June 20

Ned Cuthbert (1845)

Jim Delahanty (1879)

Cum Posey (1890)

Billy Werber (1908)

Andy Etchebarren (1943)

Dave Nelson (1944)

Paul Beeston (1945)

Dickie Thon (1958)

Doug Gwosdz (1960)

Paul Bako (1972)

Juan Castro (1972)

Carlos Lee (1976)

Kevin Gregg (1978)

Kendrys Morales (1983)

Adalberto Mejia (1993)

Cum Posey, played for, managed, and owned the Homestead Grays in the Negro National League.

Paul Beeston has been president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989-1997 and from 2010-2016, at which time he became president emeritus.

Infielder Juan Gabriel Castro played for the Twins in 2005 and the first part of 2006.  Born and raised in Los Mochis, Mexico, Castro signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1991.  He had decent batting averages in the minors, but did not walk very much nor did he show much power.  He gained a reputation as a fine fielder, however, and made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1995.  He spent the next two years going back and forth between Albuquerque and Los Angeles, putting up good numbers in the minors but bad numbers in the majors, where he was used as a utility player.  He got his first full season in the majors in 1998, again as a utility player, and hit only .195 with an OPS of .499.  He was back in AAA for almost all of 1999 and then was traded to Cincinnati.  He started 2000 in AAA but was back in the majors in late April and remained with the Reds through 2004, again as a utility infielder.  He continued to not hit very well– his best year was 2003, when he hit .253 with nine homers for an OPS of .678.  Castro became a free agent after the 2004 campaign and signed with Minnesota.  As a Twin, he basically was what he was–a weak hitter with a reputation as a good fielder.  He hit .248/.271/.357 in 428 at-bats.  He stayed with Minnesota until mid-June of 2006, when he was traded to Cincinnati for Brandon Roberts.  He had a good rest-of-2006 for the Reds, but did little in 2007 and was released in early May of 2008.  He signed with the Rockies, played in AAA there for two and a half months, then was traded to Baltimore.  He was with the Dodgers in 2009, moved on to Philadelphia for 2010, was released in mid-July, and signed with the Dodgers again.  He was still with the Dodgers in 2011, but spent most of the season in the minors and retired on July 10.  Upon his retirement, Juan Castro was named a special assistant for player personnel for the Dodgers.  He was the Dodgers' Quality Assurance Coach from 2016-2017.  At last report, he was the director of operations for the Tijuana Toros in the Mexican League.

First baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales was with the Twins for about six weeks in 2014.  He was born in Fomento, Cuba.  He played in Cuba through 2003, then defected, established residency in the Dominican Republic, and was signed by the Angels in December of 2004.  His name was incorrectly listed as "Kendry", a mistake he lived with until prior to the 2011 season.  He started 2005 in Class A and quickly proved he was too good to be there, being promoted to AA after twenty-two games.  He started 2006 in AAA but spent half the season in the majors, making his debut in late May.  He went back and forth between AAA and the majors through the 2008 season before coming up to stay in 2009.  He had a fine season, finishing fifth in MVP voting, and was having another solid year in 2010 when he broke his leg stepping on home plate following a walkoff grand slam on May 29.  He missed the rest of that season and all of 2011.  He came back in 2012 and was again a good player, although perhaps not quite as good as he had been before his injury.  After the season he was traded to Seattle for Jason Vargas.  He spent 2013 with the Mariners and again put up solid numbers.  He became a free agent after the season and went unsigned until early June, when he signed with Minnesota.  He hit poorly and was traded back to Seattle in late July for Stephen Pryor.  He was a free agent after the season and it looked like he might be done, but he signed with Kansas City and started hitting again.  It's unclear what happened to him in 2014, but whatever it was it obviously went away, as he had two solid seasons for the Royals.  A free agent after the 2016 campaign, he signed with Toronto and did okay, but not as well as he had done in Kansas City.  He is still with the Blue Jays in 2018, but is struggling so far this season.  As a Twin, he hit .234/.259/.325 in 154 at-bats.  For his career, he has hit .268/.326/.458.  He turns thirty-five today.  A year ago, we wrote,  "He's at an age where he could start to decline at any time, but he's showing no signs of doing so now."  Time will tell whether this is a temporary slump or the start of the decline.

Left-hander Adalberto Mejia pitched for the Twins in 2016-2017 and is still in the organization in 2018.  He was born in Donao, Dominican Republic and signed with the Giants as a free agent in 2011.  He moved steadily up the Giants system, going to Class A in 2012, high-A in 2013, and AA in 2014.  He had a rough year in 2014 but was off to an excellent start there in 2015 when his season was cut short, first by injury and then by a suspension for use of a banned stimulant.  He did very well in eleven AA starts in 2016 and did okay in seven AAA starts when he was traded to Minnesota for Eduardo Nunez.  He pitched well in four starts in Rochester and made one appearance with the Twins.  He started the 2017 season in the Twins' rotation, was sent back to Rochester for a month after three starts, and came back to the Twins in late May.  He was not particularly good, but he was not terrible, either.  So far he has spent all of 2018 in Rochester, for whom he's been not outstanding, but fairly good.  He turns twenty-five today.  Time will tell, but there's enough there to think Adalberto Mejia could have a decent major league career.