October 21

Due to personal time constraints, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

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)

Casey Fien (1983)

Zack Greinke (1983)

Jose Lobaton (1984)

I always find it interesting that anyone who is even rumored to have used PEDs is condemned as a dirty rotten cheater, but Whitey Ford, who admitted to cheating by scuffing baseballs, is acclaimed as a hero and an all-around great guy.

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 wall 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, 2010, 2014, and 2018 Winter Olympics in the skeleton event, finishing fourth in 2014. 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 the owner of GMG Commercial Real Estate Services 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; appearing 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 moved on to Purdue in 2017 as the pitching coach, and became the head baseball coach at Illinois State in June of 2018.

Right-hander Casey Michael Fien pitched for Minnesota from 2012-2016.  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 was in the Twins bullpen until early in 2016.  His hits per inning went up in 2014 and his strikeouts per inning went down, which is not good.  His strikeouts per inning again went down in 2015, although the hits per inning were about the same.  He began 2016 with the Twins, but was waived in early May and claimed by the Dodgers, where he had injury problems and did not pitch particularly well.  As a Twin he was 17-15, 1 save, 3.79 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in 237.1 innings (257 games).  He signed with Seattle for 2017, appeared in six games for them in April, did poorly, went to the minors, and was sold to Philadelphia in May.  He appeared in four games for the Phillies and again did poorly.  He then went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury--one wonders if the shoulder was bothering him all season.  The Phillies released him after the season, ending his playing career.  We don't know what he's doing now, but his twitter account lists him as "a fulltime husband and father", and perhaps that's enough.

October 20

Jigger Statz (1897)

Bruce Campbell (1909)

Mickey Mantle (1931)

Juan Marichal (1937)

Dave Collins (1952)

Keith Hernandez (1953)

Jerry Meals (1961)

Rudy Seanez (1968)

Juan Gonzalez (1969)

It's too bad Jigger Statz didn't play in the age of analytics.

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)
Rajai Davis (1980)
J. A. Happ (1982)
Josh Tomlin (1984)
Daniel Descalso (1986)
Jordan Lyles (1990)

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 leaguer 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, then played in Italy in 2008 and 2009. He continued to play in winter ball through 2013. Horacio Estrada was the pitching coach of the DSL Diamondbacks in 2016. At last report he was a bullpen coach for Aragua in the Venezuelan League.

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 for many years every time he was released, some team was 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 did the same thing in 2015, and played winter ball through the 2018-2019 season. He obviously had some short-comings, but he 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 in modern times, 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. At last report, Randy Ruiz was living in Windermere, Florida and was offering personalized baseball instruction.

Left-hander James Anthony Happ was with the Twins for the first four months of the 2021 season.  Born and raised in Peru, Illinois, he attended Northwestern and was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round in 2004.  He pitched very well in the minors, made his major league debut as an emergency starter in 2007, and came to the majors to stay late in 2008.  He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2009 (behind Chris Coghlan).  He has had a number of injuries in his career, but has generally been an average to pretty good starting pitcher when healthy.  The Phillies traded him to Houston at the July 2010 deadline as part of a package for Roy Oswalt.  He moved on to Toronto in July of 2012 as part of a nine-player trade.  He had a couple of solid, unspectacular years for the Blue Jays and was traded to Seattle after the 2014 season.  The Mariners sent him to Pittsburgh at the July 2015 trade deadline.  He was a free agent after that season and returned to Toronto, where he had the best season of his career, going 20-4, 3.18 and finishing sixth in Cy Young voting.  He stayed with the Blue Jays until July of 2018, when he was again traded at the deadline, this time to the Yankees.  He pitched well for them and stayed through 2020, when he became a free agent.  He signed with the Twins and was, quite frankly, not very good for four months, going 5-6, 6.77, 1.59 WHIP in 19 starts (98.1 innings).  The Twins traded him (again at the July deadline) to St. Louis for Evan Sisk and John Gant.  In St. Louis, he once again was an average-to-pretty good starting pitcher.  He turns thirty-nine today.  A year ago, we wrote, "Obviously time is running out on him, but he certainly will sign with someone for the 2022 season."  Well, we were wrong--he did not sign with anyone, and in late May he announced his retirement.  We wish him well in whatever his future may hold.

October 18

Candy Cummings (1848)

Cliff Carroll (1859)

Walt Wilmot (1863)

Boileryard Clarke (1868)

Hans Lobert (1881)

Burt Shotton (1884)

Charlie Berry (1902)

Skeeter Newsome (1910)

Roy Cullenbine (1913)

Andy Carey (1931)

Bobby Knoop (1938)

Willie Horton (1942)

Ed Farmer (1949)

George Hendrick (1949)

Andy Hassler (1951)

Jerry Royster (1952)

Mike Walters (1957)

Alan Mills (1966)

Doug Mirabelli (1970)

Alex Cora (1975)

David Murphy (1981)

Yoenis Cespedes (1985)

Brad Miller (1989)

Alex Cora was drafted by Minnesota in the twelfth round in 1993, but he did not sign.

Right-hander Michael Charles Walters pitched for the Twins from 1983-1984. He was born in St. Louis, attended high school in Alta Loma, California, and then attended Chaffey College of Rancho Cucamonga, California, the same school attended by ex-Twin Al Newman and Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. He was drafted by the Angels in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1977 draft. He had been drafted four times prior to that: by the Dodgers (June 1975), Detroit (January 1976), the Dodgers again (June 1976), and the Twins (January 1977), but did not sign. He struggled early in his minor-league career, but was converted from starting to relieving in 1980 and thrived in the latter role. He had a strong 1981 season at AAA Salt Lake City, going 7-6 with a 2.85 ERA. He was off to a good start in AAA again in 1982 when he was traded to the Twins in May along with Tom Brunansky and $400,000 for Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong. He continued to pitch well in AAA for the Twins, and was promoted to the majors in July of 1983. He stayed in Minnesota for all of 1984. Walters did a good job for the Twins in those years. He appeared in 46 games, pitching 88 innings. He was 1-4, but had an ERA of 3.99, a WHIP of 1.33, and an ERA+ of 107. The next year, though, was spent in the minors. One wonders if injuries were the culprit; he pitched in only 13 games in 1985, and then never played again. It would be odd, considering how sought-after he was when he was younger, for him to have been given up on so quickly if he was healthy. That is mere speculation, however. At last report, it appeared that Mike Walters was living in California. He has a son, Ian, who pitched for College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California. Mike Walters was inducted into the Chaffey College Hall of Fame in 2005.

October 17

Buck Ewing (1859)

Paul Derringer (1906)

Red Rolfe (1908)

Howie Moss (1918)

Johnny Klippstein (1927)

Jim Gilliam (1928)

Pete Cimino (1942)

Dan Pasqua (1961)

John Mabry (1970)

John Rocker (1974)

Gil Velazquez (1979)

Carlos Gonzalez (1985)

Chris Mazza (1989)

Howie Moss hit 279 minor league homers in a thirteen-year career.

Pitcher John Calvin Klippstein played for the Twins from 1964-1966, near the end of his long career. The son-in-law of major league pitcher Dutch Leonard, he was born in Washington, D. C. Klippstein attended Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as a free agent in 1944 at age 16. Naturally enough, he struggled for a while in the minors, posting decent won-loss records but high ERAs. Klippstein missed all of the 1946 season due to military service. Brooklyn acquired him in the 1948 minor league draft, and he responded the next year with a breakthrough campaign, going 15-8 with a 2.95 ERA for AA Mobile. The Dodgers were unimpressed, however, and left him unprotected in the rule 5 draft. The Cubs chose him, and Klippstein left the minors behind for good. He was a "swing man" for the Cubs for five years, making 72 starts and 102 relief appearances. He never had an ERA under 4.00, but he averaged about 130 innings per season, with a high of 202. The Cubs traded Klippstein to Cincinnati following the 1954 season, and he continued to be shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen for three years, pitching with about the same results. Klippstein struggled with his control most of his career, acquiring the nickname "the wild man of Borneo". He became a full-time reliever in 1958, and was traded to the Dodgers in June of that year. He was sold to Cleveland in April of 1960, and had a solid season for them, leading the league in saves with 14. The Indians valued that so highly that they left Klippstein unprotected in the expansion draft, and he was chosen by the new Washington Senators. He went back to Cincinnati in 1962 and on to Philadelphia in 1963, where he had a 1.93 ERA in 112 innings. He was purchased by the Twins in June of 1964, and he put in 2 1/2 solid seasons for them out of the bullpen, going 9-3 with a 2.24 ERA and 159 ERA+ in 56 appearances for the 1965 World Series team. The Twins released him after 1966. He signed with the Tigers, but made only five appearances for them before being released at age 39. Klippstein's best seasons were when he was 35-38 years old, most of which were for the Twins: in 115 games for Minnesota, he went 10-8 with a 2.45 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 146. He was reputed to be one of the best-liked players of his time. After his retirement, he moved to Chicago and became a season-ticket holder for the Cubs. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993, and battled it for ten years. Johnny Klippstein passed away on October 10, 2003 in Elgin, Illinois, while listening to a Cubs-Marlins playoff game.

Right-hander Peter William Cimino played for the Twins from 1965-1966. He was born in Philadelphia and was drafted by the then Washington Senators in 1960. He attended Bristol high school, where he once scored 114 points in a basketball game, which is tied for the fourth-highest total ever. Cimino pitched well in the low minors, but struggled in his first couple of tries at AAA. A starting pitcher early on, he started reliving in 1964 and became a permanent member of the bullpen in 1965. 1965 was also his best year at AAA: he went 9-7 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in 90 innings. He got a September call-up that year, pitching in one game with the Twins, and was with the Twins all of 1966. Cimino pitched pretty well out of the pen, with a 2.92 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and a 123 ERA+ in 35 games. That off-season, the Twins traded him, along with Jimmie Hall and Don Mincher, to the Angels for Dean Chance and Jackie Hernandez. He pitched well again for the Angels in 1967, but was sent back to the minors early in 1968. He made only 13 appearances in the majors and minors combined that year, and he was out of baseball after that at age 28, leading one to suspect he may have been injured. Cimino relied primarily on his fastball, although he eventually developed a slurve. At last report, Pete Cimino was enjoying retirement in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Infielder Gilbert Arnulfo Velazquez did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for three seasons. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in Paramount, California, and was drafted by the Mets in the fourteenth round in 1998. He was in the Mets’ organization for seven years. He basically topped out at AA, although he did play in 34 AAA games for the Mets over three different seasons. He was mostly a shortstop through 2001, then became more of a utility player (note: when they make you a utility player in the minors, it’s not a good sign about their opinion of your star potential). He was presumably an excellent glove man, because he sure didn’t hit much; his highest OPS in the Mets’ system was .620 in 2004, in a year mostly spent in AA. He became a free agent after the 2004 season and signed with Minnesota. The Twins sent him to New Britain in 2005 and to Rochester in 2006-2007, and he continued to be who he was, a good glove man who was essentially a poor man’s Nick Punto. Since the real Nick Punto wasn’t all that much, the Twins allowed him to become a free agent again after the 2007 campaign and he signed with Boston. He had his best minor league season in Pawtucket in 2008, hitting .260 with ten home runs for an OPS of .727. He got a September call-up that year and began 2009 with Boston, but was seldom used and soon sent back to Pawtucket. He was still in Pawtucket in 2010, batting .249 with an OPS of .644.  He moved on to the Angels’ organization and amazingly, at age 31, had a year far better than he’d ever had in his life, hitting .328/.399/.466 for AAA Salt Lake.  It was good enough to get him a September call-up, in which he went 3-for-6.  He was with Miami in 2012, spending about six more weeks in the majors.  He signed with the Yankees for 2013, was released, signed back with Miami, and got one last at-bat in the majors.  No one signed him for 2014, but he went to the Mexican League and had a fine year for Yucatan.  He played winter ball last year but did not play anywhere in 2015, instead becoming a coach for the Dodgers' entry in the Arizona Summer League.  He played in winter ball again in 2015, but that ended his playing career.  In his major league career he hit .233/.250/.247 om 73 at-bats.  Still, he got to the majors, which a lot of folks would like to be able to say.  He also may have a long career in baseball ahead of him.  He managed the Great Lakes Loons in the Dodgers' organization in 2016 and has been the minor league infield coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2017.

Right-hander Christopher James Mazza did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system from 2012-2015.  He was born in Walnut Creek, California, went to high school in Concord, California, attended Menlo College (one of three major leaguers that school has produced (Gino Cimoli and Bill Renna)), and was drafted by Minnesota in the twenty-seventh round in 2011.  He was a reliever in his years with the Twins.  He appears to have had injury problems.  He did well in Elizabethton in 2012, but appeared in only seven games for Cedar Rapids in 2013.  He came back to have a fine year in Cedar Rapids in 2014, but appeared in only seven games at Class A or below in 2015 before being released in July of 2015.  He signed with Miami in August, reached AA in 2016, and had a good year in AAA in 2017.  He was a starter in those years, but he was also twenty-seven in 2017.  The Marlins released him in May of 2018, he pitched in independent ball for a few months, then was signed by Seattle in August.  The Mets took him in the Rule 5 draft that off-season.  He pitched well in AAA in 2019 and reached the majors in late June of that year, appearing in nine games.  He was waived after the season and was chosen by Boston, for whom he appeared in nine more games, six of them starts, in 2020.  He was traded to Tampa Bay in February of 2021 and was up and down between AAA and the majors a few times, pitching very well at AAA and not terribly for the Rays.  He remained in the Rays organization at the start of 2022 but had a poor season in AAA and did not do well in two major league appearances.  He was released in June, signed with Seattle a few days later, and finished the season in AAA for them, not pitching very well there.  His major league numbers are 3-3, 5.35, 1.56 WHIP in 79 innings (34 games).  He turns thirty-three today.  Teams are always looking for pitching, so he may go to spring training with someone, but he's obviously going to have to do better than he did in 2022 if his playing career is going to continue much longer.

October 16

Art Devlin (1879)

Goose Goslin (1900)

Boom-Boom Beck (1904)

Matt Batts (1921)

Dave DeBusschere (1940)

Tim McCarver (1941)

Don Hood (1949)

Brian Harper (1959)

Kevin McReynolds (1959)

Billy Taylor (1961)

Darren Reed (1965)

Josias Manzanillo (1967)

Jonathan Schoop (1991)

Bryce Harper (1992)

Goose Goslin was a star for the franchise in the 1920s, when it played in Washington.

Better known as a basketball player, Dave DeBusschere pitched for the White Sox from 1962-1963.

It clearly doesn't mean anything, but it seems like kind of an odd coincidence that Brian Harper and Bryce Harper were born on the same day.

Catcher Brian David Harper played for the Twins from 1988-1993. He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in San Pedro, California, and was drafted by the Angels in the fourth round in 1977. He hit very well in the minors, but it took him a long time to advance. Harper hit .314 with 14 homers at AA El Paso in 1979, and was made to repeat AA the next year. In 1981, Harper hit .350 with 28 homers and an OPS of 1.006 at AAA Salt Lake; he found himself back in AAA the next season. He also found himself no longer a catcher, as he was converted to the outfield. Harper was traded to Pittsburgh in the 1981-82 off-season. He had made brief appearances with the Angels in 1979 and 1981, and made another brief appearance with the Pirates in 1982. He spent the next three full seasons in the big leagues, two with Pittsburgh and one with St. Louis, but averaged fewer than 100 at-bats per season. The Cardinals released him at the end of spring training in 1986. He signed with Detroit and was back in AAA again, although he did spend about a month with the Tigers. 1987 was a similar story: released at the end of spring training, he signed with Oakland and was again at AAA, spending about a month with the A's. It looked like 1988 might be the same thing again: released by Oakland, he signed with Minnesota and again started the season in AAA. This time, however, he was promoted to the majors in late May and he stayed there. He was a semi-regular catcher for the Twins in 1988, and took over full-time duties the next year. Finally given an opportunity at age 28, Harper took advantage of it, batting over .290 for seven consecutive seasons and playing an instrumental role in the Twins' World Championship team of 1991. An excellent contact hitter, Harper twice led the league in most at-bats per strikeout and never fanned more than 29 times in a season. A free agent in 1994, he signed with Milwaukee, where he became the regular catcher and continued to hit well until late June, when he was hit by a pitch and fractured his wrist, missing the rest of the season. Harper signed with Oakland for 1995, but played only two games for them before retiring. Brian Harper spent six years with the Twins, batting .306/.342/.431 in 2,503 at-bats, with an OPS+ of 110. Since his playing career ended, he has turned to coaching and managing.  He was first in the Angels organization but moved to the Giants’ organization in 2008, serving as their roving minor-league catching instructor for two years. In 2010 he was the manager of the San Jose Giants, but then moved to the Cubs chain, serving as the manager of the Tennessee Smokies in 2011 and of the Daytona Cubs in 2012.  He was the batting coach of the Iowa Cubs since 2013-16.  He then moved to the Tigers' organization and was the batting coach of the Erie SeaWolves in 2019.  He was let go after the season, however, along with five other minor league coaches.  At last report, Brian Harper was an instructor with the Players Choice Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Outfielder Darren A. Douglass Reed played in fourteen games for the Twins in 1992. He was born in Ojai, California, went to high school in Ventura, California, and was drafted by the Yankees in 1984 in the third round of the June draft's secondary phase. He repeated both Class A and Class AA, hitting over .300 in his second year at both levels. He was traded to the Mets after that second year of AA, and was promoted to AAA. He repeated that level, too, but did not have the same success in his second year. In his third year of AAA, in 1990, he hit .265 with 17 home runs, which was enough to get him promoted to the majors for two months. He was traded to Montreal in 1991, but was apparently injured that year, as he did not play at all. He came back in 1992, starting the year in AAA but being promoted to the Expos in May. He remained with Montreal as a reserve catcher until the end of August, when he was traded to the Twins for Bill Krueger. He was with the Twins through the end of the season, playing in 14 games, and then was traded to the Mets for Pat Howell. He missed all of the 1993 season, and then came back for two seasons at AAA, one for Pittsburgh and one for Atlanta. He played in the Northern League in 1996, then called it a career. Darren Reed had 33 at-bats as a Twin, batting .182 with no home runs and four runs batted in.  It appears that he has had a number of health problems, although it does not appear that any of them are life threatening. No information about where Darren Reed is living now was readily available.

Second baseman Jonathan Rufino Jezus Schoop played for the Twins in 2019.  He was born in Willemstad, Curacao, and was signed by Baltimore as a free agent in August of 2008.  He came up through the Orioles organization at about a level a year, which is fairly aggressive for someone who made his pro debut at seventeen.  He reached the majors as a September call-up in 2013 at age twenty-one and has been there ever since, other than a couple of rehab assignments.  He had some solid years for the Orioles, with the best coming in 2017.  He batted .293 with an OPS of .841 and 32 home runs that season, making the all-star team.  He had a poor year in 2018, however, was traded to Milwaukee at the July deadline, and became a free agent after the season.  Minnesota signed him and made him their regular second baseman.  He did a solid job for the Twins, but the emergence of Luis Arraez cut into his playing time.  Still, he batted .256/.304/.473 with twenty-three homers, which isn't bad at all.  He became a free agent again after 2019 and signed with Detroit for 2020.  He had two solid seasons for them, batting .278 both years with an OPS in the mid-to-upper .700s.  In 2022, however, he batted just .202 with an OPS of .561.  He turns thirty-one today.  One assumes he'll go to spring training with somebody, but he's going to have to bat better if his career is going to continue much longer.

October 15

Charley O'Leary (1882)

Dolly Gray (1897)

Mule Haas (1903)

Mel Harder (1909)

Bill Henry (1927)

Lou Klimchock (1939)

Dick Such (1944)

Jim Palmer (1945)

Mitchell Page (1951)

Carlos Garcia (1967)

Juan Cruz (1978)

Josh Rabe (1978)

Right-hander Richard Stanley Such did not play for the Twins, but he was their pitching coach for seventeen years, mostly under Tom Kelly. Such was born in Sanford, North Carolina, and attended Elon University, the same school attended by ex-Twin Greg Booker. He was drafted by the Washington Senators in the eighth round of the draft's secondary phase in 1966. He pitched well in the low minors, but pretty much topped out at AA. In 1967, at AA York, Such had a 2.81 ERA, but went 0-16 in 20 starts. He had a good year at AA Savannah in 1969, and made the Senators out of spring training in 1970. Such appeared in 21 games for Washington that year, starting five of them, but did not do well and was sent to the minors in mid-July. It would be his only major league experience as a player. He remained an active player through 1973, all with the Washington/Texas organization. He became a coach after his playing career ended. Such was a minor-league pitching coach in the Texas organization through 1982, and served as the Rangers' pitching coach in 1983-84. He came to the Twins in 1985, and was their pitching coach from 1985-2001. He has remained in baseball since leaving the Twins, and has been with the Red Sox since 2009.  From 2009-2010, Dick Such was the pitching coach of the Salem Red Sox in the Carolina League, went to the Greenville Drive (still in the Boston organization) of the South Atlantic League from 2011-2012, and was the pitching coach of the GCL Red Sox (now FCL Red Sox) from 2013-2021.  No information about what Dick Such is doing now was readily available, but it seems likely that he has retired.

Outfielder Joshua Wayne Rabe played for the Twins in 2006 and 2007. He was born in Quincy, Illinois, attended high school in Mendon, Illinois, and then attended Quincy University of Quincy, Illinois, one of two major league players that school has produced (Josh Kinney). He was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round in 2000. He needed a couple of years to get things going at each level, reaching AAA in late 2003. He hit .299 in Rochester in 2006, which earned him a spot with the Twins for the second half of the season as a reserve player. Rabe was again a reserve at the start of 2007, but was sent back to the minors in May, never to return. He injured his shoulder in Rochester in mid-June, and was done for the season. The Twins allowed him to become a free agent after the season, and no one picked him up. He spent part of 2008 playing for Camden in the Atlantic League, but his injuries became too much for him, and he retired in June. As a Twin, he played in 30 games and had 80 at-bats. He batted .250/.268/.375, with 3 homers and 9 RBIs. Josh Rabe took law school classes during his off-seasons, and is now a member of the bar. He was an assistant baseball coach at St. Joseph’s college, and was the head baseball coach of his alma mater, Quincy University, in his home town of Quincy, Illinois from 2010-2021, and is now the athletic director of Quincy University.