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)

Austin Voth (1992)

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

Four players born on this day have made their major league debuts in 2026:  JR Ritchie, Sterlin Thompson, Franco Aleman, and Chad Dallas.

Right-hander Austin Lee Voth has not pitched for the Twins, but has been in AAA for them for a few weeks.  He was born in Redmond, Washington, went to high school in Covington, Washington, attended the University of Washington, and was drafted by Washington in the fifth round in 2013.  That's a lot of Washington.  He was a starter in college and through most of his minor league career.  He reached AA in 2015 and AAA in 2016, pitching well both places.  For some reason, however, he was awful in a 2017 split between AAA and AA.  He was better, though still not particularly good, in AAA in 2018 and 2019, but pitched very well in a September call-up in 2019.  He spent all of the shortened 2020 season in the Nationals' rotation, but was not very good and transitioned to the bullpen in 2021, where he was still not very good.  He was even worse in 2022 and was waived in June and claimed by Baltimore.  Something clicked for him at that point, and he pitched well for the Orioles the rest of the season, mostly as a starter.  Moved back to the bullpen for 2023, he dealt with injuries and was not effective when he could pitch.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Seattle for 2024.  He had a very good season for the Mariners, then became a free agent and had a fine 2025 in Japan as a starter.  He came back to North America in 2026, signing with Toronto.  He pitched well in eight AAA starts, but was allowed to become a free agent and signed with the Twins.  At this writing he has made three starts in AAA and has not been very good.  He turns thirty-four today.  As you can see, he's been up and down in his career--he's pitched well for short periods, but has never been able to sustain it.  His major league numbers are 17-19, 4.77, 1.36 WHIP in 366.1 innings, 209 games, 39 starts.  In AAA he is 18-32, 4.19, 1.37 WHIP in 98 games, 90 starts.  At his age, he's clearly not a prospect.  But the Twins are desperate for pitching, so if he could have another hot streak, he might get another shot at the majors.