Ed Willett (1884)
Dave Danforth (1890)
Andy Porter (1911)
Andy Phillip (1922)
Bobo Holloman (1923)
Red Wilson (1929)
Galen Cisco (1936)
Jimmie Hall (1938)
J. R. Richard (1950)
Jeff Burroughs (1951)
Albert Hall (1958)
Joe Carter (1960)
Jose Cano (1962)
German Gonzalez (1962)
Mauro Gozzo (1966)
Jeff Kent (1968)
Tyler Ladendorf (1988)
Justin Topa (1991)
Pablo Lopez (1996)
Michael Harris (2001)
A member of the basketball Hall of Fame, Andy Phillip played minor league baseball in 1947, 1949, and 1952, batting .281 in 123 games.
Bobo Holloman is sometimes referred to as the worst pitcher ever to throw a major league no-hitter.
The father of Robinson Cano, Jose Cano appeared in six games for Houston in 1989.
Two members of the all-Jeff team were born on this day.
We would also like to wish a happy birthday to strategery's son.
Outfielder Jimmie Randolph Hall played for the Twins from 1963-1966. He was born in Mount Holly, North Carolina and went to high school in Belmont, North Carolina. He then was signed by Washington as a free agent in 1956. He hit .385 his first year at Class D Superior, but then had some less impressive years. He really struggled upon reaching AAA, batting only .227 there in 1960. He then apparently suffered from injuries, as he totalled only 141 minor league at-bats in 1961-1962. The Twins saw something in him, though, because in 1963 he became a regular outfielder for the Twins. Hall started mostly in center field, although he would often be shifted to left late in games to replace Harmon Killebrew there, with Lenny Green taking over in center. He hit .260 with an amazing 33 home runs (his highest home run total in the minors had been 17 in 1958), setting a rookie record for homers and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Gary Peters and Pete Ward. He made the all-star team the next two years and finished 13th in MVP voting in 1965. He hit in the .280s with a home run total in the twenties both years. He played full-time in center field both of those years. In 1966, the acquisition of Ted Uhlaender moved Hall to left. The move did not go well, as Hall dropped to .239, although he again hit twenty home runs. After the season, Hall was traded to California with Pete Cimino and Don Mincher for Dean Chance and a player to be named later (Jackie Hernandez). He was the regular right fielder for the Angels in 1967, hitting .249 with sixteen homers, which in 1967 was not as bad as it might sound today. It still wasn't good enough, however; Hall became a part-time player, was traded to Cleveland in June of 1968, moved on to the Yankees in April of 1969, to the Cubs in September, to Atlanta in June of 1970, and was released after the 1970 season. He hit for neither power nor average in any of those years. Hall played at AAA for San Diego in 1971, then ended his playing career. As a Twin, Jimmie Hall hit .269/.334/.481 with 98 home runs in four seasons. Some sources attribute his drop-off to a time when he was hit in the head with a pitch, but this happened in 1964 and he had a fine season in 1965, so it seems unlikely. After his playing career ended, Hall moved back to Mount Holly, North Carolina, where he was still living at last report. He is a member of the Gaston County (NC) Sports Hall of Fame.
Right-handed reliever German Jose (Caraballo) Gonzalez pitched for the Twins in parts of two seasons, 1988 and 1989. His career contains more questions than answers. Born in Rio Caribe, Venezuela, he signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1986. Gonzalez was obviously playing baseball somewhere before that, but no information is readily available about it. He pitched very well in the Twins' minor league system, posting a 2.51 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in Class A Kenosha in 1987 and a 1.02 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP in AA Orlando in 1988. He came up to Minnesota in early August of 1988 and pitched well, with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in 21.1 innings. He bounced back and forth between AAA and the majors in 1989, coming to the Twins on three separate occasions. He wasn't great, but he wasn't awful, either, going 3-2, 4.66 in 29 innings. After that, however, the trail comes to an abrupt halt; he never appeared in organized baseball after 1989. One assumes that he continued pitching somewhere for a while, as he had done well enough to warrant more chances, but this could not be confirmed, nor was any information readily available about what he has done since.
Right-hander Mauro Paul "Goose" Gozzo made two appearances for the Twins in 1992. He was born in New Britain, Connecticut and went to high school in Berlin, Connecticut. He was then drafted by the Mets in the 13th round in 1984. The Mets kept him in Class A for three years, the last two of which were pretty good, although as a reliever he never pitched more than 78 innings in a season. In March of 1987 Gozzo was traded to Kansas City in a trade that also involved Rick Anderson. He had two pretty undistinguished years in AA Memphis and was left unprotected after the season. He was chosen in the minor league draft by Toronto. Something apparently clicked for him with the Blue Jays, as he had two fine years in their minor league system. He was called up to the majors in early August of 1989 and was okay, going 4-1, 4.83 with a 1.39 WHIP. He was back in the minors in 1990 and had another strong season, but Toronto traded him to Cleveland in September. He finished the season in the majors, but again was back at AAA in 1991. Gozzo was mostly a starter in AAA with the Indians and did not pitch very well. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Minnesota for 1992. He both started and relieved at AAA Portland, did pretty well, and got a September callup. Mauro Gozzo pitched a total of 1.2 innings for the Twins, giving up five runs on seven hits. He became a free agent after the season, signing with the Mets. He was in the Mets' system for two years, splitting those years between AAA and the majors. Gozzo pitched fairly well for the Mets when used out of the bullpen, though less well when tried as a starter. He moved on to the Cubs' system in 1995, did not make the big leagues with them, and then ended his playing career. Mauro Gozzo currently operates Goose's Major League Instruction, providing year-round baseball training and instruction, in Wallingford, Connecticut. He is also the director of Goose’s Gamers, an AAU baseball league in Wallingford. In addition, he was the manager of the New Britain Bees in 2019, was the pitching coach of the Long Island Ducks in 2020, and became the manager of the Gastonia Honey Hunters in 2021, a job he still held at last report He has twin sons, Paul Gozzo and Sal Gozzo, who played baseball for Tulane University. Paul did not play professionally but Sal did, reaching AAA in the Phillies organization and playing independent ball in 2023.
Infielder/outfielder Tyler James Ladendorf did not play for the Twins but was in their farm system for two seasons. He was born in Park Ridge, Illinois, went to high school in Des Plaines, Illinois, attended Howard College, and was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 2008. He hit very little in the GCL that year, hit a lot for Elizabethton in 61 at-bats in 2009, but did not do much for Beloit in 60 at-bats that same year. He was sent to Oakland at the trade deadline in 2009 for Orlando Cabrera. He did not reach AA until 2011 and did not get more than a few cups of coffee at AAA until 2014. Surprisingly, he began 2015 in the majors but was injured after going 2-for-10 and was sent back to AAA when he came off the disabled list. He got a September call-up and went 2-for-7, making him 4-for-17 on the season. He spent much of 2016 with Oakland as a pinch-runner/defensive substitute and hit almost nothing, batting .083/.102/.083 in 48 at-bats (50 games). He became a free agent after the 2016 season and signed with the White Sox. He spent 2017 in AAA, and while he wasn't terrible he wasn't very good, either. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Toronto for 2018, but was sold to Arizona in late May. One assumes he was dealing with injuries, as he played in just forty-five minor league games. He played a few games in AAA for Tampa Bay in 2019, but spent most of the summer with High Point in the Atlantic League. He was with Chicago in the American Association in 2020. He signed with the Cubs for 2021 and spent most of the season in AAA Iowa, where he was not awful but not particularly good, either. He played for High Point of the Atlantic League again in 2022, but that brought his playing career to an end. Tyler Ladendorf was a AA batting coach for the Cubs in 2023 and will be a AAA batting coach for Tampa Bay in 2024. He did not have a career OPS above .700 at any level other than rookie ball, which apparently proves the old adage that those who cannot do, teach. We wish him well in his coaching career.
Right-handed reliever Justin Robert Topa will play for the Twins in 2024. Born and raised in Binghamton, New York, he attended Long Island University--Brooklyn and was drafted by Pittsburgh in the seventeenth round in 2013. He was a starter early in his minor league career and had a strong 2013 in low A, but struggled when promoted to high A in 2014. He did not pitch in 2015, presumably due to injury, and made only ten relief appearances in 2016. The Pirates gave up on him and released him, but after a strong 2017 in the Can-Am Association he signed with Texas for 2018. He struggled in AA, was released after the season, and signed with Milwaukee for 2019. He pitched well in AA and made his debut in the COVID season of 2020, posting an ERA of 2.35 in six games. He dealt with injuries again in 2021 and made just four appearances in the majors, three of which were awful. His 2022 AAA season was mediocre at best, but he still got a September call-up and did okay. In 2023, however, everything suddenly clicked. After three games in AAA he came up to the majors and had an outstanding season for Seattle. In 75 games (69 innings) he went 5-4, 2.61, 1.15 WHIP with 61 strikeouts. He was traded to the Twins in January of 2024 with Darren Bowen, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Anthony DeSclafani for Jorge Polanco. Time will tell if 2023 was a fluke, but the Twins will presumably give him every opportunity to prove that it wasn't.
Right-handed starter Pablo Jose Lopez has played for the Twins since 2023. He was born in Cabimas, Venezuela, and signed with Seattle as a free agent in 2012. He was outstanding in 2013 in the Venezuelan Summer League. He did not pitch in 2014, but picked up right where he left off in the Arizona Summer League in 2015. He was struggling in high-A in 2017 when he was traded to Miami in July. He immediately started pitching well again after the trade. He began 2018 in AA, made four starts in AAA, and reached the majors in late June. He wasn't outstanding, but certainly did well for a twenty-two year old. He struggled at the major league level in 2019, but in the COVID season of 2020 put things together. He has had an ERA below four and a WHIP below 1.2 every season from 2020 onward. In January of 2023 he was traded to Minnesota with Byron Chourio and Jose Salas for Luis Arraez. While Twins fans were sad to see Arraez go, the trade has so far worked out well for the Twins. In his one season with the Twins, Pablo Lopez went 11-8, 3.66, 1.16 WHIP with 234 strikeouts in 194 innings (32 starts). He turns twenty-eight today and is expected to be the staff ace for the Twins in 2024.