Happy Birthday–July 16

Shoeless Joe Jackson (1889)
Doc Prothro (1893)
Bill Woodson (1917)
Jim Odom (1921)
Norm Sherry (1931)
Eddie Fisher (1936)
Lee Elia (1937)
Terry Pendleton (1960)
DeMarlo Hale (1961)
William VanLandingham (1970)
Ildemaro Vargas (1991)

The father of former NFL coach Tommy Prothro, third baseman Doc Prothro played in the majors for parts of five seasons and had a lifetime batting average of .318.

Acclaimed voice actor Bill Woodson was the voice of the Twins' "Get to Know 'Em" advertising campaign in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Jim Odom was an American League umpire from 1964-1974.

DeMarlo Hale was a minor league manager from 1993-2001 and has been a major league coach since 2002.

Infielder Ildemaro Jose Vargas played in ten games for the Twins in 2020.  He was born in Carapito, Venezleua and signed with St. Louis as a free agent in 2008.  He spent five years in rookie ball, which sounds strange until you realize that he started there when he was sixteen.  He hit well in the Appalachian League in 2012, but did not hit when promoted to higher levels and was released prior to the 2015 season.  Arizona signed him and he suddenly started hitting, batting .321 in Class A in 2015, .354 in a couple of months of AAA in 2016, and .312 in a full season of AAA in 2017.  He got a September call-up that year, but found himself back in AAA in 2018.  He hit .311 and got another September call-up.  Finally, in 2019, he got most of a season in the majors as a reserve infielder, playing mostly at second base.  He did okay for a reserve, batting .269/.299/.413 in 211 plate appearances.  He started 2020 with the Diamondbacks, but was sold to Minnesota on August 11.  He was with the Twins for a little over two weeks and appeared in ten games, starting six of them at second base.  He batted .227/.250/.364 in 24 plate appearances and was put on waivers and claimed by the Cubs, for whom he finished the season.  He started 2021 with the Cubs, was put on waivers in mid-May, was claimed by Pittsburgh, and in early June was sold to Arizona.  He is currently back in AAA.  He turns thirty today.  He has played mostly second base, some third, and very little shortstop, which limits his value as a utility infielder.  He'll never be a regular, but if he could hit the right situation he might be able to play some more in the majors.