October 25

Jack Doyle (1869)

Smoky Joe Wood (1889)

Jack Kent Cooke (1912)
Lee McPhail (1917)
Russ Meyer (1923)
Bobby Thomson (1923)
Bobby Brown (1924)
Roy Hartsfield (1925)
Chuck Schilling (1937)
Al Cowens (1951)
Roy Smalley (1952)
Rowland Office (1952)
Tito Landrum (1954)
Danny Darwin (1955)
Andy McGaffigan (1956)
Steve Decker (1965)
Keith Garagozzo (1969)
Pedro Martinez (1971)
Wilkin Ramirez (1985)

Jack Kent Cooke, better known as the owner of the Washington Redskins and the Los Angeles Lakers, owned the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team in the International League from 1951-1964.  He made several unsuccessful attempts to bring major league baseball to Toronto, and is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Lee MacPhail was the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles from 1958-1965 and of the New York Yankees from 1966-1973.  He was the president of the American League from 1974-1983.  He is the son of Larry MacPhail and the father of Andy MacPhail.

Second baseman Charles Thomas Schilling retired as a Twin, although he never played a game in their organization. He was born in Brooklyn, went to Manhattan College, and signed with Boston as a free agent in 1958. He advanced rapidly and justifiably so, hitting .314 with 30 doubles in AAA in 1960 at age 22. He was in the big leagues to stay the next season. He was the Red Sox’ starting second baseman from 1961-1963, leading the league in plate appearances in 1961. He hit .259 with 25 doubles in his rookie year and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. That was as good as it would get for Schilling, however; he injured his wrist early in 1962 and it bothered him for the rest of his career. After two years hitting in the .230s he became a reserve in 1964 and 1965. On April 6, 1966, he was traded to Minnesota with Russ Nixon for Dick Stigman and a player to be named later (Jose Calero). He traveled with the team for a couple of weeks, but did not play and then decided to retire. He returned to New York, becoming a high school math teacher and baseball coach on Long Island. He played competitive softball until age 69, when he retired. At last report, he was still living in the New York area.

Infielder Roy Frederick Smalley III is the son of infielder Roy Smalley, Jr. and the nephew of Gene Mauch. He was born in Los Angeles and attended USC. Smalley was drafted by Texas with the first pick of the 1974 draft. He had been drafted four times previously: by Montreal (35th round, June 1970), Boston (4th round, January 1971), St. Louis (2nd round, June 1971), and by Boston again (5th round, January 1972). Smalley spent very little time in the minors, reaching the Rangers in 1975 and playing semi-regularly for them. He hit only .228 that year and had a similar average for the first two months of 1976, when he was traded along with Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, and Bill Singer to the Twins for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. Other than a poor 1977, Smalley regularly posted averages in the .270s for the Twins. In 1978, he added some power, hitting 19 home runs that year and 24 the next. That next year, 1979, Smalley got off to a tremendous start, hitting over .400 on May 20 and still batting .373 at the end of June before regression to the mean caught up with him. Smalley made his only all-star team that year and finished 16th in the MVP voting. In April of 1982 the Twins sent Smalley to the Yankees for Paul Boris, Ron Davis, and Greg Gagne. He continued to play about as well as he had previously, but began to suffer from back problems. He was traded in June of 1984 to the White Sox. He finished the season with them, and in February of 1985 was traded back to the Twins for Ron Scheer and "not the" Randy Johnson. He was with the Twins for three more years as a DH/infielder. He was still producing offensively at close to the same rate he had, and probably could have played a couple more years, but retired after the Twins World Championship of 1987. As a Twin, he hit .262/.350/.401 in approximately nine seasons. Roy Smalley currently works as an analyst for FSN North. He also owns a restaurant near Target Field.

Left-hander Keith John Garagozzo made seven appearances for the Twins in 1994. He was born in Camden, New Jersey, attended the University of Delaware, and was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round in 1991. He had a good year and a half in Class A from 1992-1993. The Twins selected him in the rule 5 draft in November of 1993, and he started the season with them, despite the fact that he had pitched in only 17 games above class A. He appeared in seven games in April of 1994, pitching 9.1 innings and posting a 9.64 ERA, and then was returned to the Yankees. Switched to the bullpen, Garagozzo pitched ineffectively for AAA Columbus and then was released. He made a brief comeback in the Marlins organization in 1996, but then was done. After leaving baseball, Keith Garagozzo returned to New Jersey, and is now a financial advisor for the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Princeton, New Jersey.

Outfielder Wilkin Emilio (Arias) Ramirez played thirty-five games for the Twins in 2013.  Born and raised in Bani, Peravia, Dominican Republic, he signed with Detroit as a free agent in 2003.  He had a decent but unspectacular season in rookie ball, then missed all of 2004 due to injury.  Upon his return, his minor league numbers were fairly decent but unspectacular.  He reached AAA in 2008 and made his major league debut in 2009.  He appeared in fifteen games, nine of them as a pinch-runner, and went 4-for-11 with a triple and a home run.  He was traded to Atlanta on July 31, 2010 for a player to be named later or cash, which sounds similar to "future considerations".  He was mostly in AAA in 2011 but spent about six weeks in the majors.  He appeared in twenty games, ten as a pinch-hitter and three as a pinch-runner, and went 6-for-26 with two doubles.  A free agent after the 2011 season, he signed with Minnesota for 2012.  He started at AA but spent most of the season at AAA, where he hit .276/.316/.451 in 370 at-bats.  He started 2013 with the Twins as a part-time player before getting injured in late May.  He missed nearly three months, coming back for about two weeks in August.  He didn't do badly when he did play, batting .272/.302/.370.  However, the Twins took him off the forty-man roster and sent him outright to Rochester, where he played in 2014.  He turns 29 today.  It's possible that he'll make it back to the big leagues at some point, but it's at least equally possible that he won't.

October 24

Ned Williamson (1857)

Bill Kuehne (1858)

Lou Sockalexis (1871)

Ossie Bluege (1900)

Jack Russell (1905)

Jim Brosnan (1929)

Rawly Eastwick (1950)

Omar Moreno (1952)
Gary Serum (1956)
Ron Gardenhire (1957)
Junior Ortiz (1959)
Danny Clay (1961)
Rafael Belliard (1961)
Gene Larkin (1962)
Arthur Rhodes (1969)
Rafael Furcal (1977)
Chris Colabello (1983)

Third baseman Ossie Bluege played for the franchise in Washington for eighteen years and remained in the organization for many years after that. He is credited as being the first third baseman to guard the lines in the late innings. He is also credited as the scout who discovered Harmon Killebrew.

Right-hander Gary Wayne Serum pitched for the Twins from 1977-1979. He was born in Fargo but mostly grew up in Minnesota, going to high school in Alexandria. He attended St. Cloud State and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1975 after attending a tryout camp. Serum was primarily a relief pitcher in the minors, although he started ten games in 1976. He came through the minors rapidly and reached the Twins by late July of 1977 at age 20. Serum pitched 22 innings for the Twins that year, but was in their starting rotation for much of 1978. He pitched quite well for a 21-year-old: 9-9, 4.10 ERA, 94 ERA+, 1.26 WHIP. That was to be as good as it got, however. Returned to the bullpen for most of 1979, he was used sporadically, and was ineffective when he did pitch. The Twins seemed to give up on him rather quickly. He had a fairly good year in the Toledo bullpen in 1980, but his reward was to be sent to AA in 1981. He was the Orlando closer that season, but had a poor year and was released. Serum pitched in the Yankees organization in 1982, but then was out of baseball. His entire major-league career was with the Twins. Gary Serum was 10-12 with a 4.72 ERA in 62 appearances, 28 of them starts. At last report, Gary Serum was co-owner of a restaurant called Serum's Good Time Emporium in Anoka, Minnesota. If any citizens live near Anoka, it might be fun to stop by today and see if you could wish him a happy birthday.

Infielder Ronald Clyde Gardenhire did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for a year and was their manager from 2002-2014. He was born in Butzbach, West Germany. He attended Okmulgee High School in Oklahoma, and then went to the University of Texas at Austin. Gardenhire was drafted by the Mets in the sixth round in 1977. He spent three years in the minors, advancing a level each year and reaching AAA in 1981. His numbers were not all that impressive, but he battled his tail off and received a September call-up in 1981. In 1982, he was the Mets' regular shortstop. A .240 average without walks, power, or stolen bases didn't cut it, however, and Gardenhire was back in the minors for most of 1983. He was a utility infielder for the Mets for most of 1984 and 1985, but went back to AAA in 1986 and did not return to the majors as a player. After the 1986 season, Gardenhire was traded to the Twins for Dominic Iasparro. He spent one year at AAA Portland and then turned to managing. He managed three years in the Twins' minor-league system and became a coach in the big leagues in 1991. Ron Gardenhire took over as the Minnesota manager in 2002, and remains in the job until the end of the 2014 season. During his time as manager, the Twins won six division titles in nine years, advancing to the league championship series once.  In his last four years, of course, the Twins were much less successful.  How much credit Ron Gardenhire should get for their success, or how much blame he should get for their lack of it, is difficult to say.  Regardless, a manager whose teams lost over ninety games for four consecutive years is going to be held responsible, and he was.  One suspects that Ron Gardenhire will be back in baseball in some capacity when he decides that he wants to be.

Catcher Adalberto (Colon) "Junior" Ortiz played for the Twins from 1990-1991. He was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico and was signed by the Pirates as a free agent in 1977. His minor league record is a mixed bag, with his best year clearly coming in 1980, when he hit .346 with 12 homers for AA Buffalo. He got a September call-up in 1982, and became the Pirates back-up catcher in 1983, a role he would keep the rest of his career. The vagaries of small sample size are evident in his career: he hit .336 in 1988 and .335 in 1990, but only .198 in 1984 and .209 in 1991. In June of 1983, the Pirates traded Ortiz to the Mets, but they got him back in the 1984 rule 5 draft. He stayed in Pittsburgh until just before the 1990 season, when he was traded to the Twins with Orlando Lind for Mike Pomeranz. While with the Twins, Ortiz was Scott Erickson's personal catcher, including catching him in the playoffs and World Series in 1991. He became a free agent after 1991 and spent the next two years with Cleveland. From there, he went to Texas in 1994 and the White Sox in 1995 before calling it a career. At last report, Junior Ortiz was living in Billings, Montana.

Right-hander Danny Bruce Clay never played for the Twins, but he was signed by them as a free agent in 1982. Born in Sun Valley, California, Clay attended Loyola Marymount. He spent more than four seasons in the Twins' organization. Clay pretty much topped out in Class A, although he did win 13 games for AA Orlando in 1985 (with a 4.48 ERA). On June 24, 1987, the Twins traded Clay along with Tom Schwarz for Dan Schatzeder and cash. The Phillies converted Clay to relief, and he got off to a tremendous start with AAA Maine in 1988, going 5-1 with an ERA of 0.99 and a WHIP of 0.95 in 45.1 innings. That earned him about 2 1/2 months in the big leagues. The hot start was an illusion, however. In 17 appearances for the Phillies, Clay went 0-1, 6.00 and was sent back to the minors. He did have a good year at AAA again in 1990, but this time no one was fooled and his career was over. No information about Danny Clay's life after that is readily available.

First baseman/outfielder/DH Eugene Thomas Larkin played for the Twins from 1987-1993. He was born in Flushing, New York, went to Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York, then attended Columbia University, where he broke many of Lou Gehrig's baseball records. He was drafted by the Twins in the 20th round in 1984. He progressed one level every year, batting over .300 at each stop. He also compiled 35 home runs in a little over three minor league seasons. He was promoted to the Twins in May of 1987 and stayed there for over six years. Larkin was a steady, solid contributor through the Twins during his time there. He regularly posted batting averages in the .260s, and when he was allowed to play regularly he hit 20-30 doubles and drew a pretty good number of walks. Larkin's career numbers were .266/.348/.374, with 32 homers, 131 doubles, and an OPS+ of 98. He is, of course, remembered for his game-winning hit in game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Larkin was injured for much of 1993, playing in only 56 games, although when healthy he continued to hit much as he had before. He went to spring training with the Twins in 1994, but did not make the team and his career was over. One suspects that he could have found a job with someone had he tried, but either his health was not up to it or he simply had no desire to go to another team. Larkin currently lives in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where he is the co-owner of Nevers Larkin Baseball Training. He also is a regular at the Twins' annual fantasy baseball camp.

First baseman/outfielder Christopher Adrian Colabello has been with the Twins since 2013.  He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, went to high school in Milford, Massachusetts, and attended Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts.  If it was your assumption that he was the only major league player to have come from that school, you were correct.  He was not drafted out of college, nor was he signed as a free agent.  Instead, he played in the independent CanAm League for seven years, all but 43 games of it with Worcester.  He hit over .300 every year there and posted an OPS of .903.  Finally, in February of 2012, the Twins signed him and sent him to New Britain, where he was essentially expected to be roster filler.  Instead, he hit .284/.358/.478 with 19 homers and 98 RBIs in 134 games.  Promoted to Rochester in 2013, he did even better, hitting .352/.427/.639 with 24 home runs in 89 games.  He was called up for about three weeks in the first half of the season, then came up to stay after the all-star break.  He spent time in right field and at DH, but became the mostly-regular first baseman after the trade of Justin Morneau.  He did not do a lot, although he did get some clutch hits.  He started the 2014 season as a DH/right fielder for the Twins and got off to a hot start, but he tailed off rapidly and was back in Rochester by late May.  He came back to Minnesota in July but again didn't do much and was sent back out in early August.  So far as a Twin, Chris Colabello has hit .214/.284/.364 in 365 at-bats.  He turns thirty-one today, so his chances of even becoming a major league regular, let alone a star, are not particularly good.  On the other hand, he's already beaten the odds a few times.  It would be neat if he could beat the odds again and actually be a good major league player.  If he can't, well, he's played in one hundred fourteen major league games, and that's about one hundred fourteen more than anybody thought he would play in three years ago.

October 23

William Hulbert (1832)

Mike Sullivan (1866)

Lena Blackburne (1886)

Rube Bressler (1894)

Billy Sullivan (1910)

Vern Stephens (1920)

Ewell Blackwell (1922)
Jim Bunning (1931)
Greg Thayer (1949)
John Castino (1954)
Dwight Lowry (1957)
Al Leiter (1965)
Todd Sears (1975)
David Riske (1976)
John Lackey (1978)
Bud Smith (1979)
Kyle Gibson (1987)

William Hulbert was one of the founders of the National League and was its president from 1877 until his death in 1882.

Infielder Lena Blackburne discovered and marketed the mud from the driver beds near the Delaware River in New Jersey that has been rubbed on every major league baseball used since the 1950s.

Right-hander Gregory Allen Thayer played for the Twins in 1978.. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he went to high school in St. Cloud, Minnesota, attended St. Cloud State, and was drafted by the Giants in the 32nd round in 1971. He was small for a professional pitcher, standing 5' 11" and weighing 182 pounds. Thayer spent two years in the low minors for San Francisco, pitching neither well nor terribly, but was released in April of 1973. He was out of baseball that season, but the Twins signed him in September. Thayer was in AA Orlando most of the next four seasons, compiling an ERA of around 3.00.  For some of that time, his roommate was Terry Ryan. He was only promoted above AA once in that span, in 1975, when he pitched 39 innings for AAA Tacoma. One suspects the main reason for that was control problems; he averaged about 5 walks per nine innings. Thayer made the Twins at the start of the 1978 season, pitching in a middle relief/mopup role. He did about as well as you would expect someone in that role to pitch, but still walked too many batters: he was 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in 20 appearances, giving up less than a hit per inning but walking 30 in 45 innings. He was sent back to the minors in late June. Thayer was in AAA Toledo through 1979, but continued walking people. He moved on to the Toronto organization in 1980, but his professional career was over after that. He did not give up baseball, however. In 1992, he pitched for the Sartell Muskies amateur team, helping them win the Class C state championship. He makes regular appearances at an annual Minnesota Twins alumni game hosted by the St. Cloud River Bats and at last report was on the staff of the Starz of Tomorrow Baseball Academy of St. Cloud.

Infielder John Anthony Castino played for the Twins from 1979-1984. He was born in Evanston, Illinois and went to high school in Winnetka, Illinois. He then attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He was drafted by the Twins in the third round in 1976. In 1977, he hit .326 with 17 home runs at Class A Visalia. He continued to hit well the next year at AA Orlando, and was installed as the regular third baseman for the Twins in 1979. Castino hit .285 that year and shared the Rookie of the Year award with Alfredo Griffin. He hit .302 in 1980, but then began to decline, due partly to back problems. A move to second base in 1982 probably did not help matters, either. He bounced back with a solid 1983 campaign, hitting .277 with 11 homers, but after that his injuries became too much for him. He played eight games in 1984, and then his career was over. In just over five seasons, John Castino hit .277/.329/.398 for the Twins. After leaving baseball, he got an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and was the senior vice president of Wealth Enhancement Group, a Minneapolis-based financial planning and advisory services firm, until his retirement in 2013.  Upon retiring, he moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Catcher Dwight Lowry had seven at-bats for the Twins in 1988. He was born in Lumberton, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina. He was drafted by the Tigers in the 11th round in 1980. He did not hit well in the minors; his best year was 1982, when he hit .277 in his second year at Class A Lakeland. He reached AA in 1983 and AAA in 1984, He was in the majors part of that year, serving as Lance Parrish's backup in April, May, and September for Detroit's World Championship team. Lowry was back in the minors in 1985, but spent most of 1986 with the Tigers, again as the backup catcher. He played sparingly in both AAA and the majors in 1987, but then was released by the Tigers. He actually had played about as well as you could expect a backup catcher to play: a .282 average with 5 homers in 220 at-bats. The Twins signed Lowry in October of 1987. He was with them coming out of spring training in 1988, but after going 0-for-7 was sent to the minors in late April, never to return. Out of baseball in 1989, Lowry came back in 1990, hitting .310 in 187 at-bats for the Expos' AAA team in Louisville. When that did him no good, however, he turned to coaching and managing in the Tigers' organization. He was the Tigers' Player Development Man of the Year in 1996. Sadly, while managing the Jamestown Jammers in 1997, Dwight Lowry died of a heart attack on July 10 at the age of 39. The Tigers named their player development award the Dwight Lowry award. Dwight Lowry was inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1998.

First baseman Todd Andrew Sears played for the Twins in 2002-2003. He was born in Des Moines, went to high school in Ankeny, Iowa, and then attended the University of Nebraska. He was drafted by the Rockies in the third round in 1977. He spent three years in Class A, putting up solid and steadily increasing numbers. He started 2000 in AA, and was traded in July to Minnesota for Butch Huskey and Todd Walker. He was promoted to AAA Edmonton in 2001, and hit over .300 there for two consecutive years. He also hit 33 home runs in that span, and got a September call-up to the Twins in 2002. He had two stints with the Twins in 2003, totalling about a month and a half, and was with Rochester the rest of the year. In September, Sears was traded to the Padres for Alex Garcia. He spent the rest of the season in San Diego, but would never play in the majors again. He was with the Padres' organization in 2004, went to the Marlins for 2005, started 2006 with the Mariners, was released in June, and went back to the Marlins for the rest of 2006 and all of 2007 before finally calling it a career. As a Twin, Todd Sears hit .260/.326/.390, with two home runs and 11 runs batted in. Sears went back to college after his pro career ended, receiving a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska in August of 2009. He is currently an instructor for Complete Game Baseball, a baseball instructional school in the Kansas City area.

Left-hander Robert Allan “Bud” Smith did not play for the Twins, but made three appearances at AAA Rochester in 2005. He was born in Torrance, California, went to high school in Bellflower, California, attended Los Angeles Harbor Community College, and was drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round in 1998. He pitched very well in the minors and advanced rapidly, reaching the majors in June of 2001 at age 21. He made sixteen appearances for the Cardinals, fourteen of them starts, and went 6-3, 3.83 with a 1.22 WHIP and a no-hitter. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, and big things were expected. They didn’t happen. He developed shoulder problems. Smith underwent various surgeries over the years to repair the damage, but nothing really worked. He started 2002 in the Cardinals’ rotation and went 1-5, 6.94. He was sent to the minors and traded to Philadelphia in late July. He never got back to the big leagues. The shoulder continued to bother him; he stayed in the Phillies’ organization through 2004, but appeared in only 21 games. The Phillies let him go, and Smith signed with Minnesota as a free agent for 2005. He made three relief appearances in Rochester, going 1-0, 4.76 in 5.2 innings. He played for Long Beach in the Golden Baseball League in 2006-2007, then his playing career ended. At last report, Bud Smith was a pitching instructor at ProKids Baseball Academy in San Juan Capistrano, California, where he works with ex-Twin Mike Lamb.

Right-hander Kyle Benjamin Gibson made ten starts for the Twins in 2013.  Born and raised in Greenfield, Indiana, he attended the University of Missouri and was drafted in the first round by Minnesota in 2009.  He pitched well at three different spots in 2010, struggled when promoted to AAA in 2011, then underwent Tommy John surgery.  He made thirteen appearances in 2012, most of them rehab appearances in the low minors.  He pitched very well for Rochester in 2013, going 7-5, 2.92, 1.16 WHIP.  He was promoted to Minnesota for about two months, and that did not go so well.  In 2014, however, he was in the Twins' rotation all season and did okay, going 13-12, 4.47, 1.31 WHIP.  A lot of his starts were either really good or really not good, with not a lot of starts in between.  He turns twenty-seven today.  He'll be in the rotation again in 2015 and will need to continue to make progress if he's going to have a long career.

October 22

Kid Carsey (1870)

Bill Carrigan (1883)

Johnny Morrison (1895)

Jumbo Elliott (1900)
Jimmie Foxx (1907)
Harry Walker (1916)
Wilbur Wood (1941)
Jamie Quirk (1954)
Frank DiPino (1956)
Keith Osik (1968)
Hector Carrasco (1969)
Ichiro Suzuki (1973)
Michael Barrett (1976)
Brad Thomas (1977)
Eli Whiteside (1979)
Robinson Cano (1982)

Right-hander Hector (Pacheco) Carrasco pitched for the Twins from 1998-2000 and again in 2001. Born and raised in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, he was signed by the Mets as a free agent in 1988. After four seasons in their minor-league system, three of them in rookie ball, Carrasco was released. He signed with Houston and had a good year for Class A Asheville in 1972. He was then traded to the Marlins, and after spending 1993 in Class A was traded to the Reds. After six years in the minors, three in rookie leagues and three in Class A, Cincinnati decided Carrasco was ready for the big leagues. He made the most of the opportunity. Pitching exclusively out of the bullpen, he pitched in 45 games, posting an ERA of 2.24, a WHIP of 1.28, and an ERA+ of 187. Carrasco would remain in the Cincinnati bullpen for three and a half years, performing well in a middle relief/setup role. In July of 1997, he was traded to the Royals. After the season, he was chosen by Arizona in the expansion draft, but was placed on waivers at the end of spring training. Carrasco was selected by the Twins and spent nearly three seasons in the Twins' bullpen. He remained in the middle relief/setup role, and did a decent job for the Twins over that time. In September of 2000, he was traded to Boston for Lew Ford. A free agent after the season, Carrasco signed with the Blue Jays, but was released near the end of spring training and returned to Minnesota. His pitching in 2001 was about the same as it had been. A free agent again after the season, he was signed by Texas, but did not play for them, and was out of baseball in 2002. He signed with Baltimore for 2003 and appeared in 40 games for the Orioles, but was let go after the season and again was out of baseball in 2004. The Nationals took a chance on him in 2005, and Carrasco turned in what may have been his best season at age 35: a 2.04 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 199 ERA+ in 64 games, 5 of them starts. Once again a free agent, he signed with the Angels, for whom he had a good season in 2006. He did not do well in a half season in 2007, however, and was released. Since then, he has pitched in the minors for Washington, Pittsburgh, the Cubs, and three teams in the Atlantic League.  He has been pitching in the Mexican League since 2011 and did well that year, but not so well in 2012.  He did not play in 2013 and turns 44 today, so one assumes his playing career is now over.  It was a pretty good one, though.  No current information about Hector Carrasco was readily available.

Left-hander Bradley Richard Thomas pitched for the Twins in 2001 and again in 2003-2004. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, he was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995. The Dodgers quickly soured on him, releasing him in May of 1997 after only one year of rookie ball. Minnesota signed him three days later, and he slowly worked his way up the Twins' system. In 2001, at AA New Britain, Thomas went 10-3 with a 1.96 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He had a couple of brief trials with the Twins that year, making five starts. Thomas spent the next two years at AAA. He pitched poorly in 2002 and was hurt part of 2003, but did better when he came back. Thomas received a September call-up in 2003, working 4.2 innings over three games. He started 2004 in Minnesota, but after three ineffective relief appearances was sold to Boston. As a Twin, he appeared in 11 games, five of them starts, and went 0-3, 9.89 in 23.2 innings. He pitched briefly in AAA for the Red Sox and then went to Japan. He tried to come back to the United States in 2007, signing with the Mariners, but after a mediocre season in AAA he was released and it appeared his chances for a big league career had ended. He then went to Korea, where he became a star closer in the Korean league, setting a record for saves. He also pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic for Australia. After the 2009 campaign, he signed with Detroit and surprisingly enough made the team in 2010. Even more surprisingly, he didn’t do too badly, going 6-2, 3.89 in 49 appearances, two of them starts. He was injured for most of 2011 and did not pitch well in the majors when he did pitch, although he did not do too badly in eight AAA appearances.  He was a free agent after the 2011 season and went unsigned.  He has played in Taiwan since 2012, pitching for the Brother Elephants.  He's 37 today, so one assumes he won't make it back to the majors, but he's been written off a couple of times before, so who knows?

Catcher Dustin Eli Whiteside never played for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for a time. Born in New Albany, Mississippi, he attended Delta State University, and then was drafted by the Orioles in the sixth round in 2001. Whiteside never hit much in the minors, although he did hit 18 homers with AA Bowie in 2004. He reached AAA in 2005, and played in nine games for the Orioles that year, going 3-for-12. He went back to the Orioles' minor-league system for the next two years, becoming a free agent after the 2007 season. The Twins signed him and sent him to Rochester for 2008, but he was released at the end of April. Signed by the Giants, he came back to the majors with them at the end of May, and was their reserve catcher the rest of the season. As such, he caught a no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez and hit his first major league home run, a grand slam. He has been with the Giants ever since, and in 2010 he played his first full season in the majors at age 30.  He slumped to .197 as a part-time catcher in 2011, however, and spent most of 2012 in AAA, appearing in only twelve major league games.  He had an eventful off-season following 2012:  he was waived by the Giants in November and claimed by the Yankees, waived by the Yankees in December and claimed by Toronto, then waived by Toronto the same day and claimed by Texas.  He spent the year at AAA Round Rock but hit only .187 as a part-time catcher.  A free agent again after the 2013 season, he signed with the Cubs and got back to the majors again for about two weeks in 2014.  He's a free agent again this off-season.  He's thirty-five today.  He's apparently considered a good defensive catcher and good clubhouse presence, which is what we always say about catcher's who can't hit.  If he doesn't play in 2015, it would not be surprising to see him get a job as a coach or a scout or something.

October 21

Bill Lee (1909)

Bill Bevens (1916)
Whitey Ford (1928)
Johnny Goryl (1933)
Ted Uhlaender (1940)
Bill Russell (1948)
Jerry Garvin (1955)
George Bell (1959)
Franklin Stubbs (1960)
John Flaherty (1967)
Steve Holm (1979)
Zack Greinke (1983)
Casey Fien (1983)

I find it interesting that anyone who is even rumored to have used PEDs is labeled a dirty rotten cheater, but Whitey Ford, who has admitted to cheating by scuffing baseballs, is a hero and a Hall of Famer.

Infielder John Albert Goryl played for the Twins from 1962-1964 and managed them from 1980-1981. Born and raised in Cumberland, Rhode Island, he was signed by the Boston Braves in 1951. Primarily a third baseman, Goryl started out in Class D and slowly worked his way up the minor-league ladder. He was drafted by the Orioles in the 1954 minor-league draft, and by the Cubs in the 1955 minor-league draft. Following a good year in 1957 for AA Memphis, Goryl got his first shot at the big leagues through a September call-up. He spent all of 1958 with the Cubs, splitting time between third and second base and playing in about half the team's games. He was nothing special at the bat, however, and after about 2 1/2 months with the Cubs in 1959, he was sent back to the minors. In April of 1960, Goryl was traded to the Dodgers. He hit fairly well for them in two years at AAA, but never was brought to the majors. Now 28, he was left unprotected in the rule 5 draft, and was selected by the Twins in November 1961. Goryl was a little-used reserve in 1962; he got a little more playing time in 1963-64, but never had more than 150 at-bats in a season. He hit .297 with nine home runs in 1963, but dropped to .140 with no homers in 1964. He had a good year in AAA Denver in 1965, but was not called up to the majors. Goryl apparently saw the writing on the way, and turned to managing. He managed for eight seasons in the minors, seven of them in the Twins' organization, and was a coach in both the minors and the majors for several years. Goryl was named manager of the Twins in August of 1980, replacing Gene Mauch, but did not hold the job long, being replaced by Billy Gardner in May of 1981. His record as Twins manager was 34-38. As a player for the Twins, he had 290 at-bats, hitting .221/.291/.393. After leaving the Twins in 1981, Goryl joined the Cleveland Indians. At last report, he was a special advisor for player development for Cleveland, winning the Mike Coolbaugh award in 2012 for his work ethic, knowledge of the game, and mentoring of young players. Johnny Goryl was inducted into the Kinston (NC) Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. His son, also named Johnny, played for the Indians rookie league team in Arizona in 2009.

Outfielder Theodore Otto Uhlaender played for the Twins from 1965-1969. He was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois and went to high school in McAllen, Texas. He attended Baylor and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1961. His early minor-league career, with the exception of a good year in Class D in 1962, was nothing special. In 1965, however, Uhlaender hit .340 for AAA Denver, earning a September call-up. He hit well in Denver again in 1966, and by late June he was in the majors to stay. He was the Twins' regular center fielder from then through 1969, putting up good averages when considered in the offensive context of the time. His best year was 1968, when he hit .283 and received a tenth-place vote for MVP. Uhlaender never drew many walks, and did not hit for much power, so his batting average was the bulk of his offensive contribution. He was reputed to be a good defender as well. In December of 1969, Uhlaender was traded to Cleveland with Dean Chance, Bob Miller and Graig Nettles for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. He spent two years in the Indians outfield, one in center and one in left, and continued to hit about as well as he had before. In 1972, however, he was traded to Cincinnati and immediately fell apart, batting only .159. He spent 1973 with AAA Iowa in the White Sox organization, and played briefly in the independent Gulf States League in 1976, where he was a manager, but he never returned to the majors. As a Twin, Uhlaender hit .262/.306/.354. Uhlaender went into business for a while, but returned to baseball in 1989, and was most recently a scout for the San Francisco Giants. His daughter, Katie, competed in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics in the skeleton event. Ted Uhlaender died of a heart attack at his ranch near Atwood, Kansas on February 12, 2009.

Left-hander Theodore Jered Garvin never played for the Twins, but he was drafted by them. He was born in Oakland, went to high school in Merced, California, and was chosen by the Twins in the first round of the secondary phase of the January draft in 1974. He spent three solid seasons in the Twins farm system, winning 46 games with a combined ERA of 3.27. He got as high as AAA for seven games in 1976. The Twins left him unprotected in the expansion draft, and he was chosen by Toronto. Only 21, Garvin pitched in the Blue Jays' rotation for two years without distinction, showing a tendency toward the gopher ball. He did have an excellent pickoff move, picking off 22 runners in 1977, including four in one game. He was apparently injured for much of 1979, and when he came back, it was as a relief pitcher. Garvin pitched well in that role in 1980 and 1981, posting a combined ERA of under 3.00. His success came to an abrupt halt in 1982, as he ballooned to a 7.25 ERA and 1.83 WHIP in 32 appearances. He was sold to the Cardinals that off-season, but failed to make the team and his career was suddenly over at age 27. At last report, Jerry Garvin was in the real estate business in the Sacramento area.

Catcher Stephen Robert Holm appeared in six games for the Twins in 2011.  Born and raised in Sacramento, California, he attended Oral Roberts University and was drafted by San Francisco in the seventeenth round in 2001.  He was never a high-average hitter (his highest was .273 with AAA Fresno in 2008), but he did show a little power and draw a fair number of walks.  He does not appear to have ever been a regular, even in the minors; his high in at-bats in a season is 305 for AA Connecticut in 2007.  Still, the Giants kept him around.  He was in Class A through 2006, with the exception of 11 games in AA in 2005.  He finally moved up to AA in 2007 and, surprisingly, made the Giants out of spring training in 2008.  He stayed almost the entire season and actually did pretty well in a limited role; appearin in 49 games, he had 84 at-bats and hit .262 with nine doubles and a home run.  He was in AAA in 2009 for all but about ten days, and was in AAA again in 2010.  A free agent after that season, he signed with Minnesota for 2011.  Holm was with the Twins for a couple of weeks in April, but spent most of the season with AAA Rochester.  As a Twin, he was 2-for-17 with a double and a walk, giving him numbers of .118/.167/.176.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado for 2012, but was released at the end of March.  He signed with Miami in early May, spent two months in New Orleans, but then was released in early July.  He apparently realized that was the end of the line, as he accepted a position as an assistant coach for Sacramento State two weeks later.  He was still there at last report.

Right-hander Casey Michael Fien has pitched for Minnesota since 2012.  He was born in Santa Rosa, California, went to high school in La Palma, California, attended Cal Poly--San Luis Obispo, and was drafted by Detroit in the twentieth round in 2006.  A reliever throughout his minor league career, he pitched well and rose rapidly, reaching AAA in 2008 and making his major league debut in July of 2009.  His major league numbers that year look awful, but it was only 11.1 innings, and the numbers are skewed by a couple of bad outings.  It apparently was enough to sour the Tigers on him, though, because they put him on waivers and he was chosen by Toronto for 2010.  The Blue Jays released him in mid-March and he signed back with Detroit.  He had a very good year in AAA for the Tigers, but made only two appearances in the majors.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Houston for 2011.  He missed part of the season with injury, did not pitch well when he came back, and was released in early August.  The Twins signed him for 2012 and brought him to the majors in early July.  He pitched very well for them, going 2-1, 2.06 with a 0.97 WHIP in 35 appearances (35 innings) and has been in the Twins bullpen ever since.  He has appeared in 181 games as a Twin, going 12-9, 3.54, 1.07 WHIP in 160.1 innings.  His hits per inning went up last year and his strikeouts per inning went down, which is not a good sign.  Still, he's only thirty-one.  He will presumably be in the Twins bullpen again in 2015.

October 20

Jigger Statz (1897)
Judy Johnson (1900)
Bruce Campbell (1909)
Mickey Mantle (1931)
Juan Marichal (1937)
Dave Collins (1952)
Keith Hernandez (1953)
Jerry Meals (1961)
Rudy Seanez (1968)
Juan Gonzalez (1969)

William Julius "Judy" Johnson was a star third baseman in the Negro Leagues.

Jerry Meals has been a major league umpire since 1998.

It appears that no players associated with the Twins were born on this day.

October 19

Mordecai Brown (1876)

Fred Snodgrass (1887)

Bob O'Farrell (1896)

Al Brazle (1913)
Walt Bond (1937)
Sandy Alomar (1943)
Al Gallagher (1945)
Mark Davis (1960)
Tim Belcher (1961)
Dave Veres (1966)
Keith Foulke (1972)
Horacio Estrada (1975)
Michael Young (1976)
Randy Ruiz (1977)
Jose Bautista (1980)

The Twins chose Tim Belcher with the first pick of the 1983 draft, but he did not sign.

Outfielder/first baseman Walter Franklin Bond played in ten games for the Twins in 1967. The 6’ 7’ Bond was born in Denmark, Tennessee, attended Lane College in Jackson Tennessee (the only major league the school has produced), and was drafted by Cleveland in 1957. He provided solid production throughout his minor league career. Bond jumped from Class A to the majors in 1960, but was not ready, and went to AAA in June. He did quite well there, but stayed there through 1963 with the exception of brief shots with the Indians in 1961 and 1962. There were rumors that race played a part in Cleveland's decision to keep Bond in the minors, although this cannot be proven. After the 1963 season, the Cleveland front office learned that Bond had leukemia. The disease was in remission, but the Indians quickly sold Bond to the Houston Colt .45s. Houston was willing to give him a chance, and he spent two full seasons in the majors with them. Bond had a good year in 1964, hitting .254 with 20 homers. In 1965, however, Houston moved into the Astrodome, and he was able to hit only 7 home runs. In April of 1966, Bond was traded to the Twins for Ken Retzer. He again had a big year in AAA, and started 1967 with the Twins. Unfortunately, Bond's leukemia returned, and his condition deteriorated. Used mostly as a pinch-hitter, Bond was doing well in that role, but was released by the Twins in mid-May. He appeared briefly with the Mets' AAA team in Jacksonville, but then his career was over. As a Twin, he had 16 at-bats, hitting .313 with a home run and 5 RBIs. Sadly, Walt Bond passed away on September 14, 1967 in Houston at the age of 29. Walt Bond is a member of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.

Left-hander Horacio (Jimenez) Estrada did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for about two months in 2003. Born and raised in San Joaquin, Venezuela, he signed with Milwaukee as a free agent in 1992. It seems likely that he continued to play in Venezuela for a couple of years, because he does not show up in American minor league statistics until 1995. He struck out a lot of guys, but he also had some control trouble, and was up-and-down in his minor league career. He made his first major league appearance in 1999, playing in four games in May. In 2000 he seemed to have a breakout season at AAA Indianapolis, going 14-4, 3.33 with a 1.22 WHIP. He made seven appearances for the Brewers that season, but did not do well. Despite his AAA season, the Brewers gave up on him, putting him on waivers on March 27, 2001. Florida claimed him, but put him back on waivers on March 30, and he was claimed by Colorado. Estrada wasn’t too bad in Colorado Springs, but again failed in four appearances in the majors, and he did not get another big league shot. He was a free agent after the 2001 season, played in AAA for Arizona in 2002, was a free agent again after the season, went unsigned, and signed with Minnesota in early July of 2003. He made five starts in New Britain and pitched very well, going 2-1, 3.34, 1.05 WHIP, but was a free agent again after the season. He was out of baseball in 2004, played briefly in AAA for Baltimore in 2005, then went to the Mexican League. He stayed there through 2008, also played in Italy in 2008 and 2009. That’s the last that b-r.com has about him, but he apparently continued playing winter ball for a few more years.  No current information about Horacio Estrada was readily available.

First baseman/outfielder Randy Radames Ruiz played in twenty-two games for the Twins in 2008. Born and raised in the Bronx, he attended Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska, one of two major league players that school has produced (T. J. Bohn), and was signed as a free agent by Cincinnati in 1999. It took him a long time to advance in the minors; despite putting up decent numbers, he was in rookie leagues for two years, and spent an additional four seasons in Class A. Finally promoted to AA in 2005, he spent most of three seasons there before finally getting 22 games in AAA in 2007. Along the way, Ruiz was released by the Reds after the 2002 season, by Baltimore after 2003, by the Cardinals in March of 2004, by Philadelphia after 2005, by the Royals in the April of 2006, and by the Yankees after 2006. Signed by the Phillies before 2007, he was sent to the Pirates as part of a conditional deal. In a month, the Pirates sent him back. The Phillies released him in July, and he signed with the Giants, who released him at the end of the season. Ruiz is nothing if not persistent, and every time he's been released, some team has been willing to sign him. In November of 2007, it was the Twins, and after a big year in Rochester Randy Ruiz finally made his big-league debut in August of 2008. He did fairly well in 68 at-bats, hitting .274/.338/.355 with 1 homer and 7 RBIs, but was released again after the season. Once again, there was a team that wanted him. This time, it was Toronto, and after another big year in AAA Ruiz spent the last two months of the season with the Blue Jays, hitting .313/.385/.635. He started 2010 with Toronto but rarely played and was released in mid-May. He then went to Japan to finish the season and stayed there for 2011.  He began 2012 there as well, but signed with Arizona and played very well for AAA Reno, batting .331 with 14 homers in 181 at-bats.  No one signed him and he started 2013 in Mexico, but when he dominated the league he signed with the Yankees in mid-June.  He had another good year in AAA but did not get called up to the majors.  He started 2014 back in the Atlantic League and did well for Long Island, but finished the year back in the Mexican League  He turns thirty-seven today and obviously has some short-comings, but he has also hit .272/.332/.488 in 217 major league at-bats.  When teams only had nine or ten pitchers, he'd have been a valuable pinch-hitter/bench player.  Even today, it seems like he did enough that someone would have wanted to give him a chance as a bench player, but apparently no one did, and it's very unlikely that it will happen now.