March 7

Ed Willett (1884)

Dave Danforth (1890)

Andy Phillip (1922)

Bobo Holloman (1923)

Red Wilson (1929)

Galen Cisco (1936)

Jimmie Hall (1938)

J. R. Richard (1950)

Jeff Burroughs (1951)

Albert Hall (1958)

Joe Carter (1960)

Jose Cano (1962)

German Gonzalez (1962)

Mauro Gozzo (1966)

Jeff Kent (1968)

A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Andy Phillip played minor league baseball in 1947, 1949, and 1952, batting .281 in 123 games.

The father of Robinson Cano, Jose Cano appeared in six games for Houston in 1989.

Outfielder Jimmie Randolph Hall played for the Twins from 1963-1966.  He was born in Mount Holly, North Carolina and went to high school in Belmont, North Carolina.  He then was signed by Washington as a free agent in 1956.  He hit .385 his first year at Class D Superior, but then had some less impressive years.  He really struggled upon reaching AAA, batting only .227  there in 1960.  He then apparently suffered from injuries, as he totalled only 141 minor league at-bats in 1961-1962.  The Twins saw something in him, though, because in 1963 he became a regular outfielder for the Twins.  Hall started mostly in center field, although he would often be shifted to left late in games to replace Harmon Killebrew there, with Lenny Green taking over in center.  He hit .260 with an amazing 33 home runs (his highest home run total in the minors had been 17 in 1958), setting a rookie record for homers and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Gary Peters and Pete Ward.  He made the all-star team the next two years and finished 13th in MVP voting in 1965.  He hit in the .280s with a home run total in the twenties both years.  He played full-time in center field both of those years.  In 1966, the acquisition of Ted Uhlaender moved Hall to left.  The move did not go well, as Hall dropped to .239, although he again hit twenty home runs.  After the season, Hall was traded to California with Pete Cimino and Don Mincher for Dean Chance and a player to be named later (Jackie Hernandez).  He was the regular right fielder for the Angels in 1967, hitting .249 with sixteen homers, which in 1967 was not as bad as it might sound today.  It still wasn't good enough, however;  Hall became a part-time player, was traded to Cleveland in June of 1968, moved on to the Yankees in April of 1969, to the Cubs in September, to Atlanta in June of 1970, and was released after the 1970 season.  He hit for neither power nor average in any of those years.  Hall played at AAA for San Diego in 1971, then ended his playing career.  As a Twin, Jimmie Hall hit .269/.334/.481 with 98 home runs in four seasons.  Some sources attribute his drop-off to a time when he was hit in the head with a pitch, but this happened in 1964 and he had a fine season in 1965, so this seems unlikely.  After his playing career ended, Hall moved back to Mount Holly, North Carolina, where he was still living at last report.

Right-handed reliever German Jose (Caraballo) Gonzalez pitched for the Twins in parts of two seasons, 1988 and 1989.  His career contains more questions than answers.  Born in Rio Caribe, Venezuela, he signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1986.  Gonzalez was obviously playing baseball somewhere before that, but no information is readily available about it.  He pitched very well in the Twins' minor league system, posting a 2.51 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in Class A Kenosha in 1987 and a 1.02 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP in AA Orlando in 1988.  He came up to Minnesota in early August of 1988 and pitched well, with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in 21.1 innings.  He bounced back and forth between AAA and the majors in 1989, coming to the Twins on three separate occasions.  He wasn't great, but he wasn't awful, either, going 3-2, 4.66 in 29 innings.  After that, however, the trail comes to an abrupt halt; he never appeared in organized baseball after 1989.  One assumes that he continued pitching somewhere, as he had done well enough to warrant more chances, but this could not be confirmed, nor was any information readily available about what he has done since.

Right-hander Mauro Paul "Goose" Gozzo made two appearances for the Twins in 1992.  He was born in New Britain, Connecticut and went to high school in Berlin, Connecticut.  He was then drafted by the Mets in the 13th round in 1984.  The Mets kept him in Class A for three years, the last two of which were pretty good, although as a reliever he never pitched more than 78 innings in a season.  In March of 1987 Gozzo was traded to Kansas City in a trade that also involved Rick Anderson.  He had two pretty undistinguished years in AA Memphis and was left unprotected after the season.  He was chosen in the minor league draft by Toronto.  Something apparently clicked for him with the Blue Jays, as he had two fine years in their minor league system.  He was called up to the majors in early August of 1989 and was okay, going 4-1, 4.83 with a 1.39 WHIP.  He was back in the minors in 1990 and had another strong season, but Toronto traded him to Cleveland in September.  He finished the season in the majors, but again was back at AAA in 1991.  Gozzo was mostly a starter in AAA with the Indians and did not pitch very well.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 1992.  He both started and relieved at AAA Portland, did pretty well, and got a September callup.  Mauro Gozzo pitched a total of 1.2 innings for the Twins, giving up five runs on seven hits.  He became a free agent after the season, signing with the Mets.  He was in the Mets' system for two years, splitting those years between AAA and the majors.  Gozzo pitched fairly well for the Mets when used out of the bullpen, though less well when tried as a starter.  He moved on to the Cubs' system in 1995, did not make the big leagues with them, and then ended his playing career.  Mauro Gozzo currently operates Goose's Major League Instruction, providing year-round baseball training and instruction, in Wallingford, Connecticut.  He is also the director of Goose’s Gamers, an AAU baseball league in Wallingford.

March 6

Ring Lardner (1885)

Lefty Grove (1900)

Bob Swift (1915)

Pete Gray (1915)

Ted Abernathy (1933)

Cookie Rojas (1939)

Willie Stargell (1940)

Karl Best (1959)

Scott Stahoviak (1970)

Terry Adams (1973)

Marcus Thames (1977)

Clint Barmes (1979)

Writer Ring Lardner wrote about a variety of subjects, but is probably most famous for writing about baseball.  If you haven't read any of his stuff, you really should.

As you probably know, Pete Gray played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite having only one arm.

Right-hander Karl Jon Best made eleven relief appearances for the Twins in 1988.  He was born in Aberdeen, Washington and went to high school in Kent, Washington.  He was drafted in the twelfth round in 1977.  His minor league numbers are unimpressive, due primarily to wildness.  His best minor league year was 1982, the only time he posted an ERA under four in a full minor league season.  He went 9-4, 3.45 that year, striking out 125 in 138.1 innings; however, he also walked 90.  He had been a starter to this point, but in 1983 he was moved to the bullpen.  It did not help his control any, but despite that, Best made brief appearances for the Mariners in 1983 and 1984.  He started 1985 in Seattle and actually pitched very well:  his ERA was 1.95 in 32.1 innings, his WHIP was 0.96, and he struck out 32 while walking only six.  Unfortunately, he was then injured in late June, and never had a year that good again.  In 1986 he was still adequate, but his wildness problems returned:  he walked 21 in 35.2 innings.  He was in the minors for all of 1987, getting traded to Detroit at mid-season.  In March of 1988, Best was traded to Minnesota for Don Schulze.  He began the season in Portland, but came up to the Twins in early May.  He pitched 12 innings, mostly in mop-up relief, and had an ERA of 6.00 and a WHIP of 1.83, giving up 15 hits and walking seven.  Best was returned to the minors in late June and was traded to San Francisco in mid-August for Alan Cockrell.  He finished out the season in AAA Phoenix and then his playing career was over.  At last report, Karl Best was living in Snohomish, Washington.  His daughter Amanda, played basketball for the University of New Mexico.

First baseman Scott Edmund Stahoviak played his entire major league career with the Twins.  Born in Waukegan, Illinois, he attended high school in Mundelein, Illinois and went to Creighton University.  He was chosen by the Twins in the first round in 1991.  He hit pretty well in the minors, although with only moderate power.  His best minor league season was 1994, when he hit .318 with 41 doubles and 13 homers in AAA Salt Lake.  Stahoviak made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1993, returned in May of 1995, and had his only full season in 1996.  He was the regular first baseman for the Twins that season and actually did not do so badly, hitting .284 with an OBP of .376 and an OPS of .845.  It was not considered good enough, however, and in 1997 he shared the position with Greg Colbrunn.  Stahoviak fell to .229 that season, and was back in the minors in 1998.  He had a fine season in Salt Lake, hitting .316 with 33 doubles and 18 homers, but got only 19 at-bats in the big leagues.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Cubs.  He was at AAA for the Cubs for two years, but did not get back to the big leagues, and his playing career was over.  As a Twin, Scott Stahoviak hit .256/.335/.410 in just over a thousand at-bats.  He was the batting coach at the University of Illinois--Chicago from 2003-2005.  At last report, he was a high school baseball coach and gym teacher in Mundelein, Illinois.  He was also an instructor at Slammers Baseball Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois.

March 5

Sam Thompson (1860)

Jeff Tesreau (1888)

Lu Blue (1897)

Elmer Valo (1921)

Del Crandall (1930)

Phil Roof (1941)

Katsuo Osugi (1945)

Kent Tekulve (1947)

Doug Bird (1950)

Mike Veeck (1951)

Mike Squires (1952)

Steve Ontiveros (1961)

Brian Hunter (1971)

Jeffrey Hammonds (1971)

Ryan Franklin (1973)

Paul Konerko (1976)

Mike MacDougal (1977)

Joe Benson (1988)

Katsuo Osugi was the first player to have a thousand hits in the Japanese Central League and the Japanese Pacific League.

Outfielder Elmer William Valo was one of the original Minnesota Twins, and may have the earliest birthdate of anyone to play for the team.  He was born in Rybnik, Czechoslovakia (one of three major league players born in Czechoslovakia), and went to high school in Palmerton, Pennsylvania.  He was signed by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1938.  He started his minor league career in 1939 and hit well over .300 each of the next three years in the low minors; his lifetime minor league batting average is .344 and his minor league slugging percentage is .500.  He got brief trials in the majors in 1940 and 1941, and in 1942 was jumped from Class B to the big leagues.  Valo was a starting outfielder for the Athletics in 1942, at age 21, and hit .251.  He was again starting for the Athletics in 1943 when he joined the Army.  He returned to baseball in 1946 and became a star, hitting over .300 each of the next three years and over .280 with an OPS over .800 each of the next seven years.  After the 1952 season, Valo dropped to part-time status for reasons that are not particularly clear.  He moved to Kansas City with the Athletics in 1955, hitting .364 in 283 at-bats.  Surprisingly, he was released in May of 1956 and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.  He continued to hit well as a part-time player, but was traded to Brooklyn in April of 1957.  He moved to Los Angeles with the team in 1958, and was used primarily as a pinch-hitter.  He was fairly good at it, but was released before the 1959 season.  Valo went back to the minors, sigining with independent Seattle in the Pacific Coast League, and was sold to Cleveland in June.  He pinch-hit for the Indians for the remainder of the season, was released, and signed with the Yankees for 1960.  The Yankees released him in May, and he signed with Washington the next day.  Still used mainly as a pinch-hitter, Valo hit .281 for Washington in 1960 and came to Minnesota with the team, the third franchise shift he had experienced.  He went 5-for-32 with two doubles as a Twin, was released in June, and finished the season and his career back in Philadelphia.  In his career, Valo held a number of odd records:  he was the first player to hit two bases-loaded triples in a game, and tied a record with three in a season in 1949.  In 1960, he set major-league records for most games, most times on base, and most walks as a pinch-hitter.  He also set a major league record with 91 career walks as a pinch-hitter.  He remained in baseball after his playing career ended, first as a coach and minor league manager for Cleveland and then as a long-time scout for Philadelphia.  Elmer Valo passed away on July 19, 1998 at Palmerton, Pennsylvania.  He was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1990.

Catcher Phillip Anthony Roof played for the Twins for parts of six seasons from 1971-1976.  His brother Gene Roof was also a major league player.  Phil Roof was born in and attended high school in Paducah, Kentucky.  He was signed by the Milwaukee Braves as a free agent in 1959.  Roof never hit much in the minors:  his best offensive year was 1961, when he hit .261 for Class B Yakima.  He made his big league debut in 1961 as well, appearing behind the plate for one inning in a 7-3 loss to San Francisco.  He appeared in one more game in 1964, going 0-for-2.  After the season, Roof was traded to California.  1965 was his first full year in the big leagues, but he spent it with two teams, as he was traded to Cleveland in June.  After the season he was on the move again, traded to Kansas City in a deal that also included Joe Rudi.  He got the most playing time of his career in 1966, batting 369 times in 127 games, but hit only .209 with an OPS of .604.  Even in the poor offensive context of the time, that was not good.  Still, he remained a semi-regular catcher for the Athletics through 1969, moving with the team to Oakland, with the exception of 1968, when he was injured much of the year.  Roof was traded to Milwaukee in December of 1969.  He was a Brewer for about a year and a half, then was traded to Minnesota for Paul Ratliff in July of 1971.  He remained a Twin through August of 1976.  His averages with the Twins show the vagaries of small sample size:  after hitting .205, .197, and .196 in three consecutive years, Roof hit .302 in 1975, then fell back to .200 in 1976.  In none of those seasons did he get as many as 150 at-bats.  He was placed on waivers in August and claimed by the White Sox.  After the season he was traded to Toronto.  He went 0-for-5 in 1977 and then his career was over.  As a Twin, he hit .228/.282/.338 in 619 at-bats.  After he finished playing, Roof embarked on a long career as a manager in the Twins' organization, managing at Visalia (1982), Orlando (1983, 1992), Portland (1989-1990), Nashville (1993-1994), Salt Lake (1995-2000), and Rochester (2003-2005).  He was also a bullpen coach for San Diego (1978), Seattle (1984-1988), and the Chicago Cubs (1990-1991).  He retired after the 2005 season, although he filled in as bullpen coach for the Twins in the first month of 2011 when Rick Stelmaszek was sidelined due to eye surgery.  He is part of a baseball family:  his brother Gene played in the majors from 1981-1983; brothers Adrian, Paul, and David all played minor league baseball; son Eric was a minor league player and son Shawn is currently in the Twins organization; and nephew Jonathan is a minor league player.  Phil Roof continues to appear at the Twins’ Fantasy Camp.  He was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Right-hander Steven Ontiveros did not play for the Twins, but he was in their minor league system in 1993.  He was born in Tularosa, New Mexico and attended the University of Michigan.  Oakland drafted him in the second round in 1982.  He had a fine year at AA Albany in 1983, but then missed most of 1984 due to injury.  After a strong start in the bullpen for AAA Tacoma in 1985, Ontiveros was promoted to the majors.  He pitched very well that season, but struggled in 1986.  He was converted to starting in 1987 and did a fairly good job, but was injured again in 1988.  He was released after the season and signed with Philadelphia.  He pitched well for the Phillies when he could pitch, but those times were infrequent, as he missed significant time with injuries each season.  He became a free agent after the 1991 season and signed with Detroit for 1992, but was released in spring training.  He was out of baseball that season, but signed with the Twins in April of 1993 and was sent to AAA Portland.  He pitched very well there, going 7-6, 2.87, 1.07 WHIP in 103.1 innings, but rather than bringing him to the majors the Twins traded him to Seattle for Greg Shockey in mid-August.  He finished the season in the majors and pitched quite well, but was a free agent after the season and signed with Oakland.  Finally healthy, he had his best season in the majors in 1994, leading the league in ERA (2.65) and WHIP (1.03), although he was able to lead with only 115.1 innings due to the strike.  He could not match those numbers in 1995 but still pitched fairly well.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with California, but injuries came back to bite him again, and he started bouncing around.  Ontiveros pitched in the minors for the Angels from 1996-1997, St. Louis and Baltimore in 1998, Tampa Bay and Milwaukee in 1999, and Colorado and Boston in 2000.  He made it back to the majors in 2000, appearing in three games for the Red Sox.  He was back in the minors in 2001, pitching for the Mets and Oakland, and then his playing career came to an end.  In ten major league seasons, he was 34-31, 3.67, 1.25 WHIP.  He pitched 661.2 innings and appeared in 207 games, 73 of them starts.  One wonder what he might have been able to do if he’d only been able to stay on the field.  He offers pitching instruction through SpinDoctor.us and through Players Choice Academy AZ in Scottsdale, Arizona.  He was the pitching coach for the Chinese National team in the 2008 Olympics.

Outfielder William Joseph Benson made his major league debut with the Twins in 2011.  He was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, went to high school in Joliet, Illinois, and was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 2006.  Early on, he did not show a lot; he drew a good number of walks, but his average and power numbers were nothing special.  His first really good year was in 2009 at Ft. Myers, when he hit .285 with an OBP of .414 at age 21.  He was promoted to New Britain in 2010, but got off to a slow start and was sent back to Ft. Myers for a month.  He proved he was too good for that league and came back to New Britain, where he hit well the rest of the year and showed surprising power, hitting 23 home runs.  He was again in New Britain in 2011 and had a fine year, hitting .285/.388/.495 with 16 homers.  This earned him a September call-up to the big club, where he hit .239/.270/.352 in 71 at-bats.  2012, however, was pretty much a lost year, as he battled injuries and was ineffective when he did play.  The Twins do not seem to have held it against him, as he was invited to spring training and is considered to have a chance of making the club.  He turns 25 today.  It probably goes without saying that 2013 will be a crucial year for him.  The Twins have an opening in the outfield, but it will be up to Joe Benson to show that he can fill it.

March 4

Red Murray (1884)
Jeff Pfeffer (1888)
Dazzy Vance (1891)
Lefty O'Doul (1897)
Buck Canel (1906)
Clyde McCullough (1917)
Mel Queen (1918)
Leo Righetti (1925)
Cass Michaels (1926)
Bob Johnson (1936)
Jack Fischer (1939)
Danny Frisella (1946)
Tom Grieve (1948)
Harry Saferight (1949)
Sam Perlozzo (1951)
Mark Wagner (1954)
Jeff Dedmon (1960)
Tom Lampkin (1964)
Giovanni Carrera (1968)
Dave Stevens (1970)
Mark Wegner (1972)

 

Born in Argentina, Buck Canel broadcast major league baseball to Latin America for over four decades, calling forty-two World Series.

 

The father of Dave Righetti, Leo Righetti played in the minors for twelve years, eight of them in AAA.

 

Harry Saferight made it to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1979, but did not appear in a game. He got to the on-deck circle three times, but each time the last out was made before he had a chance to bat.

Infielder Samuel Benedict Perlozzo got a September call-up with the Twins in 1977. Born in Cumberland, Maryland, he attended George Washington University. Perlozzo then signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1972. Primarily a second baseman, he had some decent but unexceptional years in the minor leagues. In his AAA debut in 1977, however, he hit .310 at Tacoma with an OBP of .393, earning that September call-up. Perlozzo went 7-for-24 with the Twins, hitting two triples. In 1978, he fell to .244 at Tacoma and was released the following March. San Diego signed him, and he hit .301 at AAA Hawaii in 1979, getting another September call-up. This time he went 0-for-2 with a walk. After the season, he was sold to Yakult in the Japanese Central League. He came back to the United States in 1981, playing for AAA Tidewater in the Mets' organization, and then his career came to an end. He went into managing and coaching after that. He was a minor league manager in the Mets' organization from 1982-1986, then became a major league coach. He was on the coaching staff of the Mets (1987-1989), Cincinnati (1990-1992), Seattle (1993-1995), and Baltimore (1996-2005). On August 4 of 2005, Perlozzo became the Orioles' manager, a position he held through June 18, 2007. In 2008, he rejoined the Seattle coaching staff, and he was a coach for Philadelphia from 2009-2012. He does not appear to have a coaching position for 2013, and no further information about what Sam Perlozzo is doing now was readily available.

 

Right-hander David James Stevens pitched for the Twins from 1994 through 1997. Stevens was born in Fullerton, California, attended high school in La Habra, California, and was drafted by the Cubs in the 20th round in 1989, not signing until May of 1990. He did not appear to be anything special in the minors; he did go 10-1 in 1993, but with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in a year split between AA and AAA. The latter part of the year, in AAA, he was converted from starting to relief. Following the 1993 season, the Cubs traded Stevens and Matt Walbeck to Minnesota for Willie Banks. He got off to a strong start in the Salt Lake bullpen in 1994 and made his major league debut on May 20 of that year. It did not go well--in 20 appearances, he posted a 6.80 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. Despite that, Stevens started 1995 with the Twins, and when Rick Aguilera was traded in early July, Stevens became the Twins' closer. There was no particular reason to think that would work, and it didn't. In 1997, Stevens moved to the starting rotation, which also didn't work. He was sent to AAA, then placed on waivers in August. The Cubs claimed him and moved him back to the bullpen. He split time between the majors and AAA with the Cubs through 1998. The Cubs released him after the season. He was signed by Cleveland for 1999, released in June, signed by Seattle, released again in July, signed by Pittsburgh in February of 2000, released in April, signed with Atlanta, and was in the minors there (with the exception of two major league appearances) through the 2001 season. He was then out of baseball until 2004, when he appeared in three separate independent leagues. As a Twin, Dave Stevens was 14-12, 5.82 with 21 saves and a 1.70 WHIP in 191.2 innings. No information about Dave Stevens' whereabouts since 2004 was readily available.

March 3

John Montgomery Ward (1860)
Wee Willie Keeler (1872)
Ed Phelps (1879)
Tetsuya Yoneda (1938)
Paul Schaal (1943)
Rick Reed (1950)
Chuck Cary (1960)
Neal Heaton (1960)
Marvin Hudson (1964)
Scott Radinsky (1968)
Mike Romano (1972)
Matt Diaz (1978)
Jorge Julio (1979)

 

Tetsuya Yoneda is the second-winningest pitcher in Japanese professional baseball with 350 victories.

 

The Rick Reed whose birthday is today is the major league umpire, not the ex-Twin.

 

Left-hander Neal Heaton pitched for the Twins for part of 1986. He was born in South Ozone Park, New York, went to high school in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, and attended the University of Miami. He was drafted by Cleveland in the second round in 1981. He was in the minors only two years, at AA at age 21 and AAA at age 22. His numbers aren't great, but not bad considering his age. He got a September call-up in 1982, and was in the majors to stay at the beginning of 1983. He started the season in the bullpen, pitched fairly well, and was in the starting rotation by mid-July. Heaton was hyped pretty hard at the time, but never really lived up to it. In roughly three years in the Cleveland rotation, he never put up an ERA under 4.2 or a WHIP under 1.4. On June 20, 1986, Neal Heaton was traded to Minnesota for John Butcher. He began his time as a Twin in the bullpen, but after four appearances was moved back to the rotation. He was not awful as a Twin: 4-9, but with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. In February of 1987, however, Heaton was traded to Montreal along with Al Cardwood, Yorkis Perez, and Jeff Reed for Tom Nieto and Jeff Reardon. He had two relatively undistinguished years as an Expo, then was traded to Pittsburgh prior to the 1989 season. His seasons as a Pirate were the best of his career: in three years, he was 21-19, 3.46 with a 1.26 WHIP. After a down year in 1991 he was traded to Kansas City. The Royals released him in July, he finished the year with Milwaukee, and was released again after the season. He signed with the Yankees for 1993 and was released one more time in July, ending his career. At last report, Neal Heaton was living in East Patchogue, Long Island and was a pitching instructor at Paul Gibson's All Pro Sports Academy in Bellport, New York.

 

Right-hander Michael Desport Romano did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for about three months in 2000. He was born in New Orleans, went to high school in Chalmette, Louisiana, attended Tulane, and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 1993. A starting pitcher early in his minor league career, he progressed at about a level a year, reaching AAA in 1997. This progression came despite the fact that, statistically at least, he doesn’t appear to have done very much; he did not post an ERA below four nor a WHIP below 1.4 after 1994 in Class A. He both relieved and started for Syracuse in 1997 and 1998. Returned to the rotation full-time in 1999, he had a comparatively good season in AAA, going 12-8, 4.13, 1.40 WHIP. He got a September call-up, pitching 5.1 innings over three games for the Blue Jays and allowing eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and five walks. Those would turn out to be his career totals. He got off to a good start in Syracuse in 2000 and was traded to Minnesota in mid-June for Francisco Alvarez. He pitched poorly in AAA Salt Lake, going 7-6, 6.14, 1.59 WHIP in 16 starts. A free agent after the season, he was signed by Atlanta for 2001 but was released in spring training. He went to the Mexican League for most of the next three years, throwing the first postseason no-hitter in League history in 2001. He was having a good season there in 2003 when he was purchased by the Braves in mid-August and sent to AAA Richmond. He had a fine season for Richmond in 2004, going 13-5, 3.42, but at age 32 he was no longer considered a prospect and was not called up to the majors. He then went overseas, pitching in Japan in 2005-2006 and in Korea in 2007. He was inducted into the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. No current information about Mike Romano was readily available.

March 2

Horace Fogel (1861)

Moe Berg (1902)

Woody English (1906)

Jack Knott (1907)

Mel Ott (1909)

Mort Cooper (1913)

Jim Konstanty (1917)

Jim Nettles (1947)

Pete Broberg (1950)

Larry Wolfe (1953)

Terry Steinbach (1962)

Ron Gant (1965)

Jay Gibbons (1977)

Glen Perkins (1983)

Horace Fogel was a sportswriter who became manager of the New York Giants in 1902.  His time as Giants manager is best remembered for his attempt to move Christy Mathewson to first base.  He was fired 41 games into the season and replaced by Heinie Smith, who put an end to such nonsense.  Instead, he tried to move Mathewson to shortstop. 

The brother of Graig Nettles, outfielder James William Nettles played for the Twins from 1970-1972.  Born in San Diego, he attended high school there and then went to San Diego State.  Minnesota drafted him in the fourth round in 1968.  He hit for decent averages in the minors, not a lot of power, but a good number of walks.  His best minor league year was 1970, when he hit .317/.400/.452 in AAA Evansville.  He got a September call-up that year.  Nettles started 1971 in the minors, but was called up by mid-May and spent the rest of the season in Minnesota.  Nettles was the Twins' regular center fielder for the month of July, one of three players the Twins tried in that role, but he hit only .242 and could not hold the job.  1972 was his first full season in the big leagues; Nettles hit only .204 as a part-time player.  He went back to the minors for 1973 and was traded to Detroit after the season for Paul Jata.  He started 1974 in the minors but was called up in mid-July and stayed the rest of the season as a reserve.  It would be five years before he got to the majors again.  Nettles played in Japan in 1975 and in Mexico in 1976.  He came back into organized ball in 1977, playing in AAA for Pittsburgh.  He moved on to the Royals' organization for 1978 and 1979, and in the latter year he got a September call-up.  He moved to the Yankees' AAA team for 1980 and to Oakland in 1981.  He made one last major league appearance in 1981, getting a September call-up again and coming to the plate once (a successful sacrifice bunt).  He played briefly at AAA for Oakland in 1982, and then his playing career came to an end.  As a Twin, Jim Nettles hit .225/.309/.333 in 423 at-bats.  After his playing days, he was a minor league manager from 1983-1996, managing in the Oakland, Seattle, and Toronto organizations along with one year of independent ball.  He was last in baseball as a coach for the Spokane Indians in 2005 and 2006.  His daughter, Shara, is the wife of Mike Sweeney.  At last report, Jim Nettles was operating a hitting academy in the Tacoma, Washington area.

Third baseman Laurence Marcy Wolfe played for the Twins from 1977-1978.  He was born in Melbourne, Florida, but went to high school in Rancho Cordova, California.  He attended Sacramento City College, and then was drafted by Minnesota in the ninth round in 1973.  He began his minor league career as a shortstop, but was quickly moved to third base.  His best years in the Twins' system was 1974, when he hit .303 at Class A Wisconsin Rapids, and 1977, when he hit .304 at AAA.  He got a September call-up that year.  Wolfe's first full year in the majors came in 1978.  He was platooned at third with Mike Cubbage and hit .234 in 235 at-bats.  Wolfe was traded to Boston prior to the 1979 season for Dave Coleman.  He was with the Red Sox all year, but was used primarily as a defensive replacement for second baseman Jerry Remy.  Wolfe batted only 78 times all season, hitting .244.  He started 1980 in the minors, but was brought up in July, again used mainly as a defensive replacement.  Let go by Boston after the season, he was in AAA with Cincinnati in 1981, went to Japan for 1982, and then his playing career was over.  No information about Larry Wolfe's life after baseball was readily available.

Catcher Terry Lee Steinbach played for the Twins from 1997-1999, at the end of his career.  He was born in New Ulm and went to high school there, then attended the University of Minnesota.  He was drafted by Oakland in 1983 in the ninth round.  Steinbach hit pretty well at every level of the minors; his best year was 1986, when he hit .325 with 24 homers and 33 doubles at AA Huntsville.  That got him a September call-up, and the next year Steinbach skipped AAA and went to Oakland, never to return to the minors.  Steinbach was essentially the regular catcher for the Athletics from 1987-1996, but only in four of those years did he start more than 100 games behind the plate, and only twice did he start more than 110 games there.  He does not seem to be platooned, nor does he seem to have been injury-prone.  Rather, he simply was given quite a few days off, as well as making occasional starts at third base, first base, corner outfield, and designated hitter.  Steinbach was an all-star three times with Oakland, and received minor consideration for MVP in 1996.  1996 was his best year:  he hit .272 with 35 homers, almost as many homers as he had hit in the previous three years combined (his next highest home run total was 15).  A free agent after the 1996 season, he signed with  Minnesota.  He was 35 years old by then, and could not duplicate his previous season, but was still a decent backstop for the Twins.  As a Twin, Terry Steinbach hit .256/.321/.399 in about 1,200 at-bats.  He retired after the 1999 season.  At last report, Terry Steinbach was coaching high school baseball coach at Wayzata, Minnesota.  He is also a spring training instructor for the Twins and a part-time analyst on Fox Sports North.  Further, he has played some amateur baseball and is active in helping raise money for ALS research.

Left-hander Glen Weston Perkins has been with the Twins since 2006.  He was born in St. Paul and went to high school in Stillwater, Minnesota.  He was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2004.  He pitched fairly well throughout his minor league career, getting a September call-up in 2006 after posting a 3.91 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in AA New Britain.  He missed time in 2007 due to injury, making 19 relief appearances in the majors and eight in the minors.  He made six starts in Rochester in 2008 before being called back to the Twins in mid-May.  He was 12-4 with Minnesota that year, but with a 4.41 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  He was injured again for part of 2009, with his major league campaign ending in early August.  He stayed healthy in 2010 but didn’t get much accomplished, pitching poorly in Rochester as well as for the Twins when he was called up in mid-August.  In 2011, however, he was moved to the bullpen and had by far his best season to date, posting a 2.48 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and striking out 65 batters in 61.2 innings.  He began 2012 in a setup role, but became the Twins closer when Matt Capps was removed from the role due to injury and ineffectiveness.  Perkins had a fine 2012 season, going 3-1 with 16 saves, a 2.56 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP  So far as a Twin, Glen Perkins is 26-17, 4.11 with a 1.35 WHIP in 215 games (435.1 innings), but as a reliever he is 8-5, 2.83, 1.17 WHIP with 18 saves in 184.1 innings (171 games).  He is expected to be the Twins' closer in 2013.

March 1

*Dickey Pearce (1836)

Paul Hines (1855)

Farmer Vaughn (1864)

*Pepper Martin (1904)

Harry Caray (1914)

Bing Devine (1916)

Othello Renfroe (1923)

*Al Rosen (1924)

Larry Brown (1940)

Vern Fuller (1944)

*Steve Mingori (1944)

Jeff Holly (1953)

Johnny Ray (1957)

Mark Gardner (1962)

Rich Rodriguez (1963)

Tony Castillo (1963)

Omar Daal (1972)

Ramon Castro (1976)

*Terrence Long (1976)

Ken Harvey (1978)

*born February 29

Bing Devine worked in baseball front offices from 1939-1978, spending most of that time in the Cardinals organization.  He was the St. Louis general manager from 1957-1964 and 1968-1978, serving as the general manager of the Mets from 1965-1967.

Othello Renfroe played in the Negro Leagues for several years.  He eventually became a broadcaster, sportswriter, scout, and public address announcer.  He was also the first African-American official scorer in major league baseball.

Left-hander Jeffrey Owen Holly pitched for the Twins for parts of three seasons from 1977-1979.  He was born in San Pedro, California and attended high school in Redondo Beach, California.  He was drafted by the White Sox in the 17th round in 1971.  Holly was used both as a starter and reliever in the minors.  His best year in the minors was 1974, when he posted an ERA of 3.34 and a WHIP of 1.29 as a 21-year-old at AA Knoxville.  Holly was apparently injured in 1975; he pitched only 38 ineffective innings.  The White Sox released him in early April of 1976, and he went unsigned until the end of May, when he was picked up by Minnesota.  He had a fine year that season at AA Orlando, and had a good ERA (although with a high WHIP) at AAA in 1977 when he was called up to the Twins.  He had two stints in Minnesota that year, totalling about three months, and went 2-3, 6.89 in 18 appearances, five of them starts.  Moved to the bullpen full time in 1978, Holly had a tremendous half-season at Orlando, going 6-0, 0.77 in 25 games.  Called up to the Twins in early July, he pitched pretty well, going 1-1, 3.57 with a 1.30 WHIP in 35 innings.  Holly started 1979 with the Twins, but was sent down within a month, having pitched 6.1 ineffective innings.  He had a good year in AAA Toledo, but did not get called back to the majors.  That off-season, Holly was traded to Detroit for Fernando Arroyo but did not make the team and his career ended.  His big league numbers, all with the Twins, were 3-4, 5.60 in 90 innings.  He made 39 appearances, six of them starts.  At last report, Jeff Holly was coaching youth baseball and was an instructor for MVP Baseball of Santa Barbara, California.

First baseman Kenneth Eugene Harvey did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system in 2007.  He was born in Los Angeles and went to high school in Beverly Hills.  Harvey then attended the University of Nebraska and was drafted by Kansas City in the fifth round in 1999.  He hit tremendously well in his first few years in the minors, batting .397 in 1999 at Class A Spokane, .335 in 2000 at Class A Wilmington, and .350 in 2001 in a year split between Wilmington and AA Wichita.  Promoted to AAA Omaha in 2002, his averaged dropped to .277, but he hit 2o homers and 30 doubles.  That was good enough to get him promoted to Kansas City, where he was a regular for two years, playing both first base and designated hitter.  He hit for a decent average, but never developed the power the Royals had hoped.  His best year was 2004, when he hit .287 with 13 homers and 20 doubles and made the all-star team.  It wasn't good enough for Kansas City--Harvey started 2005 in the majors, but was sent down in early May after only45 at-bats.  He again put up big numbers in Omaha, but then was injured and missed all of 2006.  The Royals released him after the season, and he was signed by Minnesota.  He again was injured almost the entire season, getting only 37 minor league at-bats.  A free agent again after 2007, he started playing in independent leagues, playing in the Northern League and the Atlantic League through 2009.  His playing career came to an end after that, and no information about what Ken Harvey has been doing since that time was readily available.