Joe Evans (1895)
Jimmy Wasdell (1914)
Al McBean (1938)
Yukata Enatsu (1948)
Bill North (1948)
Rick Waits (1952)
George Brett (1953)
John Smoltz (1967)
Scott Watkins (1970)
A. J. Hinch (1974)
Josh Beckett (1980)
Justin Morneau (1981)

A. J. Hinch was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1995, but did not sign.

Today is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Brian Dozier (1987).

Left-hander Scott Allen Watkins pitched for the Twins for about two months in 1995.  He was born in Tulsa, went to high school in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and was drafted by Minnesota in the 23rd round in 1992.  A reliever throughout his minor-league career, his numbers were not particularly impressive until 1995, when he posted a 2.80 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, 20 saves, and 57 strikeouts in 54.2 innings (45 games) for AAA Salt Lake.  He was often used as a LOOGY; in nearly half of his 27 appearances, he faced only one or two batters.  He was not particularly successful in that role, as in a small sample size left-handers hit him nearly as well as right-handers.  For the last two months of 1995, Watkins had no decisions with an ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 1.52.  He pitched 21.2 innings spread over 27 games.  Watkins was back in AAA in 1996, but could not duplicate his success of the prior season.  From there, he started moving around.  He was in the minor league systems of Colorado and Kansas City in 1997, in the Texas organization in 1998, in the Cubs chain in 1999, and at AAA with Colorado again from 2000-2001.  He had varying degrees of success, but did not make it back to the majors.  His playing career ended after the 2001 season.  There are lots of people named Scott Watkins around, and some of them are even involved in baseball in some capacity, but no information that could be definitely attributed to “our” Scott Watkins was readily available.

First baseman Justin Morneau has been with the Twins since 2003.  He was born and raised in New Westminster, British Columbia and was drafted by Minnesota in the third round in 1999.  He hit well throughout the minors, hitting over .300 in his first three professional seasons, but the Twins took their time with him:  Morneau was in rookie ball for two years, was in Class A for all but ten games in 2001, and was in AA all of 2002.  He began 2003 in AA, but was advanced to AAA after 20 games.  He got his first chance at the majors in 2003 spelling Doug Mientkiewicz, which is not an easy thing to do.  He was in the majors about half the season.  He started 2004 in Rochester, but after he hit .306 with 22 home runs in half a season, Mientkiewicz was traded and Morneau became the Twins' regular first baseman, a job he retains to this day.  He struggled in 2005, but has played well in every year since.  He was playing extremely well in 2010, hitting .345 with an OPS of 1.055, when he suffered a concussion in mid-July and missed the rest of the season.  He has struggled so far in 2011, and it remains to be seen whether the concussion is having lingering effects.  His best season to date is 2006, when he hit .321 with 34 homers and 130 RBIs, winning the Most Valuable Player award.  He received MVP consideration the next two years as well, finishing second to Dustin Pedroia in 2008.  He has made the all-star team every year since 2007 and has won two Silver Slugger awards.  Justin Morneau turns 30 today.  His current struggles are an obvious concern, but if he can overcome them, he should be a solid major league regular for several more years.