June 21

Due to personal time constraints, this is a copy-and-paste from last year.  If you have updates, please include them below.

Matt Kilroy (1866)
Randy Moore (1906)
Harold Seymour (1910)
Ed Lopat (1918)
Merle Harmon (1926)
Jackie Collum (1927)
Charlie Moore (1953)
Rick Sutcliffe (1956)
Jay Pettibone (1957)
Donovan Osborne (1969)
Garrett Jones (1981)
Jeff Baker (1981)

Harold Seymour wrote a three-part History of Baseball, published from 1960-1990.

Merle Harmon broadcast Minnesota Twins games from 1967-1969.

Left-hander Jack Dean “Jackie” Collum pitched in eight games for the Twins in 1962.  He was born in Victor, Iowa and went to high school in Newburg, Iowa.  He signed with St. Louis as a free agent in 1946.  He was used as both a starter and a reliever in the minors and appears to have pitched pretty well in both roles.  He got cups of coffee in the majors in both 1951 and 1952, appearing in a total of five games for the Cardinals.  1953 was his first full season in the majors, but most of it was not spent in St. Louis, as Collum was traded to Cincinnati in late May.  He stuck with the Reds through 1955, making 31 starts and appearing in 98 games.  He did a good job, posting ERAs in the mid-threes.  He was traded back to St. Louis for 1956, and unfortunately things went downhill for him after that.  He did not do particularly well for the Cardinals, was traded to the Cubs after the season, pitched poorly, and was traded to Brooklyn in late May.  Most of his time with the Dodgers that year was spent in AAA, and he remained in AAA for the Dodgers through 1960.  He did fairly well there, but was traded to the Twins sometime afte the 1960 season “in an unknown transaction.”  He stayed in AAA in 1961 but had a strong season there in 1962, earning about three weeks with the Twins.  It did not go well, however; as a Twin, Jackie Collum was 0-2, 11.15 in 15.1 innings.  He appeared in eight games, three of them starts.  On August 20, he was traded to Cleveland with a player to be named later (Georges Miranda) and cash for Ruben Gomez.  He made one appearance with the Indians, and then his playing career was over.  He was a good hitter, batting .269 in the minors and .246 in the majors.  He occasionally played outfield in the minors as well as pitching.  After retiring from baseball, Collum became the owner of the Pioneer Oil Company in Grinnell, Iowa.  Jackie Collum passed away on August 29, 2009 in Grinnell.

Right-hander Harry Jonathan ”Jay” Pettibone made four starts for the Twins in 1983.  He was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan, attended Chapman University of Orange, California, one of seven major leaguers to have attended that school.  He was drafted by Texas in the thirtieth round in 1979.  He was in the minors with the Rangers for two ineffective years, not rising above Class A, and was released in December of 1980.  The Twins signed him in February of 1981 and sent him to Class A Visalia, where he went 14-8, although with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.  He had a good year in Visalia in 1982 and a half-way decent year in AA Orlando in 1983, earning a September call-up in the latter season.  His first game was a complete game 3-1 loss, but he did not pitch well in the other three starts.  He was 0-4, 5.33 with a WHIP of 1.33 in 27 innings.  Pettibone was back in the minors in 1984 and did not pitch particularly well.  After the season, he was the player to be named later in the deal that brought Chris Speier to the Twins from St. Louis for a month and a half in 1984.  He did not pitch in the Cardinals organization, however; his playing career ended after the 1984 campaign.  He auditioned for a job as a replacement player in 1995, and was working as a special agent in the Treasury Department at that time.  At last report, Jay Pettibone was working for the Department of Homeland Security as a special agent, although I'm not sure if we're supposed to know that, so just forget it.  His son, Jonathan Pettibone, is a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Outfielder/first baseman Garrett Thomas Jones had three stints with the Twins in 2007, totaling about two and a half months.  He was born in Harvey, Illinois, went to high school in Tinley Park, Illinois.  He was drafted by Atlanta in the fourteenth round in 1999.  He was in rookie ball for three years, did not do a whole lot (although he did hit .289 in 2001), and was released in May of 2002.  Minnesota signed him three days later and sent him to Class A Quad Cities.  He hit for low averages for two years in Class A, but he began to develop some power, and finally in 2004 in AA New Britain he put things together.  He hit .311 that season with 30 home runs.  He spent almost all of the next four seasons at AAA Rochester, hitting over 20 homers three of those years and posting an OPS over .800 the last two.  He appeared in 31 games for the Twins in 2007, twelve of them at DH, eight at first base, six in the outfield, and five as a pinch-hitter.  He hit .208/.262/.338 in 77 at-bats.  Jones was allowed to become a free agent after the 2008 season and signed with Pittsburgh.  He started the season in AAA but came up on July 1 and was a regular for the Pirates, although at three different positions (right field, first base, and left field).  Surprisingly, he did very well, hitting .293 with 21 homers, posting an OPS of .938, and finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting.  He continued to play regularly for the Pirates in 2010, but failed to match his 2009 totals.  2011 turned out to be much more similar to 2010 than 2009 and he found himself being platooned, although as a left-handed batter he still got the bulk of the playing time.  He was still platooned some in 2012, but came back to have a better season.  He had a down year in 2013 and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Miami and was okay, but nothing special.  He was traded to the Yankees during the off-season, has been used as a role player, and frankly hasn't done a whole lot for them.  He turns thirty-four today, and one has to think he may be nearing the end of his career.  If so, though, it's a very respectable career for someone who got started that late.