Happy Birthday–April 12

Vic Willis (1876)
Addie Joss (1880)
Bill Bailey (1888)
Eric McNair (1909)
Bill Wight (1922)
Bob Zuk (1927)
Johnny Antonelli (1930)
Terry Cooney (1933)
Charlie Lau (1933)
Woodie Fryman (1940)
Vicente Romo (1943)
Terry Harmon (1944)
Mike Macfarlane (1964)
Paul LoDuca (1972)
Antonio Osuna (1973)
Brad Brach (1986)
Pedro Hernandez (1989)
Dennis Santana (1996)

Bob Zuk was a long-time scout who was responsible for signing, among others, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell, and Gary Carter.

Terry Cooney was an American League umpire from 1975-1992.

Left-hander Pedro Michel Hernandez appeared in fourteen games for the Twins in 2013. He was born in Barquimsimeto, Venezuela and signed with San Diego as a free agent in 2006. He did very well in rookie ball but struggled in his first two tries at Class A. He took a substantial step forward in 2011, pitching well in both A and AA, although he struggled in four AAA starts. He was traded to the White Sox after the 2011 season in a deal for Carlos Quentin. He started very well in AA in 2012 and also did well in three AAA appearances. He made what one presumes was an emergency start for the White Sox on July 18 in Boston, allowing eight runs on twelve hits in four innings. He was traded to Minnesota with Eduardo Escobar on July 28 for Francisco Liriano. The Twins sent him to Rochester, where he struggled in four starts, going 0-2, 5.19, 5.00 WHIP. He began 2013 in Rochester but was promoted to Minnesota early in the season. He was placed in the starting rotation but did not do particularly well and was sent back to Rochester in late May. He didn't do a lot in Rochester, either, but still made an emergency start for the Twins in June and was given a September call-up, when he was placed back in the starting rotation. He continued to not do particularly well there. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Colorado. He again pitched poorly in AAA in 2014, but still made what one presumes was an emergency start for the big club. He was a free agent after the season, went unsigned, and pitched for St. Paul in the American Association in 2015, doing fairly well. He pitched in the Mexican League in 2016 and then played winter ball, but it appears that he did not play in 2017. He made four appearances with the Texas AirHogs in the American Association in 2018, but that was it for him.  As a Twin, he was 3-3, 6.83, 1.82 WHIP in fourteen appearances (56.2 innings), twelve of them starts. At last report, Pedro Hernandez was an assistant baseball coach for Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Right-hander Dennis Anfernee Santana did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them for about three weeks in 2023.  He was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in 2013.  For the most part he pitched pretty well in the minor leagues, reaching AA in 2017 and AAA in 2018.  He made one appearance in the majors in 2018.  He made the Dodgers out of spring training in 2019, but was sent back to AAA after three poor appearances.  He had a bad year in AAA as well.  He was with the Dodgers in the COVID year of 2020, but did not do very well then, either.  He again pitched poorly for the Dodgers at the start of 2021, and they gave up on him and traded him to Texas in mid-June.  He did much better as a Ranger, posting an ERA of 3.63 in 39.2 innings (39 games).  He got his first full season in the majors in 2022, going 3-8, 5.22, 1.33 WHIP in 58.2 innings (63 games).  He had an eventful off-season--sold to Atlanta in November, waived and claimed by Minnesota in late February, waived again and claimed by the Mets in mid-March.  He was with New York for the first two weeks of the season, then went to AAA, where he had a poor year and was "granted free agency" in August.  He signed with the Yankees for 2024 and has made two appearances in the majors and two in AAA.  For his major league career, he's 8-14, 5.18, 1.42 WHIP in 153 innings (145 games).  He strikes out a lot of guys, which is probably why he keeps getting chances, but he walks 4.7 per nine and other than half a season in 2021 he has had no success in parts of seven seasons in the majors.  He turns twenty-eight today.  If he's ever going to establish himself in the majors, he's going to have to do it soon.