July 28

Bullet Joe Rogan (1893)
Morrie Silver (1909)
Harry Dalton (1928)
Ted Lepcio (1929)
Masaaki Koyama (1934)
Marty Brennaman (1942)
Vida Blue (1949)
Wayne Krivsky (1954)
Carmelo Martinez (1960)
Bob Milacki (1964)
Derek Lee (1966)

Bullet Joe Rogan, given name Charles Wilber Rogan, was a star in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1938.

Morrie Silver is credited with having saved baseball in Rochester when the St. Louis Cardinals threatened to drop their team there.  He is a member of the International League Hall of Fame.

Harry Dalton was the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels, and Milwaukee Brewers.

Masaaki Koyama won 320 games in Japan, third on the all-time list.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman has been with the Cincinnati Reds since 1974.

Wayne Krivsky was an assistant general manager of the Twins until 2006, when he became the general manager of Cincinnati.  He has since returned to the Twins as an assistant to the general manager.

Infielder Thaddeus Stanley “Ted” Lepcio played for the Twins in 1961.  He was born in Utica, New York, attended Seton Hall, and was signed as a free agent by Boston in 1951.  He was only in the minors one year and spent over half of that year in Class B.  Still, when 1952 started, Ted Lepcio was in Boston.  He was a reserve infielder, playing mostly at second but also some at third.  Actually, that statement would pretty much sum up his career in Boston, as he only got more than 300 at-bats in a season once.  The exception was 1954, when he made 78 starts at second base, 22 at third, and nine at short.  Most of the time, he would hit around .250 with moderate power and draw a decent number of walks:  not good enough to be a starter, but someone who’d help as an extra player.  He had a bad year in 1958, hitting only .199 in 136 at-bats, and was traded to Detroit just after the 1959 season started.  He bounced back there, hitting .280 as a reserve infielder, but it was his last good season.  Lepcio moved on to Philadelphia for 1960, was sold to the White Sox before the 1961 season, was released in late May, and signed with Minnesota in June.  He played third and second for the Twins, hitting .170/.230/.402 in 112 at-bats.  He signed with the Mets for 1962 but was released in April, and when you weren’t good enough to play for the 1962 Mets, it meant your career was over.  After leaving baseball, Ted Lepcio worked for Honeywell and then became the vice president of St. Johnsbury Trucking Company.  He often chaired Red Sox-related charity events.  At last report, he was living in Dedham, Massachusetts and working part-time for Stonepath, a global logistics company.

Outfielder Derek Gerald Lee had 33 at-bats for the Twins in 1993.  He was born in Chicago, attended the University of South Florida, and was drafted by the White Sox in the forty-second round in 1988.  He had some solid seasons in the minors, hitting .341 in Class A Utica in 1988 and .305 with 11 homers in a 1991 season split between AA and AAA.  Chicago waived him after the 1992 season, however, and Minnesota claimed him.  He had a solid season in Portland, hitting .315 with 10 homers.  He came up to the Twins for about a month beginning in late June and was used as a reserve outfielder, mostly in left.  He played in fifteen games and hit .152/.176/.182.  The Twins traded him to Montreal that off-season for Joe Norris.  He stayed in AAA for a long time but moved around a lot.  He was in the Expos’ organization in 1994, the Mets in 1995, Texas and Oakland in 1996, San Diego in 1997, and Baltimore in 1998.  He played in Mexico in 1999 and played in independent ball in 2000 before his playing career came to an end.  His career AAA line, in almost 3,000 at-bats, is .289/.377/.471.  Not that he’d have been a superstar, but it seems like he might have helped someone if he’d been given a chance.  At last report, Derek Lee was a scout for the Texas Rangers.

July 27

Davy Force (1846)
Joe Tinker (1880)
Rube Walberg (1896)
Biz Mackey (1897)
Benny Bengough (1898)
Zack Taylor (1898)
Leo Durocher (1905)
Kazuto Tsuruoka (1916)
Ray Boone (1923)
Harry Wendelstedt (1938)
Larry Biittner (1945)
Bump Wills (1952)
Rich Dauer (1952)
Brian Kingman (1954)
Shane Rawley (1955)
Len Barker (1955)
Dave Dombrowski (1956)
Tom Goodwin (1968)
Shane Bowers (1971)
Enrique Wilson (1973)
Alex Rodriguez (1975)
Tsuyoshi Nishioka (1984)

Biz Mackey was a star in the Negro Leagues from 1923-1945.

Kazuto Tsuruoka was a star in Japan from 1939-1952 and was a very successful manager from 1953-1966.

Harry Wendelstedt was a National League umpire from 1966-1998.

Dave Dombrowski has been the general manager of the Montreal Expos, the Florida Marlins, and the Detroit Tigers.

Left-hander Shane Rawley pitched for the Twins in his last season, 1989.  Born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin and drafted by Montreal in the second round in the 1974 June Secondary draft.  He had some pretty good years in the Expos’ organization; the best was 1976, when he went 11-6, 2.69 for AA Quebec.  He would not reach the majors for them, though, because in late May of 1977 he was traded to Cincinnati, and after the 1977 campaign he was traded again, this time to Seattle.  He started 1978 in the Mariners’ bullpen, where he stayed for four years.  He was never spectacular, but he did a decent job four them, generally posting ERAs around four.  Shortly before the 1982 season, the Mariners traded him to the Yankees in a multi-player deal.  He started 1982 as a reliever, but was converted to starting (which he had done in the minors) in early July.  He was a solid starter for them through 1983, but got off to a terrible start in 1984 and was traded to Philadelphia.  It was a good trade for the Phillies, as Rawley had some fine years for them, making the all-star team in 1986 and winning seventeen games in 1987.  His ERA was up in the latter year, however, and when he did not improve in 1988 he was traded with cash to Minnesota for Eric Bullock, Tom Herr, and Tom Nieto.  Rawley did not have a very good year for the Twins in 1989, going 5-12, 5.21, 1.57 WHIP.  He became a free agent after the season, but no one signed him and he retired.  He was never a big star, but Shane Rawley was a solid big leaguer for more than a decade, and there are not a lot of people who can say that.  After his playing career ended, he founded Fielders’ Choice Sports Complex in Racine, Wisconsin.  He currently owns and operates Shaners Sports Bar and Pizzeria in Sarasota, Florida.

Right-hander Shane Bowers made five starts for the Twins in 1997.  He was born in Glendora, California, attended Loyola Marymount, and was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-first round in 1993.  He pitched well in the low minors, attracting attention by going 13-5, 2.16 at Class A Ft. Myers.  He did fairly well in AA in 1996 and 1997, and given the state of Twins pitching at that time, that was good enough to get him a shot at the big leagues.  He came up in late July and made five starts, pitching fairly well in the first one but poorly after that.  He went 0-3, 8.05, 1.84 WHIP in 19 innings.  He finished 1997 in AAA Salt Lake and stayed there through 1999.  He had good won-lost records, but high ERAs and high WHIPs.  He became a free agent after the 1999 season and signed with Philadelphia.  He was in AAA for them in 2000 and did somewhat better, but not enough.  Bowers went to Japan for two seasons, playing for the Yokohama Bay Stars in 2001-2002.  He was out of baseball in 2003, then tried to make a comeback with the Phillies in 2004.  He again pitched well in AA but could do nothing in AAA, and his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Shane Bowers was scouting in southern and central California for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Infielder Enrique Wilson was in the Twins’ organization for his first two professional seasons.  Born and raised in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, he was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1992.  He did pretty well in their low minors, hitting .341 in 44 at-bats in the GCL in 1992 and batting .289 with 13 homers in Elizabethton in 1993.  The Twins apparently did not think that much of him, however, sending him to Cleveland in March of 1994 as the player to be named later in a trade that brought Shawn Bryant to the Twins’ organization.  Wilson did not develop power, but he hit .304 at AA in 1996 and .306 in AAA in 1997, earning a September call-up.  He was in Cleveland for three games at the start of 1998, then spent a few months in AAA before being recalled for good in early August.  He started nearly half of the Indians’ games in 1999, but did not have a regular position, playing short, third, and second.  He was playing well as a reserve infielder for Cleveland in 2000, but was traded to Pittsburgh in late July.  He was off to a slow start in 2001 when the Pirates traded him to the Yankees in mid-June.  He stuck with the Yankees through 2004 despite the fact that he did very little offensively for them.  He became a free agent after the 2004 season, and that was the beginning of the end for him.  Wilson signed with Baltimore, was released in mid-May, went to the Cubs, and was released in late July.  When he did play in 2005, it was mostly in the minors, as he got only 22 major league at-bats that season, all with the Cubs.  They were the last big league at-bats he wold get.  Wilson signed with the Red Sox, went to AAA, and was released at the end of July, ending his playing career in the United States.  He returned to the Domincan Republic, however, and continued to play baseball.  Wilson played for the Dominican Republic team in the 2007 Pan-American Games and has been playing in the Dominican Winter League, playing for Toros Del Este through 2010.  No information about what Enrique Wilson has done since then was readily available.

Infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka was with the Twins in 2011 and remains in their organization.  Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, he began playing for Chiba Lotte in the Japanese Pacific League in 2003 at the age of eighteen.  He was a part-time player his first couple of seasons, becoming a regular in 2005.  He played both second base and shortstop in Japan early in his career, but became a full-time shortstop in 2006.  He hit for high averages in Japan and showed decent power, although it is difficult to say how Japanese numbers translate.  He was highly regarded in Japan, however.  After the 2010 season, Chiba Lotte put him up for bids from American teams, and the Twins won the right to sign him, which they did.  He was installed as the Twins’ second baseman at the start of the 2011 season, but was had his leg broken on a slide into second base in the year’s sixth game.  When he came back, he was the team’s shortstop, but he didn’t hit, nor did he field the position as well as expected.  He was with Rochester in 2012, appearing in only three major league games in August.  He hit better in Rochester, but not particularly well.  He was released after the 2012 season and returned to Japan, where he is doing better but has not returned to his pre-Twin levels of production.  As a Twin, he hit .215/.267/.236 in 233 at-bats.  He turns 29 today.  It was nice to see the Twins try to make a strong move, but it clearly didn't work out very well.  We wish Tsuyoshi Nishioka the best of luck with the rest of his career in Japan.

July 26

Sam Breadon (1876)
Sad Sam Jones (1892)
Brick Eldred (1892)
Larry Woodall (1894)
Paul Gallico (1897)
Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons (1901)
Alex Radcliffe (1905)
Sam Leslie (1905)
Ellis Kinder (1914)
Jimmy Bloodworth (1917)
Sibby Sisti (1920)
Hoyt Wilhelm (1922)
Norm Siebern (1933)
Pete Ward (1937)
Ken Kaiser (1945)
Jody Reed (1962)
Greg Colbrunn (1969)

Joaquin Benoit (1977)
Alex Burnett (1987)

Sam Breadon owned the St. Louis Cardinals from 1917-1947.

Brick Eldred got over two thousand hits in the Pacific Coast League, playing there thirteen years.

Paul Gallico was a sportswriter from 1919-1936.  He went on to become a noted writer and is best known as the author of The Poseidon Adventure.

The brother of Double Duty Radcliffe, Alex Radcliffe played in the Negro Leagues from 1932-1946 and played in eleven all-star games.

Ken Kaiser was an American League umpire from 1977-1999.

First baseman Gregory Joseph Colbrunn was with the Twins for about two-thirds of the 1997 season.  Born and raised in Fontana, California, he was drafted by Montreal in the sixth round in 1987.  He moved up to AA midway through 1989 and had an excellent season there in 1990, hitting .301 with 13 homers at age 20.  He was injured all of 1991, but when he came back in 1992 he picked up where he left off, hitting .306 with 11 homers in a half season at AAA.  He came up to Montreal in early July and stayed there, but could not win a full-time job, sharing time with such stalwarts as Archi Cianfrocco, Frank Bolick, and Oreste Marrero.  The Expos continued to undervalue Colbrunn, placing him on waivers after the 1993 season.  Florida picked him up, and at first they refused to give him much time either, as he shared first base with Dave Magadan, Orestes Destrade, and Russ Morman.  The Marlins finally made him their regular first baseman in 1995 and he responded with two solid seasons, averaging .281 with 20 homers.  He became a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with Minnesota.  He again had to share the first base job, this time with Scott Stahoviak, until the middle of August, when he was traded to Atlanta for a player to be named later (Mark Lewis).  A free agent after the season, he signed with Colorado for 1998 but was again traded to Atlanta at mid-season.  He signed with Arizona for 1999 and finally found a home, spending most of the rest of his career there.  He was always a part-time player there, but he was productive, hitting over .300 three times and producing double digit home runs twice.  He became a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with Seattle, but was traded back to Arizona (for ex-Twin Quinton McCracken) for 2004.  He played in AAA for Texas in 2005, but then his career came to an end.  He lacked the power one wants iin a first baseman, which probably kept teams from considering him a regular, but he had a long career as a part-time player.  As a Twin, Colbrunn hit .281/.307/.415 in 217 at-bats.  Greg Colbrunn is currently the batting coach of the Boston Red Sox.

Right-hander Alex James Burnett made his debut with the Twins in 2010.  He was born in Anaheim and was drafted by Minnesota in the twelfth round in 2005.  Given his youth, he was brought along slowly, spending a full season at “low rookie” ball (the GCL), a year at Elizabethton, a year at low A, and a year at high A.  He was a starter through 2008 and did all right, but it was when he was shifted to the bullpen in 2009 that he really started to attract attention.  He went 2-1, 1.99  with 4 saves and a 0.93 WHIP in 22.2 innings at Ft. Myers, then went 1-2, 1.79 with 9 saves and a 0.99 WHIP in 55.1 innings at AA New Britain.  He was a surprise addition to the big league staff in 2010 when Clay Condrey went down with an injury.  He pitched pretty well early in the year, but struggled more as the season went on and was sent back to AAA Rochester in late July, coming back as a September call-up.  He was with the Twins for nearly all of 2011 and was given a more prominent role, but fared little better.  In 2012, in what is so far his only full season in the majors, he was significantly better, posting a 3.52 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP, although he was much better in the first half than in the second half.  He was waived by the Twins in late March of 2013, was chosen by Toronto, was waived again in mid-April, was chosen by Baltimore, was waived once more in late May, and was chosen by Chicago.  He has been on the disabled list since mid-June with a strained right elbow.  He turns 26 today.  As a Twin, Alex Burnett was 8-11, 4.61, 1.43 WHIP 170 innings (174 appearances).  He needs to get healthy and show he can pitch the way he did in the first half of 2012 if he's going to have a long major league career.  It's anyone's guess whether he can do that.

July 25

John Tener (1863)
Cy Williams (1913)
Whitey Lockman (1926)
Larry Sherry (1935)
Buddy Bradford (1944)
Fred Scherman (1944)
Mick Kelleher (1947)
Biff Pocoroba (1953)
Marc Sullivan (1958)
Doug Drabek (1962)
Torey Lovullo (1965)
Ed Sprague (1967)
Billy Wagner (1971)
Guillermo Mota (1973)
Javier Vazquez (1976)
Santiago Casilla (1980)

Pitcher/outfielder John Tener was the president of the National League, and also became governor of Pennsylvania.  For 1914-1915, he did both jobs at the same time.

Left-hander Fred Scherman did not play for the Twins, but started his career in their organization.  Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, he had a rare bone disease when he was young, and wore a leg brace from age six to age nine, walking only with crutches.  As soon as the leg brace was removed, he began playing little league baseball.  Eventually, he attended Ohio State and was signed by Minnesota as a free agent in 1964.  He had a fine year at Class A Orlando, going 14-13, 2.33 with a WHIP of 1.11 in 201 innings.  He was then drafted by Detroit in the first-year player draft.  He spent the bulk of his career with the Tigers.  He pitched well throughout his minor league career but was promoted slowly, reaching AA for two games in 1966 and reaching AAA in 1968.  He had been a starter, and had pitched fairly well in that role, but was shifted to the bullpen in 1967.  He flourished in that role, but went back to the starting rotation at AAA in 1969.  He made ten starts there and was in the big leagues for a substantial part of the season, but was rarely used.  In 1970, however, Scherman became an integral part of the Detroit bullpen and remained one for four years.  He had twenty saves in 1971 (when he threw 112 relief innings) and twelve more in 1972.  He had a down year in 1973, though, and was traded to Houston after the season.  The leg disease had left one leg shorter than the other, and at this point in his career this caused him to develop back trouble.  He did not do much for the Astros and was sold to Montreal in June of 1975.  He was with the Expos for a year and a month and was released in July of 1976.  He pitched in AAA for Pittsburgh in 1977, but had a nondescript year and his playing career came to an end.  He apparently coached in Japan for a while.  At last report, Fred Scherman was living in retirement in Tipp City, Ohio.

July 24

Tommy McCarthy (1863)
Jack Clements (1864)
Joe Schultz (1893)
Cotton Nash (1942)
Mike Port (1945)
Shigeru Takada (1945)
Mike Adams (1948)
Jerry Augustine (1952)
Barry Bonds (1964)
Joe Oliver (1965)
Jim Wolf (1969)
Brent Stentz (1975)

Outfielder Joe Schultz, who played in parts of eleven major league seasons, is the father of the Joe Schultz made famous by Jim Bouton in Ball Four.  He is also a cousin to big-leaguers Hanz and Frank Lobert.

Mike Port is a long-time major league baseball executive, serving as the general manager of the California Angels from 1984-1991.

Shigeru Takada was a star in Japan from 1968-1980.  He also was a manager, general manager, and television commentator.

Jim Wolf has been a major league umpire since 1999.

Pitcher Brent Stentz did not play in the majors, but was in the Twins’ minor league system from 1997-2001.  In 1998, he set an Eastern League record with 43 saves.

First baseman Charles Francis ”Cotton” Nash had 13 at-bats for the Twins from 1969-1970.  A tall man (6’6″), he was born in Jersey City, went to high school in Port Charles, Louisiana, and attended the University of Kentucky, where he starred in basketball as well as baseball.  He was nicknamed “Cotton” as a child because of his bright blond hair. He was signed by the Angels as a free agent in 1964.  He spent 1964 at Class A San Jose, hitting .292 with 11 homers.  He also played in the NBA, playing a total of 357 minutes for the Lakers and the San Francisco Warriors in the 1964-65 season.  He had a solid year in AA in 1965, hitting .294 with 20 homers, but flopped when promoted to AAA in 1966.  The Angels gave up on him, trading him in early May of 1967 for a fading Moose Skowron.  He bounced back that season, hitting .274 with 28 homers in AAA, and got a September call-up, going 0-for-3.  He also gave pro basketball another shot that off-season, playing 786 minutes for the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels (he later regretted trying to juggle the two sports, wishing he had stuck to baseball).  He had a bad year in 1968, and in April of 1969 was traded to Pittsburgh for pitcher Ed Hobaugh.  The trade was voided on July 8 because Hobaugh quit, and the players involved were returned to their original clubs.  The White Sox really didn’t want Nash, though, and traded him to Minnesota on July 15 for a player to be named later (Jerry Crider, who wasn’t sent to the White Sox until May of 1970).  He got September call-ups in 1969 and 1970, but his timing was bad:  the Twins had Harmon Killebrew and Rich Reese, so they had no use for another first baseman.  Nash had his best year in AAA in 1971, hitting .290 with 37 homers for Portland, but Bill Rigney had taken a dislike to him and refused to call him to the majors.  Nash moved on to the Texas organization for 1972, but after a down year in AAA his playing career was over.  As a Twin, he went 3-for-13 with two walks and two RBIs.  He appeared in three minor league games as a pitcher, giving up one hit and three walks, but no runs.  Billy Martin had toyed with the idea of making  Nash a pitcher in 1969, but the idea ended when Martin was fired.  Nash was a minor league batting instructor for the Angels in 1967 and managed in their organization in 1978, but then left baseball for good.  He returned to Kentucky, settling in Lexington, and became a real estate salesman.  Eventually, he owned his own real estate and investment company.  Cotton Nash is currently living in retirement in Lexington, Kentucky.  The University of Kentucky retired his number, and he is a member of both the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.  His son, J. Richey Nash, played minor league baseball for three years and is currently an actor and writer.

Outfielder Robert Michael ”Mike” Adams had 72 at-bats for the Twins from 1972-1973.  The son of big league infielder Bobby Adams and the nephew of big league first baseman Dick Adams, he was born in Cincinnati, went to high school in Anaheim, and was drafted by Detroit with the second pick of the January Secondary draft in 1967.  He had a couple of undistinguished years in the Tigers’ organization and missed the 1969 season due to military service.  He did well on his return, however, hitting .278 with 18 home runs for Class A Rocky Mount in 1970.  After that season, however, he was traded to Minnesota with a player to be named later (Art Clifford) for Bill Zepp.  He hit over .300 in consecutive AAA seasons for the Twins, and when he also hit 21 homers in 1972 he got a September call-up.  Adams was with the Twins for the entire 1973 season but was generally used as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner.  He appeared in 55 games but had only 66 at-bats.  Not surprisingly, he did not hit well, although he did draw 17 walks.  He had another solid year in AAA in 1974, but the Twins preferred to stick with such superstars as Jim Holt, Bobby Darwin, and Steve Brye, and refused to give Adams a chance.  After the season, Adams was traded to the Cubs for Tom Lundstedt.  As a Twin, he hit .222/.378/.375 in 72 at-bats.  He continued to hit well in the minors, but continued to not get a chance in the majors:  despite hitting over .300 with power every year at AAA, he got only 31 at-bats with the Cubs in 1976-1977.  He was sold to Oakland just prior to the 1978 campaign but got only 15 at-bats in about a month with the big club.  Adams retired after that season.  In seven AAA seasons, Mike Adams hit .309/.433/.507.  It’s hard to understand why no one would put him in a major league lineup to see what he could do, but no one did.  No information about Mike Adams’ life since his playing career ended was readily available.

July 23

Ginger Beaumont (1876)
Hod Ford (1897)
Jimmie Wilson (1900)
Ival Goodman (1908)
Ray Scarborough (1917)
Pee Wee Reese (1918)
Johnny Groth (1926)
Anthony Gubicza (1928)
Bert Convy (1933)
Don Drysdale (1936)
Dean Look (1937)
Hank Allen (1940)
Chuck Crim (1961)
Nomar Garciaparra (1973)

Anthony Gubicza, a pitcher in Class D and C leagues from 1950-1951, is the father of Mark Gubicza.

Actor/singer/game show host Bert Convy was an outfielder in Class D and C leagues from 1951-1952.

White Sox’ catcher Dean Look is the brother of ex-Twin Bruce Look.

Outfielder Hank Allen, who played for Washington, Milwaukee, and the White Sox, is the brother of Dick Allen and Ron Allen.

There do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins who were born on this day.

July 22

Jack Glasscock (1857)
George Gibson (1880)
Jesse Haines (1893)
Doc Cramer (1905)
Jungle Jim Rivera (1922)
Sparky Lyle (1944)
Bill Zepp (1946)
Cliff Johnson (1947)
Tim Johnson (1949)
Scott Sanderson (1956)
Dave Steib (1957)
Mike Sweeney (1973)
Scot Shields (1975)
Juan Uribe (1979)

Right-hander Bill Zepp pitched for the Twins from 1969-1970.  Born and raised in Detroit, he attended the University of Michigan, played in the Basin League for the Valentine Hearts, and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1968.  A starter in the minors, he pitched very well there, posting an ERA of three in Class A Wisconsin Rapids in 1968 and going 15-3, 2.34 with a 1.08 WHIP in 1969 in AA Charlotte.  He was with the Twins for about three weeks in August of 1969, working 5.1 relief innings.  The next year, 1970, was his only full season in the majors.  He started the season in the bullpen, pitched extremely well there, and went into the rotation in early July, where he continued to pitch well.  For the season, he made 20 starts and relieved 23 times.  In 151 innings, he went 9-4, 3.22 with a 1.36 WHIP, which is pretty good for an undrafted 23-year-old.  It didn’t impress the Twins much, though, because he was taken out of the rotation at the end of the year and traded to Detroit in spring training of 1971 for Mike Adams and a player to be named later (Art Clifford).  He was probably excited to be going home, but it didn’t work out well.  He started the season with Detroit, posted a 5.12 ERA, and was sent back to AAA in late June.  He pitched six times in AAA Toledo, not doing particularly well.  It appears that he needed Tommy John surgery.  The procedure was still new then, and Zepp decided to retire rather than risk the surgery.  At last report, Bill Zepp was retired and living in Plymouth, Michigan.  He frequently attends Detroit Tigers and University of Michigan alumni events.