January 14

Billy Meyer (1892)

Smead Jolley (1902)

Phil Piton (1903)

Chet Brewer (1907)

Sonny Siebert (1937)

Dave Campbell (1942)

Ron Clark (1943)

Derrel Thomas (1951)

Wayne Gross (1952)

Terry Forster (1952)

Mike Pelfrey (1984)

Erick Aybar (1984)

Billy Meyer won 1,604 games as a minor league manager, mostly in the Yankees organization.

Phil Piton was president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1964-1971.

Chet Brewer was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues known for his mastery of throwing scuffed baseballs.

Infielder Ronald Bruce Clark was with Minnesota from 1966-1969. He was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, and attended high school in White Settlement, Texas.  In his youth, he competed in rodeo and in the Golden Gloves.  He signed with Philadelphia as a free agent in 1961. After a poor year with Class C Bakersfield he was sent to the Angels in what was described as an "unknown transaction". He did somewhat better at Class C San Jose, but came to Minnesota after the 1962 season in another unknown transaction. Clark had a good year at Class A Wilson in 1963, had two undistinguished years in AA, but then hit .294 with 16 homers in 1966 for AAA Denver. He briefly held the regular third base job in 1967, but did not hit and then was injured for about half the season. Clark was used as a utility player in 1968, but again did not hit. He started 1969 in Minnesota, but was sent back to AAA in April and was sold to Seattle in July. After that season, he was traded to Oakland. Clark was in AAA for the Athletics all of 1970 and 1971 with the exception of two games in Oakland in April of 1971. He started 1972 in AAA, came up to the majors in mid-May, and was traded to Milwaukee in mid-June. He was with the Brewers for about a month and was traded to the Angels, who sent him to AAA. He was traded again in June of 1973, going to San Diego, and at the end of the season was traded one more time, this time to Philadelphia. He was with the Phillies organization for two years, getting one last at-bat in the majors in 1975 before his career ended. As a Twin, Ron Clark hit .182/.238/.253 in 296 at-bats. He became a minor-league manager and major league coach, last managing the Iowa Cubs in 1996. At last report, Ron Clark was living in Florida and was a scout for the Kansas City Royals.

Left-handed reliever Terry Jay Forster did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 1987. He was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, went to high school in Santee, California, and was drafted by the White Sox in the second round in 1970. He made ten excellent appearances in Class A that year and jumped from there all the way to the majors at the start of the 1971 season. He did well in limited duty, making 45 appearances but pitching only 49.2 innings. He was a solid reliever for the White Sox through 1975, leading the league in saves with 24 in 1974. In 1976, he was converted to starting, and the results were not good: he went 2-12, 4.37, 1.50 WHIP. After the season, Forster was traded to Pittsburgh with Rich Gossage for Richie Zisk. He stayed with the Pirates only one season, becoming a free agent and signing with the Dodgers for 1978. He had an excellent year for the Dodgers that season, posting a 1.93 ERA and saving 22 games. He started suffering injuries after that, pitching less than 60 innings in the next three seasons combined. He came back to have a fine season in 1982, just in time to become a free agent again. Atlanta signed him, and while he continued to battle injuries he pitched very well when healthy.  He also battled weight problems and gained some fame when David Letterman termed him a "fat tub of goo." The Braves released him on April 1, 1986 and he signed with the Angels, for whom he posted a good ERA but a very high WHIP. A free agent once more after the season, he was out of baseball until June 15, when the Twins signed him. He made thirteen appearances for AAA Portland, went 0-1, 7.27, and his playing career was over. Overall, he made 614 major league appearances, pitched 1,105.2 innings, had a 3.23 ERA and 127 saves.  At last report, Terry Forster was a special assignment scout for the Angels and was doing some coaching for the University of Ottawa.

Right-hander Michael Alan Pelfrey was with the Twins from 2013-2015.  Born on Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, he went to high school in Wichita, Kansas, attended Wichita State, and was drafted by the Mets with the ninth pick of the 2005 draft.  He did not make his professional debut until 2006, but he shot through the Mets system, making four starts at Class A, twelve at AA, two in AAA, and four in the major leagues.  He went back and forth between AAA and the majors in 2007 before coming to the majors for good in 2008.  He has been rather inconsistent as a major league pitcher.  He seems to have had a Bret Saberhagen kind of thing going, doing fairly well in even-numbered years (2008 and 2010) but not so well in odd-numbered years (2009 and 2011).  He was off to a good start in 2012, but was injured after only three starts and missed the rest of the season.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota.  In 2013 he was, well, not very good, going 5-13, 5.19, 1.55 WHIP.   He started poorly, did better in the summer months, then fell apart at the end of the season.  He was a free agent after the season but re-signed with the Twins for 2014.  He made only five starts, none of them very good, before missing the rest of the season with groin and elbow injuries.  He was healthy in 2015, making thirty starts, but still wasn't very good.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Detroit.  As a Twin, he was 11-27, 4.49, 1.55 WHIP.  He turns 32 today.  In his best seasons he was never much above average.   What we said last year still holds:  there's a chance he'll be an adequate major league pitcher this year, but there's probably a better chance that he won't be.