Happy Birthday–August 26

Chick Fraser (1873)
Jesse Barnes (1892)
Sparky Adams (1894)
Gene Moore (1909)
Alex Kellner (1924)
Alex Trevino (1957)
Jeff Parrett (1961)
Angel Hernandez (1961)
Chad Kreuter (1964)
Ricky Bottalico (1969)
Brendan Harris (1980)

Infielder Brendan Harris has been with the Twins since 2008.  Born and raised in Queensbury, New York, he was drafted out of the College of William and Mary by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2001 draft. He hit well throughout the minors, usually averaging over .300 with double-digit home runs, and played mostly second base and third base. He made his major-league debut with the Cubs in 2004, playing in three games for them before being sent to Montreal in the four-team trade that involved Doug Mientkiewicz going to Boston. Harris spent most of 2005 and 2006 in the minors, making brief appearances in both years with Washington before being traded to Cincinnati in August of 2006 in a multi-player deal that involved Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner. The following off-season, Harris was traded to Tampa Bay in what baseball-reference.com describes as "a conditional deal". The conditions must have been met, because Harris was with the Devil Rays all year, his first full season in the majors. After one season with Tampa Bay, he was traded to the Twins in the deal that sent Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa Bay for Harris, Delmon Young, and Jason Pridie. Harris was a semi-regular utility infielder for the Twins from 2008-2009, seeing time at second, short, and third.  He seemed likely to see most of his time at third base in 2010 but got off to a horrible start, batting just .157 in 108 at-bats before being sent to Rochester in mid-June.  Things have not gone well in Rochester, either, as he hit just .233.  After the season, he was traded to Baltimore with J. J. Hardy and cash for Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey.  He has done no better in AAA for the Orioles, hitting .222 at this writing.  Harris turns thirty-one today; one suspect that he is just about out of chances.