June 29

Wilbert Robinson (1863)

Harry Frazee (1880)

Bobby Veach (1888)

Ollie Carnegie (1899)

Ken Blackman (1911)

Dizzy Trout (1915)

Cal Drummond (1917)

Bob Shaw (1933)

Katsuya Nomura (1935)

Harmon Killebrew (1936)

John Boccabella (1941)

Larry Stahl (1941)

Bruce Kimm (1951)

Rick Honeycutt (1954)

Pedro Guerrero (1956)

John Wehner (1967)

Trey Hodges (1978)

Dusty Hughes (1982)

Brooks Raley (1988)

Jose Miranda (1998)

Harry Frazee was the owner of the Red Sox from 1916-1923 and is best remembered for selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

Ollie Carnegie is the all-time home run king of the International League with 258.  He started his minor league career at age 32.

Ken Blackman was a minor league player, college coach, minor league executive, and major league scout.

Cal Drummond was an American League umpire from 1960-1969.

Katsuya Nomura hit 657 home runs in Japan during his twenty-five-year career.

An original Twin, Harmon Clayton Killebrew was with the Twins through the 1974 season.  Born and raised in Payette, Idaho, he was signed by Washington in 1954 under the “bonus baby” rules, which required him to be on the major league roster for two full years.  While he obviously overcame it, one has to think that slowed his development, as he got only 93 at bats in his first two major league seasons.  He got 34 more at bats through June of 1956, then his two years finally expired and he got regular playing time in the minors, coming back as a September call-up.  He hit around .280 in the minors in 1957 and 1958, hitting a total of 48 home runs, and got brief time in the majors both years.  Finally, in 1959, Killebrew reached the majors to stay.  He had been exclusively a third baseman in the minors, and he was the regular third baseman for Washington in 1959.  He responded by hitting 42 home runs, driving in 105 runs, making his first of eleven all-star teams, and finished fifteenth in MVP voting.  He played both first and third in 1960, had another fine year, and came to Minnesota with the team in 1961 as its first star player.  He played mostly first base in 1961, then moved to the outfield for 1962-1964.  He kept hitting, belting between 45 and 49 homers each season, posting an OPS over .900 every year, finishing in the top eleven in MVP voting, and making the all-star team every year except 1962 (an odd omission, since he led the league in homers and RBI that year).  He was injured part of 1965, when he was moved back to the infield, but still finished fifteenth in MVP balloting as he helped lead the Twins to the World Series.  He bounced back to play in every game in 1966 and 1967, playing primarily at third in 1966 and almost exclusively at first in 1967.  He hit a total of 83 homers with 234 walks in those seasons and finishing in the top four in MVP voting each year.  In 1968, Killebrew was having a bad year when he was famously injured in the all-star game, not coming back until September.  It was a bad year for Harmon, but he came back to play in every game in 1969, mostly at third but a substantial number at first, and leading the league in homers, RBIs, walks, and OBP and winning his only MVP award.  He remained at third in 1970 and had another fine year.  Shifted to first in 1971, Killebrew continued to play well, but signs of decline began to show; his OPS that season was the lowest of his career to that point other than in 1968.  He slipped a little more in 1972 and became a part-time player after that.  Killebrew became a free agent after the 1974 season.  The Twins thought he was finished, but he thought he wasn’t, so he signed with Kansas City.  Unfortunately, the Twins were right:  Killebrew hit only .199 with fourteen homers as a Royal, and his playing career came to an end.  It was a tremendous career, though.  As a Twin/Senator, he hit .258/.278/.514, with 559 homers, giving him a total of 573 home runs for his career.  He made eleven all-star teams, including nine in a row from 1963-1971.  He was in the top ten in MVP voting seven times and in the top fifteen ten times.  Harmon Killebrew was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984, the first Twin to be so honored.  Despite denials from major league baseball, Killebrew is widely thought to be the model for the MLB logo.  He was a television broadcaster for the Twins from 1976-1978, with Oakland from 1979-1982, with California in 1983, and back with the Twins from 1984-1988.  Harmon Killebrew retired to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was the chair of the Harmon Killebrew Foundation, which is dedicated to enriching the quality of life by promoting positive and healthy participation in sports.  He also founded the Danny Thompson memorial golf tournament, which has raised millions of dollars for leukemia research.  Sadly, Harmon Killebrew passed away from esophageal cancer on May 17, 2011.

Right-hander Trey Allen Hodges did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for a month in 2005.  He was born in Houston, went to high school in Spring, Texas, attended LSU, and was drafted by Atlanta in the seventeenth round in 2000.  He had an outstanding year in 2001 in Class A, followed that with a fine season in AAA in 2002, and reached the majors as a September call-up in 2002.  He was with the Braves for all of 2003, his only full season in the majors.  A starter in the minors, he was used out of the bullpen that season and struggled with his control, something that had not been a problem for him in the minor leagues, and had a mediocre year, going 3-3, 4.66, 1.52 WHIP.  He was back in AAA in 2004 and having another mediocre year when he was released in late June, finishing the season in Japan.  He signed with the Twins for 2005 and was sent to Rochester, where he went 0-0, 5.62, 1.69 WHIP in nine relief appearances (16 innings).  The Braves re-signed him a couple weeks later, but he continued to not pitch well and was released again a month later.  Hodges was out of baseball in 2006 but decided to give it another try in 2007.  Atlanta gave him another chance, and he stayed in AAA all season, but he really was no better than he had been before.  He moved to the Texas AAA team in 2008 and played for independent Lancaster in 2009, then his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Trey Hodges was a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Left-hander Dustin Robert Hughes appeared in fifteen games for the Twins in 2011.  He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, went to high school in Horn Lake, Mississippi, attended Delta State University, and was drafted by Kansas City in the eleventh round in 2003.  He pitched very well in the low minors through 2004, then had a terrible year in 2005 at Class A.  This may have been due to injury; he missed all of the 2006 season.  He pitched well in AA in 2007 and 2008, but less well when promoted to AAA in 2008.  He moved to the bullpen in 2009 and did well in AAA Omaha, earning a September call-up.  He was with the Royals for all of 2010, going 1-3, 3.83, but with a WHIP of 1.47 in 57 appearances (56.1 innings).  Kansas City wasn’t fooled and placed him on waivers.  The Twins claimed him and he started the season in Minnesota.  He was mostly bad; in 15 appearances (12.2 innings) he went 1-0, 9.95, 2.13 WHIP, giving up 19 hits and 8 walks.  Sent back to AAA, he was better, but not particularly good.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Atlanta for 2012 and was fairly mediocre in AAA for them as well.  He re-signed with Atlanta for 2013 but was released on May 10 and later announced his retirement.  At last report, Dusty Hughes was a physical education teacher in Horn Lake, Mississippi.  He was also the owner of the Royal Baseball Training Academy in the Memphis area.

Left-hander Brooks Lee Raley did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for about a month in 2014.  He was born in San Antonio, went to high school in Uvalde, Texas, attended Texas A&M, and was drafted by the Cubs in the sixth round in 2009.  There's really nothing particularly impressive about his minor league career.  He sometimes had some decent ERAs, but it was generally with a high WHIP.  He was a starter throughout his minor league career with the Cubs, reaching AA in 2011 and AAA in 2012.  He made five big-league starts with the Cubs in August of 2012, going 1-2 but with an ERA of 8.14.  He got a September callup in 2013 and did better pitching out of the bullpen, but still was not very good, posting an ERA of 5.14.  The Cubs put him on waivers after the season and he was selected by the Twins.  He made eight appearances in Rochester, pitching 14.2 innings.  He was 0-1, 3.68, but with a WHIP of 1.91.  The Twins waived him in early May of 2014 and he was selected by the Angels.  They sent him to AAA, where he pitched poorly again.  He moved on to Korea for 2015 and  pitched there through 2019.  He did fairly well there, with 2017 being his best season.  He signed with Cincinnati for 2020, but was traded to Houston in August.  He stayed there through 2021, then moved on to Tampa Bay for 2022, where he had an astonishingly good season.  Coming in with an ERA well over five, he posted a 2.68 ERA with a 0.97 WHIP in 53.2 innings (60 games).  He had another fine season in 2023, proving it wasn't a fluke, and was off to a good start in 2024 when he went out in April due to Tommy John surgery.  He turns thirty-six today and isn't expected back until the second half of the 2025 season, when he'll turn thirty-seven.  He's proven he can pitch--the only question is whether the injury plus age will prevent him from doing it again.

Corner infielder Jose Francisco Miranda came up to the Twins in 2022.  He was born in Manati, Puerto Rico, went to high school in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and was drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2016.  His minor league record is somewhat mixed, but it should be pointed out that he was generally young for his league.  He reached high-A in 2018, AA in 2019, did not play in 2020, and then had an awesome year in 2021, batting .344/.401/.572 with thirty home runs in a year split between AA and AAA.  There was no noticeable drop when he came up to AAA, either.  He began 2022 in AAA, but came up to the majors in early May.  He got off to a horrible start, batting just .094 through fourteen games and .176 in the month of May.  He turned it around in June, however, and for the season batted .268 with 15 home runs and an OPS of .751.  He was the starting third baseman for the Twins at the start of 2023 but again struggled early.  It turned out he had an injured shoulder, which kept him performing well.  Healthy in 2024, he took advantage of an injury to Royce Lewis and re-established himself in the majors.  He turns twenty-six today and is having a fine season.  There's no obvious reason Jose Miranda shouldn't have a fine career as well.

June 28

Ken Williams (1890)

Haruyasu Nakajima (1910)

A. Ray Smith (1915)

Oscar Rodriguez (1931)

Fred Gladding (1936)

Ron Luciano (1937)

Al Downing (1941)

Fred Talbot (1941)

Don Baylor (1949)

Chris Speier (1950)

Joe Sambito (1952)

Clay Christiansen (1958)

John Elway (1960)

Jay Schroeder (1961)

Mark Grace (1964)

Ron Mahay (1971)

Corey Koskie (1973)

Richard Hidalgo (1975)

Brandon Phillips (1981)

Haruyasu Nakajima is in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

A. Ray Smith owned minor league baseball teams from 1961-1986.

Oscar Rodriguez is in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ron Luciano was an American League umpire from 1969-1979.

NFL quarterbacks John Elway and Jay Schroeder each played minor league baseball.  Elway hit .318 in 151 at-bats as an outfielder for Class A Oneonta in 1982.  Schroeder was primarily an outfielder for four years in the Toronto system, never getting higher than Class A.  He hit .213 with 36 homers in 1,304 minor league at-bats.

Mark Grace was drafted by Minnesota in the fifteenth round of the January draft in 1984, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to Philosofer's youngest child.

Outfielder Don Edward Baylor played in twenty games for the Twins in 1987 and also played in seven post-season games.  Born and raised in Austin, Texas, he was drafted in the second round by Baltimore in 1967.  He had a tremendous minor league record, hitting .310 or more every season and hitting 20 or more home runs in his last two seasons, both at AAA Rochester.  He also stole over twenty bases each of his last three minor league years.  Baylor got cups of coffee in the majors in 1970 and 1971 before making the big leagues for good at the start of the 1972 season.  He was a part-time player the first year, mostly regular in 1973, and a full time outfielder after that.  He remained with the Orioles through 1975, hitting around .280 with double digit homers and about 30 stolen bases every season.  His best year in Baltimore was his last one, when he hit .282 with 25 homers and 32 steals and finished twentieth in MVP voting.  Just before the 1976 season, Baylor was traded to Oakland in a multi-player deal which included Reggie Jackson and Mike Torrez.  He had a down year for Oakland, although he set a career high with 52 stolen bases, and became a free agent, signing with the Angels.  He stayed in California through 1982, gradually moving from the outfield to designated hitter.  He had some fine years for the Angels.  The best was 1979, when he led the league in both runs and RBIs, hit .296 with a career-high 36 homers and a career-high 71 walks, and won the Most Valuable Player award.  After the 1982 campaign, Baylor became a free agent and signed with the Yankees, staying there three seasons.  He had a couple of good years there, too, but entered into the decline phase of his career.  His last two years with the Yankees were the first of four consecutive seasons he led the league in getting hit by pitch (he led the league a total of eight times in his career).  He was traded to Boston in late March of 1986 for Mike Easler in a trade of aging DHs.  He was nothing special for the Red Sox, but was traded to the Twins for a player to be named later (Enrique Rios) just in time to be placed on the post season roster.  He hit .286/.397/.306 in 49 at-bats the rest of the way, but went 7-for-18 in the post-season with a home run in helping the Twins to their first World Series championship.  A free agent again after the season, he went to Oakland for the 1988 season, then retired.  Baylor has remained in major league baseball, serving as a coach for Milwaukee (1990-1991) and St. Louis (1992), as manager for Colorado (1993-1988), as a coach for Atlanta (1999), as manager for the Cubs (2000-2002), and as a coach for the Mets (2003-2004), Seattle (2005), Colorado (2009-2010), Arizona (2011-2013), and the Angels (2014-2015).  On opening day of 2014, he broke his right leg while catching the ceremonial first pitch of the game.  He was let go by the Angels after the 2015 season.  Don Baylor passed away on August 7, 2017 from plasma cell myeloma.

Shortstop Chris Edward Speier played 12 games for the Twins in 1984.  Born and raised in Alameda, California, he attended UC–Santa Barbara and was chosen by San Francisco with the second pick in the January Secondary draft in 1970.  He spent one year in AA, hitting .283 in Amarillo, and was the starting shortstop for the Giants in 1971 at age 20.  He made the all-star team in 1972, the first of three consecutive seasons in which he did so.  He remained the Giants’ starting shortstop through April of 1977.  He was a solid player for several years, but slumped in 1976.  When he did no better at the start of 1977 he was traded to Montreal.  He was the regular shortstop for the Expos through 1982.  He was never great offensively, but in his good years he would hit in the .250s or .260s.  He fell to part-time status in 1983, and when his offense collapsed in 1984 he was traded to St. Louis on July 1.  He hit no better there, but the Twins were desperate for a shortstop in 1984, so they acquired Speier for a player to be named later (Jay Pettibone) on August 19.  Unfortunately, Speier was injured much of his time with the Twins, playing in only twelve games.  He went 7-for-33 for a line of .212/.278/.212.  Speier became a free agent after the season.  He signed with the Cubs, hitting .260 over two seasons as a part-time player.  He then moved on to San Francisco, where he was a reserve infielder for three seasons before retiring.  Speier remained in baseball after his playing career ended.  He was a roving instructor for the Giants from 1990-1994, hitting coach for the Orlando Cubs in 1995, managed in the Arizona organization from 1996-1999, was a major league coach for Milwaukee in 2000, for Arizona in 2001, for Oakland in 2004, and for the Cubs in 2005-2006.  He was the bench coach for Cincinnati from 2007-2013, was a special assistant to the general manager for the Reds from 2014-2015, and was the bench coach for the Washington Nationals from 2016-2017.  He retired after that, but came out of retirement to be the quality control coach for Houston in 2020.   He retired again after the season and this time appears to have remained retired.  His son, Justin Speier, was a major league pitcher from 1998-2009.

Right-hander Clay C. Christiansen did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for part of 1986 and 1987.  Born in Wichita, Kansas, went to high school in Columbia, Kansas, attended the University of Kansas and was drafted by the Yankees in the fifteenth round in 1980.  He pitched well in the low minors, going up a level per year.  He won 16 games in back-to-back seasons at A and AA in 1981 and 1982.  He stumbled on his first try at AAA in 1983 but did better there in 1984, earning a promotion to the majors for about six weeks in mid-summer and then coming back as a September call-up.  A starter in the minors, he was used almost exclusively in relief in the majors and did not pitch well, going 2-4, 6.05, 1.60 WHIP in 38.2 innings (24 appearances, 1 start).  Those would turn out to be his career totals, as he never made it back to the majors.  He pitched well in AAA in 1985, but not well enough to get promoted, and the Yankees released him in June of 1986.  The Twins signed him and sent him to AAA, where he stayed until June of 1987 when he was traded to Houston for Eric Bullock.  B-r.com does not give his numbers just in the Twins’ organization, but he did not have a particularly good year either of those seasons.  He stayed in the Houston system until 1988, then his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Clay Christiansen was living in Olathe, Kansas and was working for Pepsi as an install driver for the vending department, but that last report is several years old now.

Left-handed reliever Ronald Matthew Mahay joined the Twins in late August of 2009 and stayed through 2010.  He was born in Crestwood, Illinois, went to high school in Palos Heights, Illinois, and was drafted by Boston in the eighteenth round in 1991.  He was drafted as an outfielder, remaining one through 1995.  His minor league batting record is nothing to shout about, but he still was brought up to the majors briefly in 1995, spending about a week as their starting center fielder.  He went 4-for-20 with a home run.  Mahay turned to pitching in 1996 and reached the majors as a pitcher in 1997.  He has been with several teams since then, and has frequently been sent back to the minors–he has only three full seasons in the major leagues.  He was with the Red Sox from 1997-1998, with Oakland from 1999-2000, with Florida in 2000, with the Cubs in 2001-2002, with Texas from 2003-2007, with Atlanta in 2007, and with Kansas City from 2008-2009.  In that span, he was waived once, sold once, released twice, traded once, and allowed to become a free agent twice.  In late August of 2009, he was released for the third time and signed with Minnesota.  He pitched pretty well as a Twin, going 2-1, 3.14, 1.19 WHIP in 43 innings (57 appearances).  He became a free agent after the 2010 season, signed with the Dodgers, was released in spring training, signed with Arizona, was released after a month in AAA, signed with the Cardinals in July, for whom he also pitched in AAA, and was released in August.  He signed with Cincinnati for 2012, was again in AAA, and was released in mid-May.  He did not sign with anyone and announced his retirement in January of 2013.  He had a pretty solid career, though, lasting fourteen major league seasons.  He never pitched more than 67 innings in a season, leading to season ERAs as low as 1.86 and as high as 8.59.  He then became a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  In 2021 he became the pitching coach of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the MLB Draft League.

Third baseman Cordel Leonard Koskie played for the Twins from 1998-2004.  He was born in Anola, Manitoba and went to high school in Outbank, Manitoba.  He attended Des Moines Area Community College and Kwantlen University College of Surrey, British Columbia before being drafted by the Twins in the twenty-sixth round in 1994.  He advanced through the minors about one level per season and did pretty well, hitting over .300 twice and topping twenty home runs twice.  He got a September call-up in 1998 and in 1999 was the Twins’ semi-regular third baseman, sharing time with Ron Coomer.  By 2000 he was the Twins’ regular third baseman and remained in that role through 2004.  He was solid there, posting an OPS in the low to mid 800s every season.  His best year is generally considered to be 2001, when he scored 100 runs, hit 26 homers, and drove in 103 runs.  In fact, though, his OPS then was not particularly better than in any other year; his higher numbers are at least partly due to the fact that he played 153 games that season.  He became a free agent after the 2004 season and his career went almost straight down hill.  He signed with Toronto, suffered through an injury-plagued 2005, and was traded to Milwaukee for Brian Wolfe in the off-season.  Koskie was playing well for the Brewers in 2006 when he suffered a concussion in early July.  He never really recovered from it, at least not in a baseball sense.  He tried to play in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and in spring training with the Cubs that year.  He convinced himself that he could still play, but could not convince himself that it was worth risking further injury, and opted to retire. He operated a couple of Planet Fitness clubs in the Twin Cities area for several years, but eventually decided it wasn't worth the hassle and sold them in January of 2016.  At last report he was living in Plymouth, Minnesota and was involved in a number of charitable and community projects, including the Positive Coaching Alliance.  He also was the president of the Elevate Advisor Group, whose mission is "to help explore your program options, advocate on your behalf to lower costs, and make affordable healthcare a reality for all Americans."

June 27

Rube Benton (1890)

Fred Saigh (1905)

Dick Terwilliger (1906)

Wendell Smith (1914)

Lou Kretlow (1921)

Gus Zernial (1923)

Wayne Terwilliger (1925)

Charles Bronfman (1931)

Chuck Coles (1931)

Eddie Kasko (1931)

Rico Petrocelli (1943)

Takashi Nishimoto (1956)

Jeff Conine (1966)

Jim Edmonds (1970)

Daryle Ward (1975)

Chris Woodward (1976)

Luis Rodriguez (1980)

Jim Johnson (1983)

Abraham Almonte (1989)

Fred Saigh was the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1947-1953, selling to Anheuser-Busch.

Wendell Smith was an African-American sportswriter who was influential in the choice of Jackie Robinson as the first African-American major league player.

Charles Bronfman was the owner of the Montreal Expos from 1969-1991.

Takashi Nishimoto was a star pitcher in Japan from 1977-1993.

Daryle Ward is the son of ex-Twin Gary Ward.

Willard Wayne Terwilliger, known as “Twig”, did not play for the Twins, but was part of their organization for several years.  Unrelated to Dick Terwilliger, who was also born on June 27, they are the only two people with the last name “Terwilliger” to have played in the major leagues.  He was born in Clair, Michigan, attended Western Michigan University, and was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 1948.  A second baseman, he had a fine year at AAA in 1949 and made his major league debut that year, coming to the Cubs in early August.  He was the Cubs’ regular second baseman in 1950, but hit only .242 with ten homers.  He remained the Cubs’ regular second sacker at the start of 1951, but when he hit no better he was traded to Brooklyn as part of an eight-player deal.  He was okay as a reserve the rest of the season, backing up Jackie Robinson, but in 1952 he went down to AAA St. Paul, where he hit .312.  The Dodgers were obviously not impressed, because Terwilliger was put on waivers after the season.  Washington selected him and made him their started second baseman for two seasons.  Twig was sold to the New York Giants for 1955.  He split the next two seasons between New York and AAA Minneapolis, then was in Minneapolis for all of 1957.  He was traded to Detroit for 1958, spent all of that season in the minors, and was taken by the Kansas City Athletics in the Rule 5 draft.  He was with the Athletics for all of 1959, was in the minors for nearly all of 1960, and then turned to managing and coaching (he made a few brief appearances in the minors all the way through 1968, presumably when his team was short of infielders).  His minor-league managing career was in the Yankees’ organization in 1961, the Washington chain from 1963-1968, Houston in 1973, Texas in 1975 and 1980, and with independent Ft. Worth from 2003-2005.  He was a major league coach with Washington/Texas from 1969-1972 and 1981-1985, and the Twins from 1986-1994.  He was a minor league coach with the St. Paul Saints from 1995-2002 and Ft. Worth from 2006-2010, when he finally retired at age 85.  He is a member of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and wrote an autobiography, “Terwilliger Bunts One.”  Wayne Terwilliger passed away of February 3, 2021 at age ninety-five.

Outfielder Charles Edward Coles did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system from 1961-1962.  He was born in Fredericktown, Pennsylvania and attended Waynesburg College in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, one of two major league players produced by that school (Dick Gray).  He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a free agent in 1950.  He hit well in the minors through 1952, then missed two seasons due to the Korean War.  He was 24 when he returned.  He continued to hit well but could not get a chance above Class A in the Dodgers’ organization.  He played for independent Albuquerque in 1957, then moved to the Cincinnati system in 1958.  He hit .307 with 29 home runs in AA and got a September call-up.  He went 2-for-11 in five games, but it looked like, at age 27, Chuck Coles might finally get his chance.  It didn’t happen.  He had a terrible year in AA in 1959; one wonders if he might have been hurt, because his numbers are completely out of line with the rest of his career.  He bounced back with a solid year in AA in 1960, but by then he was 29 and was no longer considered a prospect.  He came to the Twins’ organization in 1961 and had a solid year at Class A Charlotte, but that was as good as it would get for him as a Twin.  He split 1962 between Charlotte and Class B Wilson, played for independent Tidewater in 1963, then ended his playing career.  In twelve minor league seasons, mostly in A and AA, Chuck Coles hit .293/.330/.466 with 176 home runs.  After his playing career, he was employed as a millwright in Jefferson, Pennsylvania.  He passed away in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on January 25, 1996 at the age of 64.  In 2009, Chuck Coles was posthumously inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Infielder Luis Orlando Rodriguez played for the Twins from 2005-2007.  Born and raised in Codejos, Venezuela, he signed with the Twins as a free agent in 1997.  He primarily played second base and shortstop in the minors.  He put up consistent but unspectacular numbers in the minors, generally hitting around .270 and drawing a good number of walks, but showing little power.  He was in his third year of AAA when he came up to the Twins in late May of 2005.  He did about as well as you’d expect a reserve infielder to do at the plate and got his only full season in the majors in 2006.  He was with the Twins for nearly all of 2007 as well, but his offense got worse every year, and since he was never known for his defense, the Twins placed him on waivers after the season.  As a Twin, Luis Rodriguez hit .243/.311/.339.  He played in 206 games and had 445 at-bats.  He signed with San Diego and in the majors with them for the second half of 2008 and nearly all of 2009.  He signed with Cleveland for 2010, was released in late April, and signed with the White Sox.  He was in AAA for them all season, then signed with Seattle for 2011.  Surprisingly, he made the Mariners as a reserve infielder and split the season between the majors and AAA.  He was still in the Mariners organization in 2012 and had a fine year at AAA Tacoma, batting .296 with an OPS of .841, but was not recalled to the majors.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Angels for 2013 and had a good season for AAA Salt Lake, but again did not get a call-up.  Once again a free agent, he played in Mexico in 2014, played in Mexico and in the Atlantic League in 2015, and was back in the Atlantic League with Bridgeport in 2016.  He played winter ball that off-season, but then his playing career ended.  It appears that Luis Rodriguez is living in Orlando, Florida.

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.