Al Spalding (1850)
Joe Heving (1900)
Monte Pearson (1908)
Marv Throneberry (1933)
Don Williams (1935)
Jerry Crider (1941)
Danny Goodwin (1953)
Rick Manning (1954)
Rex Hudler (1960)
Jeff Russell (1961)
Terry Jorgensen (1966)
Rich Aurilia (1971)
Jason Hammel (1982)
Ronald Torreyes (1992)
Aaron Whitefield (1996)
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to bjhess.
Right-hander Donald Reid Williams made three appearances for the Twins in 1963. He was born in Los Angeles and was signed as a free agent by the Kansas City Athletics in 1956. He pitched fairly well in Class D, but did not do particularly well after that. He missed all of the 1959 season and was traded to the White Sox in 1960. The White Sox sent him on to the Twins minor-league system in June of 1960 in an unknown transaction. Williams pitched reasonably well in three AAA seasons for the Twins, and spent two weeks with the big-league club in August of 1963, pitching 4.1 innings in three games. He gave up five runs on eight hits and six walks in 4.1 innings, getting no decisions and posting an ERA of 10.38. He was back in the minors in 1964, and pitched two AAA seasons in the Washington organization before calling it a career after the 1966 season. Don Williams passed away on December 20, 1991 in La Jolla, California.
Right-hander Jerry Stephen Crider appeared in 21 games for the Twins in 1969. Born and raised in Sioux Falls, SD, he pitched on three state champion American Legion teams, being named player of the year in 1959, and pitched Humboldt, SD to its only state amateur baseball championship in 1961 before being signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1962. He began to hit his stride in the minors in 1964, and after two good years at AAA Denver, he was called up to Minnesota in May of 1969. Crider pitched in 21 games for the Twins, working 28.2 innings with a record of 1-0 and an ERA of 4.71 but a WHIP of 1.61. The next year, he was traded in May to the White Sox for Cotton Nash. Crider spent most of 1970 in Chicago, and did not do that badly, but it was his last year in the big leagues. He pitched a year and a half at AAA for the Padres and another year and a half at AAA for the Giants, and did okay for both organizations, but did not get another chance in the majors. After leaving baseball, Crider moved to Mexico and owned and operated a hunting and fishing business, helping to film programs for Bill Dance, Rowland Martin, and the American Sportsman shows. A member of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, Jerry Crider passed away on April 4, 2008, after a long battle with emphysema.
First baseman Danny Kay Goodwin played for the Twins from 1979-1981. He was born in St. Louis, went to high school in Peoria, and was drafted out of Southern University and A & M College by the California Angels with the first pick of the 1975 draft. He got 10 at-bats with the big club that year, going 1-for-10. Goodwin was drafted as a catcher, but a shoulder injury suffered early in his minor league career left him unable to throw out all but the slowest runners, and resulted in a move to first base. He hit well throughout the Angels minor-league system, hitting 25 home runs for AA El Paso in 1978. After brief trials with California in 1977 and 1978, he was traded after the 1978 season to the Twins with Ron Jackson for Dan Ford. He was a part-time player who was used mostly at DH for the Twins, never compiling more than 160 at-bats in a season. He had a good year in 1979, but hit poorly in 1980 and 1981 and was released after the 1981 season. He spent the next four years playing for AAA Tacoma in the Oakland system, making a brief appearance with the A’s in 1982. Danny Goodwin appeared in 172 games as a Twin, batting .242/.312/.372 with 8 home runs and 55 RBIs in 475 at-bats. Goodwin is the only player to have been twice chosen with the first pick in the draft, having been chosen but not signed by the White Sox in 1971. He is one of three players, along with David Clyde and Joe Mauer, to be chosen with the first pick by their home town team. After he retired, Danny Goodwin was the director of the Atlanta Braves Foundation, developing programs for underprivileged children in Atlanta. At last report, he was the president of First Choice Management Services in the Atlanta area. He is a member of the Greater Peoria (IL) Sports Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame
Corner infielder Terry Allen Jorgensen played for the Twins in 1989 and again from 1992-1993. He was born in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Twins in the second round out of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1987. He got a September call-up in 1989, getting twenty-three at-bats, but then did not make it back to the big leagues until 1992. Primarily a third baseman in the minors, Jorgensen was decent but unspectacular, batting around .300 in three seasons with AAA Portland with moderate power. After a second brief trial in 1992, he spent about half of 1993 with the Twins, but failed to impress. He became a free agent after that season and signed with the Marlins, playing in their minor-league system for two years. He played for Green Bay in the independent Prairie League in 1996 before his playing career came to an end. Terry Jorgensen played in 91 games as a Twin, batting .240/.292/.292 with 1 home run and 19 RBIs in 233 at-bats. He is a member of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Hall of Fame. His brother, Tim Jorgensen, was also primarily a third baseman and played for four years in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh organizations, getting as high as AA. His son, Brent, played at Minnesota-Duluth and is a high school baseball coach in Middleton, Wisconsin. At last report, Terry Jorgensen was a physical education instructor and high school baseball coach for Luxemburg-Casco, Wisconsin. He had his number there retired in April of 2015 before a game in which his nephew hit a walk-off single. The baseball field there is also named in his honor.
Infielder Ronald Alcides Torreyes appeared in seven games for the Twins in 2019. He was born in Libertador, Venezuela and signed as a free agent with Cincinnati in 2010. He hit very well in the low minors but not so well when he moved up. He reached high-A in 2012, AA in 2013, and AAA in 2014. He moved around a lot--he was traded to the Cubs after the 2011 season, was sold to Houston in July of 2013, was sold to Toronto in May of 2015, and was sold to the Dodgers in June of 2015. It was with the Dodgers that he made his major league debut, going 2-for-6 in eight games as a September call-up. He was traded to the Yankees that off-season and basically spent the next three seasons in their organization. I say "basically" because the Angels chose him off waivers in January of 2016, only to place him on waivers and have the Yankees take him back about a week later. He was a utility infielder for them from 2016-2018 and did okay in that role, batting .281, although taking few walks and showing little power. He was traded to the Cubs after the 2018 season but was allowed to become a free agent and signed with Minnesota for 2019. He spent most of the season in Rochester but got a September call-up and went 3-for-16 with no extra base hits and one walk. He was again a free agent and signed with Philadelphia for 2020, but appeared in only four games. The Phillies must have liked something about him, though, because they re-signed him and he was in the majors as a utility infielder almost all of 2021. He started 2022 in AAA with the Phillies, but was released in late April and did not sign with anyone, so his playing career is presumably over. He turns twenty-nine today. For his career, he batted .265/.299/.361 in 917 at-bats. No information about what Ronald Torreyes has done since his release was readily available.
Outfielder Aaron James Whitefield appeared in three games for the Twins in 2020 and remains in their minor league system. He was born in Brisbane, Australia and signed with the Twins as a free agent in 2015. He has some speed and is reputed to be a fine defensive player, but has not hit about low-A. His record in high-A is .216/276/.304 in 418 at-bats. In AA it's .233/.295/.322 in 451 at-bats. He did better in AA in 2021, batting .257, but still had an OPS of less than .700. He signed with the Angels for 2022 and has spent most of the season at AA, but played five more major league games in May, going 0-for-11. He has always hit very well in Australia, where he spends his winters (summers down there, of course). He appeared in three games for the Twins in July of 2020, going 0-for-1 and scoring a run, so for his major league career he's 0-for-12. It appears that the record for most at-bats without a hit for a career is twenty-three, so he'll have to get back to the majors somehow to get a chance at that. He turns twenty-six today. He's fast and plays good defense, but as I've said before none of the other five tools matter much when you can't hit. In the old days, when teams kept five or even six outfielders, he might've made a career out of being a pinch-runner/defensive replacement. In the current days, however, it's very unlikely that we'll see him in a major league uniform again, barring a rash of injuries someplace. He can, however, probably play in Australia for quite a number of years yet if he wants to.