Happy Birthday–October 9

Dave Rowe (1854)
Al Maul (1865)
Rube Marquard (1866)
Joe Sewell (1898)
Mike Hershberger (1939)
Joe Pepitone (1940)
Freddie Patek (1944)
Bob Moose (1947)
Steve Palermo (1949)
Brian Downing (1950)
Randy Lerch (1954)
Felix Fermin (1963)
Danny Mota (1975)
Brian Roberts (1977)
Mark McLemore (1980)
Jason Pridie (1983)

Right-hander Daniel Avila Mota appeared in four games for the Twins in 2000. He was born in El Saibo, Dominican Republic, went to high school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and was signed by the Yankees as a free agent in 1994. Used exclusively as a relief pitcher, he pitched well in the low levels of the Yankees minor-league system for three years. On February 6, 1998, he was traded to the Twins along with Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, and cash for Chuck Knoblauch. The Twins kept Mota at Class A in 1998, and he continued to pitch well. They finally promoted hit to AA for six games in 1999 and to AAA for four games in 2000. Mota got a September call-up in 2000, appearing in four games and pitching a total of 5.1 innings. He started 2001 in AAA Salt Lake, but did not pitch well and was moved on to Las Vegas in the Dodgers organization. Possibly he was injured that year; while it was his first bad year in the minors, it was also his last year in organized baseball. He did have a stint in the Mexican League in 2003, but then Mota was done. In his big-league career, all of which was with the Twins, Danny Mota had no record, and had an 8.44 ERA, giving up five runs on ten hits in 5.1 innings. No information about Danny Mota's life after baseball was readily available.

Left-hander Mark Steven McLemore did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them in 2010. He was born in Sacramento, went to high school in Loomis, California, attended Oregon State, and was drafted by Houston in the fourth round in 2002. He struggled a little early in his minor league career, but pitched pretty well in the minors from 2004-2007. He both started and relieved in the minors, and may have had some injury problems, as he never appeared in more than thirty-seven games nor pitched as many as a hundred innings in a minor league season. He made his major league debut in 2007, spending a little over half the season with the Astros. He went 3-0, 3.86, 1.69 WHIP in 35 innings spread over 29 games. He then missed all of 2008, presumably with an injury, and became a free agent after the season. He re-signed with Houston for 2009 but was in AAA all year, making eighteen rather mediocre starts. The Twins took him to spring training in 2010, but released him just prior to the beginning of the season. He went unsigned, and pitched for the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League.  He signed with Florida for 2011, but was released in late April after making four appearances for AAA New Orleans, apparently ending his playing career. No further information about Mark McLemore was readily available.

Outfielder Jason Orville Pridie played in eleven games for the Twins in 2008-2009. He was born in Phoenix, went to high school in Prescott, Arizona, and was drafted by Tampa Bay in the second round in 2002. He hit very well in rookie ball, and did not do badly at Class A in 2004, hitting .276 with 17 homers and 11 triples. Pridie struggled in his first couple of years in AA, but put things together in 2007, hitting .290 in a half-season there. He continued to hit at AAA, hitting .318 in a half-season at Durham that same year. The Twins had been interested in Pridie for some time, and had taken him in the rule 5 draft in December of 2005, but returned him to Tampa Bay at the end of spring training. Finally, in November of 2007, the Twins traded Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa Bay for Pridie, Brendan Harris, and Delmon Young. Pridie spent most of 2008-2009 at AAA Rochester, playing in eleven big league games as a defensive replacement or a pinch runner and going 0-for-4 with a walk. He had a couple of decent seasons in Rochester, but nothing more. The Twins put him on waivers in February of 2010 and he was claimed by the Mets. He battled injuries in 2010, but played decently for AAA Buffalo when healthy.  In 2011, at age 27, he finally got somewhat of a shot in the majors, appearing in 101 games (but getting only 208 at-bats) with the Mets in almost a full season.  He was often used as a defensive replacement, but batted 29 times as a pinch-hitter.  His offensive numbers were unimpressive, but he drew a fair number of walks and stole seven bases.  He turns twenty-eight today. He’ll never be a star, and will probably never be a regular, but if he catches some breaks, he may be able to have a decent major league career as a reserve outfielder.

One thought on “Happy Birthday–October 9”

  1. grampaS (1933, I think!). Known as "Paddlefoot" in h.s in (very) small-town NE Nebraska, gS once cold-cocked himself when he tripped over his own feet backpedalling down court on a concrete basketball court. As a 6-footer, he played center/power forward on the school team. He also played some town ball, and recalls bailing out of the box the first time he saw a roundhouse curve (which dropped in for a strike). Later, he served in the Army signal corps. In a training program, the officers announced that whomever finished first in the class would get to choose his own assignment. gS graduated first, but the officers changed the rules, sending him to do high-temperature radio equipment testing in the N.M. desert, while the second-place finisher got to choose his own assignment (and went off to Hawaii). gS is happily retired to a cabin in the north woods after a career of teaching chemistry and mathematics to boneheaded junior college kids.

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