Orval Overall (1881)
George Halas (1895)
Willie Kamm (1900)
Wes Ferrell (1908)
Red Schoendienst (1923)
George Toma (1929)
Don Buford (1937)
Max Alvis (1938)
Dale Murray (1950)
John Tudor (1954)
Pat Tabler (1958)
Buddy Biancalana (1960)
Scott Erickson (1968)
Melvin Mora (1972)
Adam Everett (1977)
Ronny Cedeno (1983)
Jason Vargas (1983)
Logan Darnell (1989)
George Halas (1895)
Willie Kamm (1900)
Wes Ferrell (1908)
Red Schoendienst (1923)
George Toma (1929)
Don Buford (1937)
Max Alvis (1938)
Dale Murray (1950)
John Tudor (1954)
Pat Tabler (1958)
Buddy Biancalana (1960)
Scott Erickson (1968)
Melvin Mora (1972)
Adam Everett (1977)
Ronny Cedeno (1983)
Jason Vargas (1983)
Logan Darnell (1989)
Better known as a football coach, George Halas was an outfielder
and played in 12 games for the Yankees in 1919.
Groundskeeper George Toma is a charter member of the
Groundskeepers' Hall of Fame. It is to be hoped that he will eventually
be a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame as well.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to meat and to
Mama SoCal.
Right-hander Scott
Gavin Erickson pitched for the Twins from 1990-1995. Born in Long Beach,
California, he attended high school in Cupertino, California and then went to
the University of Arizona. He was drafted by the Twins in the fourth
round in 1989. Erickson pitched very well in the minors, but did not stay
there long, making his major league debut in June of 1990. He was
apparently ready, as he went 8-4, 2.87 in seventeen starts at age 22. The
next year was the best of his career: he was 20-7, 3.18, made the
all-star team, finished second in Cy Young voting, and was seventeenth in MVP
balloting. He also began to experience some arm trouble, a problem that
would plague him the rest of his career. He had another solid year in
1992, but then his effectiveness as a Twin was pretty much over. Erickson
had back-to-back seasons with an ERA over five, leading the league in losses in
1993. His ERA was again over five in July of 1995 when he was traded to
Baltimore for Scott Klingenbeck and a player to be named later (Kimera
Bartee). He struggled at first as an Oriole but then got things back
together, going 16-7, 3.69 in 1997. In 1998, Erickson led the league in
starts, complete games, and innings pitched. He was still decent in 1999,
but after that seven years of pitching over 200 innings (plus another when he
pitched 196) finally took their toll. He struggled through an
injury-plagued 2000 campaign, going 5-8 in the three months that he was
healthy enough to pitch. Erickson missed all of 2001 due to injury, tried
to comeback in 2002 and didn't pitch well, and missed all of 2003 due to
injury. He then struggled through three more years, pitching for the Mets
and Rangers in 2004, the Dodgers in 2005, and the Yankees in 2006. He
also was in the minors for part of each of those seasons before finally calling
it a career. He attempted a comeback in 2008, but after pitching in
Mexico decided he could not pitch well enough to continue. As a Twin,
Scott Erickson was 61-60, 4.22 in 153 starts and nearly a thousand
innings. He had his ups and downs, but at his best he was a very good
pitcher. He is a member of the University of Arizona Sports Hall of
Fame. Scott Erickson is currently the owner of a movie production company
called HomeTeam Productions. He was the pitching coach of the
Carolina Mudcats (Cleveland, A) in 2012 and was the pitching coach of the AZL
Indians in 2013. He has gotten involved with real estate development with
the Diamante Golf Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Further, he is the president
of MLM, short for majorleaguemechanics.com, which offers professional pitching
instruction. In addition, he is a baseball broadcaster for the Pac-12
Network. We don't know how successful any of these ventures have been,
but he certainly shouldn't lack for things to do.
Shortstop Jeffrey Adam Everett played for Minnesota in
2008. He was born in Austell, Georgia, and attended high school in
Kenesaw, Georgia. He attended both North Carolina State and South
Carolina, and was drafted by Boston with the 12th pick of the 1998 draft.
He was in the Red Sox' chain for two years and did fairly well, but was traded
to Houston after the 1999 season as part of a package for Carl Everett.
He spent parts of the next four years at AAA New Orleans, where he established
a reputation as an excellent fielder. He got brief trials with the Astros
in 2001 and 2002, but was called up in May of 2003 and quickly become Houston's
regular shortstop from that point on. His best year at bat was 2004, when
he hit .273, but his strength was always as a fielder, not as a batter.
Everett was injured in mid-June of 2007 and missed almost all the rest of the
season. He became a free agent after the season and signed with
Minnesota. He suffered through an injury-plagued season, playing only 48
games and batting just .213/.278/.323. A free agent again after the 2008
campaign, he signed with Detroit for 2009. He was their mostly-regular
shortstop and played about the way he has played for most of his career,
batting .228 but providing good defense. It wasn’t good enough, however,
as the Tigers released him in mid-June of 2010. Out of baseball the rest
of the season, he has signed with Cleveland for 2011. He again made it
through June and was released, bringing his playing career to an
end. After his retirement, Adam Everett worked for the
Cleveland Indians, first as a special assistant for baseball operations
and later as minor league infield coordinator. In 2014, he moved to the
Houston Astros and is currently their minor league infield coordinator.
Left-hander Logan Reece Darnell appeared in seven games for the
Twins in 2014. He was born in Nashville, went to high school in Madison,
Tennessee, attended the University of Kentucky, and was drafted by Minnesota in
the sixth round in 2010. He was promoted to AA in 2011 despite not having
been all that impressive at lower levels. Not surprisingly, it took him a
while to have success there. He did well there in 2013, though, and was
promoted to Rochester by mid-season. He had a solid 2014 in Rochester and
made seven appearances in the big leagues, getting a couple of brief callups
during the season and another in September. He pitched well in three
relief appearances but not well at all in four starts. Perhaps coincidentally,
he moved to the bullpen in Rochester in 2015 and had another solid season, but
was not called up to the Twins. Returned to a starting role, he again
pitched pretty well in Rochester in 2016, but was not called up and was
sidelined in late July with a sore shoulder. He became a free agent after
the season. He turns twenty-eight today. A quick search did not
reveal anything about his health status, but if he's healthy you'd think
someone would at least want him to pitch in AAA this year.
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