John Peters (1850)
Kirby Higbe (1915)
Stan Wasiak (1920)
Charlie Maxwell (1927)
Turk Farrell (1934)
Takao Kajimoto (1935)
John Hiller (1943)
Catfish Hunter (1946)
Randy Marsh (1949)
Mac Scarce (1949)
Gary Carter (1954)
Alex Gonzalez (1973)
Timo Perez (1975)
Jeremy Guthrie (1979)
Matt Ford (1981)
Chris Iannetta (1983)
Bobby Wilson (1983)
Felix Hernandez (1986)
Carlos Santana (1986)
Yonder Alonso (1987)
Jeremy Hellickson (1987)
Jo Adell (1999)
Stan Wasiak holds the record for most wins as a minor league manager, 2,530. He managed from 1950-1986, managing at levels from Class D to AAA.
Pitcher Takao Kajimoto won 254 games in Japan and was a twelve-time all-star.
Randy Marsh was a major league umpire from 1981-2009 and is currently a director of umpiring.
Yonder Alonso was drafted by Minnesota in the sixteenth round in 2005, but did not sign.
We would like to wish a happy birthday to the brother of Daneeka's Ghost.
Dad A passed away on this date five years ago. I'm not asking for sympathy--he lived a long, full life, he was ready to go, and I'm confident about where he is. Still, I felt that I should at least acknowledge the anniversary somehow.
Left-hander Guerrant McCurdy "Mac" Scarce pitched for the Twins in 1978. The name "Guerrant" was the last name of his grandmother. He was born in Danville, Virginia, went to high school in Richmond, Virginia, and attended Florida State. While attending college, he spent two summers in Pierre, South Dakota, playing in the Basin League. He was drafted by Philadelphia in the eighth round in 1971. A reliever throughout his career, Scarce pitched brilliantly in the minors, posting a 1.29 ERA at Class A Peninsula in 1971 and a 0.46 ERA at AA Reading in 1972 before being called up to the Phillies in mid-June. He did pretty well that year, posting a 3.44 ERA, and did even better in 1973, when his ERA dropped by over a run to 2.42 despite a won-lost record of 1-8. He spent all but two weeks in the majors in 1974 but injured his arm and saw his ERA rise to nearly five. After the season, Scarce was traded to the Mets. He faced only one batter for the Mets, giving up a game-winning hit, and was traded in mid-April to Cincinnati for ex-Twin Tom Hall. Scarce was in AAA for the Reds for three years, posting ERAs around four, and never made the majors for Cincinnati. He became a free agent after the 1977 season and signed with Minnesota for 1978. He began the season at AAA Toledo, but did well and was quickly called up to the big leagues. He stayed two months, making 17 appearances. He went 1-1, 3.94 in 32 innings, but had a WHIP of 1.56. He pitched well the rest of the season in Toledo, but was traded to Texas after the season for Mike Bacsik. Feeling he had little chance of making the Rangers, Scarce retired, ending his playing career. He worked for an electrical company for a few years, then went into the mortgage business. He is currently the owner of McCurdy Mortgage, your mortgage and refinance specialist in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Left-hander Matthew Lee Ford did not pitch for the Twins, but was in their farm system in 2006. He was born in Plantation, Florida, went to high school in Coral Springs, Florida, and was drafted by Toronto in the third round in 1999. He pitched well in the low minors, highlighted by a 2002 season in which he went 9-5, 2.37, 1.25 WHIP in Class A Dunedin. Based on that, the Brewers took him in the Rule 5 draft and jumped him all the way to the majors in 2003. He was pitching very well out of the bullpen (2.15 ERA, 1.13 WHIP in 29.1 innings, 21 appearances), when Milwaukee moved him to the starting rotation in late June. The move was a disaster: in four starts, he went 0-3, 8.79, 2.38 WHIP in 14.1 innings. He was then missed the rest of the season with bone spurs in his elbow. He never made it back to the majors, and seems to have never really recovered from his injury. He had one and a half mediocre seasons in the Brewers farm system, finished 2005 in AAA for the Royals, and was signed by Minnesota as a free agent for 2006. He made thirty-three appearances in Rochester, going 1-2, 4.50, 1.48 WHIP in 58 innings. He became a free agent after the season, pitched poorly for two seasons in independent ball, and ended his playing career after the 2008 season. He went into coaching, beginning at the high school level. He was an assistant coach for the University of Akron from 2012-13, and then became a minor league pitching instructor for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the pitching coach for the Class A West Virginia Power in 2016, was the pitching coach for the high-A Bradenton Marauders from 2017-2019, was their rehab coach for 2020, was the pitching coach for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2021, was the pitching coach for the FCL Pirates in 2022, and is back in Bradenton for 2023.
Catcher Robert Louis Wilson played for the Twins in 2018. He was born in Dunedin, Florida, went to high school in Seminole, Florida, attended St. Petersburg College, and was drafted by Anaheim in the forty-eighth round in 2002. He posted decent but unspectacular numbers for much of his minor league career. He reached AAA in 2007 and batted .312 there in 2008, although with little power. He got a September call-up that year and went 1-for-6. He did not repeat his AAA numbers in 2009, but again got a September call-up and went 1-for-5. He then began a long career as essentially a third catcher in an era in which major league teams carried two catchers. He would start the season in AAA, but he would be available if one of the two main catchers was injured or didn't perform. He had one full season in the majors, 2011, but got only 111 at-bats. The most at-bats he had in a season was 228 in a 2016 season split among three teams. He stayed with the Angels through 2012, signed with the Yankees for 2013 but did not reach the majors with them, signed with Arizona for 2014, went to Tampa Bay for 2015, was waived and claimed by Texas in late July, was traded to Detroit before the 2016 season, was traded back to Texas in early May, was waived and claimed by Tampa Bay in early August, signed with the Dodgers for 2017, signed with Minnesota for 2018, was traded to the Cubs for Chris Gimenez in late August, and signed with the Tigers for 2019. He was reputed to be a good defensive catcher, and we assume he was, because for his career he batted .203/.258/.304 in 932 at-bats over ten seasons. As a Twin, he batted .178/.242/.281 in 135 at-bats. After the 2019 season he became a coach, and is currently the catching coach with the Texas Rangers.
First baseman Carlos Santana came to the Twins in 2024. He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 2004. He did well in rookie ball, but struggled when promoted to Class A in 2007 at age twenty-one, but had a tremendous year in high-A in 2008. In July of that year the Dodgers traded him to Cleveland in in a deal that sent ex-Twin Casey Blake to Los Angeles. He was really good in AA in 2009 and was really good in AAA in 2010 when he was promoted to the majors in mid-June. Other than rehab assignments, he never went back to the minors. He was in Cleveland for ten seasons and had some very productive years. He was never a star--he made just one all-star team, in 2019--but he batted .251/.368/.450 with 216 home runs over ten seasons with Cleveland. He was traded to the Phillies for the 2018 season, but returned to Cleveland in 2019. He had a poor season in the COVID year of 2020 and became a free agent. He signed with Kansas City for 2021, but he didn't do much for the Royals in a year and a half and was traded to Seattle in June of 2022. A free agent again, he signed with Pittsburgh for 2023, then was traded to Milwaukee at the July deadline. He bounced back somewhat that season, batting .240 with twenty-three home runs. A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2024. He turns thirty-eight today. We're skeptical that he has much left, but he did hit left-handers well last year, and he'll be given every opportunity to do it again.