J. L. Wilkinson (1878)
Ed Walsh (1881)
Alex Pompez (1890)
Earle Combs (1899)
Joe Lewis (1906)
Bob Thurman (1917)
Les Moss (1925)
Dick Howser (1936)
Tony Perez (1942)
Dick Tidrow (1947)
Dave LaRoche (1948)
Dennis Martinez (1955)
Hosken Powell (1955)
Pat Borders (1963)
Joey Cora (1965)
Larry Sutton (1970)
Roy Halladay (1977)

Today is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Romy Trinidad (1991).

We would also like to wish a very happy anniversary to SBG and Lucy.

Outfielder Robert Burns Thurman did not play for the Twins, but was briefly in their farm system at the end of his career.  Born in Kellyville, Oklahoma, he played semipro ball until 1941, when he went in to the Army for World War II.  Upon leaving the Army, he became a victim of baseball’s color barrier, playing in the Negro Leagues from 1946-1949 and playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, where he became a star.  The Yankees purchased his contract in July of 1949, and he hit .317 the rest of the year in the International League.  He played in AAA for the Cubs in 1950, then spent two seasons playing for San Francisco in the Pacific Coast League.  He continued to play winter ball in Puerto Rico in those years.  Then, in 1954, the Dominican Summer League attempted to compete with the major leagues.  Thurman signed with the DSL, and was again on the wrong side of a major league blacklist.  He spent two years there before the DSL became a part of organized baseball.  He continued to play winter ball in Puerto Rico in those years, becoming the all-time leader in home runs and RBIs in the Puerto Rican Winter League.  In 1955 he signed with Cincinnati, and on April 15, at the age of 38 (he had given his age as four years younger), Bob Thurman made his major league debut.  He was with the Reds for four seasons as a pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder, getting 139-190 at-bats per season.  His best year was 1956, when he hit .295/.340/.532.  He started 1959 with the Reds, but was sent to the minors in April and never returned.  He was in AAA with Cincinnati and St. Louis in 1959 and St. Louis and Washington in 1960.  When the Washington franchise moved to Minnesota he was still in the organization, playing 21 games for Class A Charlotte and hitting .267/.276/.453.  For his major league career, he hit .246/.314/.465 in 663 at-bats.  He remained in the Twins’ organization as a scout for some time, and also scouted in the Kansas City and Cincinnati organizations.  He is said to have been instrumental in signing several players who became part of the Big Red Machine, including Johnny Bench and Hal McRae.  After leaving baseball, he became a partner in Marketing Associates of Wichita.  Bob Thurman passed away of Alzheimer’s Disease in Wichita, Kansas on October 31, 1998 at the age of 81.

Left-hander David Eugene LaRoche pitched for the Twins in 1972.  He was born in Colorado Springs, went to high school in Torrence, California, and attended UNLV.  He was drafted by California in the fifth round of the January secondary draft in 1967.  He was a reliever all of his career, making only twelve minor-league starts.  He pitched very well in the minors and was off to a tremendous start in AAA Hawaii in 1970, going 6-0, 1.24 with five saves and a WHIP of 0.86 in 58 innings, when he was called up to the Angels in mid-May.  He had two strong years in the California bullpen, and came to Minnesota after the 1971 season in exchange for Leo Cardenas.  He was the left-handed part of a closer platoon with Wayne Granger in 1972.  LaRoche again pitched well, going 5-7, 2.83 with ten saves and a WHIP of 1.16.  He appeared in 62 games, pitching 95.1 innings.  After the season, a year to the day after which they had acquired LaRoche, the Twins traded him to the Cubs for Bob Maneely, Joe Decker, and Bill Hands.  He had two poor years for the Cubs and was traded to Cleveland in February of 1975.  He rebounded with the Indians, posting an ERA around 2.20 and recording 38 saves over the next two seasons.  He got off to a bad start in 1977 and was traded back to California in mid-May.  LaRoche pitched very well for the Angels through 1978, going 16-14 with 38 saves.  He followed that up with a couple of down years, and was released on April 1, 1981.  The Yankees signed him and he had a couple of good years for them.  LaRoche was out of baseball at the start of 1983, but tried to come back with the Yankees, signing in late July.  It did not go well, however, and after the season his playing career ended for good.  Today, he is probably best remembered for “LaLob”, an eephus-like pitch he developed later in his career.  LaRoche then became a pitching coach, working in both the majors and minors.  Dave LaRoche was currently the pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51s in the Toronto organization from 2009-2010.  He is currently retired and living in Fort Scott, Kansas.  His son, Andy LaRoche, is currently playing for the Oakland Athletics.

Outfielder Hosken Powell played for the Twins from 1978-1981.  Born in Selma, Alabama, he attended Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida and was chosen by Minnesota with the third pick of the June Secondary draft in 1975.  Powell advanced rapidly through the Twins' system.  He had little power, but hit for a high average and drew quite a few walks in the minors.  In 1977, he hit .326/.427/.429 at AAA Tacoma, and in 1978 he was the starting right fielder in Minnesota.  He hit only .247 (although with an OBP of .323), however, and in 1979 fell into a platoon role, sharing time with Willie Norwood and Dave Edwards.  He had his best season, hitting .293 with an OBP of .360, and in 1980 was back as the starting right fielder.  He dropped back to .262 and went back to a part-time role in 1981.  This time, however, he did not respond, and Powell was traded after the season to Toronto for a player to be named later (Greg Wells).  Powell did okay as a reserve in 1982, but hit only .169 in the first half of 1983 and was released.  Milwaukee signed him, and he played in AAA for the Brewers for a year and a half before his career came to an end after the 1984 campaign.  There is a Hosken Powell is the head baseball coach at Pensacola High School in Pensacola, Florida.

Catcher Patrick Lance Borders was with the Twins for the last month of 2004.  He was born in Columbus, Ohio, went to high school in Lake Wales, Florida, and was drafted by Toronto in the sixth round in 1982.  It took him a long time to advance, as he did not reach AA until 1986 and then only for twelve games.  He never hit much above AA, but still made the majors in 1988.  He stayed with the Blue Jays through 1994 and was their regular catcher from 1990-1993.  He was the MVP of the World Series in 1992, but the only really good season he had as a regular was in 1990, when he hit .286 with 15 homers and an OPS of .816.  His OPS never topped .700 in any other season as a regular, and Borders was allowed to become a free agent after the 1994 season.  He was a much-traveled reserve catcher for the next couple of years, playing for Kansas City and Houston in 1995 and for St. Louis, California, and the White Sox in 1996.  He found a home in Cleveland for a couple of years, serving as their backup backstop in 1997-1998.  He spent much of 1999 at AAA for the Indians and was released in August, signing with Toronto.  He signed with Tampa Bay for 2000 and played in AAA for them, also playing for the gold-medal Olympic team that season.  The Devil Rays sold Borders to Seattle in August of 2001.  He went to spring training with Texas in 2002, but was released and went back to Seattle, where he stayed through August of 2004.  Most of that time was spent in AAA, but he got a few at-bats with the Mariners each season.  He was traded to Minnesota on August 31, 2004 for B. J. Garbe.  Borders appeared in 19 games as a Twin, going 12-for-42 for a line of .286/.302/.381.  He was a free agent after the season and started moving around again.  He signed with Milwaukee for 2005, was sold to Seattle in May, and was released in July.  He signed with the Dodgers for 2006, played in AAA, and retired in late May.  He had a seventeen-year career and played 1,099 games.  No information about what Pat Borders has doing since retiring from baseball was readily available.