June 2

Jack O’Connor (1866)

Frank Verdi (1926)

Bob Lillis (1930)

Larry Jackson (1931)

Bob Bennett (1933)

Jerry Lumpe (1933)

Gene Michael (1938)

Horace Clarke (1940)

Jim Maloney (1940)

Roger Freed (1946)

Jack O’Connor (1958)

Darnell Coles (1962)

Bryan Harvey (1963)

Mike Stanton (1967)

Kurt Abbott (1969)

Raul Ibanez (1972)

Neifi Perez (1973)

Jared Burton (1981)

Tim Stauffer (1982)

Chris Martin (1986)

Bob Bennett was the baseball coach at Fresno State for many years, winning 1,302 games.

Roger Freed was drafted by Minnesota in 1966, but the pick was voided.

Infielder Frank Michael Verdi did not play for the Twins, but he was in their minor league system in 1961.  He was born in Brooklyn and signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 1946.  His minor league stats vary widely form one year to the next, with averages of over .300 mixed with averages in the .250s and .260s.  There were a lot more levels in the minors back then, so Verdi did not reach AAA until 1953.  He also made his big league debut that season, coming into a game on May 10 in the sixth inning as a defensive replacement.  He played one inning at shortstop, handling zero chances, and was pinch-hit for in the seventh.  That was the sum and substance of his major league career:  he never played in another big league game.  He was in the minors for several years after that, perhaps hoping for another chance at the majors or perhaps just enjoying making a living by playing baseball.  He was known for his ability to pull off the hidden ball trick, executing it successfully seven times in 1949.  He was in AAA most of that time.  He stayed with the Yankees through 1954, went to Kansas City in 1955-56, was with the Cubs toward the end of 1956, was with the Cardinals from 1957-59, then was signed by the then Washington franchise for 1960, playing for AAA Charleston.  He was still with the franchise when it moved to Minnesota in 1961, and spent the season with AAA Syracuse, not only playing but also managing the team.  He hit .287/.362/.308 in 195 at-bats as a reserve infielder and as a manager went 44-44.  That started him on a long career as a minor league manager.  He was the manager again in Syracuse in 1962 (it was no longer a Twins farm team that year), then went into the Yankees organization from 1963-1970, winning three league championships (two with AAA Syracuse).  He continued to manage (with a couple of years off) in the minors through 1985, winning another league championship with AAA Columbus in 1981.  He retired after the 1985 season, but came out of retirement in 1993 to manage the Sioux Falls Canaries in the Northern League from 1993-1995.  He was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 2008.  His son, Mike, also managed for several years in the minors.  Frank Verdi passed away from a heart attack on July 9, 2010 in New Port Richey, Florida.

There have been two major league players named “Jack O’Connor”; both of them were born on this day.  Left-hander Jack William O’Connor pitched for the Twins from 1981-1984.  He was born in Twenty-nine Palms, California, and went to high school in Yucca Valley, California.  He was drafted by Montreal in the ninth round in 1976.  He was in the Expos organization for five years.  O’Connor pitched mostly in Class A and did fairly well there, but did not do so well in brief trials at higher levels.  The Twins took a chance on him in the Rule 5 draft after the 1980 season and kept him in the majors all of 1981.  He was kept in the bullpen all season and did not get a lot of work, appearing in 28 games and pitching only 35.1 innings.  O’Connor started 1982 in the majors but was sent back to AAA after two scoreless innings.  He returned in early June and was in the starting rotation by July, staying there the rest of the season.  He wasn’t terrible, which is about as good as it got for the Twins’ rotation in 1982.  He began 1983 in the rotation, but after a couple of decent outings things fell apart for him, and he was in the bullpen by mid-May.  He was not much better there, went back to AAA for a couple of months, and did not do a lot better upon his return either.  O’Connor had an excellent year in the Toledo bullpen in 1984 and pitched well in two appearances in his September call-up.  By then, however, the Twins had given up on him, and after the season they traded him to Montreal for Mike Stenhouse.  He got about two months in the majors in 1985 with the Expos, had mediocre numbers, and was released the following March.  O’Connor signed with Seattle for 1986, pitched badly in AAA, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Baltimore for 1987 and battled his way back to the majors, spending nearly half the year with the Orioles.  His pitching in the majors was not significantly better, however, and O’Connor once again became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Toronto and was with AAA Syracuse for two years, not pitching badly but not getting another chance at the big time, either.  Jack O’Connor’s playing career came to an end after the 1989 season.  As a Twin, he was 13-14, 4.99 with a WHIP of 1.62.  He pitched 249 innings and made 80 appearances, 27 of them starts.  No information about Jack O’Connor’s life after the close of his playing career was readily available.

Infielder Kurt Thomas Abbott did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 2002.  He was born in Zanesville, Ohio, went to high school in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was drafted by Oakland in the fifteenth round in 1989.  He did not hit much until 1993, when he hit .319 with 12 homers and 11 triples for AAA Tacoma, numbers which got him a September call-up.  They also got him a trade, as he was sent to the Florida Marlins that off-season.  He was their mostly-regular shortstop the next two seasons and had a pretty good year in 1995, batting .255 with 17 homers in 420 at-bats.  It did not lead to any more playing time, however, as he became a frequently-used utility player over the next two seasons.  Abbott was traded to Oakland before the 1998 season and was traded again in early June, this time to Colorado.  He stayed with Colorado through the 1999 season and did pretty well as a part-time player, batting .273.  That was as good as it would get for him, though.  He became a free agent after the season and was a reserve infielder for the Mets in 2000, but batted only .217.  A free agent again, he signed with Atlanta for 2001 but missed most of the season with injuries.  The Twins signed Abbott for 2002, but he continued to be bothered by injuries and was released in spring training.  He played a few games in AAA for the Yankees that season and was in AAA for St. Louis in 2003, but then his playing career was over.  Kurt Abbott then became a deputy sheriff in Martin County, Florida.  Unfortunately, he was arrested in 2013 for DUI and was placed on administrative leave.  Its unclear whether he lost his job because of that or if he left for other reasons, but at last report, Kurt Abbott was working for Masco Coatings, Inc.

Right-hander Levi Jared Burton joined the Twins in 2012.  Born and raised in Westminster, South Carolina, he attended Western Carolina University and was drafted by Oakland in the eighth round in 2002.  A reliever most of his career, he struggled in the low minors, not reaching AA until 2006.  He reached the majors in 2007, however, and has been there for at least part of every season since.  It did not happen with the Athletics, though.  Instead, he was taken by Cincinnati in the Rule 5 draft after the 2006 season.  Pitching a limited number of innings, he was pretty good in 2007 and 2008, but not so good in 2009.  He battled injuries in 2010 and 2011, and was mostly in AAA when he was healthy enough to pitch.  He became a free agent after the 2011 season and signed with Minnesota.  He had an excellent year for the Twins in 2012, a not-as-excellent but still pretty good year in 2013, and did not pitch well, although he wasn't terrible, in 2014.  As a Twin Jared Burton was 8-16, 3.47, 1.16 WHIP in 192 innings (203 appearances).  He became a free agent after the 2014 season, signed with the Yankees, was released in spring training, re-signed with the Yankees three days later, was released in May, and signed with Texas.  He pitched well in twelve appearances for AAA Round Rock, but was released at the end of June, bringing his playing career to an end.  No information about what Jared Burton has done since then was readily available.

Right-hander Timothy James Stauffer appeared in thirteen games for the Twins in 2015.  He was born in Portland, Maine, went to high school in Saratoga Springs, New York, attended the University of Richmond, and was drafted by San Diego with the fourth pick of the 2003 draft.  A starter early in his career, he did very well in the low minors but struggled when he reached AAA.  He made his major league debut in 2005 but spent most of his time in AAA through 2007.  He missed the entire 2008 season, but came back in 2009 to pitch well in both the minors and the majors.  He spent most of 2010 pitching out of the San Diego bullpen and had an excellent season.  Returned to a starting role in 2011, he had another solid year.  He again missed most of 2012 with injury, but came back in 2013 to have a decent season in relief for the Padres.  He was not as good, but wasn't terrible, in the Padres bullpen in 2014.  A free agent after that season, he signed with Minnesota for 2015.  One suspects that he may still not have been healthy:  he missed a month due to injury, and when active he was pretty bad.  His numbers as a Twin were 1-0, 6.60, 2.07 WHIP in fifteen innings.  The Twins released him in mid-June, he signed with the Mets in August, continued to not pitch well, and became a free agent after the season.  He signed with Arizona for 2016 but was released at the end of spring training, ending his playing career.  He is a member of the Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame.  No information about what Tim Stauffer is doing these days was readily available.

June 1

Ted Breitenstein (1869)

Otto Miller (1889)

Hank Severeid (1891)

Guy Morton (1893)

Johnny Mostil (1896)

Ray Moore (1926)

Jack Kralick (1935)

Roy Majtyka (1939)

Dean Chance (1941)

Randy Hundley (1942)

Ken McMullen (1942)

Jeff Nelson (1965)

Derek Lowe (1973)

Carlos Zambrano (1981)

Andrew Stevenson (1994)

Roy Majtyka was a long-time minor-league manager, winning 1,832 games.

Jeff Nelson was a major league umpire from 1997-2023.

Right-hander Raymond Leroy Moore pitched for the Twins from 1961-1963.  He was born in Meadows, Maryland, went to high school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a free agent in 1947.  He had good ERAs in the minors and did not give up a lot of hits, but walked a lot of batters, slowing his rise to the majors.  He was with the Dodgers for two months in 1952 and made one appearance there in 1953.  1953 was when he finally started to get things under control, and after he had another good year at AAA St. Paul in 1954 he finally got to the majors to stay at the start of the 1955 season.  It was not with the Dodgers, however, as he was traded to Baltimore after the 1954 campaign.  He started 1955 in the Oriole bullpen, but got into the rotation in late July and mostly stayed there the rest of his time with Baltimore.  He was a solid rotation starter for them through 1957, when he was traded to the White Sox in a deal that involved Larry Doby.  He remained in the rotation through 1958, but moved to the bullpen the following year, where he would stay the rest of his career.  He got off to a poor start in 1960 and was sold to Washington in mid-June.  He pitched well for them the rest of the year and came to Minnesota with the franchise in 1961.  He was in the Twins’ bullpen for three years, pitching okay his first two before falling apart in 1963.  His playing career came to an end after that season.  As a Twin, he was 13-10, 5.03 with a WHIP of 1.50 in 159 innings over 126 games.  Ray Moore passed away on March 2, 1995 in Clinton, Maryland.

Left-hander John Francis “Jack” Kralick also pitched for the Twins from 1961-1963.  He was born in Youngstown, Ohio and went to Michigan State before signing with the White Sox as a free agent in 1955.  He spent a little over three years in the low minors for them, pitching only thirteen games above Class B.  He had a decent but unspectacular record, apparently did not impress anyone, and was released in June of 1958.  He signed as a free agent with Washington in September.  Surprisingly, he started 1959 in the majors, but was sent down after five appearances and had a solid season at AA in 1959.  He started 1960 in the Washington bullpen, moved to the majors in late June, and stayed there through 1964.  He came to Minnesota with the franchise in 1961 and was a solid rotation starter, posting ERAs in the mid-to-upper threes and throwing a no-hitter in 1962.  In May of 1963, Kralick was traded to Cleveland for Jim Perry.  He got off to a bad start in 1965 and was removed from the rotation in mid-June.  He had a decent year as a reliever in 1966, but got off to a slow start in 1967 and was sold to the Mets on June 1.  He did not pitch for the Mets, however, as he was involved in a car accident which left him not just with a cracked rib but also double vision, a problem which did not clear up for a year.  By then, he had decided to move on with his life and retired as a player.  As a Twin, Jack Kralick was 26-26, 3.74 with a WHIP of 1.28 in 501.1 innings.  It appears that after he finished playing, he moved to Watertown, South Dakota and worked for a school supply company, then lived in Alaska for a while, then moved to Mexico in 1998.  Jack Kralick passed away in San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico on September 18, 2012.

Right-hander Wilmer Dean Chance pitched for the Twins from 1967-1969.  He was born in Wooster, Ohio and went to high school in Wayne, Ohio.  He signed with Baltimore as a free agent in 1959.  He had two fine years in the low minors, but was left unprotected and was chosen by Washington in the expansion draft.  The Senators traded him to the Angels that same day.  He had another good year in AAA in 1961, got a September call-up, and never looked back.  He was shifted from the rotation to the bullpen and back again a couple of times in 1962, pitching well enough in both roles to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting.  Chance’s best year as an Angel was 1964, when he went 20-9, 1.65.  He led the league in wins, ERA, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, ERA+, and fewest home runs, won the Cy Young Award, and finished fifth in MVP voting.  He remained a solid starter for the Angels through 1966, then was traded to the Twins with a player to be named later (Jackie Hernandez) for Pete Cimino, Jimmie Hall, and Don Mincher.  He did an excellent job for the Twins for three years, although he missed two months of the third season with injuries.  As a Twin, he was 41-34, 2.67 with a WHIP of 1.07 in 664 innings.  His best year as a Twin was his first one, 1967, when he won 20 games, starts, innings, and complete games, and made the all-star team for the second time.  After the 1969 campaign, the Twins traded Chance to Cleveland with Bob Miller, Graig Nettles, and Ted Uhlaender for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams.  He had a mediocre year for the Indians, was sold to the Mets in mid-September, and was traded to Detroit after the season.  He had another mediocre year for the Tigers and ended his playing career after the 1971 season.  After leaving baseball he became a boxing manager and promoter, was one of the founders of the International Boxing Association, and became its president in 2006, a position he held until his death.  Dean Chance passed away in his home town of Wooster, Ohio on October 11, 2015.

Catcher Cecil Randolph “Randy” Hundley played for the Twins in 1974.  He was born in Martinsville, Virginia, went to high school in Bassett, Virginia, and signed with San Francisco as a free agent in 1960.  He did not do a lot in the minors until 1963, when he hit .325 with 23 homers for AA El Paso.  He did not sustain that when promoted to AAA in 1964, nor did he improve in 1965.  Still, he got cups of coffee in the majors both of those seasons.  He was traded to the Cubs that off-season, and was in the majors to stay.  He was the Cubs’ regular catcher from 1966-1969.  He finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1966, despite hitting only .236 (he did hit 19 home runs).  He won the Gold Glove the following year.  Hundley missed half of 1970 and most of 1971 with injuries.  He more-or-less regained the regular catching job in 1972, but what offense he had shown in the past was gone.  After two more sub-par years with the Cubs, Hundley was traded to Minnesota before the 1974 season for George Mitterwald.  Injuries cropped up again, and he played in only 32 games, hitting .193/.228/.216 in 88 at-bats.  The Twins released him after the season and he signed with San Diego.  He was the backup catcher there in 1975 and was sold back to the Cubs after the season.  He remained with the Cubs for two years, but was injured much of the time and rarely played.  His playing career came to an end after 1977.  His son, Todd Hundley, had a substantial playing career of his own.  Hundley is credited with originating the idea of fantasy camps and operated several of them at one time, though he now is involved only in the Cubs’ fantasy camp.  At last report, Randy Hundley was still living in the Chicago area.

Outfielder Andrew Patrick Stevenson played in twenty-five games for the Twins in 2023.  Born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, he attended LSU and was drafted by Washington in the second round in 2015.  He was in Class A in 2015, reached AA in 2016, AAA in 2017, and got to the majors in late July of 2017.  He then bounced back-and-forth between AAA and the majors through 2021, never getting a full season in the majors and only once getting more than a hundred at-bats there.  He had speed, with 183 stolen bases in the minors.  He presumably played good defense, as he was primarily a center fielder.  Unfortunately for him, he never hit much, which means that his role in the majors was as a bench player/defensive replacement.  He spent all of 2022 in AAA and for the first time in his career showed power, hitting thirty-one doubles and sixteen home runs.  By this time, however, he was twenty-eight years old, so the Nationals were not particularly impressed.  He signed with the Twins for 2023 and spent the summer in St. Paul, but came to the majors for the entire month of September.  He was used mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement.  He played in twenty-five games but got just thirty-seven at-bats, batting .189/.250/.216.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan for 2024.  He began 2025 in the Mexican League, but signed with Tampa Bay in late April and is currently playing in AAA.  He turns thirty-one today.  As we've said numerous times, as long as you're still playing, there's still a chance.  Maybe Andrew Stevenson will get another crack at the major leagues.