The less successful cousin of ex-Twin Ron Perranoski, right-hander Stanley Perzanowski pitched for the Twins in 1978. He was born in East Chicago, Indiana, went to high school in Hammond, Indiana, and was drafted in the 16th round by the White Sox in 1968. He was apparently rather thin: he is listed as 6′ 2″, 170 pounds. He pitched well in the minors, and made his major-league debut in June of 1971 with Chicago. He did not do well, however, and he spent 1972, 1973, and most of 1974 (other than another brief major league trial) at AAA Iowa. In spring training of 1975, Perzanowski was traded to the Texas Rangers. He again was in AAA most of the year, but pitched well in 12 games (eight starts for the Rangers, going 3-3 with a 3.00 ERA. He got off to a poor start in 1976, however, and was traded to Cleveland in May, pitching for their AAA team the rest of the season. At the end of 1977 spring training, Perzanowski was traded to California, and was immediately sent to their AAA team. He pitched poorly in his sixth year of AAA, and was released in August. The Twins signed him near the end of spring training in 1978, and after pitching well in Toledo, he was called up to the Twins. It did not go well in Minnesota; in 13 games, seven of them starts, he went 2-7, 5.24, 1.50 WHIP (he did pitch one complete game). He began 1979 in Toledo again, but started poorly and released. Perzanowski pitched over a thousand innings in AAA, but only 142.2 in the majors. In 1997, he was inducted into the Hammond (IN) High School Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2008, he was named as the catcher on the all-tournament team at the Amateur Softball Association’s Men’s 50 and over Class AA slow-pitch national tournament, playing for the Indiana Old Stars. At last report, Stan Perzanowski was living in East Chicago, Indiana.
Right-hander Peter Irvine Redfern pitched for the Twins from 1976-1982. He was born in Glendale, California, went to high school in Sylmar, California, and was drafted by the Twins out of the University of Southern California with the first pick of the secondary phase of the 1976 draft. Redfern made four starts with AAA Tacoma that year, and was with the big club the rest of the season, going 8-8 with an ERA of 3.51 in 23 starts. He was unable to repeat his success the next year, posting an ERA of 5.18, and spent most of 1978 with AAA Toledo. He came back to the Twins the next year and had a good season, going 7-3 mostly in relief, with an ERA of 3.49 in 40 games. He was decent the next couple of years, mainly as a starter, but fell apart in 1982, going 5-11 with an ERA of 6.58. The Twins released him toward the end of spring training in 1983. He pitched briefly in AAA for the Dodgers, but did poorly and called it a career at the age of 28. In his big league career, all of which came with the Twins, he was 42-48 with a 4.54 ERA in 714 innings. He made 111 starts in 170 appearances, and was the starting pitcher in the Twins’ first game at the Metrodome. Sadly, he was paralyzed in a diving accident in October of 1983, and remains confined to a wheelchair. Redfern remains interested in baseball, however, and has coached American Legion, high school, and small college teams. At last report, Pete Redfern was living in his home town of Sylmar, California. His son, Chad, pitched in the low minors in the Atlanta and Tampa Bay organizations.
First baseman Justis Logan Morrison played for the Twins in 2018. He was born in Kansas City, went to high school in Sidell, Louisiana, attended Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City (also attended by Albert Pujols), and was drafted by Florida in the twenty-second round in 2005. He struggled in 2006 but then hit his stride, moving up a level a year and hitting well at every stop. He reached the majors in late July of 2010 and with exception of rehab assignments has stayed there ever since. He was primarily a left fielder with the Marlins through 2012, moving to first base in 2013. He stayed the healthiest, got the most playing time, and had his best season as a Marlin in 2011, hitting 23 home runs and posting an OPS of .797. He was traded to Seattle at the end of the 2013 season and was a Mariner for two years. He was not particularly good there, batting .241 with an OPS of .706. A free agent after the 2015 season, he signed with Tampa Bay for 2016. He was not much better in 2016 but had by far his best season in 2017, batting .246/.353/.516 with thirty-eight home runs at age twenty-nine. He was again a free agent after that season and signed with Minnesota for 2018. He promptly fell on his face, batting .186/.276/.368 before having his season ended by a hip injury. He later said that the hip had bothered him all season. He went unsigned until April of 2019, when he signed with the Yankees. He went to AAA and did quite well, hitting fifteen home runs in just forty-three games, but was released on July 4. He signed with Philadelphia on July 15, again went to AAA, and again did very well. He was called up to the Phillies for the last month and a half of the season and was mostly used as a pinch-hitter. He signed with Milwaukee for 2020 but was released after just twenty-five at-bats. He went unsigned over the off-season, went to the Atlantic League, then signed with Cincinnati in mid-June of 2021, where he did well in limited action. A free agent after the season, he is back in the Atlantic League in 2022. He turns thirty-five today. On the one hand, he hasn't had a good season since 2017. On the other hand, he's hit well at AAA and hasn't been given a real chance in the majors since then. He might be able to help a team if given the chance, but it seems very unlikely that he'll be given the chance.
Right-hander James Chandler Shepherd did not pitch for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2021. He was born in Ashland, Kentucky, went to high school in Louisa, Kentucky, attended the University of Kentucky, and was drafted by Boston in the thirteenth round in 2014. A reliever through his early minor league career, he did pretty well in the lower minors and reached AAA in 2016. He did pretty well there, too, in 2016, but not as well in 2017. He switched to starting in 2018 and has been okay in AAA, but nothing special. since. The Red Sox waived him in mid-May of 2019. He was claimed by the Cubs, but waived again that same day, this time claimed by Baltimore. He appeared in five games for the Orioles, starting three of them, and went 0-0, 6.63 with a 1.53 WHIP. Those are his major league numbers so far, as he has not yet made it back. He was released by Baltimore in September of 2020. The Twins signed him for 2021 and kept him in AAA for all season, where he went 9-6, 5.33, 1.55 WHIP in 104.2 innings. He is pitching in the Mexican League in 2022 and is not doing very well. He turns thirty today. We wish him well, but there's no real reason to think Chandler Shepherd will be in the majors again.
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