pepitone (1940)
Freddie Patek (1944)
Bob Moose (1947)
Steve Palermo (1949)
Brian Downing (1950)
Randy Lerch (1954)
Felix Fermin (1963)
Danny Mota (1975)
Brian Roberts (1977)
Mark McLemore (1980)
Jason Pridie (1983)

Steve Palermo was a major league umpire from 1977-1991, when he was shot and paralyzed while trying to prevent a robbery.  He became Supervisor of Umpires in 2000.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to brianS' dad.

Right-hander Daniel Avila Mota appeared in four games for the Twins in 2000. He was born in El Saibo, Dominican Republic, went to high school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1994. Used exclusively as a relief pitcher, he pitched well in the low levels of the Yankees minor-league system for three years. On February 6, 1998, he was traded to the Twins along with Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, and cash for Chuck Knoblauch. The Twins kept Mota at Class A in 1998, and he continued to pitch well. They finally promoted hit to AA for six games in 1999 and to AAA for four games in 2000. Mota got a September call-up in 2000, appearing in four games and pitching a total of 5.1 innings. He started 2001 in AAA Salt Lake, but did not pitch well and was moved on to Las Vegas in the Dodgers organization. Possibly he was injured that year; while it was his first bad year in the minors, it was also his last year in organized baseball. He did have a stint in the Mexican League in 2003, but then Mota was done. In his big-league career, all of which was with the Twins, Danny Mota had no record and had an 8.44 ERA, giving up five runs on ten hits in 5.1 innings. No information about Danny Mota's life after baseball was readily available.

Left-hander Mark Steven McLemore did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them in 2010. He was born in Sacramento, went to high school in Loomis, California, attended Oregon State, and was drafted by Houston in the fourth round in 2002. He struggled a little early in his minor league career, but pitched pretty well in the minors from 2004-2007. He both started and relieved in the minors, and may have had some injury problems, as he never appeared in more than thirty-seven games nor pitched as many as a hundred innings in a minor league season. He made his major league debut in 2007, spending a little over half the season with the Astros. He went 3-0, 3.86, 1.69 WHIP in 35 innings spread over 29 games. He then missed all of 2008, presumably with an injury, and became a free agent after the season. He re-signed with Houston for 2009 but was in AAA all year, making eighteen rather mediocre starts. The Twins took him to spring training in 2010, but released him just prior to the beginning of the season. He went unsigned, and pitched for the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League.  He signed with Florida for 2011, but was released in late April after making four appearances for AAA New Orleans, apparently ending his playing career. Mark McLemore was living in Granite Bay, California at last report.

Outfielder Jason Orville Pridie played in eleven games for the Twins in 2008-2009. He was born in Phoenix, went to high school in Prescott, Arizona, and was drafted by Tampa Bay in the second round in 2002. He hit very well in rookie ball, and did not do badly at Class A in 2004, hitting .276 with 17 homers and 11 triples. Pridie struggled in his first couple of years in AA, but put things together in 2007, hitting .290 in a half-season there. He continued to hit at AAA, hitting .318 in a half-season at Durham that same year. The Twins had been interested in Pridie for some time, and had taken him in the rule 5 draft in December of 2005, but returned him to Tampa Bay at the end of spring training. Finally, in November of 2007, the Twins traded Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa Bay for Pridie, Brendan Harris, and Delmon Young. Pridie spent most of 2008-2009 at AAA Rochester, playing in eleven big league games as a defensive replacement or a pinch runner and going 0-for-4 with a walk. He had a couple of decent seasons in Rochester, but nothing more. The Twins put him on waivers in February of 2010 and he was claimed by the Mets. He battled injuries in 2010, but played decently for AAA Buffalo when healthy.  In 2011, at age 27, he finally got somewhat of a shot in the majors, appearing in 101 games (but getting only 208 at-bats) with the Mets in almost a full season.  He was often used as a defensive replacement, but batted 29 times as a pinch-hitter.  His offensive numbers were unimpressive, but he drew a fair number of walks and stole seven bases.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Oakland for 2012, was granted free agency in mid-June, and signed with Philadelphia a week and a half later.  He was in AAA most of the season and played well.  He also got about three weeks in the majors, going 3-for-10 with a double and a home run.  He was again a free agent after the season and signed with Baltimore for 2013.  He had a solid enough year for AAA Norfolk and got a September call-up, going 2-for-10.  It was much the same story in 2014, except it was for Colorado--a solid enough year in AAA and a cup of coffee in the majors, going 0-for-4 this time,  2015 was another verse of the same story--signed with Oakland, had a fine year in AAA, and got a September call-up, this time going 0-for-9.   He turns thirty-two today. He’ll never be a star or even a regular unless somebody gets a bunch of injuries or something, but it would not be surprising to see him again as a reserve outfielder.