June 26

Topsy Hartsel (1874)

Babe Herman (1903)

Bill Perkins (1906)

Debs Garms (1907)

Willard Brown (1915)

Howie Pollet (1921)

Bill Robinson (1943)

Dave Rosello (1950)

Mike Myers (1963)

Rodney Myers (1969)

Derek Jeter (1974)

Jason Kendall (1974)

Outfielder Willard Brown was a star for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1935-1948.  He played briefly for the St. Louis Browns in 1947.

There do not appear to be any players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.  I haven't checked but I think this is the only time we have consecutive days with no Twins birthdays.

June 25

Joe Kuhel (1906)
Don Demeter (1935)
Dick Drago (1945)
Clay Kirby (1948)
Bob Shirley (1954)
Alejandro Pena (1959)
Mike Stanley (1963)
Aaron Sele (1970)
Michael Tucker (1971)
Carlos Delgado (1972)
Aramis Ramirez (1978)
Paul Maholm (1982)

First baseman Joe Kuhel played for the franchise for several years while it was in Washington and later managed the team there. However, there do not appear to be any players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.

June 24

Billy Nash (1865)
George Harper (1892)
Rollie Hemsley (1907)
Jim Mills (1919)
Wally Yonamine (1925)
Don Mincher (1938)
Ken Reitz (1951)
Doug Jones (1957)
Tom Klawitter (1958)
Doug Bernier (1980)
Phil Hughes (1986)

Jim Mills spent almost his entire adult life involved in baseball in the Carolinas.  He played college ball at North Carolina State, played minor league ball for nine seasons in the Carolinas, managed in Carolina minor leagues for six seasons, umpired in the Carolina League for two seasons, was in minor league front offices in the Carolinas from 1956-1971, and was president of the Carolina League for seven years.

Born in Hawaii, Wally Yonamine was a star in Japan from 1951-1962, stealing home eleven times.

First baseman Don Mincher played for the Twins from 1961-1966.  Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, he was signed by the White Sox as a free agent in 1956.  He had a very good minor league record, batting over .300 twice and hitting over 20 homers three times.  Just before the 1960 season, Mincher was traded to Washington with Earl Battey and $150,000 for Roy Sievers, a trade which worked very well for the soon-to-be Minnesota Twins.  Mincher was given the first base job for Washington in 1960, but did not hit well and was back in the minors by mid-May.  He was with the new Minnesota Twins in 1961, but again did not hit and was back in the minors in late May.  Mincher finally made the majors to stay in 1962, but as the Twins also had Vic Power and Harmon Killebrew, he had a hard time getting playing time.  He appeared in 86 games, but 61 of them were as a pinch-hitter, as he played the field in only 25 contests.  Given his role, he did pretty well, hitting .240 with 9 homers for an OPS of .894.  He got into the field more in 1963, but still only batted 225 times, posting an OPS of .871.  By 1964 Power was gone, but Sam Mele chose to give Bob Allison substantial playing time at first base.  Mincher did get 65 starts and hit 23 homers in 287 at-bats, recording an OPS of .847.  Finally, in 1965, he got semi-regular status, sharing first base with Harmon Killebrew (Killebrew shifted to third when Mincher played).  Mincher finally got almost regular playing time in 1966, at age 28, but after the season was traded to California with Pete Cimino and Jimmie Hall for Dean Chance and a player to be named later (Jackie Hernandez).  He had a very good year for the Angels in 1967, hitting .273 (which was very good for 1967) with 25 homers and making his first all-star team.  He slumped in 1968, however, and was left unprotected in the expansion draft.  Seattle chose him, and he was easily their best offensive player, hitting 25 homers, again posting an OPS over .800, and making his second all-star team.  He was traded to Oakland after the season and had another solid year, but was again traded in May of 1971, this time to Washington.  He hit fewer homers as a Senator but had the highest batting average of his career, .291, and again had an OPS over .800.  That was his last good year; he got off to a poor start when the team moved to Texas in 1972, was traded to Oakland in July, and ended his career as he had started it, as a pinch-hitter.  As a Twin, Don Mincher hit .244/.340/.479.  There were reasons he didn’t play more, but one wonders what sort of numbers he might have posted if he had been given regular playing time in his mid-twenties.  Don Mincher remained in baseball after his playing career ended.  He became general manager and part-owner of the Huntsville Stars in the Southern League, holding those titles from 1994-2001.  At that point, he became president of the Southern League, a position he held until his death.  He was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.  Don Mincher passed away in Huntsville, Alabama on March 4, 2012.

Left-hander Tom Klawitter appeared in seven games for the Twins in 1985.  He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and attended Wisconsin-La Crosse.  Klawitter was drafted by the Dodgers in the nineteenth round in 1980.  He struggled in the Dodgers’ system, reaching AA in 1982 but never posting an ERA under four.  The Dodgers released him in May of 1983.  Minnesota picked him up and sent him to Class A Wisconsin Rapids, where he pitched fairly well the rest of the season.  Promoted to AAA for 1984, Klawitter continued to do fairly well, going 10-6, 3.59 with a 1.35 WHIP.  He made the Twins out of spring training in 1985; manager Billy Gardner would make a claw gesture to the bullpen when he wanted Klawitter in the game.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for very long, as his control, which had always been shaky, pretty much deserted him.  Klawitter made five relief appearances and two starts for the Twins.  He gave up seven runs on seven hits and thirteen walks in 9.1 innings.  The record is not clear about what happened to him after mid-May of 1985; Klawitter was no longer with the Twins, but he does not appear to have gone to the minors, either.  At any rate, he made six appearances for AA Knoxville in 1986, and then his playing career was over.  Tom Klawitter was a high school girls basketball coach in Janesville, Wisconsin for many years, winning three state championships and being named state coach of the year in 1993.  He retired in 2015 to become an assistant baseball coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater, a position he continues to hold.

Infielder Douglas Paul Bernier has played briefly for the Twins in 2013, 2014, and 2015.  Born and raised in Santa Maria, California, he attended Oral Roberts University and was signed by Colorado as a free agent in 2002.  He spent two years in high-A and two years in AA before getting to AAA Colorado Springs in 2007.  He had a couple of solid seasons there, but considering that it's Colorado Springs, his numbers were not all that impressive.  He appeared in two games for the Rockies in the middle of June, one as a defensive replacement and one as a starter, and went 0-for-4.  He then bounced around AAA for a while.  He became a free agent after the 2008 season and signed with the Yankees.  He had a poor year in 2009, moved to the Pittsburgh organization in 2010, continued to not hit much, moved back to the Yankees organization from 2011-2012, and signed with Minnesota for 2013.   He got called up to the majors in late July, batting .226/.339/.283 in 53 at-bats as a Twin.  He got a September call-up in 2014 and went 2-for-7 in seven games.  He was back in the majors briefly in 2015 also, going 1-for-5 in four games.  As a Twin, therefore, he hit .231/.351/.292 in 65 at-bats.  He became a free agent after the 2015 season and signed with Texas.  He was in AAA for two seasons, doing fairly well in 2016 but not as well in 2017.  He became a free agent after that season and did not sign with anyone, bringing his playing career to an end.  He has founded Pro Baseball Insider, a website which provides instructional articles and videos on how to play baseball.

Right-hander Philip Joseph Hughes is in his first season as a Twin.  He was born in Mission Viejo, California, went to high school in Santa Ana, California, and was drafted by the Yankees in the first round in 2004.  He pitched very well throughout his minor league career, never posting a WHIP above 1.00, and reached the majors in 2007, making a couple of starts early in the season and coming up for good in August.  He was injured much of 2008 and when he came back in 2009 he found himself in the bullpen, as the Yankees preferred giving starts to Joba Chamberlain, Sergio Mitre, and Chien-Ming Wang.  He had an excellent year as a reliever and returned to the rotation in 2010, when he won 18 games and made the all-star team.  He again had injury troubles in 2011 but came back to pitch well in 2012.  He had what was easily the worst year of his career to that point in 2013 and the Yankees let him become a free agent.  He signed with Minnesota and had the best year as a starter he ever had, going 16-10, 3.52 and finishing seventh in the Cy Young balloting.  He didn't match that in 2015, but he was still fairly decent.  Since then, however, he has battled injuries and has been ineffective when he has pitched.  The Twins finally gave up on him in late May of 2018, trading him to San Diego for Janigson Villalobos.  He made seven appearances for the Padres, went back on the disabled list, made nine more appearances for them, and was released in mid-August.  He did not signed with anyone and his playing career came to an end, although he did not actually announce his retirement until January of 2021.  As a Twin, he was 32-29, 4.43, 1.29 WHIP in 489.2 innings.  He could have pitched several more years if he could have stayed healthy, but sadly that was not the case.  He appears to be quite active on twitter, but a very quick review of his twitter page did not reveal what Phil Hughes may be doing these days, although it did reveal that he's gotten into baseball card collecting and has a youtube channel which focuses on it.  It appears that he is living in Laguna Beach, California.

June 23

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

George Weiss (1894)
Jack Smith (1895)
Karl Spooner (1931)
Dave Bristol (1933)
Tom Haller (1937)
Dave Goltz (1949)
Marty Barrett (1958)
Jim Deshaies (1960)
Hensley Meulens (1967)
Josh Byrnes (1970)
Mark Hendrickson (1974)

George Weiss was the general manager of the New York Yankees from 1948-1960.

Karl Spooner set the record, later tied by J. R. Richard, for strikeouts in a major league debut with fifteen.

Dave Bristol managed four different teams from 1966-1980.

Josh Byrnes has been the general manager of Arizona and San Diego and is currently the senior vice president of baseball operations for the Dodgers.

Right-hander Dave Goltz pitched for the Twins through most of the 1970s.  He was born in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, went to high school in Rothsay, Minnesota.  He was a four-sport star, playing basketball, football, and participating in track as well as playing baseball (he was all state in both basketball and baseball).  Goltz was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1967.  He had two very good years in the low minors, then missed all of the 1969 season due to military service and made only two appearances in 1970 due to injuries.  He came back to have a fine 1971 campaign and was doing fairly well in AAA in 1972 when he was called up to Minnesota in mid-July to replace an injured Jim Kaat.  He pitched extremely well the rest of the way, going 3-3, 2.67 with a WHIP of 1.10 and an ERA+ of 121.  The Twins moved him to the bullpen for 1973, however, and he did not flourish in the role.  He was moved back to the rotation in late July and was extremely inconsistent, mixing brilliant outings with horrible ones.  The next year, he was in the rotation from the beginning, and had the first of five consecutive very good seasons for the Twins.  His best years were 1977-1978, when he went a combined 35-21, 2.99 with a WHIP of 1.24 in 523.1 innings (303 of which came in 1977, when he won 20 games and finished sixth in Cy Young voting).  He had double-digit complete games in each of those five seasons, with a high of nineteen in 1977.  He started to slip in 1979 and the Twins allowed him to become a free agent.  It turned out to be a good decision, as he never had as good a season again.  Goltz had a poor year in 1980, went to the bullpen in 1981, and when he was no better at the start of 1982 he was released in late April.  California signed him in late May and he did somewhat better, but he did nothing in 1983 and was released again in early July, ending his playing career.  He won twenty games once, got a World Series ring (with the Dodgers in 1981), and set one record, although not a good one.  Dave Goltz holds the record for most runs allowed while getting a save, giving up eight runs while getting a three-inning save against Cleveland on June 6, 1973.  Gene Mauch once was quoted as saying Goltz was the best starting pitcher he had ever managed.  As a Twin, Dave Goltz was 96-79, 3.48 with a 1.31 WHIP.  He appeared in 247 games, 215 of them starts, and worked 1,638 innings.  After retirement, Goltz returned to Minnesota.  He is currently an insurance agent, with offices in Fergus Falls and Rothsay, Minnesota.  He also was the baseball coach for Fergus Falls Community College for two years.

Left-hander Jim Deshaies was with the Twins for most of 1993 and all of 1994.  Born and raised in Massena, New York, he attended LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, one of six major league players that school has produced.  He was drafted by the Yankees in the twenty-first round in 1982.  He put up some really good numbers in the Yankees’ system, reaching AAA by 1984.  He also made his major league debut that year, making two starts for the Yankees in August.  He did not have a good year in AAA in 1985, however, and was traded to Houston in mid-September as part of a deal for Joe Niekro.  It was a good move for Deshaies, as he was immediately placed in the Astros rotation and stayed there for six years.  He was pretty good for five of those years; the best was 1989, when he went 15-10, 2.91 with a WHIP of 1.15.  He pitched poorly in 1991, however, and when contract expired he was allowed to become a free agent.  He signed with Oakland, but was released in spring training of 1992.  San Diego signed him in late April, sent him to AAA, and brought him to the majors in early July, place him in their starting rotation.  He bounced back pretty well, but was a free agent after the season, signing with Minnesota.  He did okay in 1993, not great but not terrible.  The Twins fell out of the race, however, and in late August Deshaies was traded to San Francisco for Andres Duncan, Aaron Fultz, and a player to be named later (Greg Brummett).  Deshaies was a free agent after the season and returned to Minnesota for 1994.  He was much worse in his second go-round with the Twins, leading the league both in home runs allowed and in earned runs allowed.  As a Twin, he was 17-25, 5.71 with a WHIP of 1.46.  He appeared in 52 games, all of them starts, and pitched 297.2 innings.  He became a free agent again and signed with Philadelphia for 1995.  He did well in AAA, but flopped in two starts with the Phillies and was released in late July, ending his playing career.  In 1986, he struck out the first eight batters of the game, setting a modern-day record.  He also holds the record for most at-bats without an extra-base hit.  Jim Deshaies was a  television broadcaster for the Houston Astros from 1997-2012 and is currently a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs.

June 22

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Steel Arm Davis (1896)

Carl Hubbell (1903)

Walt Masterson (1920)

Han Urbanus (1927)

Faye Throneberry (1931)

Russ Snyder (1934)

Ron Hodges (1949)

Dave Tomlin (1949)

Greg Booker (1960)

Brant Brown (1971)

Esteban Yan (1975)

Willie Harris (1978)

Luis Maza (1980)

Ian Kinsler (1982)

Engelb Vielma (1994)

Han Urbanus is in the Dutch Baseball Hall of Fame.  He pitched over 150 consecutive complete games over a period of eight years.

The brother of Marv Throneberry, outfielder Faye Throneberry spent much of his career with the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington (1957-1960).  In December of 1960, he was chosen by the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft.

Right-handed reliever Gregory Scott Booker appeared in six games for the Twins in 1989.  The son-in-law of Jack McKeon, he was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, went to high school in Burlington, North Carolina, and then attended Elon University in Elon, North Carolina (a school also attended by Dick Such).  He was drafted by San Diego in the tenth round in 1981.  Mostly a starter in the minors, he did not have very good numbers there at all, although much of his time was spent in hitter-friendly Las Vegas in the PCL.  Despite never posting a minor league ERA under 5.25 or a WHIP under 1.6, Booker got a September call-up in 1983.  He went back-and-forth between San Diego and Las Vegas from 1984-1986.  He was almost exclusively a reliever in the majors, making only four career starts.  His major league numbers are substantially better than his minor league totals, although it should be noted that Booker never pitched as many as seventy innings in a major league season.  His only two full seasons in the majors were 1987-1988, and he pitched pretty well in those years, posting ERAs in the low threes and WHIPs around 1.35.  He did not pitch as well in 1989, was sent back to AAA in June.  In late June, his father-in-law traded him to Minnesota for Fred Toliver.  Most of his time with the Twins was in AAA, but he came up to the majors in September.  He appeared in six games and pitched 8.2 innings.  Had no record, giving up four runs on eleven hits for a 4.15 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.  The Twins allowed him to become a free agent and he signed with the Cubs, but he was released at the end of spring training.  He signed with the Giants for 1990 and was in AAA most of the year, playing in two major league games in late May.  That was the end of his playing career.  He stayed in professional baseball, coaching in the Indians and Rockies organizations, and was the major league pitching coach for San Diego from 1997-2003.  He was the pitching coach of the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League from 2010-2013.  He then became a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  His son, Zach Booker, played in the minors from 2007-2011.  Sadly, Greg Booker passed away from melanoma on March 30, 2019.

Infielder Luis Alberto Maza did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for several years.  Born and raised in Cumana, Venezuela, he signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1997.  Partly due to his age, Maza was in the low minors for several years, not reaching AA until 2004.  He hit .311 there that year and was promoted to AAA in 2005.  He had a bad year in Rochester in 2006, hitting only .207, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with the Dodgers, played very well in the minors, and reached the majors in mid-May of 2008, staying for two months.  He hit only .228, however, and so far this has been Maza’s only time in the majors.  He hit .378 in Albuquerque that year, and followed it up with a .300 season last year.  When he did not get a call back to the big leagues, Maza again became a free agent, this time signing with Philadelphia.  He moved on to Houston in late June, but was released in early August.  He signed with Grosseto in the Italian Baseball League for 2011 and played for Rimini in that same league in 2012.  He did not play anywhere during the regular 2013 or 2014 seasons but he continued to play winter ball in Venezuela through the winter of 2015-16.  At last report, Luis Maza was a coach for the Tigers de Aragua in the Dominican League.  His son, Luis Maza, Jr., plays for the DSL Cubs in the Dominican Summer League.

Infielder Engelb Stalin Vielma did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2012-2017.  He was born in Maraciabo, Venezuela and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in September of 2011.  He rose through the Twins system at a steady pace, playing in the DSL in 2012, the GCL and the Appalachian League in 2013, Class A in 2014, high-A in 2015, and AA in 2016.  He started 2017 in AA but went to AAA about at third of the way through the season.  He apparently was considered a superior fielder, because he has never posted an OPS of .700 or better at any level.  His best mark was .690 in that third of a season in AA Chattanooga in 2017.  His highest batting average was .286 in that same third of a season--for a full season his highest is .271 in 2016.  The Twins waived him in September of 2017, which started an interesting off-season for him.  The Giants selected him, but waived him in November.  He was selected by Philadelphia, who waived him in December.  He selected by Pittsburgh, who waived him in January.  A week later, he was traded to Baltimore for a player to be named later or cash.  He started the season with the Orioles but played sparingly, appearing in just six games and batting only seven times (1-for-7 with a single and a walk).  He missed most of the rest of the season due to injury, appearing in just twelve minor league games.  In 2019 he appeared in 40 games, mostly for AAA Norfolk, but did not hit.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign with anyone,

June 21

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Matt Kilroy (1866)

Randy Moore (1906)

Harold Seymour (1910)

Ed Lopat (1918)

Merle Harmon (1926)

Jackie Collum (1927)

Charlie Moore (1953)

Rick Sutcliffe (1956)

Jay Pettibone (1957)

Donovan Osborne (1969)

Garrett Jones (1981)

Jeff Baker (1981)

Sam Clay (1993)

Harold Seymour wrote a three-part History of Baseball, published from 1960-1990.

Merle Harmon broadcast Minnesota Twins games from 1967-1969.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to MagUidhir, Sheenie, and UncleWalt’s daughter.

June 20

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Ned Cuthbert (1845)

Jim Delahanty (1879)

Cum Posey (1890)

Namon Washington (1894)

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)

Ronny Henriquez (2000)

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.  He was the director of operations for the Tijuana Toros in the Mexican League in 2017, and was manager of the Aguilas de Mexicali in the Mexican Pacific League in 2018.  He was named manager of Team Mexico in the WSBC Premier12 tournament in 2019.  He became the Philadelphia Phillies' infield coach from 2020-2021.  He managed Diablos in the Mexican League in 2022, but was let go fifteen games into the 2023 season.  No information about what he has done since then was readily available.

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 from 2017-2018, although not as well as he had done in Kansas City.   He was traded to Oakland just before the 2019 season, then was traded to the Yankees in mid-May.  He did not hit for either team and was released by the Yankees in early July.  He announced his retirement in February of 2020.  As a Twin, he hit .234/.259/.325 in 154 at-bats.  For his career, he hit .265/.327/.453.  At last report, Kendrys Morales was raising animals and spending time with his family in Davie, Florida.

Left-hander Adalberto Mejia pitched in the Twins' organization since 2016.  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.  He spent most of 2018 in Rochester but made sporadic appearances with the Twins and did well in the limited chances he got.  He was with the Twins for the first month of the 2019 season and had terrible numbers, then missed time due to injury.  The Twins waived him in July.  He was claimed by the Angels, waived again ten days later, claimed by St. Louis, was waived again about ten days after that, and was claimed by the Angels again.  He signed with the White Sox for 2020 but was released in August.  He signed with the Fubon Guardians in Taiwan for 2021 but appeared in just four games.  He then played in two games in winter ball in the Dominican League.  That brought his playing career to an end.  As a Twin he was 6-0, 4.63, 1.55 WHIP in 138 innings.  He appeared in 40 games, starting 25 of them.  He turns twenty-nine today.  Our guess is that his playing career is over, and we wish him well in the next phase of his life.

Right-handed reliever Ronny Henriquez appeared in three games for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Bonao, Dominican Republic, and signed with Texas in 2017.  He did quite well in rookie ball in 2018, but struggled the next year when promoted to Class A.  Following the COVID year of 2020 he pitched five games of high-A and then went to AA, where he again struggled.  The Rangers traded him to Minnesota in March of 2022 with Isiah Kiner-Falefa for Mitch Garver.  Henriquez had a poor year in AAA in 2022, despite which he got a September call up and did well in three appearances, going 0-1, 2.31, 0.94 WHIP with 9 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.  He was doing very badly in AAA in 2023 and was dropped all the way to Class A, where he has still not pitched well in two appearances.  He strikes out a lot of guys (10.5 per nine in the minors) and didn't walk a lot until this year, when he's walked eight per nine innings.  That leads one to assume that either he's hiding an injury or his mechanics are all messed up.  He turns twenty-three today, so he still has time to figure it out.  We hope he will.

June 19

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Eddie Cicotte (1884)
Lou Gehrig (1903)
Bill Swift (1908)
Don Gutteridge (1912)
Archie Ware (1918)
Mom A (1925)
Chet Boak (1935)
Bob Aspromonte (1938)
Isao Harimoto (1940)
Jerry Reuss (1949)
Duane Kuiper (1950)
Jim Slaton (1950)
Johnnie LeMaster (1954)
Doug Mientkiewicz (1974)
Alex Prieto (1976)
Dustan Mohr (1976)
Bruce Chen (1977)
Blake Parker (1985)
Collin McHugh (1987)
Jacob de Grom (1988)
Austin Brice (1992)
Casey Legumina (1997)

Archie Ware was a star first baseman in the Negro Leagues.

Infielder Chet Boak played for the Twins’ AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, in 1961, but does not appear to have actually been a part of the Twins’ organization, as records show him belonging to the expansion Washington Senators. One assumes he was loaned to the Twins’ for part of that season.

Isao Harimoto is the only person to have 3,000 hits in Japanese baseball.

Mom A would have been ninety-nine today. She was never a big baseball fan (she felt I'd had a good game if she didn't have to wash my uniform, which unfortunately happened quite a bit because I sat on the bench a lot), but she came to every game and often worked in the cramped little concession stand even on the hottest days.  The federal government has made her birthday a national holiday, and she certainly deserves the honor.

First baseman Douglas Andrew Mientkiewicz played for the Twins in all or part of seven seasons. He was born in Toledo, went to high school in Miami, and attended Florida State. He then was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1995. He started slowly but had a big year in New Britain in 1998, batting .323 with 16 home runs. That resulted in a September call-up, and in 1999 he started the season as the Twins’ regular first baseman, startling people who had expected David Ortiz to get the job. He hit well in April but did not do much after that, gradually losing playing time to Ron Coomer. In 2000 he had another big year in the minors, hitting .334 with 18 homers in Salt Lake and getting another September call-up. He also played on the gold medal U. S. Olympic team that year. He regained the regular first base job with the Twins in 2001 and held it through July of 2004. His best year as a Twin was 2001, when he hit .306 with 15 homers and finished fourteenth in MVP voting. He also won the Gold Glove that year, which despite his reputation as a tremendous defensive player was the only time he ever won that award. He had a bad year in 2004 and was traded to Boston at the end of July in a four-team traded that netted the Twins Justin Jones from the Cubs (Orlando Cabrera was also involved in the trade). He was a part-time first baseman for the Red Sox the rest of the season, winning a World Championship ring. He then started bouncing around, playing for the Mets in 2005, Kansas City in 2006, the Yankees in 2007, and Pittsburgh in 2008. For most of those years, he was basically what he had been, a good defensive first baseman who hit for a decent average, drew some walks, and had moderate power. Mientkiewicz signed with the Dodgers for 2009 but was injured much of the season. The Dodgers released him at the end of 2010 spring training and he went unsigned until early May, when he hooked on with the Marlins. He was in AAA for about two weeks, but opted out of his contract after playing in only four games. As a Twin, he hit .275/.367/.408 in 2,147 at-bats. Doug Mientkiewicz eventually went into coaching, and managed in the Twins organization from 2013-2017.  He was last the manager of the Toledo Mud Hens, AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, but was let go after the 2019 season.  He worked as an analyst for ACC Network in the spring of 2020.  At last report, he was enjoying life in the Florida Keys and doing some volunteer coaching with his son's high school baseball team.

Infielder Alejandro Antonio Prieto appeared in 24 games for the Twins in 2003-2004. Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, he was signed as a free agent by Kansas City in 1992 at age 16. He was in the low levels of the minors for five seasons before getting a promotion to AA in 1998. Prieto had little power, but hit for a decent average and drew a decent number of walks. He was primarily a shortstop but saw some time at second and third and played a few games in the outfield. He did fairly well in his second year of AA in 1999, and so moved up to AAA for 2000. He did well his second year there, 2001, as well, but after that he became a minor league free agent and signed with Minnesota. He was a consistent batter for Rochester, neither particularly good nor particularly bad. Prieto got a couple of stints in the majors with the Twins, the only big league playing time he got. In 2003 he was with the Twins for about a month, going 1-for-11. In 2004 he was there for about five weeks, going 8-for-32. Put it all together, and you have a line of .209/.255/.302 in 43 at-bats. He became a free agent after the 2004 season and spent three more years in the minors. He signed with the Philadelphia organization for 2005, was traded to the Kansas City system in late April, stayed there for 2006, and moved on the Red Sox’ chain for 2007, playing in AAA there until his release in late August. He then played in the independent Atlantic League in 2008 and 2009. He played for four independent teams in 2010, then his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Alex Prieto was living in Florida.

Outfielder Dustan Kyle Mohr played for the Twins for two-plus years in the early part of the decade of the 2000s. Born and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, he attended the University of Alabama and was drafted by Cleveland in the ninth round in 1997. His minor league numbers were fairly good but not all that impressive, and the Indians released him in late March of 2000. The Twins signed him, and in 2001 he hit .336 with 24 homers for AA New Britain. That got people’s attention, and he was called up to the big leagues in late August of that season and stuck for a few years. He was a semi-regular outfielder for the Twins in 2002 and 2003, playing mostly in right. He mostly shared the position with Bobby Kielty. He was decent–Mohr finished eighth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2002. In mid-season of 2003, however, the Twins traded for Shannon Stewart, making Mohr expendable. He was traded after the season to San Francisco for a player to be named later (J. T. Thomas). As a Twin, he hit .258/.319/.408 in 782 at-bats. He hit well for the Giants in 2004 as a fourth outfielder, but was allowed to become a free agent and signed with Colorado. He was again a reserve outfielder, but hit only .214, and his big league career was nearing its close. He was with Boston and Detroit in 2006 and Tampa Bay in 2007, but was in the minors most of that time, getting only forty at-bats with the Red Sox and sixteen with the Devil Rays. He was with Colorado Springs in the Rockies organization for a month in 2008 then played for the independent Wichita Wingnuts the rest of 2008 and 2009. He played for the independent Long Island Ducks in 2010, then his career came to an end. At last report, Dustan Mohr had gone into the insurance business and was a regional vice president for One Resource Group in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area.  He was also the executive director of Strikezone Training Center, also in the Fort Wayne area.

Right-hander Richard Blake Parker played for the Twins for the first four months of the 2019 season.  Born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he attended the University of Arkansas and was drafted by the Cubs in the sixteenth round in 2006.  He has always been a reliever, never starting even one game in either the minors or the majors.  He pitched well in the minors and reached AAA in 2008, but then seemed to stall out.  He bounced between AA and AAA through 2011, not pitching badly but not really standing out, either.  He finally made his major league debut with seven games for the Cubs in 2012.  He was with the Cubs for the last four months of the season in 2013 and pitched very well, but spent 2014 bouncing back and forth between AA and the majors.  He was injured most of the 2015 season, became a free agent, and signed with Seattle for 2016.  He pitched well in AAA for them but made only one appearance in the majors before being waived in mid-August.  The Yankees claimed him and put him in their bullpen the rest of the season.  He was waived again after the season and claimed by the Angels, but the waived him prior to spring training and he was claimed by Milwaukee.  They waived him, still prior to spring training, and he was claimed by the Angels again.  He got his first full season in the majors in 2017, at age thirty-two, and he had two good years for the Angels, posting an ERA of 2.90 and a WHIP of 1.03.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 2019. He was been given a prominent bullpen role and justified it with his performance for the first two months of the season, but he struggled quite a bit after that and was released at the end of July.  He signed with Philadelphia but did not pitch particularly well for them, either.  He was a free agent but signed back with the Phillies for 2020 and came back to have a fine season for them.  A free agent again, he signed with Cleveland for 2021, started the season in AAA, but came back to the majors in June and again had a fine season.  He signed with St. Louis in late March of 2022 but did not pitch well in AAA and was released in early July.  That apparently brought his playing career to an end.   As a Twin he was 1-2, 10 saves, 4.21, 1.38 WHIP.   At last report, he had returned to Fayetteville and was hoping to get into coaching.

Right-handed reliever Austin Robert Brice has not played for the Twins, but is currently in their farm system.  He was born in Hong Kong and is the only player born in Hong Kong to have made the major leagues.  He went to high school in Pittsboro, North Carolina and was drafted by Florida in the ninth round in 2010.  He spent two seasons in rookie ball and three in Class A, but was still only twenty-three when he reached AA in 2015.  He had an excellent year in AA in 2016, made five appearances in AAA, and reached the majors in August.  He did quite well in his first thirteen appearances, but his last two were awful, making his season numbers look very bad.  He was traded to Cincinnati that off-season and spent two years in the Reds organization, splitting each season between AAA and the majors.  He was average at best in the majors and was waived after the 2018 season.  The Angels claimed him, but waived him in January of 2019 and he was claimed by Baltimore.  The Orioles waived him in February and he was re-claimed by the Marlins.  He actually had a pretty good season for them, but was traded to Boston after the season.  He pitched poorly in the COVID season of 2020 and split 2021 between AAA and the majors, pitching well in AAA and not well in Boston.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with Pittsburgh for 2022.  He spent most of the season in AAA and did not pitch well there.  He signed with Arizona for 2023, was released in mid-April, signed with the Twins on May 20, and has been in AAA since then.  not getting much accomplished there.  He turns thirty-one today.  In the majors, he is 4-4, 5.12 in 168.2 innings (144 games).  In AAA he is 10-8, 4.27 in 141.1 innings (113 games).  Given the pitchers the Twins have, it seems unlikely that he'll play in Minneapolis this year, but you never know.  As we've said before, as long as you're still playing, you still have a chance.

Right-hander Casey Davey Legumina did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for two seasons.  He was born in Dallas, went to high school in Chandler, Arizona, attended Gonzaga University, and was drafted by the Twins in the eighth round of 2019.  He did not play in the COVID season of 2020, so his first action in the Twins system was in 2021, when he pitched well in Fort Myers.  He had a poor year in AA in 2022, however, and was traded to Cincinnati after that season for Kyle Farmer.  He has been up and down between AAA and the majors in 2023.  He has made nine appearances in the majors so far and is 1-0, 4.22 with ten strikeouts in 10.2 innings.  If you take out one game in which he gave up three earned runs in 1.1 innings, his ERA drops to 1.93.  He turns twenty-six today.  His record isn't all that impressive, but there's something about him that makes us hopeful.  We wish him well.

June 18

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Charlie Ganzel (1862)

Russ Hodges (1910)

Roy Partlow (1912)

Ron Necciai (1932)

Lou Brock (1939)

Bill James (1949)

Andres Galarraga (1961)

Sandy Alomar (1966)

Felix Heredia (1975)

Tommy Watkins (1980)

Steve Cishek (1986)

Jason Castro (1987)

J. B. Shuck (1987)

Matt Moore (1989)

Tomas Telis (1991)

Russ Hodges was a baseball broadcaster from 1929-1970, most notably with the Giants.  He is most famous for his home run call on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1951.

Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in a nine inning game while playing for Bristol in the Appalachian League in 1952.

It may never happen, but Bill James belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Infielder Thomas Gray Watkins appeared in nine games for the Twins in 2007.  Born and raised in Fort Myers, he was drafted by Minnesota in the 38th round in 1998 and spent his entire career in the Twins’ organization.  You could say that he rose through the ranks rather slowly:  he was in rookie ball for three years, in Class A for three more years, in AA for two-plus years, and in AAA for three-plus years.  He was never a hitter, either for average or for power.  In three years of rookie ball he hit .240 with an OPS of .647; in three years at Class A he hit .244 with an OPS of .628; in AA his average was .246 and his OPS .671; and in AAA it was an average of .255 and an OPS of .689.  His main asset appears to have been the ability to play a variety of positions, as he logged time at shortstop, second base, third base, outfield, and even caught once and made three appearances as a pitcher.  Watkins’ best year was probably 2007, when he hit .272 with an OPS of .753 at AAA Rochester.  That was also the year he spent his only time in the majors, about two weeks in the month of August.  He made the most of it, going 10-for-28 for a line of .357/.438/.357.  He was always a very popular player in the minors; Rochester held a “Tommy Watkins Day” in 2009 when it became apparent that his playing career was coming to a close.  He started his coaching career at mid-season of 2010, working for the GCL Twins and the Ft. Myers Miracle.  He became the batting coach at Beloit in 2011 and followed the team to Cedar Rapids, staying there through 2015.  Tommy Watkins was the batting coach for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 2016, managed the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2017, was back in Chattanooga as the manager of the Lookouts in 2018, was the first base coach for the Twins from 2019-2021, and has the third base coach for the Twins since 2022.

Catcher Jason Michael Castro played for the Twins from 2017-2019.  Born and raised in Castro Valley, California, he attended Stanford and was drafted by Houston in the first round with the tenth pick in 2008.  He hit well in 2009 in a season split between high-A and AA.  He was having a decent but unspectacular season in AAA in 2010 when he was called up to the majors in mid-June.  He didn't hit, and really would not have been expected to, but presumably played good defense.  He missed the 2011 season due to knee surgery.  He did well in 2012 in a part-time role and became the regular catcher in 2013.  He had his best season so far that year, batting .276/.350/.485 with 18 home runs and making his first (and so far only) all-star team.  He has never come close to those numbers since, batting in the .220s or lower his next three seasons.  He became a free agent after the 2016 season and signed with Minnesota.  He did a little better at the plate in 2017, batting .242/.333/.388.  He was signed, however, to improve the Twins defense at the catcher position, and by all accounts he did so.  He was off to a poor start in 2018, then tore his meniscus in early May and was done for the season.  He came back for the Twins in 2019, sharing time at catcher with Mitch Garver.  He became a free agent after the 2019 season and signed with the Angels.  He did little for them, however, and was traded to San Diego in late August, for whom he did even less.  He signed back with Houston for 2021 and had a solid season in a reserve role.  He remained with the Astros in 2022 but did not hit at all, struggling to keep his batting average in triple digits.  He became a free agent after the season and did not sign with anyone, announcing his retirement in December of 2022.  As a Twin he batted .229/.325/.390, numbers that are right in line with his career numbers.  No information about what Jason Castro is doing this year was readily available.

Outfielder Jack Burnett Shuck did not play for the Twins, but was in AAA for them in 2017.  He was born in Westerville, Ohio, went to high school in Galion, Ohio, attended Ohio State, and was drafted by Houston in the sixth round in 2008.  He posted good averages and on-base percentages, but little power, through the minor leagues.  He reached the major leagues in August of 2011 and did pretty well, batting .272 with an on-base percentage of .359.  The Astros sent him back to AAA in 2012, and despite the fact that he batted .298 there and Houston had two regular outfielders with an OPS of below .600, they left Shuck in the minors all season.  He became a free agent after that season and signed with the Angels.  He was their regular left-fielder and did well, batting .293/.331/.366.  He struggled at the start of the 2014 season, went to AAA in early May, and was sold to Cleveland in September.  The White Sox signed him for 2015 and he did all right as a reserve outfielder.  He batted just .205 in 2016, however, and was again a free agent, signing with Minnesota for 2017.  He spent the season in Rochester and was not awful, but not good enough to justify coming to the majors.  He again became a free agent and signed with Miami for 2018.  He was in the majors for the first half of the season but got little accomplished there, batting just .192 before being sent back to AAA.  Again a free agent after the season, he signed with Pittsburgh for 2019 and spent the first month of the season in the majors, but again did not hit.  He hit fairly well in AAA, but after 2016 his major league average was .202, and there's not a lot of call for that.  The Pirates released him after the season.  He signed with Washington for 2020, but was released at the end of May, bringing his playing career to an end.  He is the brother-in-law of pitcher Mark Melancon. No information about what J. B. Shuck is currently doing was readily available.

Catcher Tomas Telis did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system from 2019-2021.  He was born in El Tigre, Venezuela, and signed as a free agent with Texas in 2008.  He hit well in the low minors.  As he moved up he mixed in some good years with some mediocre ones, but the mediocre years tended to be when he was young for his league.  He made his major league debut with the Rangers in late August of 2014, batting .250 but with an OPS of just .551.  He spent most of 2015 in AAA, getting just six games with Texas in late July, but then was traded to Miami, for whom he was the reserve catcher most of the rest of the season.  He was with the Marlins through 2018, bouncing back-and-forth between AAA and the majors.  He got the most major league playing time in 2017, when he batted .240/.279/.346 in 111 plate appearances.  He became a free agent after the 2018 season and signed with the Twins, who sent him to AAA.  He had an excellent season with Rochester in 2019, batting .330/.364/.490.   There was no minor league season in 2020, and while he could not match his 2019 numbers in 2021, he had a very solid AAA season.  He did not get a call to the majors, however, and became a free agent after the season, sighing with the Dodgers.  He was in AAA for them, too, and did well, but did not get a call-up to the majors.  He is playing in the Mexican League in 2023 and having a very good season.  He turns thirty-two today.  He probably won't be in the majors again, but he can probably play somewhere for a few more years if he wants to, and from all appearances, he wants to.

June 17

Pete Browning (1861)

Joe Bowman (1910)

Ray Scott (1919)

Dave Concepcion (1948)

Joe Charboneau (1955)

Tom Drees (1963)

Manny Lee (1965)

Mike Magnante (1965)

Matt Barnes (1990)

Andrew Chafin (1990)

Ray Scott broadcast Minnesota Twins games from 1961-1966 and 1973-1975.

Outfielder Joe Charboneau was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round of the January draft in 1976, but did not sign.

We would like to wish a very happy anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. texastwinsfan, a very happy birthday to Mrs. MagUidhir, and a very happy birthday to nibbish's newbish.

Lefthander Thomas Kent Drees did not play for the Twins, but was at AAA for them in 1993.  He was born in Des Moines, went to high school in Edina, Minnesota, attended Creighton University, and was drafted by the White Sox in the seventeenth round in 1985.  He did really well in the Gulf Coast League that year, walked far too many batters in Class A in 1986, but then settled in to have some solid minor league seasons.  He went 12-11, 3.37, 1.27 WHIP at AAA Vancouver in 1989.  He threw three no-hitters that season, two of them consecutive (one a seven-inning game as part of a doubleheader), and appeared ready for the majors.  The White Sox had a pretty good rotation in 1990, though, and Drees was sent back to AAA.  He did not do as well, and apparently missed about half the season due to injury.  Again at Vancouver in 1991, he went 8-8, 3.52, 1.34 WHIP and got a September call-up.  It did not go well for him.  He made four appearances, all in relief, and posted an ERA of 12.27 with a WHIP of 2.18.  Two of his appearances were against the Twins, who scored six runs off him in a total of one inning.  Unfortunately for Drees, he never made it back to the majors.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with Texas for 1992.  He pitched poorly in AAA, moved on to the Seattle organization, and continued to pitch poorly.  He moved on to the Twins organization for 1993 and went to AAA Portland.  He was 15-10, which sounds good, but he had an ERA of 6.22 and a WHIP of 1.60.  At some point he developed a problem with his hip, which may be the reason his AAA pitching took such a nosedive.  1993 was the end of the line for him as a professional baseball player.  He became a stockbroker and appears to be successful at it.  At last report, Tom Drees was living in Eden Prairie, Minnesota and was the managing director of the Morgan Stanley office in Bloomington.

June 16

Pete Coscarart (1913)

Max Surkont (1922)

Ernie Johnson (1924)

Richard Jacobs (1925)

Bob Miller (1926)

Ken Johnson (1933)

Joe Decker (1947)

Ron LeFlore (1948)

Salome Barojas (1957)

Wally Joyner (1962)

Calvin Schiraldi (1962)

Kevin Young (1969)

Chris Gomez (1971)

Kerry Wood (1977)

Joe Saunders (1981)

Jonathan Broxton (1984)

Justin Haley (1991)

Zack Weiss (1992)

Ian Hamilton (1995)

Richard Jacobs was the owner of the Cleveland Indians from 1986-2000.

The Bob Miller born today, although a pitcher, is not the Bob Miller who pitched for the Twins.

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to texastwinsfan.

Right-hander George Henry ”Joe” Decker played for the Twins for four years in the mid-1970s.  He was born in Storm Lake, Iowa, went to high school in Petaluma, California, and was drafted by the Cubs in the ninth round in 1965.  He took a while to get started, pitching one year in rookie ball and two at Class A.  His first good season in the minors came in 1968, a season split between A and AAA.  He followed that up with a good year at AAA Tacoma, making his major league debut as a September call-up in 1969.  He was with the Cubs for much of the next two years, sometimes starting, sometimes relieving, but not pitching particularly well in either role.  Decker returned to the minors for most of 1972 and after the season was traded to Minnesota with Bob Maneely and Bill Hands for Dave LaRoche.  He was in the Twins’ starting rotation the next two years and pitched pretty well, winning 16 games in 1974 with a 3.29 ERA.  He pitched 248.2 innings, however, by far the most of his career.  After that he struggled with injuries and was never an effective pitcher again.  The Twins released him in June of 1976 and he signed with Detroit, finishing the year at AAA.  He signed with the Cubs for 1977, was released on Independence Day, and finished the season in the Mexican League.  Decker signed with Seattle for 1978 and had a couple of decent years in AAA, making it back to the majors for about six weeks in 1979.  He was apparently out of baseball in 1980-1981, then attempted a comeback in 1982, pitching in AAA for Seattle for two more seasons before ending his playing career after the 1983 campaign.  As a Twin, Joe Decker was 29-34, 4.09.  He pitched in 89 games, 80 of them starts, and worked 503.1 innings.  He continued to enjoy playing baseball, and pitched in the Seniors League in 1989-1990.  He moved to Fraser, Michigan, where he passed away on March 2, 2003 following a fall down stairs.  He is buried in his original home town of Storm Lake, Iowa.

Infielder Christopher Cory Gomez played for the Twins in 2003.  He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Lakewood, California, and attended Cal State–Long Beach.  He was drafted by Detroit in the third round in 1992.  He did not hit particularly well in the minors, but made the big leagues in mid-July of 1993.  In 1994 he hit .257 with 8 homers as a part-time middle infielder, which was good enough for fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.  He stayed with the Tigers in a mostly regular middle infield role until June of 1996, when Gomez was traded to San Diego.  He was immediately installed as the regular shortstop for the Padres, a position he held through 1998.  He was not particularly good, but he hit around .260 and so was considered good enough to keep the job.  In 1999, however, Gomez started dealing with injuries, and was out much of the 2000 season.  He batted poorly in 2001 and was released in late June.  Tampa Bay signed him and he bounced back, hitting .302 the rest of the way.  He went back to his typical .265 in 2002 and was released after the season.  Minnesota signed him and he played in 58 games as a utility infielder.  His line was .251/.279/.354 in 175 at-bats.  Gomez moved on to Toronto for 2004 and had a good year, for him, batting .282 as a part-time player.  He went to Baltimore in 2005 and went on to have the best years of his career.  His playing time was limited, but as an Oriole for nearly three seasons Gomez hit .302 in 520 at-bats.  Despite that, the Orioles put him on waivers, and he was selected by Cleveland in early August.  Gomez played for Pittsburgh in 2008, hitting .273, and then became a free agent again.  He signed with Baltimore again for 2009, but was released at the end of spring training and his playing career was over.  His career covered 16 seasons, which is not bad for a guy with a lifetime OPS of .685.  At last report, Chris Gomez was the baseball coach at Pacifica Christian High School in Orange County, California.

Right-hander Justin Case Haley pitched in ten games for the Twins in 2017.  He was born in Sacramento, went to high school in Fair Oaks, California, attended Sierra College and Cal State-Fresno, and was drafted by Boston in the sixth round in 2012.  He reached AA in 2014, making six excellent starts.  He struggled in a full season of AA in 2015, but he pitched well in the Arizona Fall League, was dominant in AA in 2016 and was still pretty good when promoted to AAA that season.  He was left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft after the season and was chosen by the Angels.  He was immediately sold to San Diego, then traded to Minnesota for Miguel Diaz, who had been drafted by the Twins in the same Rule 5 draft.  He started the season with Minnesota and did okay in a groundskeeper role.  He developed problems with his shoulder at the end of April, went on the disabled list, was probably brought back too quickly, went back on the disabled list.  The Twins returned him to Boston in July, and he came back to make seven strong starts for Pawtucket.  In 18 innings as a Twin, he had an ERA of 6.00 and a WHIP of 1.56.  If you throw out one terrible outing on May 7, however, his ERA is 4.08 and his WHIP is 1.30, numbers which aren't bad at all.  He spent most of 2018 in AAA, appearing in four games for the Red Sox in June.  He became a free agent after the season and went to Korea for 2019.  He didn't do all that well there, but still got signed by San Francisco, for whom he pitched in AAA in August.  He was released at the end of August and his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Justin Haley was a realtor with Fruh Realty in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Right-hander Zachary D. Weiss did not pitch for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2019 and is back in 2024.  Born and raised in Irvine, California, he attended UCLA and was drafted by Cincinnati in the sixth round in 2013.  He was a relief pitcher in college and has remained one throughout his minor league career.  He did really well in AA in 2015 but then missed all of 2016, presumably due to injury.  He came back in 2017 to again have a fine year in AA.  In 2018, he made one appearance in the majors with the Reds on April 12, and it did not go well.  He faced four batters, giving up two walks and two home runs,  He was charged with four runs and had an ERA of infinity.  That remains his career major league ERA, as he spent most of the season back in AA.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota but pitched poorly both in AAA and AA and was released in mid-July, finishing the season in the Atlantic League.  He signed with Cleveland for 2020 but was released in late May (before the season) and returned to the Atlantic League.  He started 2021 in independent ball, but was signed by Seattle in late May and went to AAA, where he was not awful but was not very good, either.  Still, he signed with the Angels for 2022 and was again in AAA.  He again wasn't very good there, but he got a September call-up anyway and did surprisingly well, going 0-1, 3.38, 1.05 WHIP with 18 strikeouts in 13.1 innings.  He remained with the Angels in 2023 and made six appearances in the majors, but mostly been pitched poorly in AAA until he was waived in August.  He was claimed by Boston, and despite pitching poorly in AAA he got a September call-up and actually did pretty well in six games.  He was waived again and was claimed by the Twins in February of 2024 but was placed on the injured list in March and has not yet returned from it.  He turns thirty-two today.  He at least got his ERA below infinity:  he is 1-1, 4.61, 1.21 WHIP in 27.1 major league innings (25 games).  In AAA he is 8-10, 5.36, 1.59 WHIP in 152.2 innings (124 games).  His first priority is to get healthy, and his second is to show that he can actually pitch in the major leagues.  We wish him well.

Right-hander Ian Francis Hamilton appeared in one game for the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Dover, New Hampshire, went to high school in Vancouver, Washington, attended Washington State, and was drafted by the White Sox in the eleventh round in 2016.  A reliever throughout his professional career, he did very well in the minors through 2018, when he split the season between AA and AAA.  He reached the majors at the end of August in 2018 and did not do badly, going 1-2, 4.50 with a WHIP of 1.00 in eight innings.  He struggled through an injury-plagued 2019 season, pitching poorly in the sixteen games he was able to pitch.  He appeared in four games with the White Sox in 2020 but was waived in late September.  Seattle claimed him but waived him again in early December.  Philadelphia claimed him but waived him in February of 2021.  The Twins signed him and sent him to St. Paul, for whom he was not terrible, but not particularly good, either.  He pitched well in AAA in 2022, going 2-3, 1.88, 0.84 WHIP in 28.2 innings (23 games).  The Twins called him up in early June and he made one appearance against Toronto, pitching 2.2 innings and giving up two runs on a two-run homer by Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.  The Twins traded him to Cleveland for Sandy Leon in early August, and he spent the rest of the year in AAA with them.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Yankees, for whom he had an excellent year:  3-2, 2 saves, 2.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP.   He does not appear to be repeating that in 2024, but hasn't been bad, either. He turns thirty today.   I'm skeptical that he'll return to 2023 form, but he doesn't have to do that to be a useful major league reliever.  Sometimes it just takes guys a while to figure things out.

June 15

Connie Rector (1892)

Babe Dahlgren (1912)

Bernice Gera (1931)

Mario Cuomo (1932)

Billy Williams (1938)

Ty Cline (1939)

Bruce Dal Canton (1941)

Ken Henderson (1946)

Champ Summers (1946)

Dusty Baker (1949)

Lance Parrish (1956)

Brett Butler (1957)

Wade Boggs (1958)

Tony Clark (1972)

Ramiro Mendoza (1972)

Andy Pettitte (1972)

Zach Day (1978)

Eric Kratz (1980)

Jeremy Reed (1981)

Tim Lincecum (1984)

Cliff Pennington (1984)

Mike Fiers (1985)

Trevor Plouffe (1986)

Eduardo Nunez (1987)

Jake Locker (1988)

Travis Jankowski (1991)

Bernice Gera was the first female umpire in Organized Baseball, umpiring one game in the New York-Penn League in 1972.

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo was an outfielder for the Brunswick Pirates of the Georgia-Florida League in 1952.

Quarterback Jake Locker was drafted by the Angels as an outfielder in the tenth round in 2009.  He signed a contract with them, but never played a game of professional baseball.

Right-hander Stephen Zachary Day did not pitch for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for about a month in 2008.  Born and raised in Cincinnati, he was drafted by the Yankees in the fifth round in 1996.  He advanced slowly, not getting out of A ball until 2000.  When he did, he was no longer in the Yankees’ system; he was traded to Cleveland in late June of 2000.  He reached AAA for the Indians in 2001, but after one game there he was traded to Montreal at the July deadline.  He made his major league debut with the Expos in 2002, spending about two and a half months with the team that year.  He was mostly used as a relief pitcher in 2002, but was in the starting rotation in 2003-2004.  He was decent in those years, not great but not terrible.  He moved to Washington with the team in 2005, but was traded to Colorado in July.  He spent time in the minors that year as well, and also split 2006 between AAA and the majors.  He was waived in late April of 2006 and went back to Washington.  He made five mediocre starts with the Nationals, then had rotator cuff surgery and never made it back to the majors.  He kept trying for a while, though.  He signed with Kansas City for 2007, was in AAA that season, then signed with Minnesota for 2008.  The Twins sent him to Ft. Myers due to his continuing shoulder problems.  The hope was that the shoulder would improve, but it was not to be.   He made six relief appearances for Ft. Myers and went 1-0, 5.62, 1.88 WHIP in eight innings.  The Twins released him in early May.  His continuing health problems led him to not try to play for another team, and his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Zach Day had moved back to his home town of Cincinnati.  He was the founder of Zigoo Pets, a company which makes pet toys.  Currently, Zach Day is the co-founder of NewtForce, a company which, among other things, has developed a smart pitching mound which monitors a pitchers throwing mechanics.  The Minnesota Twins are one of the teams that uses this smart mound.

Outfielder Jeremy Thomas Reed did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2011.  He was born in San Dimas, California, went to high school in LaVerne, California, then attended Cal State—Long Beach.  He was drafted by the White Sox in the second round in 2002.  He hit very well in his first couple of years in the minors, reaching AAA in 2004.  In late June of that season he was traded to Seattle and made his major league debut for the Mariners that September.  He was their starting center fielder in 2005, but hit only .254 with no power.  It was his only year as a major league regular.  He was a reserve for Seattle in 2006, then spent most of 2007 in AAA, coming back to the majors only as a September call-up.  He started 2008 in the minors again but came back to Seattle in late May and stayed the rest of the season.  He was traded to the Mets for the 2009 season.  He was in the majors all year, playing in 126 games but getting only 161 at-bats.  Fifty-three of those games were as a pinch-hitter.  Given his use, he didn’t do badly, batting .242, but it was his last full season in the majors.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Toronto for 2010, played seldom, and was released in early July.  The White Sox picked him up and sent him to AAA for the rest of the season.  He signed with Milwaukee for 2011, went 0-for-7 as a pinch hitter, was sent to the minors, then was traded to Minnesota in early June for future considerations.  He played in four games for Rochester, went 0-for-15, and then got hurt and did not return.  He was a free agent after the season, but did not play in 2012.  He signed with Arizona for 2013 but retired during spring training.  The Diamondbacks apparently held out hope that he might change his mind, as they did not release him until after the season.  He elected to stay retired, however, and was the minor league batting coordinator for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2014-2015.  He was the minor league batting coordinator for the Los Angeles Angels from 2016-2018 and was the major league batting coach for the Angels from 2019-2022.  He was let go after the 2022 season, and at last report was a hitting consultant with Bola Performance in Tennessee.

Third baseman Trevor Patrick Plouffe played for the Twins from 2010-2016.  He was born in West Hills, California and was selected by Minnesota in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft.  He progressed at a pace of roughly a level per season.  His minor league numbers are not bad but not terribly impressive, either.  His highest batting average is .274 and his highest OPS is .736 (both at New Britain, 2007); his lowest batting average is .223 and his lowest OPS is .645 (both at Beloit, 2006).  He had four brief stints with Minnesota in 2010, getting a few days in May, a week in June, about a week in August, and coming back for a September call-up.  He was with the Twins for about a month in 2011, spending most of the season in Rochester.  He started to develop some power in 2009, hitting 13 homers in Rochester that season and 15 there in 2010.   He split 2011 between Rochester and Minnesota, hitting 15 more homers in Rochester in just 220 at-bats and eight more in Minnesota in 286 at-bats.   He became the regular third baseman for Minnesota in 2012 and remained there through 2016.  He was remarkably consistent year-to-year, never great but never awful.  As a Twin, Trevor Plouffe hit .247/.308/.420 in 2909 major at-bats.  Rather than trade him before the 2016 season to make room for Miguel Sano at third base,  the Twins kept him all year and then allowed him to become a free agent after the season.  He signed with Oakland for 2017, but didn't hit and was traded to Tampa Bay in mid-June, for whom he continued not to hit.  He signed with Texas in 2018, was released in April, and signed with Philadelphia, for whom he played in AAA did somewhat better, but not enough to matter.  He re-signed with the Phillies for 2019 but was released in late March and his playing career came to an end.  He was a fan favorite in Minnesota, but at his best he was really no better than average.  He is now part of the Jomboy media network,  where he co-hosts a podcast and has a youtube show.  He also is an analyst for Bally Sports North.

Infielder/outfielder Eduardo Michelle (Mendez) Nunez played for the Twins from 2014-2016.  He was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, went to high school in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 2004.  He did not reach AA until 2009, but it should be remembered that he was still only 22 then.  He reached AAA in 2010 and made his major league debut in August of that year.  He spent the next few years bouncing back and forth between AAA and the majors, posting decent batting averages but not doing a lot else.  Despite the fact that the Yankees knew they would soon be looking for a shortstop, they traded Nunez to Minnesota in April of 2014 for Miguel Sulbaran.  He mostly played shortstop and third base, although he does had a handful of games at second and in the outfield.  He had a decent season as a reserve in 2015, batting .282/.327/.431 in 188 at-bats.  He got off to a tremendous start in 2016, playing mostly shortstop and batting .373 at the end of April, 340 at the end of May, and still batting .321 at the all-star break, making his only all-star team.  The Twins decided to strike while the iron was hot and traded him to San Francisco for Adalberto Mejia.  He did pretty well for the Giants in 2016 and had a big year in 2017, which resulted in him getting traded in July again, this time to Boston.  He came back to earth in 2018, and slumped further in 2019, batting just .228 and getting released in mid-July.  He signed with the Mets for 2020 but got just two at-bats, going 1-for-2.  He became a free agent and signed to play for Fubon in Taiwan for 2021, but played in just seven games for them.  He did not play in 2022 and announced his retirement in October of that year.  At last report, Eduardo Nunez was living in Boston.