August 26

Chick Fraser (1873)
Jesse Barnes (1892)
Sparky Adams (1894)
Gene Moore (1909)
Alex Kellner (1924)
Alex Trevino (1957)
Jeff Parrett (1961)
Angel Hernandez (1961)
Chad Kreuter (1964)
Ricky Bottalico (1969)
Brendan Harris (1980)
Eric Fryer (1985)
Darin Mastroianni (1985)
David Price (1985)
Mario Hollands (1988)

It is reported that Angel Hernandez has been a major league umpire since 1993.  We continue to search for evidence of this.

Mario Hollands was drafted by Minnesota in the 24th round in 2009 but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to spookymilk’s sister and to Can of Corn's Kernel.

Infielder Brendan Michael Harris was with the Twins from 2008-2010.  Born and raised in Queensbury, New York, he was drafted out of the College of William and Mary by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2001 draft. He hit well throughout the minors, usually averaging over .300 with double-digit home runs, and played mostly second base and third base. He made his major-league debut with the Cubs in 2004, playing in three games for them before being sent to Montreal in the four-team trade that involved Doug Mientkiewicz going to Boston. Harris spent most of 2005 and 2006 in the minors, making brief appearances in both years with Washington before being traded to Cincinnati in August of 2006 in a multi-player deal that involved Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner. The following off-season, Harris was traded to Tampa Bay in what baseball-reference.com describes as “a conditional deal”. The conditions must have been met, because Harris was with the Devil Rays all year, his first full season in the majors. After one season with Tampa Bay, he was traded to the Twins in the deal that sent Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa Bay for Harris, Delmon Young, and Jason Pridie. Harris was a semi-regular utility infielder for the Twins from 2008-2009, seeing time at second, short, and third.  He seemed likely to see most of his time at third base in 2010 but got off to a horrible start, batting just .157 in 108 at-bats before being sent to Rochester in mid-June.  Things did not go well in Rochester, either, as he hit just .233.  After the season, he was traded to Baltimore with J. J. Hardy and cash for Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey.  He did no better in AAA for the Orioles, hitting .225.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Colorado and has had a good year for AAA Colorado Springs, hitting .317.  A free agent again after the season, he signed with the Angels and somewhat surprisingly made the team out of spring training.  He didn't do much for them, though, and was released in late July.  He signed with the Yankees three days later, was sent to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, was released a month after that, signed with Texas, was sent to AAA Round Rock, and became a free agent again after the season.  He signed with the Dodgers for 2014 but was released after playing in only six AAA games.  He spent the rest of the season with Long Island of the Atlantic League but signed with Detroit for 2015 and was in their minor league system that season, not doing much for either AA Erie or AAA Toledo, and was released in late June.  At last report, Brendan Harris was a scout for the Los Angeles Angels.  He had also enrolled in the executive MBA program at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Catcher Eric Joseph Fryer, was with the Twins from 2013-2015.  He was born in Columbus, Ohio, went to high school in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, attended an Ohio State University, and was drafted by Milwaukee in the tenth round in 2007.  He didn't do much in rookie ball that season, but hit .335 in the Sally League in 2008.  He was traded to the Yankees that off-season, and in the middle of 2009 was traded to Pittsburgh in a deal involving Eric Hinske.  He had a solid year in the Florida State League in 2010, although he was twenty-four by then.  He did really well in the Eastern League in 2011 and got called up to the majors for about six weeks in the middle of the season.  He had a poor year in AAA in 2012, but still got a couple more weeks in the majors as a backup catcher.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota and spent 2013 in Rochester, getting a September call-up.  He started 2014 back in Rochester, but came up to Minnesota at mid-season and was the Twins' reserve catcher the rest of the season.  He had a fine season in Rochester in 2015, which earned him two more months in the majors.  A free agent after the season, he signed with St. Louis and hit well in a small sample size, but was still waived at the end of June.  He was claimed by Pittsburgh and has gone back to being who he was before.  As a Twin, he has hit .266/.323/.355 in 110 at-bats.  He turns 31 today, so he is what he is.  One assumes he'll never hit, but it's possible that he'll get continue to get work as a backup/AAA catcher for some time yet.

Outfielder Darin Paul Mastroianni was in the Twins organization from 2012-2014 and again in 2016.  He was born in Mount Kisco, New York, went to high school in Bedford, New York, attended the University of Southern Indiana, and was drafted by Toronto in the sixteenth round in 2007.  His numbers in the low minors were decent, but not outstanding.  He stole a lot of bases, though–seventy of them in 2009 in a season split between A and AA.  He had a very good year in AA in 2010, hitting .301 with an OBP of .390 and 46 steals, and it looked like he was poised to make a move.  He was disappointing in a 2011 split between AA and AAA (plus one game for the Blue Jays, going 0-for-2), however, and the Blue Jays gave up on him, putting him on waivers.  The Twins claimed him in February of 2012.  He started the season in the minors, but after hitting .346 twenty games in Rochester he came up to the big leagues.  Following the trades of Denard Span and Ben Revere he was in the mix for the Twins' center field job in 2013, but was injured in spring training and missed half the season.  When he came back, he was optioned to Rochester, not getting back to Minnesota until late August.  He started 2014 with Minnesota but was placed on waivers early in the season and was claimed by Toronto.  He signed with Philadelphia for 2015, spent about a month in AAA, then was sold to Washington, continuing to play in AAA.  A free agent after the season, Minnesota signed him again for 2016 and was mostly with Rochester, although he was in the majors for a couple of weeks in May.  The Twins released him a few weeks ago and he signed with Texas.  As a Twin, he hit .214/.286/.286 in 248 at-bats.  He turns thirty-one today.  He’s fast and plays good defense, but that's about all he has to recommend him.  At best, Darin Mastroianni may be able to carve out a major league career as a reserve outfielder, but even that doesn't seem likely.