Happy Birthday–August 21

Frank Isbell (1875)
Murray Dickson (1916)
Jerry Staley (1920)
Jim Beauchamp (1939)
Felix Millan (1943)
John Ellis (1948)
John Stearns (1951)
Frank Pastore (1957)
John Wetteland (1966)
Mike Misuraca (1968)
Craig Counsell (1970)
Ismael Valdez (1973)
Akili Smith (1975)
Jason Marquis (1978)

Akili Smith, better known as an NFL quarterback, played for three seasons in the Pittsburgh organization, reaching AA.

Right-hander Frank Pastore pitched for the Twins in 1986.  He was born in Alhambra, California, went to high school in La Verne, California, and was drafted in the second round by Cincinnati in 1975, Pastore pitched well at every stop along the way in the minors, and made the Reds at the beginning of 1979. He pitched mostly out of the bullpen that year, but became a solid member of the rotation in 1980. That was his best year: he went 13-7 with an ERA of 3.27 in 27 starts. He pitched well in 1981 and 1982, but started to slip after that, and also apparently started to have injury problems. He was primarily a reliever in 1985, became a free agent, and signed with the Twins in April of 1986. The Twins ran through a lot of relief pitchers that year, and Pastore was actually one of the better ones they had: in 33 games, he was 3-1 with a 4.01 ERA and 2 saves, but walked 24 in 49.1 innings and had a WHIP of 1.58. He again became a free agent after the season, and signed with the Texas Rangers, but pitched poorly for AAA Oklahoma City and his career was over. After baseball, Frank Pastore went back to school, and now holds degrees in business administration, philosophy of religion and ethics, political philosophy, and American government. He is currently the host of a radio program, The Frank Pastore Show, which is described by wikipedia as the largest Christian talk show in the United States.

Right-hander Mike Misuraca did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for over seven years.  He was born in Long Beach, California and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1988.  A starter for most of his career, he pitched fairly well in the low minors, but never well enough to attract anyone's attention.  He reached Class A in 1989, but did not advance past there until 1993, when he finally got to AA Nashville.  He reached AAA in 1994, but did not pitch well in Salt Lake, posting ERAs over five each season there.  He was sent to Milwaukee in a conditional deal in June of 1996 and sent to AAA New Orleans.  He did not pitch any better in AAA for the Brewers, but was brought up to the majors for about three weeks in 1997.  It did not go well:  in five appearances (10.1 innings), he put up an ERA of 11.32 and a WHIP of 2.13, allowing five home runs.  His playing career came to an end after that season.  He may not have been in the big leagues for long, but as an undrafted free agent, he beat the odds to get there at all.  He has stayed in baseball, and is now the supervisor of scouting in the greater Los Angeles area for the Cincinnati Reds.