July 14

Jesse Tannehill (1874)
Happy Chandler (1898)

Johnny Murphy (1908)
Robert Creamer (1922)
Ralph Rowe (1924)
Bob Purkey (1929)
Billy McCool (1944)
Steve Stone (1947)
Danny Walton (1947)
Vic Rodriguez (1961)

Robin Ventura (1967)
Derrick May (1968)
Jose Hernandez (1969)
Tim Hudson (1975)

Albert "Happy" Chandler was the commissioner of baseball from 1945-1951.

Author Robert Creamer wrote a biography of Babe Ruth which is still considered to be one of the best baseball books ever.

Ralph Rowe was a coach for the Twins from 1972-1975.

Outfielder Daniel James Walton played for the Twins in 1973 and 1975.  He was born in Los Angeles, went to high school in La Puente, California, and was drafted by Houston in the tenth round in 1965.  He hit very well in the minors, hitting over .300 with 45 homers combined in 1966-1967.  He started 1968 with Houston, but got only two at-bats as a pinch-hitter before being returned to the minors.  He did not really get going all season, but came back in 1969 to hit .332 with 34 homers for AAA Oklahoma City.  In late August, Walton was traded to the Seattle Pilots in a deal that also involved ex-Twin Sandy Valdespino.  He was the Pilots’ regular left fielder the rest of the year and held that position in 1970 for the new Milwaukee Brewers.  That was the only year of his career that he got regular play, and was also his best year, as he hit .257 with 17 homers and an OPS of .790.   Walton injured his knee late in the season, however, and was never the same player again.  He began 1971 with Milwaukee, but was traded to the Yankees in early June and was in the minors most of the rest of the year.  He had a solid year in AAA Syracuse in 1972, but was traded to Minnesota after the season for Rick Dempsey.  Walton was in the big leagues most of the season but did not play much and did not hit when he did play, batting .177 with four homers.  He went back to AAA in 1974 and had a strong year, hitting .263 with 35 homers and 109 RBIs.  He was back with the Twins in 1975, but again did not hit, and was sent back down in mid-July.  After the season, the Twins traded Walton to the Dodgers for Bobby Randall.  As a Twin, he hit .176/.272/.302 in 159 at-bats.  He was with the Dodgers organization for two seasons and had a huge year at AAA Albuquerque in 1977, hitting .289 with 42 homers and 122 RBIs.  All it got him was a trade to Houston in early September.  He stuck with the Astros the rest of the season, but was released late in spring training in 1978.  He went to Japan that year, then came back to AAA with Seattle in 1979 and with Texas in 1980.  He was in the big leagues for one more month in 1980, but that was the end of the line for him.  After his playing career ended, he became a welder and pipe fitter in Utah.  At last report, Danny Walton was retired and raising horses near Ogden, Utah.

Infielder Victor Manuel (Rivera) Rodriguez had eleven at-bats for the Twins in 1989.  He was born in New York and signed with Baltimore in 1977 at age 16.  He did not show a lot of power, but his other numbers are not bad, especially when one considers how young he was.  He reached AAA in 1982 and hit .274 there in 1984, earning a September call-up in which he hit .412 with 3 doubles in 17 at-bats.  The Orioles apparently weren’t overly impressed, as they traded him to San Diego the following February.  He spent one season in the Padres’ organization, hitting .312 with 11 homers in AAA Las Vegas, and they weren’t impressed either, allowing him to become a free agent after the season.  Rodriguez then signed with St.  Louis, playing two seasons for AAA Louisville, and became a free agent again.  He signed with Minnesota in January 0r 1988.  He played in AAA Portland for four seasons, averaging close t0 .300.  He was with the Twins for about a week and a half in late July of 1989, going 5-for-11 with two doubles as a third baseman.  His line was .455/.455/.636.  The Twins let him go after he hit .304 in Portland in 1991.  He then went to Philadelphia, playing in AAA for two seasons and hitting .305 with 12 homers in 1993.  He was in AAA for Florida in 1994 and Boston in 1995, then his playing career came to an end.  In thirteen AAA seasons, Vic Rodriguez hit .290/.310/.408; in 28 major league at-bats he hit .429/.429/.607.  He obviously was a free-swinger, and he would not have been a star, but it seems like he hit well enough that he could have helped somebody if he’d been given a chance.  After his playing career he got into coaching, and is currently the assistant batting coach for the Boston Red Sox.

July 13

Tom York (1850)
George Bradley (1852)
Stan Coveleski (1889)Lee Handley (1913)
Eliot Asinof (1919)
Fritz Dorish (1921)
Ruben Gomez (1927)Daryl Spencer (1928)
Don Pavletich (1938)
Jack Aker (1940)
Buzz Stephen (1944)
Jerry Terrell (1946)Bill Caudill (1956)
Mark Brown (1959)Mike Fitzgerald (1960)
Pat Rapp (1967)
Ryan Ludwick (1978)
Yadier Molina (1982)
Shin-Soo Choo (1982)

Author Eliot Asinof played two seasons in the minor leagues.  He has written several books on baseball, most notably "Eight Men Out".

Right-hander Ruben (Colon) Gomez appeared in six games for the Twins in 1962.  He was born in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, and played in independent ball (much more prevalent at the time) for nearly three years.  He played briefly for Havana in the Washington organization in 1951, then was in AAA briefly for the Yankees in 1952.  He then went to the New York Giants, starting 1953 in the majors and not looking back.  He was in the Giants’ rotation for six seasons, making the move to San Francisco with them.  He struggled with his control, leading the league in walks in 1954.  He averaged over 200 innings a season, though, and 1954 was actually his best year:  he went 17-9, 2.88.  He became the first Puerto Rican to pitch in a World Series that year.  He was traded to Philadelphia after the 1958 campaign, and his career hit hard times after that.  He had a poor year in 1959 and moved to the bullpen, but continued to struggle.  He was back in the minors for part of 1960 and all of 1961.  He was traded to Cleveland before the 1962 season and did well in AAA, earning his way back to the majors.  He did not pitch particularly well when he got there, however, and was traded to Minnesota in late August for Jackie Collum, a player to be named later (Georges Miranda) and cash.  He finished the year there, starting two games and relieving in four.  He allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits and 11 walks in 19 innings.  The Twins released him the following January.  He went back to the Indians in 1963 and pitched well in AAA, but did not make it back to the majors.  He then went to the Mexican League for three years.  The Phillies then picked him up, and he started 1967 in the Philadelphia bullpen.  He did not do badly, but was let go in early May and went back to the Mexican League.  He continued to pitch in winter ball through 1977.  Ruben Gomez passed away from cancer in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 26, 2004.

Louis Robert “Buzz” Stephen made two starts for the Twins in 1968.  He was born in Porterville, California and attended Cal State–Fresno.  He was drafted by Minnesota with the second pick of the June Secondary draft in 1966.  He did very well at Class A St. Cloud that season, but less well after that.  He won 11 games at AA Charlotte in 1968, though, which was good enough to get him a September call-up.  He made two starts for the Twins, giving up seven runs (six earned) on eleven hits and seven walks in 11.1 innings.  He was 1-1, 4.76.  He was then chosen by Seattle in the expansion draft.  He was in the minors for the Seattle/Milwaukee organization through June 15, 1970, then was traded to the Baltimore chain.  He did not do particularly well in either place, and his playing career was over after the 1970 season at age 26.  At last report, Buzz Stephen was living in his home town of Porterville, California.

Infielder Jerry Wayne Terrell played for the Twins from 1973-1977.  He was born in Waseca, Minnesota, grew up in Elysian, Minnesota (where an uncle of this author once lived), attended high school in Waterville, Minnestoa, and was drafted by Minnesota in the eighteenth round in 1968.  He was up and down in the minors.  Terrell hit .296 for Class A Auburn in 1968, missed all of 1969 due to military service, fell to .279 in Class A Lynchburg in 1970 and .231 in AA Charlotte in 1971, but came back to hit .290 in AAA Tacoma in 1972.  He never had any power and drew only a fair number of walks.  He was with the Twins at the start of the 1973 season and stayed there five years, with the exception of a couple of months in 1975.  He got the most playing time of his career his rookie year, when he started in over half the team’s games.  He never had a regular position for very long, but generally played quite a bit.  He made the bulk of his starts at shortstop in his career, but he also played second and third, made a handful of starts at first, and even played a few games in the outfield.  His best year offensively was 1975, which oddly was the year he was sent back to the minors to start the season.  He came back in early June to hit .286 with 16 doubles for an OPS of .669, all career highs.  Terrell became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with Kansas City.  He was with the Royals for three years, but played sparingly in 1979 and was back in AAA for much of 1980.  His playing career then ended.  Terrell remained in baseball for quite some time after that as a minor league manager and as a scout; however, no information about what Jerry Terrell is currently doing was readily available.

Right-hander Mark Anthony Brown made six appearances for the Twins in 1985.  He was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, went to high school in Windsor, Connecticut, and attended the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.  While growing up, he was a bat-boy for an American Legion team that included Carlton Fisk.  He was drafted by Baltimore in the sixth round in 1980.  He moved up through the Orioles chain, doing pretty well and reaching AAA in 1982.  He was mostly a relief pitcher in the minors, although he made some starts as well.  As a result of relieving and battling injuries much of his career, he never pitched more than one hundred innings in a minor league season.  He was called up to the Orioles in early August of 1984 and stayed the rest of the season.  He appeared in nine games pitching 23 innings.  Late in 1985 spring training, Brown was traded to Minnesota for Brad Havens.  He was in AAA Toledo most of the season, pitching well, and was called up for about six weeks in the middle of the year.  He pitched 15.2 innings in six games.  He allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 21 hits in 7 walks for an ERA of 6.89, then lost his roster spot to Steve Howe.  Early in 1986, the Twins released Brown, and he signed with Baltimore again.  He played at AAA for them that season, then his playing career came to an end.  At last report, Mark Brown was living in Rochester, New York, and was instructing youth on the art of pitching.  He also speaks to various youth groups on the importance of getting a good education.

July 12

Doug Allison (1846)

Lee Meadows (1894)

Johnny Wyrostek (1919)

Jack Harshmann (1927)

Ron Fairly (1938)

Tom Tischinski (1944)

Scipio Spinks (1947)

Mario Soto (1956)

Mike Munoz (1965)

Adam Johnson (1979)

Phil Dumatrait (1981)

Tom Gorzelanny (1982)

Howie Kendrick (1983)

Catcher Thomas Arthur Tischinski was a reserve catcher for the Twins for three seasons, 1969-1971.  Born and raised in Kansas City, he signed with the Kansas City Athletics as a free agent in 1962.  He was always a weak batter, even in the minors.  His highest average in the minors was .256, in 1958 at AAA Denver, and he had two seasons in which he hit below .200 and another in which he hit .208.  He was taken by Cincinnati in 1962 in the first-year player draft and came to the Twins after the 1967 campaign in the minor league draft.  He came up to the big leagues at the start of the 1969 season and stayed three years.  He was the third catcher each season, backing up Johnny Roseboro and George Mitterwald in 1969, Mitterwald and Paul Ratliff in 1970, and Mitterwald and Phil Roof in 1971.  As a consequence, he didn’t get a lot of playing time.  In his three years in the majors, he got only 116 at-bats.  He hit .181/.294/.224, never batting higher than .196 in any season.  He was back in the minors in 1972.  He moved to the Dodgers’ organization late that season, staying through 1974.  Oddly, his best season as a pro was his last one, when he hit .286 with an OPS of .835 as a part time player for AAA Albuquerque.  It appears that Tom Tischinski has returned to the Kansas City area.

Right-hander Adam Bryant Johnson played briefly for the Twins in 2001 and 2003.  He was born in San Jose, went to high school in Encinitas, California, and was drafted by Minnesota with the second pick of the 2000 draft.  He had a very good year in 2000 with Ft. Myers, and did not do badly when promoted higher in the minors the next year.  The Twins, desperate for a fifth starter as the tried to stay in the 2001 pennant race, called Johnson to the majors and put him in the starting rotation.  It did not work.  He made four starts, then three relief appearances, and pitched poorly in all of them.  He never had a good year again.  He struggled for three years in AAA for the Twins, getting a September call-up in 2003, and was released in January of 2005.  He signed with Arizona, was released in spring training, played in the independent Golden Baseball League, and signed with Oakland in mid-August.  The Athletics released him in early June of 2006.  He played in the Atlantic League in 2008, and then his playing career was over.  His major league record is 1-3, 10.25 with a 2.05 WHIP in 26.1 innings.  He made nine appearances, four of them starts.  No informaton about Adam Johnson since that time was readily available, but it would be nice to think that his current career is being kinder to him than major league batters were.

Left-hander Philip Anthony Dumatrait played for the Twins for most of 2011.  Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, he was drafted by Boston in the first round of the 2000 draft.  His numbers in the low minors look quite good, but there was apparently something about him the Red Sox did not like, because he had still not risen higher than Class A when he was traded to Cincinnati at the 2003 deadline with a player to be named later for Scott Williamson.  He missed all of 2004 due to injury, finally got to AA in 2005, and reached AAA in 2006.  He had a fine year in Louisville in 2007 and reached the majors in early August.  He made six poor starts for the Reds, and since he was now 26 Cincinnati put him on waivers.  He was chosen by Pittsburgh and spent his only full year in the majors with the Pirates in 2008.  It did not go well:  both starting and relieving, he went 3-4, 5.26.  He battled injuries again in 2009, making it back to Pittsburgh at the end of the season but again not pitching well.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Detroit for 2010, was sent to AAA, and was released in May, finishing the season in Korea.  He signed with Minnesota for 2011, started the season in Rochester, but came up to the Twins in mid-May and stayed the rest of the season.  Making forty-five appearances out of the bullpen, he went 1-3, 3.92, which doesn’t sound too bad until you note that he had a WHIP of 1.69.  As with every other time he made the majors, control was a problem, as he walked 25 batters in 41.1 innings.  He was again injured at the start of 2012 and apparently decided it wasn’t worth it any more, as he retired at the end of May.  No information about what Phil Dumatrait has been doing since then was readily available.

July 11

Pop Schriver (1865)
Jimmy Slagle (1873)
Milt Stock (1893)
Bob Allison (1934)
John Sevcik (1942)
Ed Ott (1951)
Donne Wall (1967)
Andy Ashby (1967)
Javier Lopez (1977)
Yorman Bazardo (1984)
Bryan Augenstein (1986)

Outfielder William Robert ”Bob” Allison played his entire career with the Washington/Minnesota franchise, beginning in 1958 and ending in 1970.  Born and raised in Raytown, Missouri, he attended the University of Kansas (where he starred in football as well as baseball) and signed with Washington as a free agent in 1955.  His minor league numbers were not all that impressive, although he did hit .307 in AA Chattanooga in 1958.  He got a September call-up that year and never went back to the minors again.  He was the starting center fielder for Washington in 1959, hit .261 with 30 homers, led the league in triples with nine, was Rookie of the Year and made his first all-star team.  He moved to right field in 1960, and while he did not match his numbers from his first year, he had another fine season.  He came to Minnesota with the team in 1961.  He stayed in right field through 1963, moved to first base in 1964, and moved to left field in 1965, where he stayed the rest of his career.  From 1961-1968 (excluding 1966, when he missed most of the season due to a broken left hand), he averaged .260 with 28 home runs, 21 doubles, and an OPS of .850.  He led the league in OPS in 1963 and made the all-star team in 1963-1964.  It shows the power of the Twins in those years that he was the second banana to Harmon Killebrew and then the third banana to Killebrew and Tony Oliva.  Allison fell to part-time status in 1969 and was largely a bench player in 1970.  For his career, Bob Allison hit   He chose to retire after the 1970 season.  He went to work for the Coca-Cola Company, becoming general manager of the company’s Twins Cities Marketing Division.  He suffered from ataxia, a neurological disorder, and passed away April 9, 1995 in Rio Verde, Arizona.  The Twins now give the Bob Allison award for the Twins player who best exemplifies determination, hustle, tenacity, competitive spirit, and leadership both on and off the field.

Catcher John Sevcik had sixteen at-bats for the Twins in 1965.  He was Oak Park, Illinois, went to high school in Berwyn, Illinois, and then attended the University of Missouri.  He played for the Sturgis (SD) Titans in the Basin League in 1963, and was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1964.  He was in Class A at Wisconsin Rapids that season, did fairly well, and found himself as the third catcher on the Twins in 1965, backing up Earl Battey and Jerry Zimmerman.  He appears to have been with the team the whole season–at least, he did not play in the minors and was in at least one major league game almost every month–but he played very sparingly.   He appeared in one game in April, one in May, six in June, one in July, two in September, and one in October.  He made only three starts.  In his 12 games, he went 1-for-16 with a walk and a sacrifice.  His hit was a double.  Sevcik went back to the minors after that season, staying in the Twins’ organization through 1971.  He was a part-time player every season for them, averging 72 games and 232 at-bats.  His lifetime OPS in the minors was .683.  Sevcik’s playing career ended after the 1971 season.  For several years, John Sevcik was living in San Antonio and was an executive for the Jim Beam company.  He is now retired and living in Austin, Texas.

Right-hander Yorman Michael (Osario) Bazardo did not play for the Twins, but was in their farm system for the first part of 2011.  He was born in Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela, and signed with Florida as a free agent in 2000.  He pitched quite well in the low minors, but advanced slowly, probably due to his young age.  He reached AA in 2005, even getting one appearance in the majors in late May (1.2 innings 0f a blowout loss).  He was traded to Seattle at the trade deadline that season.  He did pretty well in AA for them in 2006, especially considering he was still only 21.    He was traded to Detroit that off-season.  He had a fine season in AAA in 2007 and made eleven very good appearances for the big club.  He started 2008 in the majors, but after only three appearances he was sent down.  He had a bad year in AAA and became a free agent, signing with Philadelphia.  The Phillies released him at the end of spring training, and he moved on to Houston. He did okay in AAA for the Astros and spent the last two months of 2009 in the major leagues.  It looks like that will be his major league swan song, though.    He was again a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 2011.  He went to Rochester, didn’t do much, and was released in mid-June.  He finished the season pitching for Camden in the Atlantic League.  He did not play in 2012, at least as far as b-r.com is concerned, but he has continued to play in Caribbean winter leagues and is playing in Italy in 2013.  In his big league career so far, he appeared in 25 games (eight starts), going 3-4, 6.86, 1.69 WHIP in 60.1 innings.  He is 29 today and is pitching very well in Italy.  It seems really unlikely that he'll ever return to the majors, but stranger things have probably happened.

Right-hander Bryan Christopher Augenstein did not play for the Twins, but was in their minor league system for two months in 2013.  Born and raised in Sebastian, Florida, he attended the University of Florida, and was drafted by Arizona in the seventh round in 2007.  He pitched very well in the low minors, but struggled when promoted to AAA in 2009.  Despite that, he made two starts for the Diamondbacks in May and got a September call-up, making five appearances out of the bullpen.  He struggled in AAA again in 2010 and was placed on waivers by Arizona after the season.  St. Louis claimed him and surprisingly, he made the Cardinals out of spring training.  Unsurprisingly, he did not do well in five appearances, although one really bad appearance makes his numbers look worse than they would have been otherwise.  He did better in AAA in 2011, but was not really good, and was released after the season.  Tampa Bay signed him and sent him to AAA again for 2012.  He actually had a fairly good season working out of the bullpen (he had been converted to relief in 2011), but did not get called up and was released by the Rays after the season.  Minnesota signed him for 2013, but he was injured, did not pitch for any of the Twins affiliates, and was released at the end of May.  He has not been picked up by anyone at this writing.  In his major league career, he was 0-2, 8.34, 1.90 WHIP in 22.2 innings.  He pitched in twelve major league games, which is twelve more than most people reading this have pitched in, starting two of them.  He's only twenty-seven, so he certainly could get picked up by somebody if he can show he's healthy, and if he does, who knows?  Maybe he'll get another shot at the big leagues.

July 10

Jimmy McAleer (1864)
Bobby Lowe (1865)
John Heydler (1869)
Wayne Blackburn (1914)
Paul Pryor (1927)
Gene Alley (1940)
Hal McRae (1945)
Bob Bailor (1951)
Andre Dawson (1954)
Buddy Groom (1965)
Lee Stevens (1967)
Marty Cordova (1969)

John Heydler was the president of the National League from 1918-1934.

Wayne Blackburn was a minor league infielder from 1936-1956.  He drew over 1,400 walks in his career.

Paul Pryor was a National League umpire from 1961-1981 and is an alumnus of the author’s alma mater, the University of South Dakota.

Outfielder Marty Cordova played for the Twins from 1995-1999.  Born and raised in Las Vegas, he was drafted by Minnesota in the tenth round in 1989.  He was young and took a few years to get going, but hit .341 with 28 homers for Class A Visalia in 1992.  He stumbled a little when promoted to AA the next year, but came back with a bang, hitting .358 with 19 homers and an OPS of 1.018 for AAA Salt Lake in 1994.  He was the Twins’ starting left fielder the next season and won the Rookie of the Year award with 24 home runs and a .277 average.  He was 25 years old and big things were predicted, but that was as good as it got for Cordova.  He had a good 1996, hitting .309 and driving in 111 runs, but then had a couple of off years, due partly to plantar fasciitis.  He bounced back some in 1999, hitting .285 with 14 homers, but became a free agent after the season and signed with Boston.  Surprisingly, the Red Sox cut Cordova late in spring training, and he signed with Toronto.  He had an undistinguished year there, went to Cleveland for 2001, and had something of a renaissance, hitting .301 with 20 home runs.  He went to Baltimore for 2002, but played only nine games in 2003 due to an elbow injury.  He missed all of 2004 with that injury.  He briefly tried to come back with Tampa Bay in 2005 but decided to retire instead.  As a Twin, Marty Cordova hit .277/.348/.451 in 2,322 at-bats.  At last report, Marty Cordova was the Chief Operating Officer of Bent Pixels, which helps people earn money from YouTube videos.

July 9

Jack Powell (1874)
Buck Herzog (1885)
Glenn Myatt (1897)
Wally Post (1929)

Marty Springstead (1937)
Mike Andrews (1943)
Sonny Jackson (1944)
Hal Haydel (1944)
Steve Luebber (1949)

Willie Wilson (1955)

Marty Springstead was an American League umpire from 1966-1986.  He later was a supervisor of umpires.

Outfielder Walter Charles Post had 47 at-bats for the Twins in 1963, near the end of a solid career.  He was born in St. Wendelin, Ohio and signed with Cincinnati as a free agent in 1946.  Perhaps because of his youth, he did not play much in the minors in his first few seasons, but as he got older he played more and played well.  He hit .306 with 21 homers for AAA Buffalo in 1951 and .289 with 33 homers for AAA Indianapolis in 1953.  He played briefly with the Reds each season from 1951-1953, then made the team for good at the start of 1954.  He was the starting right fielder for the Reds for three seasons; easily the best was 1955, when he hit .309 with 40 homers and 109 RBIs.  He finished twelfth in MVP voting that year, the only season in which he received MVP consideration.  It was also the only time he topped .300 in a season.  He was a solid, unspectacular player.  He was also strikeout-prone, leading the league in that category three times.  After an off year in 1957, Post was traded to Philadelphia for Harvey Haddix.  His playing time was reduced some, but he was still the mostly regular right fielder with the Phillies.  He continued to be a solid contributor, but in June of 1960 he was traded back to Cincinnati.  Post was a part-time player for the Reds through mid-May of 1963, when he was sold to Minnesota.  He stayed with the Twins the rest of the season but rarely played, hitting .191/.224/.362 in 47 at-bats.  The Twins released him after the season and he signed with Cleveland, but got only eight at-bats before being released in mid-May.  He played in AAA for Detroit, then his playing career came to an end.  He returned to Ohio after his playing career ended, working for the Minster Canning Company.  He is the grandfather of Ohio State and NFL quarterback Bobby Hoying.  He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1965.  Wally Post passed away from cancer on January 6, 1982, in St. Henry, Ohio.

Right-handed reliever John Harold Haydel appeared in 35 games for the Twins in 1970-1971.  Born and raised in Houma, Louisiana, he signed with the Milwaukee Braves as a free agent in 1962.  He had a decent first year in Class D Dublin and was chosen by Houston in the first-year player draft.  At the end of spring training, Houston sent Haydel to the Cubs.  He was a starter in the minors and did okay, progressing to AA in 1965 and spending two Phoenix for three years, not doing badly but not doing well enough to really attract anyone’s attention, either.  After the 1969 campaign, Minnesota chose Haydel in the Rule 5 draft.  Something must have been worked out, because Haydel was in AAA for most of 1970, coming to the Twins only as a September call-up.  In 1971 he came up to the Twins in late June and stayed the rest of the season.  His stint with the Twins was like most of his minor league career, neither great nor terrible.  As a Twin he was 6-2, 4.04 with a WHIP of 1.31.  He pitched 49 innings over 35 games, all in relief.  He had a bad year in AAA Tacoma in 1972, and then his playing career was over at age 28.  No information about Hal Haydel’s life since that time was readily available.

Right-hander Stephen Lee Luebber pitched for the Twins in 1971-1972 and again in 1976.  He was born in Clinton, Missouri, went to high school in Joplin, Missouri, and was drafted by Minnesota in the thirteenth round in 1967.  Used mostly as a starter in the minors, he had some really good years, going 17-11, 1.78 in 237 innings at Class A Orlando in 1970 (as a 20-year-old), and 9-1, 1.97 at AA Charlotte in 96 innings at in 1971.  He was jumped from there to the big leagues in late June of 1971 and placed into the starting rotation at age 21.  He was not ready, going 2-5, 5.06 in 12 starts and six relief appearances.  He went to AAA in 1972 and had a solid year, working 215 innings, and got a September call-up.  He was apparently injured for part of 1973, working only 77 innings.  He resumed a heavy minor league workload the next season, throwing 176 innings in AA Orlando in 1974 and 224 innings in Orlando and AAA Tacoma in 1975.  Luebber was back with the Twins in 1976, his only full season in the majors.  Used in both starting and relief roles, he was not terrible, going 4-5, 4.00 in 119.1 innings.  The Twins sent him back to AAA in 1977, and released him after the season.  As a Twin, Steve Luebber was 6-10, 4.32 in 189.2 innings.  He appeared in 58 games, 24 of them starts.  He signed with the White Sox and was in AAA with them in 1978.  He moved on to Toronto in 1979, making one appearance in the majors with the Blue Jays.  He was released late in spring training in 1980, and signed with Baltimore.  He pitched well in AAA for them, making seven appearances with the Orioles in 1981.  He never made it back to the majors, but he hung around in the minors for a long time.  Luebber pitched in the Detroit and Texas organizations in 1983, for the Detroit and San Diego chains in 1984, and made appearances in the minors for San Diego from 1986-1988.  He also pitched for the Ft. Myers Sun Sox in the seniors league.  Luebber did not have much of a major league career, but one wonders what he might have done had he not thrown so many innings in the minors.  Since 1988, Luebber has been a minor league pitching coach, working in the San Diego, Baltimore, Texas, and Florida organizations.  Since 2007, he has been the pitching coach for the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Kansas City organization.

July 8

NOTE:  This is a reprint from last year.  Due to a family situation, I did not have time to update it for this season.  This should be the last day for which this is true.  Thank you for understanding.

Hank O’Day (1862)
Ivey Wingo (1890)
Clint Brown (1903)
Salty Parker (1912)
Antonio Ramirez Muno (1927)
Hector Lopez (1929)
Al Spangler (1933)
Darrell Brandon (1940)Ken Sanders (1941)
Jim Ollom (1945)Lerrin LaGrow (1948)
Alan Ashby (1951)
Terry Puhl (1956)
Bob Kipper (1964)Jerome Walton (1965)
Bobby Ayala (1969)
Danny Ardoin (1974)

Right-hander Darrell “Bucky” Brandon made three appearances for the Twins in 1969.  Born and raised in Nacogdoches, Texas, he signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 1959.  He made only one appearance in Class D for the Pirates, went to St. Louis, made only five appearances in Class D for the Cardinals in 1960, was out of baseball in 1961 (pitching semi-pro ball and working as a milkman), then went to the Houston organization.  He toiled there for four years and pitched pretty well, slowly making his way up the minor league system.  He reached AAA in 1965, then was traded to Boston.  He both started and relieved for the Red Sox for two season, not doing great but not doing too badly, either.  He was back in AAA in 1968, where he had a very good year, and also made eight appearances in the majors.  He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was chosen by Seattle.  He again was mostly in the minors, making eight appearances in the big leagues with the Pilots, and was sold to Minnesota in early July.  The Twins mostly kept him in AAA, too; he made three appearances with Minnesota, two in July and one in September.  He pitched 3.1 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks.  The Twins released him at the end of spring training of 1970, and he signed with the White Sox.  He spent another year in AAA, pitching 214 innings there and winning 15 games.  The White Sox traded him to Philadelphia after the season.  It was the best thing that could have happened to him:  he got three more years in the majors in the Phillies bullpen.  He had a poor year in 1973, was in AAA for 1974, then his playing career came to an end.  After that, he operated pitching schools, first in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, later in Hanover, Massachusetts (one of his pupils was Orel Hershiser).  At last report, Darrell Brandon was working in the insurance business in Hanover.

Left-handed reliever Jim Ollom appeared in twenty-four games for the Twins from 1966-1967.  Born and raised in Snohomish, Washington, he signed with the Yankees as a free agent in 1963.  He played rookie ball for them for one year, then was chosen by Minnesota in the first-year player draft.  He did better at AAA than he had done in the low minors, including winning 20 games for Denver in 1966, when he pitched 247 innings.  He made his major league debut with the Twins that year as a September call-up and was with them for all of 1967.  He was seldom used, however, appearing in only 21 games and working only 35 innings.  As a Twin, he was 0-1, 5.00 with a WHIP of only 1.13 in 45 innings.  He went back to the minors for 1968-1969, did not pitch well, and his playing career came to an end.  His lack of a major league career has been explained by saying that he had a major-league fastball but little else, as he could not consistently throw any breaking pitches for strikes.  At last report, Jim Ollom was living in Phoenix, Arizona and Everett, Washington, and was a regional sales manager for a baking products company.

Left-hander Bob Kipper pitched for the Twins in 1992.  Born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, he was the eight pick of the draft in 1982, chosen by California.  He was in Class A for three years, but the third one, when he was still only 19, was a good one:  he went 18-8, 2.04 for Redwood.  He rose quickly after that, pitching well at every minor league stop.  He made the Angels out of spring training in 1985, but wasn’t ready and went back down after only two appearances.  In August, he was traded to Pittsburgh in a multi-player deal that included John Candelaria.  He was in the Pirates’ rotation most of 1986-1987, doing decently in 1986 and poorly in 1987.  He moved to the bullpen in 1988 and had some fairly good years as a middle reliever/set-up man.  His best year was 1989, when he had an ERA of 2.93 and a WHIP of 1.06 in 83 innings.  He had a weaker year in 1991, became a free agent, and signed with Minnesota.  He made 25 appearances with the Twins, going 3-3, 4.42 with a WHIP of 1.40 in 38.2 innings.  He was released at the end of July, and was not picked up by anyone.  He tried to make a comeback with the Mets in 1994, but abandoned it after pitching poorly in nine AAA outings.  Since then, he has been a minor league pitching coach, working mostly at the lower levels of the minors and mostly in the Red Sox’ organization.  Bob Kipper is currently the pitching coach of the AA Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern Leagues.

Catcher Danny Ardoin appeared in fifteen games for the Twins in 2000.  He was born in Mamou, Louisiana, went to high school in Villa Platte, Louisiana, and attended McNeese State University.  He was drafted by Oakland in the fifth round in 1995.  He was in the minors with the Athletics for several years, not being horrible but not doing much to stand out, either, although he did hit sixteen home run at AA Huntsville in 1998.  In late July of 2000, Oakland traded Ardoin to Minnesota, where he became one of five catchers the Twins used that year (Matthew LeCroy, A. J. Pierzynski, Chad Moeller, Marcus Jensen).  He was with the Twins for about a month, hitting .125/.300/.250.  He was in AAA for the Twins in 2001, then was allowed to become a free agent.  He signed with Kansas City for 2002, was released in May, and signed with Texas.  He remained in the Rangers’ organization through 2004, making it back to the majors for three weeks in 2004.  He signed with Colorado for 2005 and spent much of the season with the Rockies, getting 210 at-bats in 80 games.  He was in the majors for much of 2006 as well, but was placed on waivers by the Rockies at the end of August and was selected by Baltimore.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Washington for 2007, but was traded to Houston near the end of spring training.  He never got out of AAA there and was traded again in late August, this time to St. Louis.  A free agent after the season, he signed with the Dodgers, where he stayed through 2009.  He spent the majority of 2008 in the majors, although he was rarely used.  He did not sign with anyone in 2010, bringing his playing career to an end.  It appears that Danny Ardoin is living in Villa Platte and is involved in coaching there.