April 8

John Peters (1850)

Kirby Higbe (1915)

Stan Wasiak (1920)

Charlie Maxwell (1927)

Turk Farrell (1934)

Takao Kajimoto (1935)

John Hiller (1943)

Catfish Hunter (1946)

Randy Marsh (1949)

Mac Scarce (1949)

Gary Carter (1954)

Alex Gonzalez (1973)

Timo Perez (1975)

Jeremy Guthrie (1979)

Matt Ford (1981)

Chris Iannetta (1983)

Felix Hernandez (1986)

Yonder Alonso (1987)

Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530.  He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.

Pitcher Takao Kajimoto won 254 games in Japan and was a twelve-time all-star.

Randy Marsh was a major league umpire from 1981-2009 and is currently a director of umpiring.

Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.

Left-hander Guerrant McCurdy "Mac" Scarce pitched for the Twins in 1978.  The name "Guerrant" was the last name of his grandmother.  He was born in Danville, Virginia, went to high school in Richmond, Virginia, and attended Florida State.  While attending college, he spent two summers in Pierre, South Dakota, playing in the Basin League.  He was drafted by Philadelphia in the eighth round in 1971.  A reliever throughout his career, Scarce pitched brilliantly in the minors, posting a 1.29 ERA at Class A Peninsula in 1971 and a 0.46 ERA at AA Reading in 1972 before being called up to the Phillies in mid-June.  He did pretty well that year, posting a 3.44 ERA, and did even better in 1973, when his ERA dropped by over a run to 2.42 despite a won-lost record of 1-8.  He spent all but two weeks in the majors in 1974 but injured his arm and saw his ERA rise to nearly five.  After the season, Scarce was traded to the Mets.  He faced only one batter for the Mets, giving up a game-winning hit, and was traded in mid-April to Cincinnati for ex-Twin Tom Hall.  Scarce was in AAA for the Reds for three years, posting ERAs around four, and never made the majors for Cincinnati.  He became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with Minnesota for 1978.  He began the season at AAA Toledo, but did well and was quickly called up to the big leagues.  He stayed two months, making 17 appearances.  He went 1-1, 3.94 in 32 innings, but had a WHIP of 1.56.  He pitched well the rest of the season in Toledo, but was traded to Texas after the season for Mike Bacsik.  Feeling he had little chance of making the Rangers, Scarce retired, ending his playing career.  He worked for an electrical company for a few years, then went into the mortgage business.  He is currently the owner of McCurdy Mortgage, your mortgage and refinance specialist in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Left-hander Matthew Lee Ford did not pitch for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2006.  He was born in Plantation, Florida, went to high school in Coral Springs, Florida, and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 1999.  He pitched well in the low minors, highlighted by a 2002 season in which he went 9-5, 2.37, 1.25 WHIP in Class A Dunedin.  Based on that, the Brewers took him in the Rule 5 draft and jumped him all the way to the majors in 2003.  He was pitching very well out of the bullpen (2.15 ERA, 1.13 WHIP in 29.1 innings, 21 appearances), when Milwaukee moved him to the starting rotation in late June.  The move was a disaster:  in four starts, he went 0-3, 8.79, 2.38 WHIP in 14.1 innings.  He was then missed the rest of the season with bone spurs in his elbow.  He never made it back to the majors, and seems to have never really recovered from his injury.  He had one and a half mediocre seasons in the Brewers farm system, finished 2005 in AAA for the Royals, and was signed by Minnesota as a free agent for 2006.  He made thirty-three appearances in Rochester, going 1-2, 4.50, 1.48 WHIP in 58 innings.  He became a free agent after the season, pitched poorly for two seasons in independent ball, and ended his playing career after the 2008 season.  He went into coaching, beginning at the high school level.   He was an assistant coach for the University of Akron from 2012-13, and since then has a minor league pitching instructor for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He was the pitching coach for the Class A West Virginia Power in 2016 and has been the pitching coach for the high-A Bradenton Marauders since 2017.