Billy McLean (1835)
Bennie Tate (1901)
Joe Collins (1922)
Ray Bellino (1932)
Clay Dalrymple (1936)
Chico Salmon (1940)
Jerry Johnson (1943)
Wayne Garrett (1947)
Pat Putnam (1953)
Gene Nelson (1960)
Damon Berryhill (1963)
Darryl Hamilton (1964)
Paul Byrd (1970)
Chad Durbin (1977)
Andy Oliver (1987)
J. T. Chargois (1990)

Billy McLean was the umpire in the first National League game ever, April 22, 1876.  He umpired in the National League through 1890.

Shortstop Ray Bellino played and managed in the Twins minor league system and also was a scout for them.

Andy Oliver was drafted by Minnesota in the seventeenth round in 2006, but did not sign.

We would also like to wish a happy birthday to DK.

First baseman Patrick Edward Putnam played briefly with the Twins in 1984, at the end of his major league career. Born in Bethel, Vermont, he attended high school in Ft. Myers, Florida, where his family had moved when he was eight. He went to Miami Dade North Community College, then transferred to the University of South Alabama, and was drafted by Texas in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1975 draft. He had a big year in 1976 at Class A Asheville, hitting .361 with 24 homers and 33 doubles. After the season, his manager, Wayne Terwilliger, said Putnam was the best hitter he had ever seen. He was then jumped to AAA, where he hit over .300 each of the next two seasons, with a total of 36 home runs and 56 doubles. He played briefly in the majors each of those two years, but made the majors to stay in 1979. While he was not terrible, he never really became the major league player it looked like he would be. In fact, in his four years with the Rangers, he seemed to get a little worse every year. He went from hitting .277 with 18 homers in 1979 (finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting) to .266 with 8 homers in 1981. In 1982, Putnam was hitting only .210 with two home runs when he was sent to AAA in late May. He again hit well in AAA, but when he returned in September he did not hit particularly better for the Rangers. Texas gave up on him after that season, trading him to Seattle. Putnam was decent in 1983, hitting .269 with 19 homers, but slumped in 1984. The Twins picked him up in late August for their pennant drive, sending Carson Carroll to Seattle. Putnam failed to contribute, however, going 3-for-38 (.079) as a Twin with no home runs and four RBIs before tearing a ligament in his finger. A free agent after the season, Putnam signed with Kansas City, but after a mediocre 1985 in AAA Omaha he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. He played two seasons there, played in 1989 in the Seniors league, and then retired from baseball for good. After his playing career ended, Pat Putnam returned to Ft. Myers, where he owned the Home Environment Center, a business which specialized in air and water purification.  At last report, however, the company was no longer active, and no report on what Putnam has been doing more recently was readily available.

Right-hander Jon Thomas Chargois made his major league debut with the Twins in 2016.  Born and raised in Sulphur, Louisiana, he attended Rice University and was drafted by Minnesota in 2012.  He pitched well for Elizabethton in 2012, but missed all of 2013 and 2014 due to Tommy John surgery.  He had a fine 2015 season split between Fort Myers and Chattanooga.  He started 2016 in Chattanooga, went up to Rochester, made one appearance in Minnesota in June, and came up to the Twins for the remainder of the season in mid-August.  His numbers don't look very good:  1-1, 4.70, 1.61 WHIP.  But if you throw out that one outing in June, which was terrible, his numbers are 1-1, 2.82, 1.43 WHIP.  He turns twenty-six today, so he's not a kid, but he also missed two years due to injury.  One assumes that he will be given a chance to claim a bullpen spot with the Twins in 2017.